Spoke with a MD, got promise for referral, no reply?

First time poster, long time lurker. A few days ago I had an informational interview with a MD/Partner at an elite boutique (Lazard, Evercore, etc.) After the interview, he said he would send my resume over to HR with a recommendation so I could probably be set up with an interview come the fall recruiting season for SA positions. I sent the MD/Partner a thank you letter afterwards and received no response.

It might be silly to worry so much, but this place is my top, top choice. Should I send a reminder email in a few weeks to see if he sent in my resume? Or should I hold out and trust in the powers that be that s/he did it? S/he seemed super busy so I don't want to burn any bridges. But getting just an interview with this place would be amazing.

6 Comments
 

Personally I wouldn't wait too long, try to get something in writing. I was verbally offered a placement about 6 months in advance, then when I contacted the offer magically disappeared...

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Mat-Reis

Personally I wouldn't wait too long, try to get something in writing.

This is a recommendation or referral. It doesn't sound like there's much to get in writing. OP has few options. 1) Followup again 2-3 weeks after the initial contact, preferably with something more substantial that "did you forward my resume?" 2) Wait until closer to interview time (if OCR) and hit him up with "working on my app, really looking forward to the opportunity to interview."
 

The MD you spoke to is probably telling you the truth that he made the referral, but that doesn't mean someone else didn't drop the ball. HR can lose your résumé, not open the email, open it but forget about it and move on to something else...etc.

My experience has been that at anything but the smallest firms, even if your contact decides he/she needs you hired that day, it isn't guaranteed. There are a thousand cracks into which your file can fall, and unless you are being recommended by someone with the authority to make a hiring decision, it might not happen. FYI, even big producers often have very limited say in hiring decisions at bigger firms.

Don't wait too long to make contact again. If you're too early or too persistent, they might not hire you. If you wait until it's too late, they certainly won't.

 

why not follow up with the MD, with a "catch-up" call or meeting? Get to know them, ask some good questions and then thank them for the referral at the end. Then you can wait a bit and if you don't hear anything can be more direct.

Good Luck

I used to do Asia-Pacific PE (kind of like FoF). Now I do something else but happy to try and answer questions on that stuff.
 

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