wwyd in my shoes?
First post here. Excuse me if this is a stupid question that has been answered many times.
Background: I am a second-year UG student studying CS and minoring in business at a T10 in the USA (semi/non-target for IB, target for consulting). Most of my experience is entrepreneurial (decent results) and I have one internship at a F500. I'm interested in IB especially M&A. Healthcare would be cool.
I know that I'm super behind on actively networking and recruitment in general, as the season for SA 2024 opens up very soon. Here is my current plan (in somewhat order):
Study Financial Modeling and Valuation course over my winter break
Bankify my resume
Start outreach to alumns at banks to learn more about their experience and build network
Sign up and prep for competitions/pitches
Question: What advice do y'all have for networking? How do I not be annoying and fake when doing outreach for referrals? How can I be at least somewhat of value to those that are giving me the time of day?
Also, feel free to grill/roast/advise me on anything else. Thanks!
Go to your school’s career office and see if they have an alumni database. If they don’t, and even if they do, search for people on LinkedIn and send them a message to connect and ask to have a phone call about their experience in that personalized message.
Go into the phone call curious about their day-to-day and how what they do fits in with the bigger picture of finance. I spent much of my sophomore year doing this, and as an engineer it helped me learn more about the industry and its different facets. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do (although I had an idea) and spoke to people in PE, HF, IB, S&T, etc. I learned what I liked the sound of, and what I didn’t (traditional IB).
Sometimes the person you’re talking to will be impressed and offer to meet for coffee, take them up on it. If they don’t, don’t push them, that is rare. They’re busy. Don’t reach out to someone and ignore them, it makes you look terrible. Don’t ask for a job (unless you have a rapport, and even then it would have to be a soft "do you know of any job/internship openings"). If they have an internship program you can ask them what they know about it. Some may be more involved in that process than others. They may also direct you to other people to speak with in their firm or other alum they may know. This was something that was great for me. I connected to one alum, and he referred me to his former boss (he left the industry) who wasn't on our online alumni database, and I had a very insightful and productive call with him.
If you have a finance club on campus, I’d join it. It’ll get you familiar with the terminology and working with people interested in the area. Depending on your school and the club, you may find that firms recruit from there. They may also teach you how to pick stocks, etc.
Edit: Typos and clarity. I'm procrastinating finals :)
I would like to additionally note that some roles may be more suited to your background in CS than others. I'm not saying that you'll necessarily be programming in every role but some roles (like trading or research) may lend themselves well to understanding programming as more and more of the industry becomes computerized. Talk to people who do those things to see where you may fit in (both in skill and in personal enjoyment).
Additionally, as an engineer I had to bankify my resume as well but I didn’t completely sterilize it. I wanted to emphasize that I was an engineer interested in finance, not someone who was interested in finance and happened to be an engineer. Recognize the difference. It’s applicable to CS as well.
I ended up with a blended resume that had experiences first, and a short “projects” section after that highlighted two of the programming and engineering projects I had done. CS and problem solving skills are highly desirable to banks, even if you’re not going to be a quant or a dev. Highlight the parts of those projects that may lend itself to finance. Don’t remove your CS projects to seem more like a finance major.
You want to sell yourself that you're a CS major and can bring a unique perspective and skillset that a finance/business/econ major cannot. Don't be apologetic for not being one of those three. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the technicals and terminology as you will unfortunately run across some people who are confused why they are interviewing someone without a business background. Run, don't walk, from those people. ;)
I had a lot of MDs from a lot of different types of roles compliment my resume (which as a sophomore had no finance internships or anything more than local jobs).
If you’re in a conversation with someone, feel free to ask them for feedback on your resume. It can be helpful.
Do you go to Berkeley?
No, Northwestern
I didn't even know what banking was until the beginning of my junior year. I'm now a first year analyst at a reputable Chicago MM bank
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