Is it alright to reach out and network with MD's and partners at small/mid-sized PE/HF firms as a college sophomore??

I'm a sophomore at a target with a very strong alumni base. Buyside soph internship recruiting is ramping up and I'm worried that I won't get one of the internships advertised through my school. To hedge my bets, I would like to network with a few LMM/MM PE firms and HF's. I'm planning on targeting smaller firms (5-20 man firms) where the alumni from my school are founders/managing partners/etc so they have the leverage to land me an internship. My resume is one of the best, if not the best in my year. Is this a good idea to reach out to them, network with them, and possibly land an internship this way? Or am I just wasting their time since I'm so young. Also, should I even mention that I'm looking for an internship during the first call or try to build our relationship a bit.

6 Comments
 

Perfectly fine. Idk about others, but I appreciate emails or LinkedIn requests that are straight to the point

hi - I’m soph  at x college and and looking for any potential internship opps at your firm or others you may know. Etc etc 

I personally don’t like the coffee date thing 

 

NGL, this seems like a controversial take. I've seen a lot of people favor this but most seem to suggest never asking for an internship, referral, etc, straight through an email.

 

Always be direct. If you want an internship - ask if there are openings. Don’t pussyfoot and waste people’s time.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Most Helpful

Great strategy. The smaller shops get less outreach and are more likely to let you in as a sophomore since they won't have structured internship programs 

Definitely ask about internships, taking multiple calls to do so is a bit disrespectful of their time. They know what you want and they're not looking to become BFFs with a 19 year old. Ask them questions for 10-15 min and then skip to the point. If they say no, which most will, have something planned to gracefully pivot to a final few questions and then move on. You should land something this way though. I prefer emails to LinkedIn requests, and calls over in-person, but to each their own. Make sure you attach your resume to the initial email.

Only real caution here is to make sure you're keeping up with your networking for junior year IB/PE in the next few months and not just focusing on sophomore summer.

 

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