MM PE and VC firms, should i reach out for unofficial internships now?
Is this the right time? I'm a rising sophomore whose recently decided to pivot into finance, and I'm interested in gaining proper work experience, however with little background in the field its difficult to land a official sophomore summer internship, so I'm aiming to utilize cold-contact as much as I can and email middle market PE firms and VC firms in my city and across the country for remote internships occuring during the coming school year, or even to lock down a sophomore position this coming summer through a non-traditional not application-based way. I'm aiming to apply to roles across pe/vc and mgmt consulting in junior year, so I'll probably spread my emails out to places across all the industries.
Would this be a good idea, and is right now a good time-frame to reach out?
Any tips on what my email should look like, and who within firms I should specifically contact?
My initial email would include meeting with them, but should I also make it clear I want to look for an informal internship? Or only bring that up later, and how would I go about that in a good way?
Any tips on what sort of firms to specifically target, kind of shortlisted firms all over the place.
Should I make it clear what sort of internship I'd like, or let them tell me if they'd offer a remote one to do during the year, or a potential summer role in 2025?
just any tips overall to landing a internship or work experience non-traditioanlly, not through a general summer internship application, but through using cold-contact would be welcome
There's some good cold email templates scattered across threads on this site so I won't comment on that
It's a little early to start reaching out just in the sense that any sort of SA recruiting for these regional firms starts early spring, so if you meet someone now and ask them to be a referral for you/put you in contact with somebody 5, 6, 7 months later, they might not even remember you. However, if you have a way to maintain a very loose relationship with them, then you can start reaching out now. Otherwise I'd wait until late August at the earliest, but probably mid Sept-Dec.
I'd target alums from your uni at these firms if possible. In my own experience doing this exact same thing, it's ok to reach out to anyone between Assoc. and MD. I find that (most) directors at regional MM firms don't have crazy egos regarding being willing to chat to undergrad students so don't be scared to reach out to them.
Do not state you are looking for an internship unless they ask you. Conversate like a normal human. Let them talk about themselves, their experiences. You don't want to come off as a crazy hardo as a rising soph, it's pretty offputting. Make the connection, if you feel good about how it went you can follow up in the next couple weeks and maybe set up a future date to chat again. When the time comes you can talk to them and ask them to refer you to somebody who's in charge of hiring interns... I've gotten offers up front after asking for a referral, but typically a referral like this will just fast-track you to a formal interview.
So I should just email to for a chat about their work/firm (around the fall) and maintain a loose relationship till spring for a referral when I aim for a summer internship? What if the firm itself doesn't have a proper recruiting system, and I'm just interested in interning in a more unofficial manner, should I then reach out again in the spring but make it explicitly clear that I want to work with them during the summer?
And for firms in my college city, who I'm planning on reaching out to with hopes of landing a part-time role during the school year, (or potentially even some firms who might be open to remote work) like an off-cycle internship, would now be an appropriate time to email, and for them should I be more direct in asking for an internship sort of role, or still hold back on that, and mention it later after our chat or near the end of it, just tossing in that I'd love to learn from them in any way that I can?
I don't have any experience with off-cycle recruiting so I can't comment with any real insight on that, but yes I'd think that now would be an appropriate time to reach out for this fall. My comment above stands even for firms without a formal internship program, if you have somewhat of an established relationship (have spoken more than once) when the time comes you just express your interest in interning for them and ask them to refer you to somebody who has influence over hiring.
Got it. When expressing my interest in interning, should I do it in a follow-up call? Or should I mention it in my follow-up email post call. I understand that one would prefer a more established relationship, which I'll aim to maintain for bigger firms that have formal recruiting cycles, but when reaching out to more small firms that don't traditionally hire interns for an off-cycle, i can't imagine there's that much time in between our initial meeting and the ideal dates for any sort of internship role.
Like, if I can secure a coffee chat with an MD at a small PE firm in my city next week, and I'm aiming to get an off-cycle internship for the first semester of the school year, so like the next coming months, I don't see any room to have a space out a follow-up chat, do you think it would then be best to mention my interest at the end of our chat or soon after our chat?
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