My goal is to go to a firm with (relatively speaking) not-terrible hours, even if that means a big pay cut. I know I can rule out pretty much all of the MF/UMMs, but I am struggling to get a read on the smaller guys. I've heard stories of analysts going to MM funds, only to still be pulling the same hours as the MF guys but with lower bonuses. I would like to avoid that fate if possible.
Is it kosher to go on LinkedIn and reach out to someone at the fund and ask them to discuss their experience, or would it seem disingenuous (i.e. I am pretending to be curious just to get my foot in the door)? Would it help if I added some context like "I was looking at X opportunity at your firm and wanted to learn more about your experience"? Most of them are mid/small sized so the odds of there being someone from my bank/university/friend of a friend/etc. is low. Any input would be appreciated.
On a related note, the username says it all. I don't mind it when I genuinely have a question (like what I described above), but I would really prefer not having to relive the pre-banking networking days and I've read in some other threads that reaching out cold can actually make you look a little socially inept. Is networking as important in off-cycle recruiting compared to the IB recruiting process? I know it can't hurt, but are people generally able to make it through the process without needing to? Would you say that this depends on the size of the firm? Thanks in advance.
If you get an interview, I'd reach out to former associates and ask them. They're more likely to take your call if you have an offer as well
That's a great idea- thank you.
Stop treating networking like a going-through-the-motions thing and it'll start to get more palatable. I did some "networking" when I was an AN1 and ended up connecting with a senior partner of an UMM who has been a strong mentor since. I had a good conversation with him and learned interesting things and kept the relationship going - at that point the relationship was more interesting and valuable than a foot in the door for an interview. That said, on the flip side, I networked with a VP somewhere who was an alum of my school on a Friday, and on Monday was interviewing. You never know.
Thanks for the insight- I am definitely guilty of treating networking like checking a box sometimes. Would you mind discussing how you went about your networking as a first year analyst more? Specifically, I am wondering if you or any of your peers had success with reaching out cold or if these were all warm intros/alumni events/etc. And by "success", I mean any sort of relationship development (i.e not just getting an interview).
I paid for a CRM and manually loaded it up with every alum of my school in PE (not too many) and treated it like a sales job. Call them, log notes from the call, follow up. Set Google alerts for their name, company, etc. Send them interesting things. This is normal course relationship building except if you are unorganized like me, you will need external organization (e.g., a CRM - think of it like a second brain that doesn't forget to call people and doesn't forget when you talked and doesn't lose track of what someone said on a call some time - it's an infallible version of you).
I agree with the comment above that the best thing to do is talk to current and former associates. For current associates, I would recommend waiting until you get an offer and then asking your main recruiting PoC to talk to a few current associates. Former associates are fair game to reach out to on LinkedIn. For both, some of the more insightful questions I have asked/heard asked are: "Do people typically use most / all of their vacation? How much weekend work do you typically do? Without naming names, how different are the various VPs / principals to work for (e.g. is one VP great to work for while another is a nightmare)? How is the general office/WFH camaraderie? Is there a culture of mentorship / teaching? Where does the firm fall on the spectrum of 'get your work down however and whenever you want as long as you do a good job' vs. 'you need to be logged in and on call at all times'?". These can help you get an answer to the question you are ultimately trying to figure out, which is "how many hours am I going to work?", in a less direct way than flat out asking, which I've found is generally poorly received.
All of this said, the nature of the industry is that sometimes life is going to be OK/good (when you aren't grinding on a new deal) while it is going to absolutely suck at other times (when you're two weeks away from a final bid in a competitive auction process) no matter where you work.
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