How much do you help those who reach out to you?
I've been receiving some in-mail inquiring about my experience and asking for advice on jobs from prospective candidates. I'm a very nice Mother Teresa (RIP) kind of person so I'm always willing to help, but is there some point where it's overkill as in being too helpful?
Over the years I've just gathered info from interviewing BBs and boutiques and reading a great deal of the banking prep resources out there. Let's just say if I unleashed everything I knew, this person would be pretty set for ibd interviews provided they followed through. Yet I've found sometimes people don't really take my advice to heart and just go on their merry way doing whatever; I end up wasting time.
I've thought about just directly answering what questions they have instead of trying to dive deeper into their situation and really understand what position they are in. It's like the difference between being the guy at the phone-in help desk vs. an active and seriously interested mentor.
Would it be overkill to sit down with them for 3 hours at a coffee shop and explain how interviews work, how to forge an offer letter e-mail, etc.??
Charge a consulting fee, or put it all on a website.
I do some service work for a rehab-type organization in my area, and since I graduated have talked to and helped about 5 people understand the FAFSA process and about how to get in (or back in) to school. I wish I could charge a consulting fee, but its more appropriate to just put it all on a blog or free website and direct them to it.
Now that I know, I'd like to ask you a few questions about the interview process.......
i help out those who reach out to me. I even let a few folks sleep on my couch when they are in town... my couch is 4 for 5 on job offers
Upon graduation I was extremely lost and had no sense of direction. There were a handful of people who really helped me distill my goals and gave me constructive feedback regarding my strengths and weaknesses. Ive always thought it was really important to give back so I will generally go out of my way to help people who reach out.
With that said, if you have 3 hours to spend at a coffee shop with a complete stranger (unless its a hot chick), you probably need some hobbies and/or maybe a gf.
Help out when you can. Especially if someone has helped you in the past. It all comes full circle, and eventually you'll be back in the situation where you are looking for advice, so be nice and help as much as possible.
I try when I'm not chained to my desk.
respect monty...thats incredible.
am i the only one that caught this? lol
I was helped by others in preparing for this process, and even getting some of the experiences that led to my current position. I'm sure most people here are in a similar boat, where they have received valuable help through simple advice, or a lead for an interview. Given that, I personally feel inclined to help people (if I am not busy of course), knowing that I was in a similar situation at one point.
Definitely reach out as much as you can, especially if they are from the same undergrad/b-school as you. Throughout my FT recruiting process, I've had resumes passed along, informational phone calls/meetings with people higher up in firms, and have been essentially given first round interviews in places I would not have made the cut for otherwise because of guys from my school/fraternity/etc helping me out, mostly because they can tell the recruiter "I know him, he's a great guy and would make a great analyst." Obviously it's up to the interviewer to decide whether or not this is true, but it definitely helps to get your foot in the door if someone at the firm can attest to the fact that you're a somewhat sociable/normal human being.
And I can't count the number of times I have slept on peoples' couches before morning interviews in NYC. Without all that help, I would have had significantly fewer interviews and would know a lot less about the whole process than I do now.
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