Messaging on LinkedIn

Hello All,

Planning on cold in mailing through LinkedIn to try and network my way to an IB gig. Granted, this isn't the only way I am going to try and land a job but what are the guidelines for contacting investment banking analysts in general? Should I stay away from certain things? Contacted two people already and got replies back with more than friendly responses to my messages. Thoughts?

 

I would try to figure out their email - it's pretty easy once you have their full name, unless they're at a smaller firm, in which case you could LinkedIn message as a last resort. Email not only is more professional, but you have a higher chance of getting a response, in my opinion. For me at least, I don't check LinkedIn daily, but I check my email 1000x a day.

Briefly introduce yourself and why you're reaching out. Be honest - at the end of the day they know why you're emailing them. Try to find time for a phone call.

 
Best Response

When I was looking for a FT role I used linkedin extensively and a cold message on linkedin ultimately led to the interview that landed me my current job. (I am an ER analyst)

I had a lot more luck with linkedin than i did sending emails. Remember why people are on linkedin, it's a networking site so don't be shy about using to make contact with someone, that's literally what it is for.

I followed a pretty standard formula when contacting people:

  1. cold message that said who I was (student at X university, studying X, interested in breaking into X) and asking if they might be available for a chat to offer some advice.
  2. If i get a reply/ they connect with me - I thank them for messaging back/connecting and ask if they would be free for a coffee or a phone call to answer some questions.

Always be prepared with intelligent questions about whatever sector/role/company you are interested in. At the coffee/during the phone call get their business card/email and from that point on contact them by email. I would always ask them if they could review my CV and offer some advice, 99% of people who I met were happy to do this. Once i got some feedback on my CV I would tailor it accordingly and send it back saying something like, 'thanks for looking over my CV I have attached the updated version. If you know of any roles that I might be suitable for, or anyone else who I should get i touch with, don't hesitate to contact'

From that point on I would periodically find excuses to contact them. It might be a newspaper article on their sector that I'm sending them or even just updating them on how my job hunt was going. It is maintaining the relationship that is the important part! Remember you are building a network not applying for jobs by doing this and when you ultimately do get a job, you will be one step ahead of your peers having already got a list of contacts in the sector.

Best of luck.

 

Hey thanks for the advice, I've also done some networking but I seem to hit a roadblock at the maintaining relationships stage. I was wondering whether you have any advice on what to do if one of your contacts doesn't reply a follow-up email that you've sent (let's say you forwarded them an article with questions about it) even though he's responded to your emails before? It creates a bit of an awkwardness in the relationship.

 

Send another email.

This is probably the trickiest part of the whole thing since you have to be in contact regularly enough to stay relevant but not so often that you become annoying/look desperate.

I always had the attitude that if they didn't reply it's because my email landed in their inbox at an awkward time and they forgot to get back to me. It's easily done and not a signal that they never want to hear from you again.

I would probably give it a few weeks but ultimately find another excuse to get back in touch, if they don't reply to that wait a little longer then get in touch again or try calling. You have to be persistent sometimes and most people won't get offended by someone showing a bit of hustle.

 

I disagree with @Uncreative Banker, but this varies person to person. I'm not a fan of when somebody reaches out to my work email, but I am someone who will respond via LinkedIn. Just make sure you are solely asking for advice/chat about their experiences. I landed my first job via LinkedIn message as well, which eventually helped me break into IB.

Phone call/coffee is the way to go. Try to set something up near their office and usually they will give you 30 min of their time.

 

I get hundreds of emails a day through my work email, if I get an email not relevant to actual work, I am probably deleting or moving to a "to read" file which will probably never be read.

LinkedIn is usually a better option for me to actually look at your message.

However I only check linked in every month or so.

Also note, if you send a particularly long/desperate/crazy/weird/bizarre/overconfident/under-confident/depressed/excited message, that message & profile will get sent around

 

My experience breaking into IB:

I used LinkedIn to mine info then used WSO and other resources to hit the work email of investment bankers. I noticed early on that I got the most traction with junior level guys' work email, with a hit rate of about 1% during recruiting season (Sept / Oct). (actually if they have their personal email on linked in that worked the best, with a ~50% hit rate, but most people don't provide that for obvious reasons.)

However, for networking purposes (ie contacting more senior level people outside of IB, mostly corporate strategy / executive management from my alma mater or industry etc.) I use Linkedin exclusively and the hit rate is ~50% for messages that end up in coffees or phone calls.

Point is I think that analysts and associates are most receptive to their work emails being hit up during recruiting season. They expect it, and it gives them a welcomed break from their work to grab a coffee. Whereas, other times during the year the might not get the slack from their associate / VP for 30 minutes in the middle of the day to meet with you. In the former I think work email works better, in the latter probably linkedin is more effective.

*hit rate refers to messages sent that ended up in coffee meetings

 

I am 10x more likely to reply to a message on LinkedIn than on my work email. I somewhat dislike receiving cold emails and am unlikely to respond unless there's a connection of some kind. While I was in bschool, I mostly contacted non alums through LinkedIn (unless I had an introduction) and while I don't have actual figures, I would think I got a much better response rate with LinkedIn than with cold email (I did not enjoy paying the LinkedIn fees though, but that's another story).

On the other hand, if you are networking with bankers, most (all??) banks block LinkedIn so LinkedIn might not be as effective.

 

I think you get a huge advantage messaging through LinkedIn (especially with people who have the app on their phones) versus e-mail. Getting the notifications on my phone makes me check my page more often. I've also used LinkedIn extensively to get some phone time and converted plenty into great friends and job interviews when done right.

I never really had to use InMail, but I would often send a connection request and gave my personal intro in that limited block. If you can't introduce yourself and build a connection in that space, people probably won't want to talk to you anyways. Mine was always something along the lines of ......

"My name is XXX, I am a [class year] at school interested in a career in [banking/S&T/ER/etc.]. Would you have some time to talk next week for 10-15 minutes about what you do?" End with some school saying if they are an alum of your school. - I'd say this got me about 75% response rate. Especially if they are a 2nd connection. If they don't respond to that invite but accept your connection request, then send them a personal message to re-hash and push a bit more.

Also, the number of e-mails people in senior / exec positions get daily is just awful. Messages are constantly lost or never seen.

Best of luck, you can do it!

...
 

This goes for cold emailing as well as LinkedIn, but when you're creating a template to use, be sure to sound like a normal person and not so automated like you'll find with most online templates (BIWS specifically). Be sure to read it over a bunch of times, send it off to some friends, parents, professors to get their advice on how to make it sound the most natural.

 

Agree with the stuff about building a relationship. However, if you're a senior in college and you just became interested in finance or whatever you have to be more direct. Or if it's October of junior year and you're trying to be an SA. The consequence is that more people are simply going to ignore you for being so upfront, but it just means you'll have to send in more volume. For a freshman or sophomore, "relationship building" makes more sense.

 

@Brian777" I know...but is it uncommon and will hurt me? Is there any other option? I dont think one can lateral without banking experience.. correct? So my only option is to either start with 2017 class or join as an associate after MBA...?

 

That may be true for that particularly analyst's group or bank, but certainly not the case across all banks. There's a preference for guys with previous banking experience, sure. But some of the top ranked analysts in my class were former TS guys that lateral usually with 1-2 years of experience. Maybe less knowledgeable about the M&A/IPO/financing process initially, but had no issues catching up because they were more familiar with the financial statements, better with excel, certainly more mature, and frankly hungrier than the other first years.

You're proabbly not lateraling into GS/MS/LAZ/Centerview/etc., but legitimate MM banks and sometimes lower-tiered BBs do happen (from both audit and from TS).

 

Most bankers have the ability to forward promising resumes to HR, so I wouldn't fully believe any analyst (or more senior member) that says he isn't able to do so. However, as a recipient of a lot of LinkedIn messages, I'd try to target people with similar educational backgrounds, personal backgrounds, and work backgrounds (better yet, people who whom have gone from TS to banking). You're much more likely to receive a helpful response when you share some connection.

 

"In commercial real estate, no one has ever said to me 'Oh he was too aggressive.'" - This advice was recently given to me by one of my seniors. Get out there and message them. Assert yourself. Fire away!

 

It's a great tool. Personally I'd try alumni who work in the industry first.

Your goal should be to get a face to face with them. Tell them you're interested in the industry and you'd like to meet for coffee to learn more. Ask them for advice. Get as much information out of them in the meeting as you can, and naturally they will keep you in mind for jobs. It's very rare you're going to find someone who says, "Hey! Actually we have some open positions right now!". However if you form a relationship with them and they like you, they'll not only keep their eyes open within their own company, but in others that they have relationships with.

 
rothyman:
It's a great tool. Personally I'd try alumni who work in the industry first.

Your goal should be to get a face to face with them. Tell them you're interested in the industry and you'd like to meet for coffee to learn more. Ask them for advice. Get as much information out of them in the meeting as you can, and naturally they will keep you in mind for jobs. It's very rare you're going to find someone who says, "Hey! Actually we have some open positions right now!". However if you form a relationship with them and they like you, they'll not only keep their eyes open within their own company, but in others that they have relationships with.

That's a really good point. I think what you say works best in the long term, building relationships and network. But what if a person is in the market to find a job ASAP? Wouldn't asking to meet face to face over coffee be just as difficult as asking if there are any openings currently, when that message is coming from a stranger?

 

We had a few guys in my MBA who interfaced with bankers and recruiters in advance of going to school.

In general it is a good idea. My firm actually sponsors an official "pre-MBA" recruiting event to meet candidates before they even start school.

LinkedIn is a great tool to find the right people. Reaching out to working alumni of your future MBA is a great place to start. Also you could send emails / inmail to recruiters and get on their radar screen very early.

Be careful as there are downsides to this plan, particularly if you are a career changer and don't know anything about finance. You could stick your foot in your mouth or make yourself look stupid.

 

Start talking to people now, some people even get an intership before they start MBA programs. I'm a fan of linkedin and got my current job by networking there. Even if they won't connect with you, plug their name into the company's email format for about a 70% hit rate.

Introduce yourself, ask about what they do, and try to get a coffee meeting.

It helps to wait a few weeks between a linkedin rejection and a cold email. People have short memories and you can usually start fresh with the cold email. Good luck.

Get busy living
 

LinkedIn is an excellent way to network. I know a lot of people that have found their current positions through LinkedIn.

Some advice first - make sure your profile is in excellent condition. Your work experience shouldn't be vague, but very clearly state your measurable success. Next, get credible people (not just your friends) to endorse your skills and leave comments attesting to your excellent work. Also, keep you work and areas of expertise very focused on the type of job you want to obtain - too broad means that you aren't taking it very seriously. Finally, use a professional photographer to take a picture of you. It should be in a work setting with business attire.

Carefully choose who you want to network with. If it starts to look like you might be copy and pasting an email to everyone you can find, people will be very uninterested. I am sure that you already know this, but really take the time to learn about them, their company, and if you can about their specific job or role within the company before sending them a message.

 

It will get forwarded to his e-mail, but will be forwarded by linkedin (usually with an obnoxious LinkedIn logo) and he may think it's an add or spam blocker might screen it. It's worth a shot. Good luck

 

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