Hey all,
Through a crazy series of networking with a variety of individuals, I got to a CEO of a small cap HF (sub $500M AUM) and had a sit down – throughout our conversation, he invited me to attend an honorary dinner with "tons of top people in PE/IB." After following up, he confirmed we are on and I will be attending.
Background: I'm a student, currently doing an internship at a small PE shop. I'm more interested in IB, and he stated that plenty of people in IB/PE will be in attendance.
I have never been to an honorary dinner, and to be entirely honest, am a bit spooked. I consider myself social and great at networking, I know how to speak to people and work around conversations, but as a student, I can't help but feel as if I have little to no place in this particular setting. Would it be okay to ask for business cards to follow up with individuals from different firms? What would be the best pitch to go for when speaking with people? Do individuals network at these events as you would typically expect networking to go, and is it common for students to be in attendance?
Thanks all, looking for any advice that you guys can pass along, what I should try to do/avoid, etc. Not sure what specific forum this falls under either.
Best to tread carefully. While people do expect to network with other industry folk, they are ultimately there to have a good time. The last thing they want, or would look favorably on, is a college student hounding them and giving their elevator pitch 300x. I would just allow conversations, not necessarily even about business, to occur naturally and see who you connect with the best. If you find that you are cordial with someone in particular, I would then ask for their business card. Anything else will feel forced.
That being said, I would suggest two contradicting things 1) watch how much you drink and 2) be the fun college student that will remind these guys of their younger selves. I was got a job offer from a HF PM by beating him in beer bong at a corporate gathering. Simply because we shared similar personalities and we got along. To my first point, nothing is worse than seeing that young person at a party who is wasted and acting as if they dont belong.
I suggest wearing a conservative outfit, watching how much you drink, and generally being nice and respectful. I would not pepper people with elevator pitches or questions on the latest deal. That's boring. Just be a normal human being. Say a few interesting things or ideas about art, culture, sports, whatever happens to come up in conversation.
That being said don't be shy. I think it's fine to say "Hey I'm looking for full time IBD/PE roles so I'm just here meeting people.. ." People can't help if they don't know what you want.
Dress well, be sociable but not actively networking, don't get wasted, and listen and take in as much as you can. When introduced to people, remember their names, and perhaps later you can track down their contact info and shoot them a quick "nice to meet you" email, so long as it's not done in a creepy/stalkerish manner. I wouldn't directly ask for a card or contact information unless you have an organic conversation with someone that seems sincere and lasts for more than a couple minutes.
Crucial point here. You know you're a student, the people you're around will know you're a student, so the best possible outcome is that you play a friendly, extremely polite version of a student. You are far more likely to impress people with the way you go about listening & learning than the way you go about sharing what you know.
I remember being at an event when I was in my early 20s where I got a chance to talk to a bunch of business owners in their 40s and 50s. I was in a conversation circle with three other people, and I had a meaningful point to add on top of one of their comments. I was so eager to get it out (look at me! I'm meaningfully contributing to the conversation!) that I just about cut off one of the speakers. They looked at me like I'd shit on their shoes. I had much more success with my other conversations that night.
Thanks for the insight bit – what would you say is something (looking back) you wish you could've done to leverage yourself further in that scenario?
bump
shamelessly so
My advice would be to keep any 'networking' you do to an absolute minimum. Be sociable and definitely snag the business cards, but recognize that you're the least interesting person there (no offense to you, just a byproduct of being young + a student).
Disclaimer: You seem like you're a better networker than I am, based on you getting invited to this event.
You don't need an elevator pitch by any means. People will ask you what you do, to which your response is your background/story
I feel like this would be a great situation and opportunity for you, alcohol is the best social lubricant and I would think that although it sounds like a formal event, I would be surprised if anyone at the event was really uptight and against talking.
You said you are a social guy - let this show.
As others have said, don't force conversation, dress nicely, find common ground with any of these people. I feel that the ability to have a conversation with someone and prove to them that you would be a decent person to sit next to for 100+ hours a week, is priceless in making a good impression.
I believe they call this the 'lay-over' test, where if you were stuck in an airport for a lay-over and had to talk about anything besides work, how would this person fare? Would you rather sit next to someone who can talk about the football, or a guy who can LBO on a napkin and tell you 29 digits of pie but can't construct a social sentence not pertaining to his work?
Just be yourself and don't force it. Again, phenomenal opportunity. Good luck, OP!
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