My progress so far with cold-calling
Hi everyone,
I'm a rising junior at a semi-target. This is officially my first post on WSO. I'd like to share my progress in cold-calling/emailing and wanted to see if anyone else would to share theirs as well. For what its worth, here are the stats:
In 22 business days, I have: - contacted 65 people from MBB+Deloitte/OW - met up with 17 so far; will be 24 by end of next week
My goal is to meet/plan to meet at least 35 by the end of the summer.
A couple of questions: 1) Has anyone been networking this way as well? How are your results?
2) Now that I have established rapport with these people, how should I go about maintaining the relationship and ultimately, ask them to put in a good word? I find it weird and preppy to send them articles on what's happening in the industry... Also, some of my connections know each other, and inevitably talk amongst each other - I once had a person ask me if I had approached a colleague of theirs in their group. If I send all these people the same copy-paste follow up emails, it'll look horrible.
3) How many times before recruitment and how long before recruitment should I contact them? Finally, how do I tactfully ask a person to put in a good word for me?
I'm new to cold-calling so any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
va643can
Nice work! I didn't contact nearly as many people as you did but I just started cold-calling as well and have two coffee chats coming up in a week.
How have you been starting off your e-mails? I sometimes feel as if I'm being too straight up and aggressive, curious to see what you have been doing if you don't mind sharing.
I would LinkedIn with them and via e-mail/phone ask any quetions you may have to start up the conversation which I would then turn it into just a casual chat. Also, I've been asking for their fall recruitment schedules and showing them interest in a FT position (rising senior here). Some companies have said that is hasnt been finalized and would contact me back. Another good way to keep the conversation going.
Don't nag them too much. When you're talking to them act genuinely interested in the company and the people there. You want to be good friends with them while maintaining professionalism.
It probably helps to be near a financial hub. No such luck for me. Over the past half year, I've talked with 30-40 people over the phone but haven't met with anyone yet. I'm also curious as to whether or not you have a summer internship since it seems like your full time job is networking.
Hi guys,
Thanks for the suggestion, oowij - I'll PM you with my e-mail template.
nontarget, I have a full-time summer internship at a VC firm. Thankfully, I work right downtown in a major financial centre so the longest time it takes me to walk/take a subway to each of the firm's offices is 15 minutes. 15 minutes to get there, 30 minute coffee chat, and 15 minutes to return = my 1 hour lunch break, so it works out quite well.
I've also done quite a few phone calls since many consultants are on the road. I prefer meeting in person MUCH better than speaking over the phone - establishes a different relationship.
Awesome, thanks. I'll do the same and send you my main template as well.
I couldn't agree more with the quality over quantity. During my internship recruiting season, I had an associate who I built rapport with and constantly kept in touch via e-mails. When resume deadlines rolled around, I was instantly put into the final rounds after sending him my resume/cover letter solely because of my close relationship with him. These small, yet close/personal relationships, can really go a long way even after your internship/FT recruitment.
va643can, or anyone else who can chime in, have you guys been taking your resume/cover letters when going in to meet for coffee or maybe even an informal interview?
That's way too many - keep in mind that just talking to a 100 people does very little. What's more important is that you create a small, but "high quality" relations, because the really important thing is you want someone out there to advocate for you when you apply. Because once the interview call comes in, it doesn't matter much anymore.
I'd say cultivate a few from each firm, no more, that way you're not wasting your time on random calls. And cultivating a good relation doesn't mean sending them random stuff and bugging them frequently. It means attempt to meet them once, and then keep short "I'm interested" / "here's where I am with my recruiting effort" updates - and that way when the time comes they will remember you.
I completely agree with this post. Quality over quantity.
Thanks, kenripley - I had a similar feeling. In terms of keeping in touch, would it be advisable to ask them for a quick resume review during recruitment time? Most of the people that I've spoken to have insisted I get in touch with them during recruiting season to either discuss interviews, resume/cover letter, or case question practice. Also, would you say its alright to try and schedule another phone call/coffee chat with them to do the above, or just stick to email?
Thanks for the direction once again folks.
@va643can:
meeting > phone chat > email
If they tell you "get in touch during recruiting", then do that. Get in touch politely, asking for resume review is always a good idea, but doing that in person is best. Show interest, but don't come across as someone who's dug through the firms web site and is parroting the material. Talk a bit about you and let them talk more about them.
What I want to emphasis is that you don't want to come across as desperate, keep that in mind. Sometimes people get too eager - and what happens is once your target puts the phone down, he's going to look at his colleagues and say "this guy's annoying!" and that's the end of your chances (through him/her).
Subd
I haven't, simply because I feel it would be too forward for a first meeting where we're trying to learn a bit about each other. It may work with some people, but I personally would much rather build a relationship with the person first.
oowij, I'm unable to send private messages because I don't yet have 15 banana points. I think it'd be better if you sent me the message first and if we continued on from there.
Happy networking!
What I was thinking as well. I didn't want to seem too pushy as if I were forcing them to look at my resume and consider me for a position in the near future.
Sent you a PM
dude great progress...would you mind PMing me the template as well?
Could you share your cold-emailing/calling format?
Hi mcbz3 and neoachilles,
I am unable to send PMs as I don't yet have 15 banana points. Please PM me and we'll go from there.
Thanks
same problem on my end, lmao. gotta use the forum first for a while, i guess.
Could you please PM the cold emailing template? thanks!
Hey va643can, oowij
can you guys email me your template? My email is [email protected].
I just got started here, there's a ton of helpful content.
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