Need non-target help!
I am a rising senior at a non-target school. I have a mediocre GPA (3.1) and no investment banking experience to speak of. I have worked/interned at Merrill Lynch for a financial advisor for the past year and have a contact at an investment bank that is helping me get an interview for a winter internship. I want to start cold calling smaller banks to try for full-time recruiting but am not sure how to leverage my "experience" to make a convincing case. Any cold calling help would be greatly appreciated.
Email all the boutiques you will find out there. And call the ones that don't give out their email addresses. I did that and I got bunch of interviews and offers that way. Good luck!
What should I say in the email? I go to school in myrtle beach,sc so I'm not really close to a financial center.
@tdhenry031
Plenty of banks in Charlotte and Raleigh
I feel like I have exhausted my list of banks in Charlotte. I have sent out a lot of emails (that's how I got my one contact and informational interview) but more often than not I don't get a response. What can I do to improve my response rate? Do you have a list of some boutiques in Raleigh?
Directly call MDs at these boutiques. I wouldn't email them.
What should I say when I call to make them listen? I'm coming from a small school so how do I convince them to take me over someone from a bigger school?
I think the best way is just to try it and figure out what works and what doesnt. Theres alot of opportunities out there and if you mess up on your first couple its not a big deal, you can even go back later and try the same places again.
btw Im in the same (or worse) situation as you (3.1 gpa, non target, I dont even have any actual internship experience), I only called 5 boutique banks so far and got a phone interview for a possible internship. Not sure if anything will happen (I have no experience) but its kinda fun trying to get people to give you a job.
staying positive is really important
Tell them the reason you want to be in the industry, ask them about their path and why they wanted to do it, and ask for any advice. Talk to them. LISTEN.
People hire those who they want to be around. If you come across as calm, intelligent, and enthusiastic most will give you a shot.
GPA cut offs and school pedigrees are both just a hedge. When you get thousands and thousands of applicants and don't have time to meet and screen all of them, picking the 4.0 from Harvard is a safer bet than the 2.8 from Coastal Carolina. That 2.8 kid could be brilliant and have legitimate reasons for fucking up in school (trust me, I would know) but more often than not he's just lazy or dumb or something. The Harvard kid? Far more likely to not be a waste of time.
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I started emailing a lot of MD's at various boutique banks and have 3 phone calls set up already. How do I transition the informational phone call into more of a networking/job hunting conversation if it is going well?
I think you're overthinking it. If you're frank with them about why you're calling, i.e. "I want to be an investment banker," it should come out naturally in the conversation.
"What path did you take to get where you are?" Follow up: "Would you recommend a similar path for me?"
"What does your company specifically look for in a candidate?" Follow up: "That's great that you said _____, _____, and ______. I really got to experience ______ when I ______ed and I learned ______ from it."
Keep going with stuff like that and it should get obvious whether or not he likes you and would like to interview you. If so, excellent. If not? Ask him if he would take a look at your resume and point out a flaw, or just a flaw in your current makeup. Or, if he likes you but actually can't hire you, ask him to refer you to people or give you names of people at other companies to contact. At least get something out of the call - even if what you get isn't an interview it can be a victory.
Trust me too that he knows the game, so drop any pretense about why you're calling. Just be upfront. Chances are he did it himself and it's even more likely that you aren't the first person to cold email him about getting a job.
Finally, make sure to ask each MD if they would be interested in a guy with shit grades from a shit school but with an otherwise sick resume who works in commercial real estate.
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