Networking: Ways to keep in touch 3-6 months down the road

WSO has been instrumental in my development in the realm of networking, and there have been some very solid posts in the past. Between the excel networking template and many other posts on this forum, I think most of the bases are covered. However, and this seems to be a common trend in doing internet searches on this topic as well, there is just not that much concrete information on how to continue to remain in touch with people, especially ones that play a huge part in recruitment.

I'm interested in hearing the different ways people stay in touch 3-6 months down the road and continue developing that relationship.

For me, I plan on reaching out to an MD and Associate before Christmas, but I am struggling to draft an appropriate email for each of them. I met them 1 time back in March/April when they came to my university to speak with a group of students, but have not followed back up with them since sending my thank you emails for coming.

Any tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sil You hit the nail on the head and that is the biggest thing I am having difficulty with. I agree with you and you're right, these should not just be some random type emails. I don't think either of them have been promoted since I met them, but I can definitely do some research and see if there is a recent transaction. I want this to be a genuine email, as these connections will form the basis of my lateral recruiting efforts for next year. Are there any other methods you have used in the past?

 
Best Response

What Ruhm suggested is actually a very good idea. I sent something similar to the following when I was networking:

"Hi Mark the MD,

Thanks again for speaking with me on the phone back in August. As I continue networking and learning more about IB and Goldman Sachs in particular, I was wondering if you knew anyone else at GS who would be willing to give me some time, maybe an analyst who could give me some color into a day in the life of. Thank you again- I appreciate it.

Best, TVM_Monkey"

 

What I usually did was asking them to connect me with somebody in a specific field (department, industry, product, ...) to get some additional info. In my opinion, it has multiple advantages:

  • Your name pops up, so they're more likely to recognize it later
  • It's rather easy for them to do; it doesn't require them to hold your hand for hours
  • They're sort of vouching for you, and people allegedly like you more if they can do you a favor
  • It shows your interest for the field

Otherwise you can ask them for a call/coffee chat if that is applicable. As long as you remain professional and do not waste their time.

 

Ruhm Thanks for the advice. I think this could be a viable email I could send them in the next week or so. Sentence 1: Re-introduce myself and remind them where we met Sentence 2: Relate back to in person interaction (luckily I can do this I took notes on what we talked about) Sentence 3: Ask them if there if there is any they could connect me with -Question on this though: Is this appropriate to ask to an MD? Sentence 4: Conclude the email and wish them either a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Question on this as well: Which is more appropriate: Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays? My instincts tell me Christmas would be perfectly fine, but I still want to maintain professionalism.

 

Looks good!

Sentence 3: Make sure that your sentence relates to something specific and that they will not believe you're looking for info you could get online easily. This is easier done with an associate for sure, but if you ask for something somewhat familiar to the MD he'll probably know somebody who can help you. (E.g. I would not ask a FI S&T guy about a recommendation regarding a specific M&A field. Try to remain in somewhat adjacent fields.)

Sentence 4: I'd stick with Happy Holidays just to be safe, but at this point you're starting to overthink it ;) (I tend to err on the PC side when dealing with people I do not know well, damn liberal college.)

Glad it helped!

 

Yeah incomingSA I think that is definitely a good point to include. Just as Sil mentioned above, we don't want this to be just a random email or a random call. At the end of the day, I want it to have a genuine feel, which is why I will include something personal that we talked about when I met them in person. I am currently reading How to Win Friends and Influence People and I've realized you have to give before you take and a mutual beneficial relationship has to be formed, which is why I'm looking for more ways to reach out besides just asking for a call.

 

What if you make international calls from your company phone? (e.g. if your friends/parents live overseas). I'd imagine that banks will check your call history but up to what point will this actually be an issue?

 

My bank told me that I would need to use my personal cell phone for all of my personal calls. I would say: Don't do it on the company's dime, but feel free to step outside every so often (once a week?) to briefly call home. You should really consider just using your free time to keep in touch. For example: During your commute to the office, while eating breakfast in the morning, on the weekends, etc. I recommend using email for keeping in touch with international friends and family instead of the phone.

If you're looking to make 1 hour calls every couple of days to chat with your parents, you're probably going to have to sacrifice part of that closeness.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

By the way: Are you a summer or a full time? Your profile makes it appear as though you're going full time. Bryan1, maybe try to be a little more tactful in your response?

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

You guys are taking yourselves way too seriously. Of course you can make personal calls. Hell, I called Mexico to reserve a hotel room for my vacation from my desk. Of course, I am full-time, but still. Plus, you guys will be in IBD (vs. S&T), which means you do nothing the entire first half the day anyway. What better time to call home? You're just sitting around until early evening when your boss will take a giant shit on your desk and ruin yet another night.

 

my friend worked at GS for 2 years as an I-banker. his parents flew 2000 miles to see him in New York and go see a show on broadwy. When he told his boss that he was leaving for the night, she laughed at him, and told him they have too much work to do. He even said he was coming in on Sunday. And she replied with, I know you'll be here on Sunday, but in the meantime get back to work. Talk about taking a big shit to ruin a night, that was brutal...

 

You should really consider just using your free time to keep in touch. For example: During your commute to the office, while eating breakfast in the morning, on the weekends, etc. I recommend using email for keeping in touch with international friends and family instead of the phone.

I say, dont call them. If they want to talk, they can call you. You have too mnuch work to do to speak on the phone for personal issues.

 

I'm gonna be a fulltimer indeed. During the summer I made several international calls from my desk's phone: haven't heard a single word from anybody (and I'm returning at the same bank). Was just wondering whether other people have had different experiences.

 

If anyone thinks that someone is going to be scanning your phone bill for international or personal calls, you really don't know how a real business is resourced. Calls don't cost a lick. Why would they staff someone to check over phone bills?

Just don't do it to excess. Be reasonable. If you made a call every once in a while, no one cares.

-------------- Either you sling crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot
 

Well...wasn't there a thread on this forum before about an associate who got caught for occasionaly dialing sex lines out of his company's mobile phone?

Surely they WILL monitor calls. But I agree with you that if one were to make some personal calls now and then, that must not be a big deal.

BSD123:
If anyone thinks that someone is going to be scanning your phone bill for international or personal calls, you really don't know how a real business is resourced. Calls don't cost a lick. Why would they staff someone to check over phone bills?

Just don't do it to excess. Be reasonable. If you made a call every once in a while, no one cares.

 

i highly doubt they monitor calls rembrant. what a waste of time. 900 sex numbers are an entirely different story. those are setup to charge you money no matter what calling plan you have. accounting would catch that im sure. anyway that other thread was completely fabricated. it never happened.

i cant imagine any large company paying for phone calls on a call to call basis. im sure they are all setup to make unlimited calls to anywhere around the world for some annual flat rate.

The reason I started this thread wasn't to find out how to avoid getting caught making personal calls. I just wanted to see if chatting on the phone during the day here and there was looked down upon. or frankly if as long as you get your work done and arent bothering anyone, no one gives a shit.

 
IronBanker:
i highly doubt they monitor calls rembrant. what a waste of time. 900 sex numbers are an entirely different story. those are setup to charge you money no matter what calling plan you have. accounting would catch that im sure. anyway that other thread was completely fabricated. it never happened.

i cant imagine any large company paying for phone calls on a call to call basis. im sure they are all setup to make unlimited calls to anywhere around the world for some annual flat rate.

The reason I started this thread wasn't to find out how to avoid getting caught making personal calls. I just wanted to see if chatting on the phone during the day here and there was looked down upon. or frankly if as long as you get your work done and arent bothering anyone, no one gives a shit.

I never make personal phone calls during the day (9-5). I make my personal phone calls during dinner or later in the evening. But you should really tryto keep the amount of time you spend on the phone in check, not because the company will care, but your cube mates will get annoyed fast.

 

There is no way you're going to keep in touch with everyone, you're probably only going to stay in touch with the people you became friends with. If you're interested in staying in touch solely for networking purposes, don't feel the need to send monthly updates. I did a 3 month stint at a small boutique where there were only a small handful of interns. We became facebook friends but never spoke or exchanged words. Three years later I got an email from one of the other two interns and now we're planning on meeting up for lunch in the near future. He is still a banker so I'm going to need to hit him up for deal flow!

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

Congratulations on getting an offer! You should keep in contact through e-mail first and if you have questions, shoot him an e-mail and let him know you have a few questions if he has the time (let him give available times for calling you). Make sure though that you don't ask him, like you said, menial things that belongs to HR (i.e. can you pair me with a roommate).

 

Thanks, also this might be a dumb question but after the interview I already sent him a thank you email. Should I send him yet another email after he extended an offer to me via phone?

 
BankingLifestyle:

I would love to email him about some interesting reads I pass by maybe like once a month

That's a good way to go about it.

 

I'd add not to just send him an article or something but ask his opinion on it. I've learned way more from a senior person's interpretations.

Keep up to date on his firm/group too, if you can. "Congrats on the big win" can go a long way, if applicable.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Yes, that's a better way than a simple "how's it going" type of email. I'd scale it back to every other month unless you see something directly related to their firm or his group that's applicable to him. Or, and I'd assume you've talked about something other than pure work related stuff since you've met him three times, send an article about a shared interest. Not something generic like "did you see the Pacman Mayweather fight," but more like "I know you said you were looking for a new driver and I bought/demo'd a ________ and the thing is great. Check it out if you have a chance." Try to be a human being.

 
Dingdong08:

Yes, that's a better way than a simple "how's it going" type of email. I'd scale it back to every other month unless you see something directly related to their firm or his group that's applicable to him. Or, and I'd assume you've talked about something other than pure work related stuff since you've met him three times, send an article about a shared interest. Not something generic like "did you see the Pacman Mayweather fight," but more like "I know you said you were looking for a new driver and I bought/demo'd a ________ and the thing is great. Check it out if you have a chance." Try to be a human being.

This.

And if you know anything about him personally (maybe he's a Yankees fan or something) then forward that along too (like a good read)... Not everything has to be about work. That way you'll be remembered as the sharp kid who's nice but also connects with said MD on multiple levels.

Good Luck.

I used to do Asia-Pacific PE (kind of like FoF). Now I do something else but happy to try and answer questions on that stuff.
 

Thanks- Really good insights. Definitely like the idea of sending him some emails not relating to work. I think often times, we forget that these MD's are human beings too and would much rather be on the greens than in an office (at least i think so haha).

 
  1. Your top priority should be SA to FT conversion. Just because you want to jump ship doesn't mean it's going to happen, and at least lock down a fulltime position. Additionally, the best way to demonstrate that you're competent and likeable in an IBD setting is to get an offer from the bank you summered at; if you're not good enough to get an offer at XYZ regional firm, then what makes you think that a BB or elite boutique would take you over the dozens of kids who have offers and want their limited slots?

  2. Staying in touch doesn't mean constantly emailing them. Maybe email them toward the middle/end of your internship and updating them on how everything is going, but noting that you're still interested in their firm for whatever reasons. Ask what steps you can take to best position yourself for FT recruiting. Hopefully this'll get you into some accelerated superdays.

  3. Another option, assuming you have an offer and live reasonably close to a target school, is to just show up to target school's info sessions for FT recruiting. Tell them you have an offer but you'd like to interview with your firm because of your interest for whatever reasons.

  4. This doesn't work quite as well, but finding the recruiters for various firms and contacting them can work as well. Again, works better when you have an offer in hand. Sometimes it's difficult to find emails (and people don't always respond to emails), but you can get around that by just calling the firm's front desk and asking to be transferred to HR.

 

^thanks for the advice. I know I have to get an offer first from the place I will be at. I was wondering if anyone knew about accelerated superdays and how those work and approx when they occur. My internship ends in the 2-3 week of August. Dealing with HR I think wouldn't help since 1. im from a nontarget 2. i already got turned down from their company. Only way I got the interviews in the first place was cause someone internally pushed for me.

 
Notorious23:
^thanks for the advice. I know I have to get an offer first from the place I will be at. I was wondering if anyone knew about accelerated superdays and how those work and approx when they occur. My internship ends in the 2-3 week of August. Dealing with HR I think wouldn't help since 1. im from a nontarget 2. i already got turned down from their company. Only way I got the interviews in the first place was cause someone internally pushed for me.

Accelerated superdays happen literally right after BB internships end (like within a week, so that everyone is still in NYC). I'm not entirely sure how they work since it's different for each bank, but I got invited through a connection pushing for me so that approach may work for you as well.

Just because you got turned down doesn't mean you can't try with HR again; one thing to try is to just go up to recruiters at career fairs or over the phone and say "I have an offer from X that expires soon; I'm really interested in your bank and wanted to know if there was anything I could do to recruit on an accelerated basis." Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you never know til you try.

 

Just reach out and tell him you enjoyed talking to him and you'd like to connect with him again if you're in the area, or he's in your area, whatever. Then send follow-ups periodically asking for his advice about your full-time job, some activities you can involved in, other stuff. When people give you advice they become vested. Also, be interested in his life. (in a non-creepy way) Periodically call once a month or so and see how he's doing. Send him articles, ask what he thinks about the market, sports teams, whatever. Then he'll actually be more of a mentor/friend. Then you can easily ask for advice when you're looking to get into that company later, which will be a recommendation from him (that he'll offer for you)

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there" - Will Rogers
 

I always thank these people for the talks right after the presentation if possible. Try and find out some unique things about them. Then I sent articles or news pieces to these people whenever I see something they may like

It's worked well. People like when you do the content curation for them

 

Rerum temporibus ut reprehenderit ratione pariatur quod nihil. Nisi fuga quia sunt suscipit et voluptas magnam. Voluptate alias et est. Et sequi quod voluptatem qui sapiente quos nesciunt porro. Voluptates dolor a eum nisi quos eum.

Ut ut iusto modi autem magnam. Reiciendis aut et quia aut voluptatum. Alias sint consectetur occaecati veniam.

Ut facere voluptatem laborum sed consequatur neque. Et aut soluta facere consequatur facilis culpa. Eos rem error qui unde.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”