9 Comments
 

You'll have much higher success with e-mailing VPs+ if you have some connection with them be it university or fraternity alumni. You should join your UGs LinkedIn alumni network and try finding alums in finance that you can email. I was surprised by the amount of people I found for being from a non-target myself.

But yeah it's fine to e-mail people outside of your alumni network, your timing is just going to have to work in your favor, and you better give them a reason to get on the phone with you.

 
Best Response

This is entirely fine and the trick here is to keep it short. Do not waste a revenue generating employee's time with a long email explaining your life story to them. If you have a decent resume/background they will help you with certainty. Here's a decent template for you.

"Hi my name is [insert] and I went to school at [insert] majoring in [insert] and am interested in [insert] group within investment banking. Given my previous experience in [insert, ideally finance related] and [insert, another wall street related activity] I believe I could be a good fit with your organization for [insert, summer intern/first year analyst] role. In particular I am interested in your [company/group] because of [reason, relate to your backgorund], [reason, relate to background] and [reason, relate to background]. If possible I would like to set up a quick phone conversation regarding any openings you may have at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your time, donkeyBusiness730"

The above is actually a tad long due to the bracketed language but it should be roughly 3-4 sentences, keep it tight and you'll be surprised, more often than not people do respond. Try to send emails on Fridays, Monday's are dead zones because everyone is catching up on weekend emails, getting ready for all the tasks for the week. If you see big red negative stock headlines in yahoo finance, also not a good idea to email as people are likely busy/in a bad mood (the last comment regards market positions such as hedge funds, mutual funds, research, sales and trading etc..)

 
WallStreetPlayboysThis is entirely fine and the trick here is to keep it short. Do not waste a revenue generating employee's time with a long email explaining your life story to them. If you have a decent resume/background they will help you with certainty. Here's a decent template for you.

"Hi my name is [insert] and I went to school at [insert] majoring in [insert] and am interested in [insert] group within investment banking. Given my previous experience in [insert, ideally finance related] and [insert, another wall street related activity] I believe I could be a good fit with your organization for [insert, summer intern/first year analyst] role. In particular I am interested in your [company/group] because of [reason, relate to your backgorund], [reason, relate to background] and [reason, relate to background]. If possible I would like to set up a quick phone conversation regarding any openings you may have at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your time, donkeyBusiness730"

The above is actually a tad long due to the bracketed language but it should be roughly 3-4 sentences, keep it tight and you'll be surprised, more often than not people do respond. Try to send emails on Fridays, Monday's are dead zones because everyone is catching up on weekend emails, getting ready for all the tasks for the week. If you see big red negative stock headlines in yahoo finance, also not a good idea to email as people are likely busy/in a bad mood (the last comment regards market positions such as hedge funds, mutual funds, research, sales and trading etc..)

SB-ed. Where were you when I was cold-calling firms.. ... ):

 
thecoldburns
WallStreetPlayboysThis is entirely fine and the trick here is to keep it short. Do not waste a revenue generating employee's time with a long email explaining your life story to them. If you have a decent resume/background they will help you with certainty. Here's a decent template for you.

"Hi my name is [insert] and I went to school at [insert] majoring in [insert] and am interested in [insert] group within investment banking. Given my previous experience in [insert, ideally finance related] and [insert, another wall street related activity] I believe I could be a good fit with your organization for [insert, summer intern/first year analyst] role. In particular I am interested in your [company/group] because of [reason, relate to your backgorund], [reason, relate to background] and [reason, relate to background]. If possible I would like to set up a quick phone conversation regarding any openings you may have at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your time, donkeyBusiness730"

The above is actually a tad long due to the bracketed language but it should be roughly 3-4 sentences, keep it tight and you'll be surprised, more often than not people do respond. Try to send emails on Fridays, Monday's are dead zones because everyone is catching up on weekend emails, getting ready for all the tasks for the week. If you see big red negative stock headlines in yahoo finance, also not a good idea to email as people are likely busy/in a bad mood (the last comment regards market positions such as hedge funds, mutual funds, research, sales and trading etc..)

SB-ed. Where were you when I was cold-calling firms.. ... ):

Probably drunk.

To be honest looking forward to the first time I see this template sent to myself. That would be a trip and a direct response warranted.

 
WallStreetPlayboys

To be honest looking forward to the first time I see this template sent to myself. That would be a trip and a direct response warranted.

What's your email again?

 
FutureWaller
WallStreetPlayboys

To be honest looking forward to the first time I see this template sent to myself. That would be a trip and a direct response warranted.

What's your email again?

Ha.

Part two of the overall interview should answer the major questions on recruiting/job searches/applicable skills. Good luck guys and hope you all break into the Street.

 

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