Phone Call With IBD MD from a BB - How to Impress?

Background:
- Freshman
- Non-Target
- Search Fund PE Internship

I had phone calls with two Associates, an Analyst and a VP at the firm recently. How can I leverage all that information during the phone call?

My goal is to get an interview for the sophomore program offered by the firm.

Thanks!

 

Why have you had so many calls with members at the firm? It's great to be proactive, but at a certain point it becomes an annoyance. Just making sure you're not e-mailing 10 people at each firm here and getting on the phone asking the same questions to all of them - if they're genuinely trying to help you out and the call came about another way, feel free to ignore this advice.

In terms of what to ask, it's best to show an interest about their firm. Have a casual conversation and try to learn more about their path to banking, what they enjoy most about working there, and try to add in any relevant news topics that you may have come across pertaining to their firm. In general, preferences vary a bit and personally, I would just want to shoot the shit and give you advice. Try not to suck up, and just be friendly.

 

Will do! Thank you for the advice. I had coffee with an Associate and he connected me to his colleagues at the firm. All the phone calls went well, and every single person asked me to follow up via email to set up a coffee date.

I'll post an update soon.

 
Best Response

Just try to have a conservation with the MD. At the end of the day, the MD is just another human being trying to find his/her way through life. If you show up and just rattle off some questions, you're going to leave a bad impression. Maybe the MD is a FIG banker, so you ask how the MD feels about the explosive growth of FinTech and what that space looks like in ten years. Maybe the MD then tells you that he thinks the space is doomed because it is not growing properly. Maybe then you show off your own knowledge by mentioning a WSJ article you read quoting JC Flowers and how JC Flowers said the same thing. The MD is impressed and takes a sip of his coffee. You then use this opportunity to ask what the MD thinks about community banks and how you've read that banks are consolidating.

 

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