Unique Predicament. Suggestions? (Basically how do I leverage my "luck" into a FT offer?)

Yo! I guess I'm in search of some advice.

Basics: Just turned 23 (yesterday). Finished a BA (International Economics) at an overall non-target (top 10 nationally in the field, overall top 60-70? School is rising rapidly, but still not where it should be (3.81 GPA, cum laude) in 3 years, and a Masters (International Econ, Finance, Statistics) at same school (dual degree, 3.7 GPA) 2 years (expected to finish winter 2014). Took a large number of MBA level finance/accounting/stats classes. Went to the school because my dad is a tenured professor, so I had no choice (and granted 0 student debt). Speak fluent Mandarin (as in I can work in a Chinese Asset Management firm where no one speaks English fluent) and Hebrew. Loads of international work and living experience (Lived overseas multiple times). Relevant internship experience: equity research analyst in Shanghai @ a MM, Market development internship in Hong Kong (F500 company), VC internship in Tel aviv (still by far the weakest aspect of my resume aside from non-target - I stupidly sacrificed 2 finance related internship opportunities in order to graduate sooner.). Extremely strong excel (longtime lurker here on WSO...thanks for the help!), Bloomberg, SAS, STATA skills. In terms of "China" (since i guess that is my biggest differentiating factor and as you may have also inferred - I am not 100% ethnically Chinese), my "guanxi" network is ironclad (basically my mother's ex-classmates who have done VERY well in the private and public sector).

Anyways, here is my predicament. I've been a part time certified private ski instructor for the better half of the past 6 years which has allowed me to directly network with many upper management (or higher) level individuals in the banking world. Moreover, my parents live in a condo-hotel where many of these same extremely high net worth people own units. This has subsequently allowed me to use the past 3-4 years to network with a similar if more athletically minded subset of individuals that I wouldn't have normally had access to (I mean who else can afford to have 2nd/3rd/4th homes in Vail? Think CFO/upper level MD types/also lots of top level mutual fund/pe guys.). Many of them have expressed an almost embarassing level of enthusiasm over my future prospects ("holy shit, I wish I was you," blah blah blah"), but my question is as follows: how do I broach the subject of actual employment? Is it possible to leverage my network into a FT offer? It's one thing to have interesting discussions about economics, finance, and what not while skiing/drinking/etc.. (i.e. indirectly demonstrate my understanding of financial/economic/statistical/business concepts/markets), but I feel its an entirely different thing to ask for a job opportunity?

Maybe I'm just overly sensitive and think it would be a bit awkward to ask about getting an opportunity when they are on their winter vacations? My gut tells me they will just give GS/Guggenheim/BlackRock etcs HR department my resume (and then I will get filtered out because I didn't go to a target school). How much weight does having a top level person passing down my resume really carry? Or am I looking at this the wrong way and I should really just be forthright and ask? I'm graduating soon and am getting kind of antsy about getting a job. This whole ramen diet stuff is getting old.

How should I proceed? I'm mainly interested in getting a job in PE/AM, but since I plan on getting an MBA (710 GMAT, all of the above differentiating factors...prob should get in somewhere? I don't think admissions staff care about legacy, but my dad did get into HBS and then decided to drop out to finish his PHD @ Columbia. Biggest regret of his life!) at a target school after 2-4 years of work experience, I could really go for just about anything (the more interesting the better - I am not chasing $$$).

TLDR: Kid forced to go to Non-target (father is a professor) with good grades/speaks fluent chinese/ has a business minded BA/MA hit an accidental networking grand slam because of part time job/circumstances - not sure how to proceed.

 
Best Response

Networking is always much more powerful than HR resume drop. The HR drone system can easily miss something. The right person accelerates your CV right to the top. Also, re: networking. You don't have to (and shouldn't) ask them for a job. Ask to have a general conversation about a particular career, you want to bounce some ideas of off them about where you want to go, etc. Most will be open to that. Then a small portion will be open to directly helping you by putting a good word, submitting your CV etc. Asking for the general conversation and asking good questions etc. it will be obvious to whomever you are talking to that you are looking for a job. Then if they want to help they will. Just have your "story" very cleanly crafted so they can very cleanly and easily help you, i.e. don't give them 5 different things you want to do, give them ONE, CLEAR story so they can easily, without effort and without concern that you are a waffle, put their name behind your CV.

 

First of all thanks for your reply. Basically you are advocating that I kind of tacitly lure them into a neo-interview where I've already game planned the answers . E.g. "What are you interested in Dave?" "I've been considering P.e., do you think it would be a good fit?" ".....yes, are you interested in jobs such as X?" "actually I am and here is why" etc etc etc. Show I did my homework. i.e. Answer it the same way as if prompted in a real interview such as "Why PE?/Why do you think this position is a good fit for you?" etc.

Moreover, is it a possible problem that these people are too "distant" from HR? Sure they might be a senior mgmt. figure, but what good does that do if the HR people have no clue who they are (on a personal basis)?

The other weird thing I noticed is that these guys often try to dissuade me from following in their footsteps. One upper level guy @ blackrock was extremely set in his conviction that the whole LBO thing was trash and in his words "a blackhole that ruins your life, but hey I got lucky in the early 90s before anyone knew wtf a LBO was (coming from a nontarget), so fuck yeah $$$. Go to China, start a VC firm focused on abetting Chinese middle class consumption, make $, 10/10 would do that it if I were you." Alcohol also seems to be a big hit with this crowd.

 

You have access to a variety of influential people in your field of choice (including your dad and his industry friends/peers). Having some of them recommend you can be even better than a few years of relevant work experience. If you get a recommendation from the right person and then prepare a good presentation for the interview, you'll be golden, and you may be able to skip some of the peon positions that other people have to start in. At the least, you may get paid quite a bit more to do the peon work.

Tell some of your connections that you're looking for (specific position) in (specific industry/company) and ask them if they know anyone who you could talk to about a job.

 

Easy :). My mother is Shanghainese (so I learned Mandarin Chinese and Shanghai dialect (which I forgot) as a little kid) and my family made Aliyah to Israel in 1991 (Dad is your typical Jewish New Yorker. Lived in Netanya until 1995), studied the language for 13 years in school and then studied abroad in Tel Aviv twice/interned once in Holon.

I should really pull the double ethnic minority thing down the road (MBA time) and pray to god that they don't actually delve further. My ethnic makeup isn't exactly advantageous...

Edit: Now that I think about it, the best way to phrase the overall question is actually quite simple - "How does a non-target candidate best utilize a strong network to catch up?"

 

You state you have access to these big shots in plural form. My suggestion would be to just do it, wing it with one of them and ask if he had advice for you to get a position in XYZ. If it fails, approach it differently the next time and keep going. You will never know how to do it until you just do it, having access to multiple people gives you room to fail.

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 

Thanks for your input. In terms of a topic, should I basically tell the PE guy I'm interested in X position in the PE industry (and be rather direct), or should I take a more surrepticious/circuitous route by say asking the PE guy what he thinks about Y position in IBD (just for an example).

It also seems at this early stage that those who went to non-targets seem more willing/enthusiastic (which makes sense to me). Of the approx. 8-10 people to which I am referring to, over half have never even set foot in a H/B/W type setting. I guess there is hope!

 

Dolor quia rem quis ea voluptates reiciendis aut. Fugit recusandae dicta minus. Tempora libero ratione voluptas nisi excepturi quia. Corrupti omnis quis in delectus est quam numquam.

Est sit id cumque praesentium velit quibusdam. Modi harum ex aut itaque autem laudantium eum. Eum iste tempore autem corporis quidem adipisci.

Amet nobis dolore inventore officiis. Ea consequatur est repellendus iure velit vero eos. Molestiae esse a aperiam modi dolor accusamus.

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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
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...”