What do you do in this situation?
Cold emailed an MD at an elite boutique bank (regional office) and arranged a short phone call with him. He seemed helpful and was willing to help but his office is of full capacity at the moment. He therefore connected me with the head of HR in the London office. I don't like handling with HR. I later cold emailed MDs in the London office saying that the MD I spoken to over the phone suggested me to contact the London office. I have yet heard back from anyone.
I think there could be an opportunity here but I dont want HR to ruin my chance. Any advice on how to go from here?
Thanks a lot!
I would advise against cold emailing MDs (MD #2) and telling them a specific MD (MD #1) elsewhere referred you to them. That sets a very bad precedent if they then check with MD #1 who says they already put you in touch with a contact in London. This may make you look bad (or reflect negatively on MD #1) - neither of which is ideal. It but seems like you can either work with HR in London or cold email MDs in London without dropping MD #1's name. The only instance referring to MD #1 would be appropriate is if that MD specifically put you in touch with another.
Just my two cents. Take that for what its worth.
Just talk to hr, how will they ruin your chances?
Because at this time of the year, it is impossible for me to get anything by talking to the HR. I am looking for some short unpaid work experience/work shadowing rather than internship atm.
Don't dismiss them out of hand. They get a bad rep, but HR has been very helpful to me in the past. Obviously you want to talk to the bankers if you can, but it may backfire if you tell other MDs you've been referred by a particular MD. If he's asked you to go through HR you should at least try that avenue
ask HR to connect you with some people from your target dept ... ask everyone you talk to to connect you with another person..
yeah i mean if he connected you do as above and ask for people in a specific group to speak to. In the end of the day they will probably say apply online but its worth a shot
I understand. I think asking me to apply online or speak to the HR would just be ways to dismiss me. I need to get around the online app system/HR and talk to the real decision makers.
Unless you are a relative of a senior banker at on of the EB none of them will take you for unpaid work experience/shadowing - they simply dont do this. You can just network and hope that somebody will push you in the fall once applications open up again but otherwise not much will come of it I am afraid.
My friend who cold called an MD got a work shadowing at an elite boutique bank. During the work shadowing, he also got to attend CEO meetings client meetings etc. Everything can happen. And PS: we are not even in the U.S. Not a lot of people put emphasis on networking here
Im based in London and I have personally never heard of this from any of the EB's so not sure what your friend is referring too (then again I am not all knowing). You are right, anything is possible but this is just extremely unlikely.
He did the work shadowing at Lazard. I think he got extremely lucky tho. I have been told that many EBs are very structured and do not even take relatives into the bank outside the recruitment process. An MD at EB told me that some smaller boutique bank which are reputable will be more flexible and may take in interns informally. I think I just need to try until I know for sure that I have to apply for next year
I would have assumed this was part of the spring insight if anything. But yes, always try your luck it cant hurt but you are right its extremely difficult to make a push this way. All the best for you - keep us updated on how it goes.
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