By Edoardo Tosti (Boston University) and Carlo Leopardi.
Walkthrough
Networking is a crucial component to land an internship or fulltime job in any financial institution. Therefore, it is fundamental that you build as many relations as possible with professionals working in your target employer.
Campus events apart, the best way to build a network within a firm is to connect with employees who are willing to commit some of their precious time to speak with you.
Research
The best way to find finance professionals in your target employer is to use the filtered search tool on LinkedIn. As Investment Bankers receive numerous networking emails, your goal is to find the professional who shares common characteristics with you. For example, it may be an alumnus of your university or it may be from the same country/state where you are from.
After you have identified the employee you want to reach out to, you have to prepare a concise but effective email which is going to convince the receiver that speaking with you it’s worth his time. To find the email address of the professional, search on google the email format used by the bank (example: Name.Surname@gs.com).
Every email should be personalized so that the receiver is more willing to respond. However, this general format can be followed as a guide:
From: Student@University.edu
Subject: Your Full Name | 3/4 Key words (ex. University, Firm, IB, Capital Markets)
Dear Full Name of Professional,
my name is Your Full Name and I’m a student at University pursuing a Type of Degree, Major and Minor. I’m originally from Country/City/Town.
I have a strong interest in Company and I’ve been learning more about the firm by List some sources/past phone calls. Specifically, I’ve been interested in Sector/Department of the firm because of my past experience in briefly cite past working experience and/or extracurricular activities.
I understand that you must be very busy but, if your schedule allows, I would love to get on a quick phone call and learn more about your team.
Looking forward to speak with you. For reference, I’ve attached my resume.
Warm Regards,
Full name
University
Mobile phone | email
LinkedIn link