The Holiday Party: Time to Hook Up With Your Assistant?

Your MD is standing on top of a table downing shots of whiskey.

Meanwhile, your assistant is pole-dancing in front of everyone as the associate you’ve been thinking about murdering the entire year offers you tequila.

The bottles are free and the models are looking even better than usual – most likely due to those free bottles.

No, it’s not a lucid dream: it’s the holiday party at your investment bank.

Or at least, it was – before holiday parties were banned.

The Grand Tradition of Holiday Parties

How to Network Like a Ninja in London and Break Into Finance with Low Grades and a Non-Target School on Your CV

“You’ve written so much about networking, but it doesn’t work outside the US. No one in my country responds to cold calls or emails – what do I do?”

It’s one of the most common objections I get to the networking advice on M&I.

There are dozens of interviews disproving the old complaint that everything here is targeted at Ivy League grads with high grades – so let’s turn our attention to showing that networking does, in fact, “work” in other countries.

In this interview with a UK reader, you’ll learn:

• How he went from low A-levels and a non-target university to over 1,000 finance contacts in the UK and a top Master’s program there
• How he used a non-finance degree to boost his chances of breaking into banking
• Whether or not traditional networking “works” in the UK and how it’s different from the US
• What it’s like to work at a combined M&A and asset management firm

What’s the Big Deal About Emerging Markets?

“I notice you’ve done a lot of interviews with readers in emerging markets and other developing countries, but what’s so special about them?

I get the basics from what you’ve written, but why are they important? What’s the big deal about emerging markets?“

You raise a good point: there have been lots of interviews about different groups and regions, but never any mention of why specifically they are important.

So, why do emerging markets get so much attention?

Should you change your recruiting strategy or your mythical career path to take advantage of them?

And will they take over the world within the next 50 years?