How to Turn Cold Calls Warm, Follow-Up and Avoid Awkward Alumni Conversations
Ok, Kevin and I received a ton of great questions from everyone over the past few weeks on networking.
We finally had a chance to sit down and record this Q&A session the other day.
One small problem: it turned out to be so long that we split it up into two parts (I know, I know, you really wanted to listen to 2 hours straight of networking banter, right?).
Here’s Part 1:
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- Download the MP3 [44 Minutes | 21 MB]
- Download the Text Transcript [19 Pages | PDF]
Here’s a quick summary of the questions we cover within:
Finding Names and Contact Information
Quite a few readers asked about how to find names and contact information in the first place – here are a few questions we address:
“How about for people who do not know consultants or even finance people? How do you build those names and meet those people in the first place?”
“How would you approach making contact with complete strangers at different firms that you are interested in?”
Recession Recruiting
Aside from making it way harder to actually find a job in the first place, the recession has also pushed senior bankers out and to different firms – which can complicate your networking efforts.
“What is the next best step for recruiting in a firm when your only contact within the firm found out you will be laid off before you are ready to utilize him to break into the company?”
“Do you have any tips on getting in touch with former senior colleagues?”
Turning Cold Calls Into Warm Calls
There were dozens of questions on cold calls, but they all boil down to the same basic question: How do you successfully cold-call banks? Here’s what we discuss:
“I was wondering what the dos and don’ts for cold calling are in general? On the outline it appears to have great potential. Most of my colleagues however discard cold calling outright. Is it a strategy you would recommend?”
Following-Up with Your Contacts
Once you’ve contacted your alumni, made your cold-calls, and met industry contacts anywhere else, how do you properly follow-up and win interviews and then offers? Here’s what we answer:
“If you’ve done a lot of cold calling with several different firms, how do you exactly followup after the initial call?”
“Is there any way to keep in touch with senior partners even if you don’t have a reason why to follow-up and instead you just want to keep in contact?”
“Also if you could please talk about how can they follow-up after an MD or analyst showed interest in their resume”
“Over time, as you contact alumni, the numbers will accumulate. How would one go about maintaining these contacts before recruiting season and then when the time comes, how do you make the ask?”
“After meeting someone whom I would like to network with at a networking event, what is the appropriate follow-up? What is a good way to keep in touch?”
“When the time comes, how do you make the ask for opportunities to interview?”
Awkward Alumni
Some readers are still struggling with contacting alumni and sounding natural. Hint: pretend you’re speaking with a friend, and avoid focusing on work-related topics.
“I contacted some alumni in the past with a phone conversations that eventually became Q&A, it felt very awkward and a little bit dry. If you had mentees contacting you in the past, how would you suggest making the conversation more interesting, getting to know them personally and even establishing a friendship. What kind of mentees are mentors looking for and what’s their incentive as a mentor for sharing information with someone who they don’t know?”
Next up will be Part 2, where we cover how to network while abroad, move to different groups, develop relationships during your internship, and address some finance and consulting-specific topics.
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Tags: alumni network, cold-calling, finding names, follow-up, industry contacts, Networking
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I enjoyed listening to the conversation and dialogue between the two of you.
I think this was great content to add some more variety to M&I.
I think in the future it could be a good format to conduct interviews with current bankers/successful candidates.
Even if I paid them $1 million, no one would ever go on the record if they’re actually in the industry or about to go into the industry.
That’s the ultimate problem with doing interviews in this market – we’re limited to text, because anonymity is a requirement to get any real information.
I’m okay with giving real information on the record in exchange for $1 million
I doubt it, because if you actually get into i-banking then you would earn a lot more than that over a 10-20 year timespan…
I got some Yerba Mate a couple weeks ago, and I fell asleep after drinking it. What brand do you drink that keeps you so awake?
Hmm I forget the exact brand now but my roommate imported it directly from South America. Make sure it’s the looseleaf kind, the other varieties are kind of weak.
I’m gonna be headed out to Boston for a few days and am going to try set up meetings through cold calling while I’m there. Are there different strategies I should use to try and get in touch with people while I’m there i.e. showing up at the physical building (even though that sounds kinda creepy)
Not really, showing up in-person would be kinda creepy actually so I wouldn’t do it.
Just make sure they all know that you’re there in-person and that you’re ready to meet whenever they’re available.
I don’t think the actual strategies you’d use would be too much different.
Hi, if I am unable to obtain a summer internship in i-banking or PE, what’s the next best alternative? Would a hedge fund internship help for fall recruiting?
Yes, hedge fund would be next best alternative. After that, corporate/business development, corporate finance at a company…
Is it too late to cold call for boutique i-banking internships in June? (finals don’t finish until June) This was a tough year in terms of recruiting, and I was unable to obtain anything…
Still worth a shot. I’ve had readers who secured internships only recently, so it’s still worth trying especially at small places.
Dear M&I,
What type of job would you recommend to a foreign (Taiwanese) student who graduated from Columbia in Masters in Financial Engineering?
At this point, anything you could get – you’ll need to network like crazy esp. if you have no experience. I would cast a wide net and pay special attention to hedge funds and anything else with a quantitative edge.
Any chance you could do a post on how to excel during your 1st year as analyst? You have done such great stuff on summer analyst stuff!! Keep up the great work.
Hey there’s not much new to add there. I’ve thought about it writing it before but after awhile, you’ve written all there is to know on a particular topic… it is not that much different from summer analyst success. I’ll see if I can do something but I’m also increasingly busy these days.
the link is broken. Could you please re-upload the mp3 file?
thanks
Should be working again shortly…
You have mentioned cold calling as many boutiques or merchant banks as possible. Is there any place you could find a list of places to call?
I’m releasing regional lists of boutique banks, PEs, and HFs next month as part of an upcoming Networking product.
Hi,
Who should I be targeting to cold call at boutiques? Analysts, Associates, MDs or partners?
S
MDs/Partners are best because they have the most power, but go for Analysts/Associates if you can’t get through to them or can’t get their info.
should i use english or cantonese when i try to cold call a person in Hong Kong ???
English