Bank on Banking

I’m graduating from a non-target and came across an open analyst position at a top investment management firm. How would you suggest I go about getting my resume looked at? Should I mass email employees and let them know that I’m applying for the position and ask whether they could take a look at my resume? Contact HR? Cold call?

First, you do not want to mass email – essentially spam – every employee’s inbox because you found out about a potential opportunity. That is definitely not your best shot, although if you have any connections within the firm, you will definitely want to reach out to them. Contacting HR won’t help much either – they don’t hold the cards and will usually ignore you or send out a generic response.

Regarding cold calling, if the firm is big, then it won’t help. If the firm is a small shop, then it can definitely help…or hurt – depending on your pitch (if you can craft a solid brief introduction for yourself, at the very least you won’t make a bad impression).

Even though you come from a non-target, you best bet is to apply online and really look to find some sort of connection within the firm – someone to reach out to and check for a bit of advice (hoping for a resume push). Search your alumni database, LinkedIn, friends of friends, etc. Considering the opportunity is already open it’s definitely a little late in the game to be making the push, but it isn’t too late (See Here for more insight into the process).

Once you’ve applied, with or without contacts, you will want to follow up and continue to show your interest – don’t badger them, but definitely be persistent and show your enthusiasm.

I completely blew an interview several weeks ago – should I call them up or just forget it? If I call, do I call HR or a banker?

There are 2 sides to this issue. On one hand, you blew it – you know you blew it, they probably already forgot you blew it and don’t care…but if you remind them, they’ll know you blew it as well. On the other hand, you really have nothing to lose by calling since you know you blew it. I know that doesn’t help you much, so let’s move past the obvious.

While you definitely need to move on and seek out other opportunities, you should give a call back to your interviewer…or at least shoot an email (I’d lean more towards the email since the banker can just politely ignore you – you’ll get the hint…hopefully…and move on for good). I wouldn’t reach out to HR, unless you blew it before you even got to a banker. Rather, I would quickly reach out to your interviewer or contact within the bank. I am, however, assuming that while you blew the interview, you didn’t make an awful and poor-attitude impression (in other words, you didn’t really piss off the interviewer/contact).

Assuming you bumbled technicals or the like, you can definitely reach out to touch base (without harping on your past interview missteps). That said, if you did, however, piss off the interviewer and really step into “it,” you just want to leave that stone left unturned and hope they completely forget you. Calling/emailing at that point will most likely hurt you since you will only remind the person that you pissed him/her off – and, any attempts to undo that will come off more as annoying/desperate, than endearing. In that severe case, just let that pot cool off naturally and, if in the future, any opportunities arise, apply for them as they will have probably forgotten about you by then.

I have a summer internship with a well-respected boutique that has a bad reputation – am I screwed or can this be a good thing – what are your thoughts?

I haven’t worked for every bank, so off the cuff I can’t give you specific insight into a particular group, etc. That said, most firms have chatter – some good, some bad. At the end of the day, it is a summer internship – even if it is awful, you can weather the storm for a few months, earn some solid, resume-enhancing experience and then move on to another brand. If, however, it is good and you enjoy the group, you are in a strong boutique with good opportunity looking forward. Remember, negative experience and stories, regardless of how numerous, are specific to those individuals and are not necessarily going to reflect your experience. In short, it’s a summer analyst position with a good firm – make the most of it and evaluate your next options from there.

How do you go about networking with other bankers from another firm while you are a SA? Do you tell them which bank you are at right now?

Absolutely; there is nothing wrong with some networking during the internship since nothing is guaranteed and nothing is official until you’ve got the FT offer in your hand. While some people think that every banker you talk to is going to run back to your employer and tell on you, that is simply not the case. Networking is an essential part of the business and if done tactfully, a very beneficial part of it.

Keeping that in mind, you don’t want to confuse networking with free socializing – in other words, you don’t want to start badmouthing your current employer, the SA opportunity, your group, any specific bankers, etc – that is the garbage that can come back to bite you in the backside if for no other reason than it reflects poorly on your character. Remember, this is networking; you’re not hanging out with your buddies from college having a beer.

To the first part of your question, you want to reach out to your contacts – in other words, alumni, friends, past interviewers, etc from other banks to “catch up.” A quick update on what you’re doing, a quick question or two for them to keep the convo going (in the event of past interviewers and alumni – friends is an easy-enough category; the filler isn’t needed) is really all it takes – when they see that you are in banking it will definitely make you more appealing and provide conversation points going forward as you approach FT recruiting if you need it. At the worst, the banker will ignore you – simply move on and don’t give it a second thought. Not every contact is going to welcome you with open arms and that is ok. Finally, remember that as a SA you will be very busy just like your contacts are probably quite busy so don’t forget to be patient and considerate.

Should I take a boutique P/E internship or a BB PWM summer internship to prepare for SA opportunities next year? If I take the P/E internship, how should I talk about switching from to IB during interviews? Going from IB to P/E is normal, but what points can I bring up for the reverse?

First, go with the P/E internship for sure. In terms of IB internship appeal, the P/E opportunity is definitely a stronger experience – especially if you can find a way to earn some solid experience on any deals, etc during your internship.

Regarding making the switch to IBD from PE – give the usual answers for IBD – the broad skill set, transaction experience, etc. Then, instead of mentioning your interest in P/E going forward, point to your interest (whether true or not) in pursuing IB going forward or simply not knowing exactly what path you want to take after the analyst program. The skill set and opportunities you’ll build and earn as a BB IBD analyst will outweigh those of your boutique P/E shop without boxing you into one specific path several years down the line (this is not necessarily true 100% of the time by any means, but it’s what you can say).

Essentially, you just want to sell your interest in IB without selling a LT goal of P/E – leaving your options open will definitely help you here, especially if the sell side is of a strong interest to you in terms of client interaction and transaction experience (more points to use).

How long should you wait after you start a new job to take a few days off of work? Not for something serious like a death in the family but more for a vacation or a wedding.

It’s not so much how long you wait, but more of a timing issue. You can definitely take a day off after 2 months on the job without a problem or after 10 months on the job with a BIG problem – it really depends on what is going on with your time in terms of active deal flow, time sensitive projects, other junior team member vacation time, etc.

Generally speaking, you should wait until the holiday season to take off several days (assuming you start in July) in a row – this is just the typical path and when most bankers take off. In terms of 1 or 2 days, a long weekend or something like that, I would say that if it is less than a month to 2 months on the job, you should let your team know ahead of time – essentially after earning the position, but before you start (in terms of FT recruiting, not while you are interviewing, but once you know which group you are going into you can let your senior banker in the group know to give ample notice). Once you pass the month to 2-month mark, just play it by ear – if it is a wedding, it is when it is (assuming friend’s wedding, etc), if it is a vacation day, then talk to your supervisor about it and suggest a few possible days then go from there based on the situation and any fire drills – as always in this business flexibility is key.