Investment Banking Networking Guide

Networking leads to interviews because it makes you familiar before your resume enters the application pile. Many firms keep internal trackers where bankers note which students they spoke with, how the conversation went, and whether the candidate seemed prepared, normal, and genuinely interested in banking.

If you network your way up to Vice Presidents or Managing Directors, those people may have the ability to push your resume forward. Even at the junior level, several positive calls can help because analysts and associates are often asked for feedback when interview lists are being built.

Some banks also use school teams or alumni groups to help decide who gets interviewed from a specific university. For example, a few analysts or associates who attended Cornell may help review the Cornell applicant pool. At those firms, networking is especially important because your calls may be with people who are close to the decision.

Networking also helps once you get the interview. Your answer to "why us" is much stronger when you can mention specific people you spoke with and explain what you learned about the firm, the group, or the culture. That sounds more credible than saying you like the bank because it is prestigious.

Networking is unnatural for many people and can seem daunting, especially since you most likely do not have that much in common with a 24-year-old analyst, let alone a 50-year-old director. I would recommend doing low-stakes calls first. Your first call should not be with a Managing Director who will throw technicals at you five minutes into the call. It is rare for bankers to hound you with technicals during networking calls, but it does happen. Start with people you know personally, like your parents' friends or alumni you are friendly with.

Email is going to be the gold standard here, as LinkedIn cold messaging is usually ignored. I would say there is no magic template, but you should typically follow these guidelines:

1. Absolutely do not send the same email to every banker. At the very minimum, personalize the email to match their bank or group. Mentioning similarities such as school, sports, Greek life, or hobbies will help.
2. Attach your resume.
3. Include your availability in the email. Having a flexible schedule makes it much easier for bankers to schedule calls.
4. Send emails on weekdays, preferably Monday through Thursday, sometime between 8:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. I recommend writing the emails at night and using Outlook or Gmail's schedule-send feature.
5. Try to avoid emailing the same team multiple times in one day. For example, do not email four analysts in the Industrials group within 10 minutes at one bank.
6. Send one follow-up. Nobody wants to be spammed by automatic follow-up software. I recommend sending the follow-up one week later.
7. Respond as quickly as possible, and when you do respond, ask them for a phone number if they do not already have it in their email signature.
8. When both parties have agreed on a time, send them a calendar invite. You can do this by going into Outlook and inviting their email to a 15-minute event.
9. Only network with analysts who are working in locations where you want to work. Networking with the Chicago team usually will not help you land a New York offer.

Personal connections are going to be your best bet and will almost always take your calls. Alumni will be the second-best choice and will generally be willing to go to further lengths for you. Alumni response rates can vary greatly, but anything above 10% is considered good.

When you run out of alumni to email, you can get a Chrome extension that sources emails directly from LinkedIn. Response rates at prestigious banks with random people are atrocious, and you will likely have a response rate below 5%, probably closer to 1%.

Once a banker agrees to speak with you, the main goal is to leave a positive impression. That does not mean you need to sound like an expert. It means you should be prepared, easy to talk to, and thoughtful enough that the banker feels comfortable taking another call or pointing you to someone else.

Different bankers handle these calls differently. Some want a casual conversation and do not want to answer a list of boring questions for 15 minutes. Others are happy to talk about deals, groups, recruiting, and the work itself. You should be ready for both.

Try to make the call feel like a real conversation instead of a Q&A checklist. After they answer a question, ask a natural follow-up instead of jumping straight to the next prepared question. If the conversation is dry, keep it to around 15 minutes. If it is going well, let it continue while still respecting their time.

Near the end, ask if there is anyone else they recommend you speak with. A decent number of bankers will introduce you to other alumni or people at the bank, and this is one of the best ways to increase your volume of calls. It will not always work. Introductory emails get ignored, and some people will simply say no. That is normal. After a few calls, the process starts to feel much more natural.

Definitely send a thank-you email within 24 hours of the call. Try to mention a few things you learned or unique things that were discussed. The emails really do not have to be anything crazy. Just be respectful. If you network with people in October through December, I recommend reaching back out when applications open up to re-spark the connection and increase the odds they remember you.

The number of people you need to network with is very vague. It is very possible to get interviews without any networking at all, but likely only if you have a very strong resume. On the contrary, I have spoken to students who had 15+ calls at specific banks, though anything above five is considered great.

Quality over quantity also applies here, and one strong connection can easily push you over the edge compared to five weak calls. As a quick disclaimer, the more competitive the role is, the more networking is needed. For Sales and Trading, Equity Research, and Corporate Banking, networking may not be as necessary compared to core Investment Banking.