- Protected Saturdays
- Posts
- How To Network Your Way Into A Buyside Job
Hey All… WE’VE BEEN LUCKILY SWAMPED! Some placements, some pushing of interviews to another on-cycle/off-cycle round… Sorry I know it’s been a minute since the last official newsletter with valuable insights into the recruiting process — we just had such an influx of new Mentees come in and been passing our alpha insights through many texts and phone calls with them…
All said and done, if you’re still interviewing and wanting to interview… we’ve got some good news for you — you placing at a Top Buyside Shop is STILL VERY POSSIBLE!
If you’re interested in learning more, schedule a call with us this week here or fill out the poll below. I’m proud to also say that we’ve been discounting quite a bit catering to the instability we’ve been seeing in the macro market…
Are you interested in learning more about OfficeHours and how a Banking/Buyside Coach can help you? |
Headhunter chats, modeling and case study practice, deal walkthroughs – there are tons of resources out there to help prepare for the buyside recruiting interview process. However, a less talked about and extremely underrated tool in this process is networking with your target firms directly. This can help you break into interview processes and secure offers even if you don’t have a very wide network in finance – all you need is a willingness to get creative and put in some extra effort.
Below are some key points which will help you stand out when putting yourself out there through cold outreaches –
How successful has cold emailing been for you? |
Look for commonalities
Look for people you have something in common with – same high school, college, IB group, or even just a mutual friend. This is not a necessity but does increase the chances of the investment professional wanting to help you…
Subject line
Pick an email subject line that grabs your reader’s attention and communicates what you’re looking for at the same time.
Brevity
Keep your outreaches as concise as you can. Investment professionals are often hard-pressed for time and long outreaches tend to get sorted to the “later” bucket.
Introduce yourself clearly
State who you are and what you are looking for from this outreach very clearly.
Personalize your outreach
Make your outreach extremely thoughtful and specific to the person you are targeting. For example, instead of the generic “I was impressed by your career path and want to learn more about your experience at XYZ firm”, use something like “I really admire the way you helped build out XYZ firm’s European office and your high-conviction contrarian bets like [insert investments]”. This requires some research but significantly increases the odds of a response.
Have you been laid off recently? Results stay anon.Participants will be eligible for Free OfficeHours Coaching |
Establish credibility
Demonstrate your credibility and why you’re worth paying attention to. It could be working at a top IB group, having a prior relevant buyside / extracurricular experience, or even a blog where you’ve pinned down your thoughts on industry/company trends relevant to the sectors they cover.
Add value
This is, by far, the most differentiating thing you can do to make investment professionals take serious notice. You can start adding value for them (or show potential to) before they’ve even offered you an interview. For example, you can send them quick investment pitches, suggest add-on opportunities, and even offer an introduction to a friend working at one of these firms. Taking it a step further, you could help one of their portfolio companies with issues ranging from recruiting to web development. Chris Sacca, the famed venture investor, gives an example of how a 15-year-old did exactly that here and secured an internship at Lowercase Capital.
Balance between quality and quantity
Maintain a balance between sending out a sufficiently large number of outreaches to your target firms but also putting in enough time, thought and effort into outreaches at the firms you really care about.
And because it wouldn’t be an On-Cycle without some Placements…
Check Out All Our Blog Posts
We invite you to create a free account on our platform to access our free materials, latest blogs, and articles. If you're interested in learning more, a senior coach will be available for a free introductory call with live advice.
Schedule an Intro Call With One of Our Top Coaches and Get a Taste of what OfficeHours Can Offer You!
Pressed for time!? Take on a Professional Coach who can help you expedite your prep! Schedule a time to connect with a Coach here or Submit your Application directly here and we’ll be in touch!
3 Years (and counting!) of OfficeHours Placements!
Are you focused on recruiting in 2023? |