A friend recently pointed out to me
that networking techniques are relevant not just for IB, but for every industry
out there. While this is true, the reality that I have seen is that a very
small percentage of youngsters who are just starting out resort to networking.
The reasons may differ from hesitation
to simply a lack of awareness as to how to network. Therefore, as I promised earlier, this post will be dedicated solely to networking methods. Read on to find
out the best methods for networking in India.
1)
Cold calls:
A
cold call is when you haven’t met the person whom you’re calling. That is, all
you know about the person comes from the organization’s website and that person
doesn’t know you at all.
I
am not sure how much the practice of cold calling is prevalent in India, but I
believe it is restricted to low level jobs. I certainly have never heard of any
CA’s or otherwise qualified people resorting to cold calling. We all upload
resumes on job portals, use our “approaches” and as a last resort, call up our
relatives who might be remotely in the same field as the one which we wanna
work in.
Now
I’m telling you to take it to the next level. As I mentioned in an earlier
post, the core finance industry in India is extremely small and thus, the
chances of you knowing someone in finance are small as well. Therefore, you
have to resort to “non-traditional” methods to get to know people.
What non-traditional methods, you might ask. Here’s your answer – go to Google, search
for “boutique investment banks/private equity firms (depending on which you are targeting) in [your target location]”.
I’m suggesting boutiques because the chances of success in cold calling is
significantly more at smaller places than bulge bracket banks.
Now
that you have a huge list of banks/firms, just pick up the phone and start
calling. No, seriously, that’s all it takes and it works. If you’re
lucky, you’ll actually get the number of an entry level banker himself, which
can turn out to be a treasure. The banker will probably be so surprised to get
such a call in the first place that he’ll most likely agree to help you. All
you need is a strong pitch and a polite, confident demeanour.
I’m
trying to keep each post short and how
to cold call is a huge topic in itself, so I’ll be dedicating a full post
to cold calling later.
2)
Cold emails:
Similar
to cold calling, this is another strategy that is almost never used in India.
However, it is effective only when you have a banker’s own email and not the
generic email ID of an office. Most such generic email ID’s are not even
checked, so you can discard any hopes of getting a reply. But if you do get
hold of the email ID of an IB/PE employee, it’s not much less of a treasure
than their phone number.
As
for what to do with the phone number, the strategy is the same. Practice your
pitch, pick up the phone and make the call. More on “pitches” in the cold
calling post.
3)
Alumni
network:
If
you are from a top level college, here’s where you have a huge advantage over
others. The alumni network is a priceless treasure that most people fail to
fully utilize. The reason as to why it is such an advantage is that it will
provide you direct contact details of people working in finance and you don’t
have to hunt around on Google. So even if you have a close friend or a relative
in such a college, don’t hesitate to ask him for help and access to their
alumni network.
Coming
back to the assumption that you are
in such a college, the method for contacting them is the same – cold calls and
emails. But here the chance of success is much higher because an alumnus will be
much more willing to help you than some random person.
4)
Linkedin:
This
is one of the methods which I personally don’t like much, but it is still
highly recommended by professional career advisors. The reason why I don’t like
it is because in India, Linkedin is extremely overused and any person in a
remotely successful position probably gets a huge amount of requests and
messages from unknown persons. Thus, he is very likely to ignore your message
no matter how good your pitch is.
But
if you feel like giving it a try, of course there’s no harm. You might even get
lucky and get a response. When you’re running out of options, it’s not a good
idea to ignore any option, no matter
how unlikely it is to work.
5)
Conferences,
seminars, even the train:
Yup,
even the train. What I mean is, don’t hesitate to talk to people. I’ve heard
stories of people who networked their way into the industry while travelling in
a metro, in a seminar, even via Facebook...
I’m
not saying that you start grabbing people on the road to talk to them or send
FB friend requests to MD’s at Goldman Sachs. The above examples are rare and
just freakish good luck. The guy who met his boss in the metro saw the banker
carrying a bulge bracket bank’s pitch book and initiated a casual conversation
with him. At the end of the conversation, the guy told his background to the
banker and that he was looking for a job in IB. The banker asked the guy to
send his resume over to him and BAM! He landed an interview.
The
intention of giving you these examples is to tell you that don’t be afraid to talk to people. If you’re smart and polite,
you’ll find that most people will be willing to listen. Go to investment
conferences and try talking to people and
get their business cards. You can
call or email them with your pitch later. There are innumerable success stories
that confirm beyond a doubt that this works.
At
the end, no matter what your method is, all you need is ONE contact to come through. I’ve heard of people who cold emailed
literally thousands of people. I myself emailed hundreds of places when I was
looking for a job. All you need is one guy to say, “Yes, we have a vacancy.
When can you come for an interview?”
For
your benefit, I’m giving you a link to a forum of Wall Street Oasis, called Success
Stories. If you go through them, you’ll find that every single one of them recommends networking like crazy. So start
building your network TODAY.
WSO
Success Stories: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/wso-success-stories
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