As part of my current job hunt, I’ve been calling contacts every now and then. I was hoping to get some advice on what time to call them. One is a PM: I figure 415-515 is a good time? it’s after markets close but not too late in the afternoon/evening. An research sales guy: works in overseas emerging markets, so I’m wondering if anytime after about 2pm would be good? or should I still wait until after US markets close? Just trying to avoid annoying these guys with games of phone tag, and also trying not to look naive by calling at an obviously bad time (e.g., one buy-side contact of mine is busy with a lot of trading in the mornings, so I took that as a hint to not call him or similar people until the afternoon). A heads up from those on this board who do these lines of work would be much appreciated.
Is this a cold call? Do you have their email addresses?
I’d suggest 2:30 or 3:00, actually. Lots of news and earnings announcements come out right after the market closes, and there’s plenty to be done between the hours you suggested. 2:30 to 3:30 is a much easier time, especially during earnings season. Good luck.
TkPk_CFA - Thanks a lot, that’s exactly the random info I was curious about. homie - These are not cold calls.
I would think you should call the office assistant and set up a time with her/him to speak with the desired person. I am an analyst, PM, and I am very busy all the time and its hard to just take a call that I am not expecting and to talk for an hour or so.
wjg Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I would think you should call the office assistant > and set up a time with her/him to speak with the > desired person. I am an analyst, PM, and I am very > busy all the time and its hard to just take a call > that I am not expecting and to talk for an hour or > so. I just have direct numbers and was told, on a casual basis, to call periodically to check in. The calls usually don’t last any longer than 5 minutes, if that. On average, are any times better than others for you?
Call them during normal hours, not right before or after the market open/close. If they’re not in, leave a message with the assistant and set up a time to chat. Seriously, don’t overanalyze this situation…this is not a big deal. If I had to put this on a list of important items, I’d say this would almost invariably come near the bottom of that list no matter what the other items are.
wjg Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I would think you should call the office assistant > and set up a time with her/him to speak with the > desired person. I am an analyst, PM, and I am very > busy all the time and its hard to just take a call > that I am not expecting and to talk for an hour or > so. For me personally, I would say that 4:30 would be a good time to call. By then I have browsed through the after market earnings announcements and news, and things start quieting down. The worst time to call, for me, would be between 8:30-10 am, and probably 3-4 pm. We do a lot of trading late in the day, so 3-4 pm is usually crunch time. But, the beauty of the industry is that every day is different so there is no concrete answer. And, FYI, since this is a very high stress job, and we are in high stress times, you have to have thick skin especially if someone seems short with you.
btw, I didn’t mean to quote myself. 
Thanks wjg. Point noted on being thick-skinned, I’ve noticed that people aren’t shy about being too busy. numi - Thanks for the input, good to hear from you. Hope everything is well! Agreed about not overanalyzing, I just wanted to throw this out there due to curiosity. However, I guess it’s hard to argue that you’re not overanalyzing something if you post about it on AF (the “bored at work” excuse only works so many times).
Phone manners are lacking in this industry. I actually think being rude is the standard. Everyone pretends like their time is gold. You should too (though you might want to be polite when someone is doing you a favor by talking to you. But not overly polite.).
best times: 1. after lunch on a big “up” day - oh I forgot…lunch is for wimps 2. just before they jump out the window on the 81st floor after getting a big margin call 3. about 10 seconds later - open a window on say the 40th floor direcly below - before they reach terminal velocity and pass out - they’ll always say yes…
Once again, people are over thinking this. Call and ask “Is this a good time?” Even that’s not a great question because generally, if it’s a bad time, you won’t get through to them in the first place.
Get their email address and ask them what the best time to reach them or talk to them… you said this was not a cold call… …so just ask them.
Depending on the opportunity you are pursuing, you want to be sure that the person you are calling knows you are aggressive and are fully interested in the position. You may want to take a look at the economic calendar to figure out whether or not there is any major economic announcements occuring prior to your call. Check Bloomberg’s economic calendar (http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/ecalendar/index.html). Also, try not to call early in the morning or late in the afternoon, as they may have end of day procedures they need to get done. For Equity research, be careful of time periods where they may be consumed in analysis of quarter/FY-end reports.
“I am an analyst, PM, and I am very busy all the time…” “For me personally, I would say that 4:30 would be a good time to call. By then I have browsed through the after market earnings announcements and news, and things start quieting down. The worst time to call, for me, would be between 8:30-10 am, and probably 3-4 pm. We do a lot of trading late in the day, so 3-4 pm is usually crunch time.” I guess today things were lighter since you found 30+ minutes to browse analyst forum, including one post on this thread at 3:55 PM which is during “crunch time”. But I know, I know, AnalystForum is the ONLY thing you read on the internet at work, and it was just one random day, and you’re usually so much busier. Probably because yesterday was such a quiet day in the markets. And you’re an “analyst, PM,”? That must mean “analyst, pre-med” or something because I don’t know any portfolio managers who would describe themselves first as an analyst. Who are you trying to fool? Just sayin, if you’ve got enough free time to give advice to random strangers on the internet for half an hour at a time, it’s a bit of a stretch to simultaniously claim that you’re “very busy all the time” and usually can’t take calls.