Going into my senior year. Plan on sitting L1 in December and getting a PWM internship my last semester. Great GPA but total non-target school. Previous finance internships but not super relevant.
As ER / AM seems to be less structured than something like IB, how do you get in from a non-target? I realize networking is huge but I’m looking for alternatives as my alumni base is virtually nil.
Hang out at bars near target IB.
Try to cold call smaller firms for non-paid internship work in the field that you’re interested in.
This
Find a list of charitable organizations you wouldn’t mind being involved in.
Identify every board member and where they work.
There will be several that are high-ups in financial institutions. Choose a couple of those charities, join, and start networking.
It’s a long con (unless you’re actually into that whole charity thing) but it’ll pay off.
Oh damn that’s good.
Shoot, I’ve been thinking about volunteering lately for sake of mba admissions. Never thought to use it for networking.
If you have a linkedin account, try to randomly contact HR officers / recruiters at firms you are interested in.
I’m not sure about HR stuff. Unless they just so happen to have an open position that matches your profile exactly, it’s likely that you’ll just get put in their “file”. The key is to find someone with decision making ability in a small firm with little red tape. That way, they can say yes on a whim.
The old traditional way.
Find the numbers of people that work in organizations you want to work for
Cold call and offer coffee