Guide to Coffee Chats (Informational Interviews)
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 5. 07. 2024
- đĄ Get the #1 Private Equity recruiting course, which comes with 3-statement LBO model tests, mega fund case studies, and headhunter coverage: bit.ly/PF-PrivateEquity
đ Free recruiting resources: peakframeworks.com
The coffee chat is one of the most important skills in networking. A huge part of breaking into investment banking is doing coffee chats with people at every firm. In order to make a good impression, you need to ask detailed, thoughtful questions that communicate your interest in the firm. By asking the right questions, you can also learn a lot of recruiting intel via coffee chats.
** Full Blog Post: www.peakframeworks.com/post/i...
0:00 - Intro
1:54 - Goals of a Coffee Chat
3:12 - Structure of a Coffee Chat
4:55 - How to Ask Thoughtful Questions and Examples
7:03 - Closing a Coffee Chat
Blog Post: www.peakframeworks.com/post/i...
Peak Frameworks is a business career prep service started by Matt Ting and Patrick Fong, who have each spent several years working in investment banking and private equity in New York and Silicon Valley. Matt and Patrick met at Evercore, a top tier investment bank, and over the years have tutored and coached dozens of candidates to land their dream business job.
Matt Ting: / matthewting
Patrick Fong (HBS 2021): / patrick-fong-0b773041
#InvestmentBanking #PrivateEquity #Careers
Amazing content as always Matt!
One question I have found useful and thoughtful when I was breaking into consulting was, "Given your interests in X, Y, or Z [things like climate change, education, or other important issues that aren't related to consulting], would you do consulting again if you were to go back to senior year of college?" To be able to show them that I understand their interests and also am curious to hear how they have or haven't blended that interest in with consulting. And I'm sure the same can apply for finance!
Your content is really helpful. Especially examples.
Content on this channel is very helpful!!
Really awesome content. Iâm not going for IB or PE but Glad I subscribed.
your videos are insanely helpful
Thanks, literally saw this yesterday and a networking call today, this definitely helped me structure my call more than i would have initially planed on doing
Hey how did it go now 11 months later, are these sort of calls useful?
videos are very helpful thanks
great content! thank you
OMG I NEEDED THIS!!!!
Got one in next ten minutes , thank you for the tips
how did it go?
I needed this, Iâm starting to network more Iâm in my 2nd year of college. Thank you so much!
Awesome, go get that internship!
@@PeakFrameworks will do!
I saw the video about your career, it would be nice to do one about working and immigrating to the US with a canadian or UK degree
thanks for sharing
Yesss love this topic
Unrelated but can I just say, your skin is glowing!
Wow, thank you!
hahaha i was thinking the same thing
Hi Matt, thanks for your helpful content as always. Quick question from your previous video -- you mentioned that Evercore had an internal advisory group that allowed people to move into a traditional IB group at the firm. Can you please elaborate more on the group, its official name, the work that it did, etc? Couldn't find much information on it online. Many thanks!
Advisory Research group
evercore.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/appcentre-ext/brand-4/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/3/opp/230-Experienced-Analyst-Advisory-Research-New-York-NY/en-GB
Hi Matt!
My name is Caroline and Iâm a big fan of your channel - I love how well structured and informative your videos are. Currently, Iâm preparing for an interview at a mining companyâs corp dev team and was told I will be building a NAV model in excel. What resources would you recommend to someone with 0 experience?
If you go to university and your school has a Bloomberg terminal / ThomsonONE, you should go there and try to download a model from equity research. Just look up a big mining company (or even the one you're interviewing with) and see if there are any available models on them. That's probably your best bet.
If you can't do that, then maybe just try Breaking into Wall Street or something. I unfortunately don't think there are that many great free resources.
Hi, your content is AMAZING, can you talk about Excel and Power Point and other technical skills needed. Not a tutorial per se, just a presentation of the required level (for instance is VBA in demand) and how to achieve that
You don't need that much experience beforehand, all banks are going to have training programs. I would recommend doing a few stock pitches before you graduate though. Just try to get comfortable building DCFs and simple models in Excel. VBA definitely not needed if you want to do IB / PE.
Hey Matt could you elaborate on the differences between in person vs. over the phone/virtual coffee chats? Should we approach them any differently?
Pretty similar. Make sure you test your internet / phone connection with a friend before you do calls. Only other big thing is I'll generally have my questions printed out / in front of me if I'm doing things digitally. That way you'll definitely ask everything you want to.
Matt & Patrick, would it be possible to chat about part-time education/difference between MBA & Masters/ how to leverage your education after graduation? Keep on putting out great content!
A good MBA is going to be better than any masters program for traditional roles like IB, PE, HF. Some masters programs are going to be good for quantitative stuff, but I can't really think of any good overall masters program.
I can't think of any good part time programs for placing into finance.
@@PeakFrameworks Thank you!
good channel
Awesome video! Just wondering, are you allowed to type or handwrite notes during a coffee chat?
I probably wouldn't due to social norms. I sometimes just repeat key information in my head throughout the conversation so I can remember. Then as soon as the chat is done, I take down the info on my phone in Notion.
OMG this was a very great guide to coffee chat Matt! I was curious on your thoughts regarding accounting majors or people who work in big 4 public accounting wanting to transition to investment banking, hopefully at a bulge bracket. I'm currently a fresh grad (accounting and finance double major) starting in audit at a big 4 in 2021. I really want to do investment banking due to the high amount of experience and learning you get at such a short period of time. I'm thinking of 1.) start networking and applying for an analyst position (is it possible to start right away without going through their summer analyst program? since I am a recent grad and not in school anymore) 2.) work in big 4 public accounting for a year while recruiting for an investment banking analyst position (can I start as a 2nd year analyst if I get hired? or will my 1 year experience in big 4 accounting be disregarded?) 3.) work in big 4 public accounting for 2 years and get an MBA (possibly at UCLA) to start as an investment banking associate (approximately takes 4 years total but I will have both my CPA and MBA by then if those titles matter for my future career)
Can you give me your thoughts and opinions in terms of which path you would personally take, any pros and cons, and the difficulty/chances of getting into investment banking as a fresh grad analyst vs incoming MBA associate.
I heard investment banks love accountants since we know and understand the financial statements better than anyone else. I know a lot of people in accounting wanting to grow their career by breaking into banking, if it's not too much to ask, you can also make a video about this for our accounting people out there! it would be greatly appreciated by many! :)
I would try to lateral to the advisory services group at your Big 4 firm after a year or two of working. Then from advisory services go straight into banking. Don't get your MBA unless you get stuck.
For PE recruiting, should we be networking primarily with associates or people more senior? And when should we start networking - right when training starts or after hitting the desk?
I think you generally want to network with decision makers, so for PE associate recruiting that tends to be principals and VPs. You can start with associates to get your feet wet, but principals are going to be the most valuable.
super helpful video! question for you -- have you ever considered heading into tech (i.e. product management) as opposed to finance?
i worked at a boutique strategy consulting firm in FIDI where our client was a bulge bracket bank and quickly realized that the personalities present in finance were sooo not aligned with my own (e.g. really big egos, sexist, racist, etc..) and now work in product management at a tech company (which i love). how do you navigate such an environment? coming from Canada, surely this kind of behavior must be even more jarring to you, i'd assume? granted, i do have an undergrad degree in engineering, so i always knew the agency to switch boats was there.
It's a good point - I think tech is much, much more progressive than finance (and every other industry). There are still definitely a lot of reasonable, socially conscious firms in finance though. I would say all the places I worked at were pretty fair and I didn't feel like there was too much blatant sexism / racism.
I think it is better on the buyside too. Banking tends to be very fratty, but people I've seen in private equity are all professional and mature.
Nothing's going to compare to the welcoming and conscious nature of tech though.
Hey Matt, I know there is usually a tight time for these calls/meetings, but how do you feel about asking the person informal things such as interest outside of work?
I'd only do it if you're really vibing with the person. Maybe 1-2 questions at the end or if they try starting a conversation with you. It's high risk... pretty easy to look like a fool or come off as ingenuine
Which level should the person with whom I'm having the coffe chat have
Hey Matt, do you know what gpa students from target schools should aim for for IB recruitment? For context, I currently goto usc and hoping to work in LA for IB.
I would say 3.7+ and you're generally good. It's a bit school dependent, you definitely want to be in the top quartile of students. If there's a lot of applicants from USC for example, they'll compare you across a curve.
Once u enter corporate finance/investment banking, that's when the competition starts. Everyone works tirelessly
For sure, one of the most competitive and hard working industries I can think of.
Hi Matt - Thanks for the great content !
Question for you, if you don't mid answering - Have you found any older candidates transitioning into IB from a different industry ? There is a lot of knowledge they can bring into the industry, especially if you are from an engineering background - like due dilligence, technical, analytical and even client management if they have the experience. I am at a point where I am very confident I can handle the whole gamut of responsbilties, but not sure how to overcome the bias. Do you think there is a way around it ? I have already tried all the typical recommendations - demonstrating the value you bring etc.
Iâm in my first year of college, do you think itâs possible to get a summer internship for the summer? Perhaps a smaller firm since Iâm only a first year
Really hard, but it's possible. Manage your expectations. I would reach out to search funds a lot because they'll almost always hire interns. Then go for really small boutiques.
đ5:21
5:45
What if you run out of thoughtful questions to ask?
Then the conversation should end as you don't want to waste their time. Come to the conversation with like 12-15 questions and overprepare a bit.
I'm 16 is it impossible to get like an finance interships in I live the states
@@Michael-tk1wd isn't it like hella hard though
Yeah youâre not gonna get one, no worries though you donât have to start that young
Iâve seen a good amount of people have had some internship in finance and business firms as a high schooler. Youâll have to cold email and/ or have connections, and I didnât get any cause I was way to shy to reach out like that.
Focus on getting into a really good school right now, an internship is not best use of your time and it's almost impossible to get one in high school.
Not gonna lie, I clicked because of the handsome guy.
Effortless smile!
Not shit , no hate , only good content