The EXACT Networking Email Template I Used to Break Into Wall Street

There were three BRUTAL mistakes I made when sending my first networking email freshman year.

• #1 PURPLE TEXT - When you copy & paste from a template, the text shows up as purple for them (not black). Dead giveaway you didn't put in the effort to write a personalized email.

• #2 YAHOO - Everyone uses Gmail now. [email protected] was embarrassing.

• #3 WORD COUNT - Bankers hit delete right away if they see a big block of text.

The first step in landing a referral is figuring out how to get bankers to respond to your emails.

Otherwise you don’t even get the chance to wow them over the phone.

Target school kids have it easy. They only have to send a few dozen emails to land interviews.

But as a non-target - you’ll have to send AT LEAST 1,000 to get your foot in the door.

From January to April sophomore year, I sent 15 emails every morning Monday thru Thursday.

Nobody has time to individually type out 60+ emails every week…

But pasting a non-personalized, generic template makes you look pathetic & will get you ghosted.

Here’s a complete breakdown of the template I used & how I customized each part.

I’ll walk through the example below & explain how I approached each of the eight main sections.

PART 1 - LOGISTICS

Bankers get hundreds of emails from college kids every week and only respond to a few.

The alumni I did my first mock call with let me in on a little secret to up my hit rate.

He explained that there are certain times of day & days of the week bankers are more likely to respond.

Here were his three tips for the timing of the email.

• DAYS OF THE WEEK - Best response rate Monday thru Thursday. Be mindful of holidays.

• TIME OF DAY - First thing in morning 7:30am – 9:30am their time zone. Most bankers clear inbox right away when getting to office.

• SCHEDULE SEND - Don’t send at a round time like “8:30am”. Dead giveaway you’re using schedule send & not a good look. Change it to “8:32am” / “8:17am” to make it look like you typed it out live.

You should also update your email account with the following.

• GMAIL ACCOUNT - I made a completely new account with a more professional address than what I came up with in fifth grade. Use Gmail or your Outlook school email.

• PROFESSIONAL HEADSHOT - Adding a profile pic helps them put a face to a name. Makes it feel more personal.

PART 2 - CLICKBAIT SUBJECT LINE

Did through LinkedIn & specifically target bankers you have something in common with.

This can be a sport you both played, a place you’ve both visited, a state you both grew up in, etc.

Establishing a commonality will make them 10x more likely to respond.

Then whatever that commonality is - make it OBVIOUS in the subject line.

Here are a few examples of subject lines I used.

SCHOOL

*If your connection is that they’re also non-target, don’t explicitly say “Fellow Non-Target” in the subject line. They can infer that if you just list the name of your university*

• Big Ten Student Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

• Illinois Student Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

• UIUC Student Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

SPORTS

• Former Chicago AAA Hockey Player Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

• College Athlete Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

• College Hockey Player Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

HOMETOWN

• Central Illinois Native Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

• Midwest Student Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

• Chicagoland Native Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

EXTRACURRICULARS

• Beta Alpha Psi Active Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

• BAP Active Reaching Out – Jack Kolb

PART 3 - UNIQUE OPENING SENTENCE

Never open with “I hope this email finds you well”.

It’s cookie-cutter, boring & a dead giveaway you’re pasting from a template.

Change it slightly based on the day of the week or if there was a popular event / holiday.

Here are examples of openers I used.

• “I hope you were able to catch some of the exciting Super Bowl action last night.”​

• “I hope you had a relaxing weekend.”​

• “I hope you’ve had a great start to your week.”

• “I hope you’re staying warm with the recent snowstorm in NYC.”​

• “I hope your Wednesday is off to a great start.”

PART 4 - CREDIT CARD RULE

The length of your email should follow the credit card rule.

If you hold a credit card up to your computer screen, it should cover the whole email.

I’ve mentored 100+ kids in our school’s academy & this is the single biggest mistake they all make.

If bankers see a fat block of text, there is ZERO chance they’re responding.

Most kids give way too much background.

Your email needs to be direct & to the point - making your “ask” clear as day.

This is all you need in your “background” sentence -

[NAME] + [YEAR IN SCHOOL] + [MAJOR(S)] + [UNIVERSITY NAME]

PART 5 - BRIEF EXPANSION ON PERSONAL CONNECTION

Then CONCISELY elaborate on the personal connection you hinted at in the subject.

The banker in this example was a D1 lacrosse player.

I expanded on the “College Athlete” clickbait by telling him I played hockey for our school.

Same thing goes for the other clickbait subject examples listed above.

For example, if I found someone that went to high school in Central IL, I’d share my hometown.

PART 6 - WAIT TO SEND AVAILABILITY

Wait to send availability unless asked.

You need to make it obvious you’re grateful for any time they’d be willing to give & would move things around on your end to make it work.

It can come across as cocky if you send availability right away.

Instead - first type a brief transition sentence saying you’re interested in banking and are looking to learn more about their experience at their firm.

Then keep it open-ended when suggesting a call like the example below.

Most bankers will then give you a few times that work best for them.

If they don’t & still ask you to send your full availability - here’s the format I used to do it.

PART 7 - ATTACH RESUME

When kids send me networking emails, I preview their resume before reading the actual email.

Make sure to attach as a PDF & make the file name LAST_FIRST_RESUME.

PART 8 - RESPONSIVENESS

Notice the times on the right side of this chain.

The initial email was fired off at 9:52am that morning.

I got back to each of his responses in under three minutes.

Bankers have their attention pulled in a million different directions each day.

They’re constantly putting out fires & don’t get extended periods of downtime.

If they DO get back to you - never take longer than 30min to respond.

I turned Gmail notifications on in my phone & kept my email open on my computer during class.

You can’t afford to miss out on that short window of opportunity to get a call scheduled.

If you’re too late, that response will get lost in their inbox & you’ll never end up scheduling a call.

Cheers 🥂

- Jack

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