Email, resume, interview, rejection.
This is a cycle many prospective consultants, investment bankers and other business pre-professionals at Northwestern become all too familiar with as they search for a summer internship to jumpstart their careers.
According to Tracie Thomas, director of career development at Northwestern Career Advancement, social networking apps like LinkedIn have become increasingly popular among students looking to break into the professional world and make connections.
“The whole premise of LinkedIn is that you don’t know who the people that you know know, so it allows you to expand your network,” Thomas said.
LinkedIn allows pre-professionals to show off their education and work experiences, career skills and certifications, and, perhaps most coveted, their connections. It also enables students to message recruiters and employees at companies they’re interested in working for.
Thomas said students typically use LinkedIn to research alumni and their career paths, share professional interests and track industry trends. NCA then helps students explore and develop career options by reviewing resumes and cover letters, practicing interview skills and hosting career fairs and employer events.
Bienen and Weinberg sophomore Remi Furuto said she has used LinkedIn to search and apply for investment banking summer internships. She said finding an internship for this summer at XA Investments was relatively straightforward but securing an offer for junior summer — a process that starts about 18 months in advance — has been challenging.
Furuto said it can be difficult to stand out in a resume pile because there may be thousands of similarly experienced candidates vying for the same position.
“You need LinkedIn or need to find people at the company,” she said. “Then, have good conversations with them and hope they might give you a referral. Then you can get an interview.”
Weinberg sophomore Leo Kantrow has already signed summer internship offers at Balyasny Asset Management for 2024 and Blackstone for 2025. Kantrow said he also used LinkedIn as a first step to contact company representatives.
Furuto and Kantrow said they both sent hundreds of emails in the past few months to get on recruiters’ radars, but only about 5-10% responded to set up a call. Kantrow said maybe a third of those who responded will be useful connections.
“It’s pretty exhausting,” Kantrow said. “I think after I signed my offers I had sent like 400 emails, but, you know, it is what it is.”
Thomas said she recommends students reach out beyond “name brand” companies, because small and mid-sized firms often provide valuable experience and opportunities for prospective consultants as well.
Kantrow said he sometimes feels impostor syndrome, especially when he was a freshman looking at upperclassmen’s “impressive” LinkedIn profiles, but has learned that other people’s accomplishments don’t have to minimize his own.
“I can definitely see how (impostor syndrome) could contribute to a sense of toxicity,” Kantrow said. “But I always interpret it as, ‘Well, if these people in the grades above me can get internships at these places, so can I,’ so it’s just motivation.”
According to Thomas, NCA emphasizes developing skills like leadership and teamwork — not just accumulating achievements — to help applicants stand out in interviews and their day-to-day responsibilities.
NCA also offers advising appointments and daily drop-in hours for students interested in furthering their professional goals.
“I think it’s important that students really think about why they’re interested in working for a consulting firm or a bank and putting (their) energy into making (themselves) the best candidate,” she said. “Because there will always be people that you can compare yourself to.”
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