Ben C ⋅ New York, NY Hedge Fund ⋅ 2 years experience

Micah,

As Frank had suggested, go to VOWS website, and find names of veterans at banks. Cold email them, start a dialogue that usually leads to an informational interview over the phone and suggest site visits after you have their attention and you get on their radar. Meet more vets at the bank and it goes from there. It's easier with ACP because you already have a "foot in the door" so to speak, but by no means do you need a HR resource or ACP to help schedule these visits. Just network and ask to go in. Worst they can say is "No".

Peter Nesbitt ⋅ New York, NY U.S. Army, Staff Sergeant ⋅ 6 years served

Like Stephanie, I am well connected to the veterans network at my employer, Deutsche Bank. Reach out if you need an introduction here.

Frank Aburto ⋅ Jersey City, NJ U.S. Army, Captain ⋅ 6 years served

All,

If you attended the VOWS conference many of the people you met there should be able to put you in touch with other Veterans at their firm to get you in for informational interviews, which are definitely standard practice for people trying to break into the industry. Finding people from your school or someone you can connect with at each firm, such as Stephanie or myself (when I start full time) is the best way to find connections in the firm. A great start is also to email HR and explain that you are a Veteran and would like to speak to another Vet in your desired career field in your target city or a rep from the Veteran affinity group. If you do your research on emailing the proper person who handles say Equity Research in Micah's case, it makes a bigger impact as it shows you have done your research on who to reach out to.

-Frank

Micah Robinson ⋅ Coppell, TX U.S. Army National Guard, Sergeant ⋅ 8 years served

Stephanie,

Thanks for your post. As for what you could do to help, I can't say I am really sure but would love to hear what you have to say. My intent is to break into investment banking, specifically in equity research. The GS webinar mentioned several things including seeking out office visits and reaching out to the internal veteran networks at some of the big banks. I would be grateful for any info and advice you have on the i-banking side of the industry.

Daniel Hodd ⋅ Brooklyn, NY U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Gunnery Sergeant ⋅ 10 years served

Others may have first-hand knowledge, but from what I've seen, many firms have created or solidified formal veteran networks over the last few years. More will almost certainly follow. Though I'm not sure about how we can go about letting those networks know we'd like to get in touch... I'm in the same boat.