Cold-emailing Alumni Forum
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Cold-emailing Alumni
How has anyone's past experience with reaching out to alumni worked in trying to get a foot in the door? I was planning on getting onto martindale and cold e-mailing some alum in my area to see if they could provide any guidance with my post grad job search/get me in touch with people who are hiring or even pass a resume along. If I should even bother doing so, what type of stuff should I include in an e-mail?
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Cold contacting alums and asking for jobs isn't going to be very productive. But, if you can identify some people who you would have actual, intelligent questions for (beyond "will you pass my resume along?"), contacting them for informational interviews is a solid plan. Think of it not as an extension of your job search, but as a chance to get advice and develop contacts that might potentially grow into friendships or mentor relationships.
- MartianManhunter
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
I've had nothing but success in doing so. The trick is to contact them for advice and information, not just to pass your resume along. Once you've built a relationship and established a rapport, they'll likely volunteer to help you in your career. Most alum are happy to talk to you and, as a rule of thumb, all lawyers like to talk about themselves.
- kalvano
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Also, does your school maintain a listing of alumni who have volunteered or agreed to help out current students?
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
kalvano wrote:Also, does your school maintain a listing of alumni who have volunteered or agreed to help out current students?
my school does keep a database but I'm not sure if they delineate as to who has helped in the past.
I got the contacts through a martindale search for people who went to my Ugrad and LS, there were 200 overlaps.
- kalvano
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
spatel wrote:kalvano wrote:Also, does your school maintain a listing of alumni who have volunteered or agreed to help out current students?
my school does keep a database but I'm not sure if they delineate as to who has helped in the past.
I got the contacts through a martindale search for people who went to my Ugrad and LS, there were 200 overlaps.
You might check and see if they have people "on file" who are willing to help out.
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
100% agreed. I've landed over 10 interviews this season following the above strategy. Go get 'em!MartianManhunter wrote:I've had nothing but success in doing so. The trick is to contact them for advice and information, not just to pass your resume along. Once you've built a relationship and established a rapport, they'll likely volunteer to help you in your career. Most alum are happy to talk to you and, as a rule of thumb, all lawyers like to talk about themselves.
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
how many alum did you guys reach out to and how many responded.
When contacting alum did you just express your interest in their area of practice, or just seek advice regardless of their practice area. I'm asking because, naturally, I'm not interested in some of their practices but knowing how they got there may help me get to where I wanna go.
Anon.- how'd you about reaching out, any specific examples?
When contacting alum did you just express your interest in their area of practice, or just seek advice regardless of their practice area. I'm asking because, naturally, I'm not interested in some of their practices but knowing how they got there may help me get to where I wanna go.
Anon.- how'd you about reaching out, any specific examples?
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Bringing this thread back alive. I contact some alumns.. trying to make it sound like I was interested. How do you respond to an email "i sent your resume to several of my colleagues".
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
This thread is relevant to my interests. I am interested in trying to set up some informational interviews with alums from my school.
Any general advice from people who have done this successfully would be greatly appreciated.
Any general advice from people who have done this successfully would be greatly appreciated.
- starchinkilt
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Just shoot them an e-mail mentioning you saw they are an alum of your school. Ask them if they wouldn't mind talking to you for 15 minutes or so on the phone about their work and experiences. Mention a recent development or something they worked on from their profile to show you actually want to talk to them. I also put in that I understand that you are busy, so feel free to say no.chimp wrote:This thread is relevant to my interests. I am interested in trying to set up some informational interviews with alums from my school.
Any general advice from people who have done this successfully would be greatly appreciated.
Plenty of alumni have gotten back to me. And the ones who do get back to you are usually really enthusiastic and glad you reached out. I've also had people anywhere from V5 to local NLJ 250 firms respond, so don't be afraid to try and contact anyone.
ETA: Two of these phone calls have led to informational interviews. I then got interviews after submitting my materials, and the people interviewing me loved the fact that I reached out to people at their firm.
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Poster again. I just want advice on a response to his return e-mail. I was trying to seem interested in his work, but his response was just "I forwarded your e-mail to several of my colleagues." which is great... but should i just respond thank you or what...Anonymous User wrote:Bringing this thread back alive. I contact some alumns.. trying to make it sound like I was interested. How do you respond to an email "i sent your resume to several of my colleagues".
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- kalvano
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Anonymous User wrote:Poster again. I just want advice on a response to his return e-mail. I was trying to seem interested in his work, but his response was just "I forwarded your e-mail to several of my colleagues." which is great... but should i just respond thank you or what...Anonymous User wrote:Bringing this thread back alive. I contact some alumns.. trying to make it sound like I was interested. How do you respond to an email "i sent your resume to several of my colleagues".
"Thank you very much, I appreciate that. If you have a few minutes sometime, I would love to ask you some questions about the firm and / or ____ that you recently worked on. Please let me know when is best for you."
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Cool! Thanks for the response.starchinkilt wrote:Just shoot them an e-mail mentioning you saw they are an alum of your school. Ask them if they wouldn't mind talking to you for 15 minutes or so on the phone about their work and experiences. Mention a recent development or something they worked on from their profile to show you actually want to talk to them. I also put in that I understand that you are busy, so feel free to say no.chimp wrote:This thread is relevant to my interests. I am interested in trying to set up some informational interviews with alums from my school.
Any general advice from people who have done this successfully would be greatly appreciated.
Plenty of alumni have gotten back to me. And the ones who do get back to you are usually really enthusiastic and glad you reached out. I've also had people anywhere from V5 to local NLJ 250 firms respond, so don't be afraid to try and contact anyone.
ETA: Two of these phone calls have led to informational interviews. I then got interviews after submitting my materials, and the people interviewing me loved the fact that I reached out to people at their firm.
Last edited by 071816 on Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Lieut Kaffee
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
I have a slightly different take, though the above is true. A good friend of mine is at a top firm in a big market that doesn't come to our OCI, and this strategy is why she got the job. In fact, it's largely the reason she ended up with 10 CB in 6 markets and 9 offers while using OCI only sparingly.G. T. L. Rev. wrote:CR.Renzo wrote:Cold contacting alums and asking for jobs isn't going to be very productive. But, if you can identify some people who you would have actual, intelligent questions for (beyond "will you pass my resume along?"), contacting them for informational interviews is a solid plan. Think of it not as an extension of your job search, but as a chance to get advice and develop contacts that might potentially grow into friendships or mentor relationships.
It's a little late to replicate her strategy though. She reached out to alums a couple months ago (on last year's calendar), scored some informational interviews, and ultimately either applied direct using standard "mass mail" procedure (usually at the suggestion of the alum, who then put in a word with the recruiter on her behalf) or simply ended up giving her resume to the alum who forwarded it to the proper channels. Pretty much a guaranteed screener (on the phone if that's all you can swing) and a huge boost for a CB.
In fact, while at many of the firms this worked for, she contacted an alum, the firm she ultimately chose stemmed from simply contacting someone who went to the "other" Chicago LS and was in a practice area she was interested in. The connection was "Hey we went to LS in the same general geographic area! Wanna talk?"
In short, I see it as a very effective way of turning mass mailing from a shot in the dark to a viable strategy.
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Ok- cold emailed some alumni, had a 15 min informational talk over the phone. now what? how do I maintain the relationship + get an opportunity to pass my resume along?
also- better to contact partners or associates?
also- better to contact partners or associates?
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Supposed to attach resume in original email or no?Anonymous User wrote:Ok- cold emailed some alumni, had a 15 min informational talk over the phone. now what? how do I maintain the relationship + get an opportunity to pass my resume along?
also- better to contact partners or associates?
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
a) You should have kept them on the line longer. I've had several tell me "send me your resume, I'll pass it along."Anonymous User wrote:Ok- cold emailed some alumni, had a 15 min informational talk over the phone. now what? how do I maintain the relationship + get an opportunity to pass my resume along?
also- better to contact partners or associates?
b) Partners, for sure. They have clout, know hiring partners, etcetera. I had three post-mass mail interviews come after interactions with partners who said they'd flag my resume, and one ding after a similar interaction with a junior associate who said she'd do the same.
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Re: Cold-emailing Alumni
Before CB, should I email one of the alumns? Call? Or stop by during the CB? Or email/call to make an appointment to chat after the CB?
Basically, is it best to contact them and ask them questions before the CB, or briefly meet with them while I am in the building CB'ing? I have nothing really to ask this particular person that couldn't ask any of my interviewers. But I do want to make contact.
Thanks.
Basically, is it best to contact them and ask them questions before the CB, or briefly meet with them while I am in the building CB'ing? I have nothing really to ask this particular person that couldn't ask any of my interviewers. But I do want to make contact.
Thanks.
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