I am a master student at a well know business school. I tried to connect with MBA alum but they didn't reply.

Hi there,

Q: I am a master student at a well know business school. I tried to connect with MBA alum in consulting but they didn't reply. However, when I connect with alum that graduated from the same master program they did reply. Any suggestions?

May be due to:

• Possible improvements in the message you are sending ⮕ You may want to post it anonymized here for some feedback
• Too small sample – you have been “unlucky” contacting people who are busy / don’t want to help ⮕ You may try more to see if the conversion improves
• Lack of connection with the university for the MBA alumni ⮕ Unfortunately you can’t do much for this

In any case, you just need one referral per firm. So if you found some from the master that may be enough.

You can find more information on referrals here:

▶ How to Get an MBB Referral

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

Most people won't answer you (or anyone) as a general rule, which is why you need to write to a large number of people.

As for why they're not answering, this could be for a number of reasons:

• Some of which you can control e.g. your profile, messaging style, timing, target profiles
• Some of which you can't control e.g. recipient's lack of time, interest, incentives

So make sure to cast your net wide and focus on what you can control. Additionally, I would check for common connections and ask for introductions - this usually works really well!

Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!

I would suggest to:

1.  target well who you want to reach (having eventually a bit more in common than just the education, such as industry experience, being from a same location, etc.). 

2. Then I would really spend a time on the message you sent: put yourself in the shoes of the receiver, is it appealing for you or it is just an ask that doesnt bring any value/interest. Probably the best is to ask for a virtual coffee without sharing any request fist, only then if you see you connect well ask favor you want. 

Eventually you can ask your school to connect you, but not sure of efficiency. 

Good luck,

Lucie

Was this answer helpful?

I would suggest if you can build a connection with Masters alum, you could ask them if they have friends from the MBA cohort that can help you. 

Thanks 

Ashwin 

Hi there,

Ultimately, it doesn't hurt to reach out! Networking is a bit of a numbers game. Of course, you need to take a second look at the wording of your messages to make sure they're optimized to get a response!

I wouldn't read into this.  If someone wants to help you then they will!

Hello,

I wouldn't worry too much about this - some people just respond and are more ready to help than others. I doubt it had much to do with you being in the masters program vs the MBA. As other experts here have suggested, you only have control over a part of this process, so from your end it might be worth fine-tuning your email, making sure you are reaching out at a good time, etc. Above all, make sure it is polite and professional. But my ultimate piece of advice would be to keep reaching out to people, both from the masters and the MBA program if you think they could be helpful - not all attempts are going to be successful, but the more people you try to talk to, the higher your chances are of finding a good mentor in the process. Hope this helps and best of luck!