How to approach Partner?

Question

Hello to everyone,

A close relative and I talked over the holidays and they have a good friend from school whose parent is a high level Partner/Director in an MBB. They are in an office in a different country. The friend passed along the personal email of their parent and told my relative I could feel free to contact them. Obviously my goal is to get an informational interview as this Partner has relevant experience in the MBB in my home country and the country where I currently live, but I know with a Partner the chance of an info interview might be slim.

As it's a personal email account and not their work email, plus not being a direct connection (they know my relative though), is my best approach to send a brief email introducing myself and asking if it would be possible to ask a few questions/advice by email or a quick phone chat?

I've done several info interviews but never with a Partner/Director. Speaking with them would be really helpful for a lot of reasons, so any advice is welcome. Thank you.

Answer 1

This sounds like a great opportunity to network and to learn more about the firm.

If I were you, I would send a brief email introducing yourself and asking for a phone call. In the call, try to not ask any questions with obvious answers (everything you can find on the website) and focus on the personal experience of the partner. Ask for advice on the application process and follow-up with an email after the phone call. A couple of weeks later, follow-up again with details on how you have implemented the advice that you have received in the phone call. When you apply, send a quick email to the partner, thank him again for his help and hope that he will refer you internally :)

Answer 2

Dear A,

That's a good chance to connect. Send short introductory email and ask for a call.

Be prepared for the call, google about this person, may be you can find some of his publication, articles, more information about the areas of profesionality or ineterest. Based on this, try to build your conversation and find commonalities (like city, interests etc)

If you need any further help or advice, feel free to reach out.

Best,

André