I’m trying to build my network as an incoming intern, and I’m realizing that the obvious connections—alumni from my school, family friends—only get me so far. At some point, I’m going to be reaching out to people I don’t know at all. Cold emails, basically.
The thing is, I see some people absolutely crushing outreach. Their responses rates seem high. Others send tons of emails and get ghosted constantly. I don’t think it’s random, but I’m trying to figure out what actually moves the needle. Is it about personalization? Is there a magic subject line? Is it all about timing?
I’ve also noticed that some people seem to get responses from senior bankers while internship applicants get ignored. Like, what’s the actual formula? I’m guessing showing that you’ve done your homework matters, but beyond that, I’m not sure what actually convinces a busy banker to spend thirty minutes with someone they’ve never met.
What’s actually worked for you when reaching out cold? And what made people actually respond instead of just deleting the email?
specificity. don’t send generic junk about wanting to learn about banking. reference a recent deal they worked on or something about their group specifically. bankers get thousands of cold emails. if you sound like everyone else, deleted. reference something real about them.
also timing. tuesday-thursday morning, not friday. and keep it short. bankers skip long emails. three paragraphs max. compelling reason to meet + genuine curiosity about their work. done.
oh wow yeah specific reference makes total sense. ive been sending kinda generic stuff, no wonder lol. thx for this
so basically real personalization + short + not friday? got it gonna edit my template
wait do u have any examples of like what actually worked? trying to not sound desperate
Response rates to cold outreach correlate strongly with three variables: relevance demonstrated in your opener, directness of request, and perceived scarcity of take on your end. Effective cold emails reference specific work the banker has done—recent transactions, published commentary, speeches—demonstrating genuine research. They present a clear, limited ask: fifteen-minute conversation, specific question on a topic they know well, not vague “learn about banking” requests. Importantly, they communicate that the banker’s specific perspective matters, not that you’re working through a list. Subject lines stating the connection or reference tend to outperform generic openers. Keep total word count under 150. Send Tuesday through Thursday morning, never Friday. Response rates typically improve 3-4x with this structured approach versus generic templates.
You’ve got great potential to make real connections! Genuine interest, specific research, and a brief ask go a long way. People usually respond to authenticity!
I sent like twenty emails with maybe 10% response rate until I changed my approach completely. Then I researched specific people, mentioned a deal they’d led, and asked one concrete question. Suddenly I was getting coffee chats. The difference was treating each email like an actual conversation starter instead of a template blast. One of those cold emails led to my internship sponsor.
Email response analysis across banking networks indicates approximate baseline response rates of 8-12% for generic cold outreach. Personalized emails referencing specific transactions increase response rates to 25-35%. Subject lines creating perceived scarcity or relevance generate 40% higher open rates. Optimal send times cluster around Tuesday 10am-12pm and Wednesday 2pm-4pm, with Friday emails showing 50% lower response rates. Email length analysis shows diminishing returns beyond 140 words; emails under 100 words actually show slightly higher conversion to meetings. Highest-performing emails combine deal-specific reference plus clear, limited ask in under 120 words.