Career season has started.

I went to the Merrill Lynch info session this evening. One of the Merrill bankers introduced the company and gave a speech for about 15 minutes. It was a pretty straightforward presentation. He talked about the company accomplishments, structure, culture, and the type of people they were looking for. If you can’t attend the sessions, the presentation bits are videotaped. He then opened the floor for Q&A. No one asked any questions. He then said the formal part of the presentation was done, and now we could talk to the Merrill bankers individually.

I only talked to two bankers, both of whom were very friendly and informative, and most importantly patient! People asked them so many questions, and I am quite sure they were being asked the same questions over and over.

Apparently, Merrill is only hiring 8 people for this year. I found out later it was for all of Canada, not just Rotman! This must mean their employee turnover is low, given their size. However, chances of a full time employment aren’t that amazing without the summer internship. To part-timers the summer internship is not a viable option, so I am not sure how a part timer would get a job in IB. Also, one of the ladies I spoke to said they aren’t really looking at the grades. This was a big surprise! She said they were looking at the whole package, and fit was important.

I personally dislike these events, as there seems to be so much pressure to outshine everyone else in the room. Pretty hard to do given the 100+ people in the room. However, given this is an MBA recruitment event, and these are MBA students, there were quite a few people trying to do just that. It was so obvious at times, I almost wanted to cringe.

In terms of the networking: It was extremely hard to get any one-on-one attention with any banker. There are usually four or more people huddled around one banker. Some smart people did ask for business cards and will probably follow up. I personally didn’t. I found it hard to establish any real contact with any banker. You don’t get to form any connection with the person you are with. They don’t ask you what you do or anything personal about yourself. I did overhear some people go into their experience, but most people just stand around asking them questions. If you aren’t familiar with capital markets, then it is a good idea to attend just to get more information and practice the lingo.

I was very nervous about this ‘meet and greet’ networking event, but I managed to find the ‘on’ button. It was a good learning experience, as it made me realize that I was more confident in these situations than I had anticipated. I guess this is an acquired skill, and with practice it can be refined.

So, I guess if you are going to go to these events: Be aggressive and ask for business cards and/or hand them out. Also, try and say something about yourself. And if possible, try and get one on one attention with someone. That is the only way to establish any sort of future networking opportunity.