While In NYC

UPON ARRIVAL

When you first get to New York City the experience may be a little daunting. Even if you've spent a lot of time in large cities of the world, Manhattan takes some getting used to. In a nutshell, ignore the brochure people and weirdoes, don't pay $30 for a meal, use the subway, nothing is free, don't look up, walk fast and confident, and don't take crap from anyone. Focus on your purpose and you will do fine.

YOUR STRATEGY

You must take advantage of your time while you are in New York. Fax out to recruiters in NYC as many resumes as you can during the first two days of your trip. (See the New York fax cover letter). Then continue your calling and contact cycles with renewed vigor. You should take interviews anytime during the week you are in New York. You basically just want to call them and say, "I'm here and ready, could I interview or just meet with you?" to emphasize that you really want the job. In fact, offer to the recruiters to be flexible enough to schedule interviews for your next trip if it is obvious that they do not have any time now (if you can afford another trip).

If the recruiter for an investment bank is not there when you call then try calling back later on or on the next day. Leave your name and number with the recruiter's secretary. Just say that you are "trying to schedule an interview time for this week". Just after explaining your purpose, say "I'll try back later". A secretary will sometimes try to discourage you from calling back if he/she finds out that the recruiter did not initiate contact first. Just brush this off as part of the game and always be polite.

Do not settle for "we'll call you". This stems from an absolutely crucial strategy in your whole job process. You must maintain control of the whole process until the investment bank has interviewed you at least once. Look at it this way, you've spent way too much time, money, and sweat, at this point, and traveled too far to be stopped this easily. In fact, the great majority of people search for jobs without controlling the process.  Just think about how easy it is for a recruiter to ignore a paper resume in front them as compared to trying to ignore you while you are writing, calling, and even traveling to the city to be ready to interview whenever possible. Exploit their curiosity as to why you would come so far to kick their door down.

USING YOUR TIME

You might spend a lot of time waiting between rounds of calling recruiters and interviewing. Capitalize on this downtime by familiarizing yourself with the city (especially the Financial District and Midtown), reading newspapers
(Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, etc.), reading information from annual reports and news articles about the investment banks you are calling, catching up on your homework for the University, and visiting a few tourist spots.

Try to utilize every situation you have while in New York and avoid wasting time. It's expensive time!

HINT

Gatekeepers really do exist in New York investment banks. Buildings have security guards with gated-access areas, receptionists, etc. Regional investment banks tend to have less restricted access. It may be possible to try to visit a regional investment bank, but don't waste your time visiting a New York investment bank until you have an appointment. Just keep calling and mailing!