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WHY YOU WILL NEVER GET A LINKEDIN REPLY

By Hal Campbell

1. Asking Generic Questions

I do get a fair share of LinkedIn messages from students and graduates who are keen to break into investment banking and 99% of the time they would ask for “advice” on how to break into IBD. The content of the email is super generic and is easily a copy-and-paste job. Chances are, these students have reached out to multiple professionals like myself, and like them, we also know how to spot low-effort messages. Essentially in the end, we will pass the bucket to another person thinking someone else will answer but not me.

Major tip here is to personalise the message, introduce yourself and what you have done, and WHY NOW have you decided to reach out. Keep it short and sweet. In addition, it’s ok to address them as their first name, not Miss/Mr.

2. Being A Spammer

Two messages a day is A LOT. I know in certain situations, a student might have an assessment centre coming up last minute so there is real urgency here for advice. It is best to allow the responder time to read the message first before following up again. Acting too keen comes across as if you just want something from the responder at your convenience.

3. Afraid To Follow Up

This point follows nicely from the one above. In reality, finance professionals are busy people and sometimes they might forget to answer messages on LinkedIn because most of the time they are on work email. Don’t be afraid to follow up in a polite manner 2-3 days later. After following up and you still don’t get a reply, chances are they are extremely busy or have no intention of answering. It’s time to move on.

4. Lack Of Research

I have had questions asking for advice on how to get into Sales & Trading or a completely different sector to what I actually do. Before reaching out to someone in the sector, doing your own research and perhaps try to answer your OWN questions first before coming to someone else to get their advice. Each individual will have unique experiences and how they got to where they are, so reading their LinkedIn profile carefully before contacting them is a sensible approach.

5. Not Making Genuine Connection

Finance is a small world and chances are once you get in, you will bump into someone you came across before. Most strikingly, people tend to remember you for the ‘wrong’ reasons stronger than for the ‘right’ reasons. If someone has kindly offered their time and advice to you but sadly you did not secure a role you wanted with their company, it is still better to stay in touch. I have had a student who reached out to me, penned a lovely and personal message but I wasn’t able to help. Instead, I put him in contact with someone else I know well to help him. Needless to say, finance is a relationship-driven business therefore treating every connection with genuine intent will carry you far.

5 INCREDIBLE FEMALE-LED STARTUPS IN LOCKDOWN

By Hal Campbell

As we are approaching one-year anniversary of the first lockdown, it is safe to say how lucky we are to have made it today. Reflecting back on the journey, I can’t help but notice many of my girl-friends and friends of friends have plucked up the courage to use this pandemic as an opportunity and create businesses for themselves.

These five business-owners are incredibly talented and most of all, they have REAL PASSION for their products. I found these ladies incredibly inspiring and exceptionally talented. How uplifting it is to see them thriving and earning more income than just their day jobs.

One other thing they share in common is that they are all in the business of e-commerce, selling their products through different online platforms that are wildly popular. Let’s hear from these solo entrepreneurs on their journey of starting a venture from scratch!

Meet Samantha, Jez, Andreea, Norma and Sobia.

1. What is the name of your business and what do you sell?

Samantha: My business is oulo Ltd – selling activewear essentials.

Jez: My business is called JezzzDesigns and I sell local and customised art prints.

Andreea: The name is ‘Into the Stocks’ since that’s our name on Instagram. Our main product is detailed but easy to read company research made for the everyday investor. These reports analyse key aspects ranging from commercial activity to management quality to finances & profitability. Each report will also include a fair value calculation of the company’s share price. Our mission is to enable everyday investors to invest with confidence.

Norma: KOFFI COLLECTION is a women’s fashion accessories brand, we sell cute handbags, statement jewelry & sunglasses.

Sobia: The name of my business is Sweets by Sobia and I sell bespoke treat boxes, consisting of cakesicles, geo hearts and sugar cookies. Soon to be expanding to cupcakes also.

2. What gave you the inspiration to start the business during lockdown?

Samantha: I’ve always wanted to start my own business but never had the time to look into/manage it by myself. Having that extra time from not having to commute and having a better work-life balance gave me the confidence that I could start to manage a small project/business from home and give it a go. In terms of the business idea, I practice a lot of yoga and found it expensive to buy high-quality yoga gear for my practice. I believe yoga should be for everyone and activewear shouldn’t come at a non-accessible price tag.

Jez: I was inspired to set this up completely randomly! In all honesty, I was bored as I was on summer for university and my internship fell through due to COVID so I started doing some designs for fun. I posted one on a local Facebook page and when I realised people had an interest in my designs I never stopped!

Andreea: We saw that retail investing had really started to take off with the growing popularity of mobile tradings apps. We also realised that the thought of investing can be quite daunting, particularly when good sources of information are hard to find and most people don’t fancy reading a 200-page annual company report. Given our finance backgrounds and our personal investing success, we want to enable more people to grow their wealth by investing in the stock market. Investing used to be exclusively for the rich, but if the last year taught us anything is that anyone can benefit from it.

Norma: l am absolutely obsessed with accessories and styling them with cute outfits. I initially thought about creating a brand before 2020, as I wanted ownership of something and to create something that’s my own. When lockdown happened it was the perfect opportunity to dedicate my time to launch my brand, it was either now or never.

Sobia: I’m not the kind of person to be able to sit still, even when at home. When I had to go on furlough, I found my days dragging far too much. I’m a busy body at heart. I have been a pastry chef for 8 years so I’m used to long grueling hours in my work life. I thought there’s no better time to start now during lockdown as I finally have the time to concentrate on learning how to start a business and how I will be able to make it work from my home kitchen. My husband and I are very competitive with each other when it comes to making money/achieving goals and saving up, that’s what drives me. With his support, I was inspired to branch out on my own rather than make profits for a larger company. I love baking and it shows in my products.

3. Have you met with any setbacks?

Samantha: Learning it all has been a whole new experience and challenge, from building an online website, building a social media platform,… to learning the rules and regulations in a completely new industry.

Jez: In terms of setbacks there have been no major problems however it has been a massive learning journey. I have had to deal with a wide variety of people, learn how to be reliant on other people (such as printing shops).

Andreea: About 6 months into Instagram, our page wasn’t gaining much traction, despite a lot of hours put into our research. We were very close to throwing in the towel but managed to push through and we just had the best month yet in terms of follower growth – plus over half of our Patreon memberships have been taken!

Norma: I haven’t had so many ‘setbacks’ but I’ve had to learn a lot about running a business. From learning about the finances to branding and marketing and so much more, however, it’s been an interesting journey so far. But l am learning so much and the brand will continue to grow so I’m excited to see what the future holds.

Sobia: Definitely the size of my kitchen and the amount of orders I have received.

4. What has been the best highlight of the business so far?

Samantha: Developing and designing the sustainable collections which is where the business is going. Through understanding and educating myself on new sustainable fabrics, I hope to soon offer these to my clients and help them make the transition from traditional fabrics to eco-friendly garments without having to pay a high price tag in doing so.

Jez: I think the best highlight of my business so far is seeing my print design in a local magazine! Although I have seen my work in physical form hundreds of times it was so exciting to know that this had been delivered to so many homes!

Andreea: The highlight of it all has to be the feedback that we get from our community. The one that hit home the most is when one of our close friends sent us this: “I cracked +£1k in return today 😭 just wanted to say thanks because I wouldn’t have any without you guys 😂🤗” This is a guy that would never have thought about investing before – but through talking to us and constantly following our page, he managed to build a portfolio of stocks and start growing his savings.

Norma: The highlight so far is customers telling me how much they love the items they’ve bought and seeing them wearing the collection. It genuinely makes me happy to know that they love the items as much as l do.

Sobia: The best highlight has definitely been this particular weekend for Valentine’s day. Never in my dreams, I thought I would have to say ‘sold out’ in my first 6 weeks of a business. It’s been a real high especially working down to the wire and getting back into a working lifestyle.

5. Where can we get our hands on your lovely products?

Samantha: You can check out the Instagram page @oulowear or the website (use JustHal10 for 10% off) www.oulowear.com

Jez: My products are available on my shop www.jezzzdesigns.com

Andreea: You can find our Patreon company reports on https://www.patreon.com/intothestocks/ or click on the link in our bio on our Instagram page @IntoTheStock

Norma: www.kofficollection.co.uk

Sobia: I am reachable on Instagram @sweetsbysobia and Facebook to purchase my products for now.

Have something to share? email us hey@bankmelater.com

WHY BLAME OUR DAUGHTERS FOR DIVORCE?

WELLNESS

By Gabriella El-Chamaa

Popular reporting on the paper ‘Daughters and Divorce’ blame daughters for increased chances of divorce, whilst ignoring the gender biases of parents who can’t agree on raising their girls like they do their boys.

On the 6^th of February, The Economist published an article evaluating the work of Jan Kabatek and David Ribar, titled “Daughters and Divorce” in the USA and Netherlands. They found that couples, where their oldest child is female, were more likely, by a probability of 1.8%, to divorce by the time the daughter turns 18. The only exception, to what The Economist referred to as the “daughter effect”, are those where the father had grown up with a female sibling (b).

The irony of the article produced by The Economist is that divorce closely ties in with women’s rights to autonomy and yet, the article cited that the most common cause of parents arguing when their oldest child is a girl is regarding “how much they should control their teenagers’ personal choices, such as how they dress”.

Has no one stopped to ask the question: Why do parents need to control their girls more than their boys?

It is often the perception that women have a significantly higher risk of being the victim of violent crimes, but this contradicts what the Bureau of Justice reported in 2019. They found that in 2018 men carried out 77% of violent crimes, whilst they accounted for 46.6% of the victims. Therefore, as the threat of violence is almost equal between men and women (a), it begs the question,

Why aren’t parents arguing over controlling their sons who are more likely to be violent than women are likely to be victims?

If concerns for the teenage girls’ wellbeing results in the need for control, then why would any parent let their daughter in a car? I mean, in a crash, that is statistically more likely to be caused by men, women are “47% more likely to be seriously injured and 71% more likely to be moderately injured”. However, most parents wouldn’t be able to cite these and other harrowing figures where the woman’s safety is compromised, as a result of the androcentric design of technological advancements in the USA. This is most likely because these statistics do not threaten gender-based values and the traditional family values of the Post-Regan era.

Divorce is hard enough for people to go through, especially during a pivotal period of a child’s development during their teenage years.

Looking for the cause of divorce should not be so focused on the children.

However, rather than elaborate on Kabatek and Ribar’s findings of the differences in divorce rates relating to the parents’ “attitudes towards gender-roles”, The Economist decided to appease the 70% of their subscribers who, as of 2018, were male. As a result, The Economists article consisted of quotes such as “teenage daughters and fathers, in particular, get on each other’s nerves” as if this were a concrete and helpful fact. It is important that we look at why couples are more likely to divorce where their oldest child is a girl, but from the perspective of the social constructs in place that make it difficult for the parents.

We should be asking if divorce rates are higher where parents view their oldest daughters differently to how they view their oldest sons, and how this could be changed.

That would be beneficial to tackling the skew in results of the research as they stand, instead of reinforcing the notion that having children who are girls is less desirable.

If the parents were married before their children hit their teenage years, it is easy to link the two when that is likely to be the biggest change in a marriage. However, we should be asking: What factors are not considered before parents have their children? Did they agree on how to raise their children before having them? Are they good enough communicators to be able to resolve conflict? Do both parents see both genders as equal? I am sure the answers to these questions would be more beneficial than blaming the first child for being a girl.

I do sincerely hope that we begin asking the right questions when looking at divorce rates. It is important that parents are prepared to raise children with an aligned strategy that is the same for both their boys and girls, instead of looking to the children to blame for a failed marriage (c).

*Note:

a. This is no means diminishes the requirement to tackle gender-based violence or ignores the 3.4% difference, however it is important to recognise that what needs to change is not controlling women, but addressing the disproportionate number of men who make up the majority of violent perpetrators.

b. The tests were done in the hetero-normative perspective and therefore this article uses this same perspective to illustrate and argue against points made.

c. Of course this is a very blanket statement looking at the parents surveyed for the research piece that is being reported on here, there are other extenuating circumstances where this is not applicable.

Bank Me Later’s opinion articles are a place for thought-provoking views and debate. These views are not necessarily shared by Bank Me Later. Have something to share? email us hey@bankmelater.com

THE PERFECT CV FOR INVESTMENT BANKING IN 2021

BANKING

The CV is the first of many steps to break into banking. As one of the most competitive industries, IBD receives thousands of job applications for a few available spots on the team therefore there are plenty of motivations to make your CV stands out from the rest. Like with pitchbooks and marketing materials for banking, two key ingredients are top priorities: Content and Presentation.

#1 – One-Page CV

The job market is increasingly becoming competitive and the recruitment team has to shift through a huge volume of resumes. On average, a CV gets a 3-second look so make this window count.

#2 – Education Results

For an intern and up to junior positions, it is important to flex your academic credentials and any extra courses you have taken that are RELEVANT to the interested role. At a minimum, IBD looks at A-Level results (ABB) and undergraduate degrees so be sure to provide the results on the resume.

#3 – Work Experiences

The cream of the crop (if you are from a non-target school, pay close attention to this section of the CV) to get one foot in the door. It is hugely important to gain as many experiences as possible from shadowing a professional, networking, workshop to insight week. This shows you are committed to the industry and that you understand, at length, how banking and finance works.

#4 – Extra-Curricular Activities

This section is used to demonstrate the candidate’s initiative ability and teamwork, especially for students and interns. Any involvement in student societies or organisations i.e charitable projects are highly encouraged. Many banks and corporations play an active role in making their local community a better place so they look for this trait in new hires also.

#5 – Interests & Hobbies

Don’t underestimate the power of your hobby (ignore socialising at pubs and clubs) and the value it makes to the resume. The hiring team is interested to know what you do outside of work, your interests and how you spend your free time. This gives them an insight into you as an individual.

#6 – Presentation & Format

It is time to ditch a boring ‘standard’ format and introduce a modern yet professional look for your CV. Here I have curated a few examples of revised resume formats that are easy on the eyes and allows you to utilise all the space on an A4 page to give a full picture of yourself. This no doubt will help your CV stands out from the rest!

#7 – Attention To Details

Tripple checks and getting someone else to take a look over your CV is extremely important. Don’t claim you have an eye for details and then make mistakes on your CV – not a good look! Go line by line to make sure the full stop, dates, font, size are consistent throughout. It is easier said than done so if you need an extra pair of eyes to review your CV, I’m your go-to person!

10 INVESTMENT THEMES FOR 2021 PORTFOLIO

BANKING INVESTING

By Hal Campbell

1. ESG

Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) became popular when Joe Biden became the US President. His stance on renewable and sustainable energy programme boosted market confidence in green companies.

2. Healthcare Innovation

If anyone is getting us out of this pandemic, it is the healthcare sector. Within this booming industry, the need for improving efficiency, effectiveness, safety and affordability of healthcare worldwide.

3. Cloud Computing

Cloud computing continues to be one of the hottest ‘new’ tech sectors. essentially, cloud service platforms enable companies to store data remotely and retrieve them via the internet. Companies like Microsoft and Amazon are big investors in cloud computing.

4. E-Commerce

An already growing sector that is killing off high street retailers. Electronic commerce propelled to the front line amid global pandemic with consumers shifting the way they shop digitally.

5. Robotics & Automation

For years, the notion of machine replacing human labour is now becoming more and more of a reality. Businesses are increasingly looking to be competitive by cutting down costs through investing in machines. Some restaurants are already using robotic arms to replace cooks in their kitchen!

6. Genome

Another sub-sector within the healthcare industry. When it comes to genetics investing, companies in this niche life science area are mostly focussed on four areas: DNA sequencing, genetic testing, gene therapy and genomics, which includes genome editing.

7. Semiconductors

Semiconductor companies design and manufacture computer chips and related components. The US alone is accounted for nearly half of the $429 billion in global chip spending in 2020.

8. Uranium

Uranium in its enriched form is the fuel of nuclear power stations, 440 of them generate 16% of the world’s electricity. Only a handful of mines in Canada and Australia produce uranium as their primary product.

9. Cannabis

Global marijuana markets are growing like weed (pardon the pun!). The total is projected to increase to $63.5 billion by 2024 with an annual growth rate of 21%. David Beckham recently invested in a CBD company in the UK.

10. Outdoor Living

With the vaccination programme being rolled out worldwide, consumers are already looking forward to enjoying outdoor activities. Sportswear brands and some airline companies are some of the players who can come out of the pandemic with strong results.

Disclaimer: The information provided in the article is for informational purposes only. It should not be construed as, nor relied upon as, professional advice.

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