Boutique firm wants access to my LinkedIn?
Hey guys, I'm a first year UG (graduating 2028) at a European uni, targeting IBD roles in London. I've been applying for IB-related roles over the past few months to try and bag an internship for this summer. Recently got accepted to a bouitque IB firm but it seems a bit dodgy.
About a week ago, I received an email from a boutique IB firm inviting me to do a VI. I honestly messed up the first question pretty bad and gave pretty meh answers overall. I fully expected a rejection after, but instead I get an email saying I've been invited to a second-round interview (scheduled 2 weeks from now). Great right? Then a few days ago, I receive another email saying "my application stood out" and that they've decided to fast track me. Even better.
However, here's the catch. They sent over an internship agreement for me to sign, and it seems fine for the most part. Except for this section:
Business Development & LinkedIn
REQUIRED
Business development is run at the Firm level and is central to this role. As a core requirement, you agree to connect your LinkedIn account to the Firm's automated outreach engine so that approved business development outreach can be carried out on the Firm's behalf.
- During your onboarding call, you will set your LinkedIn password to one provided by the Firm and share the login so the account can be connected.
- The Firm uses the account solely for approved outreach. We do not read, access, or monitor your personal messages or any other activity on your account.
- You keep full access and may log in and use your account at any time.
This requirement is essential - the Firm cannot proceed with the internship without it.
So they basically NEED access my LinkedIn in order for this internship to go through. I honestly don't care very much, as long as they don't post, but it seems slightly odd. I've never heard of an IB firm asking for something like this and I'm starting to wonder how legit this internship and firm is.
I also asked ChatGPT to look into their recent transactions (listed on their website) and it was unable to verify anything. This may be because the names have been anonymised, but I don't see why/how they would anonymise an IPO. They specifically list an IPO on the ASX but I could find very little information; all I found was a brief article about the listing, but from 2011 lmao - the firm was founded in 2024.
However, some transactions do appear to have taken place, but I can't find the firms name anywhere else online. Additionally, they are listed on Pitchbook with 7 closed deals and 32 employees. They also seem to be a "legit" co
Anyways, do I go for this or not? I've been aggressively applying for internships for this summer because I feel like it'd give me a huge leg up for SA 27 recruiting. As a cherry on top, this firm also has structured credit capabilities so any work related to that would be great for me, as structured finance is an area I'm definitely interested in (shoutout to "associate 1 in PC" for doing a SF Q&A). Just don't want to get screwed over in the long run. Would appreciate any advice.
Thanks!
I’m glad you seeked out advice before going through with it.
On the LinkedIn ‘requirement’:
This is absolutely not normal at any scale and creates privacy, security, and data-protection issues. Even if the company seems ‘legit’ the fact it engages in these types of practices is a sign that it is NOT an environment you want to work in.
Excerpts of the law instead show that these practices are practically illegal without thorough justification; “in the United Kingdom, employers generally need a lawful basis under data-protection law to process personal data, and access to a personal social-media account would require strong justification.”
If I read correctly your post says they need your account for ‘outreach’ purposes, which isn’t justifiable at any level assuming you’re an Investment Banking intern.
On the process as a whole/the bank itself:
The fact that you messed the interview up and that they subsequently ‘fast-tracked’ you is such a big red flag that I’m surprised you didn’t drop them then and there! Even the tiniest boutiques get 50+ cold emails a week (was shocked when a firm’s partner responded to a cold email by putting me on a ‘shortlist’ out of 80 weekly cold emails, for a 12 person firm). This firm stinks of a scheme where they’ll make you do useless tasks throughout then ask you to pay them at the end for the ‘right’ to put the experience on your CV (without the payment they’d deny you worked there in an background checks rendering it useless…).
Can you give me the link to their website/name of the company so I can take a look? I’m a target uni undergrad and I’ve compiled a long long list of boutique internships in London for people my age (20-22) and also have a blacklist.
I’ll take a look and give you my further thoughts (having reached out to and seen the websites/profiles of >500 London IB/finance boutiques), but default reaction here is to RUN in the opposite direction if you can.
Tough situation as it’s June and you probably can’t find anything else at this point…
That'd be great actually, thanks
Family and friends said similar things - seems really dodgy
send the link and I’ll take a look
Thanks for sending the link/company name in my DMs, I’ve taken a quick look.
From first glance it looks fine, I’ve reverse searched and AI checked their images on the website and they seem real. Basic first step but always worth checking for an easy clue if it shows up as AI/not their image.
my concerns would be the following:
I can’t seem to verify any of their ‘deals’ as their own, so perhaps it’s more like deal experience of the more senior employees…
Overall though, it seems they have a decent amount of employees/interns, all with government-ID verified profiles and go to reputable unis. Taking into account the website and their employees’ posts, the firm seems to essentially be “YC SaaS founder building in San Francisco” meets Investment banking type of firm. New, not necessarily bad, but definetly not traditional. I imagine they rely a bit on promotion/outreach due to that unconventional model and so the LinkedIn requirement may be part of that. You’ll likely not be doing ‘IB’ work like building models with Excel or using PowerPoint for pitch decks (which are the usual tasks set for interns most of the time.)…
All in all, felt sketchy at first but now feels more like an nepo-funded IB started by a bunch of guys in their 20s who got some slightly more experienced bankers or board and have relationships with a few family offices (thru nepo). It’s bizarre and not traditional, take another offer if you can, but I think you might be able to proceed but just with a lot of caution. Only do it if it’s decently paid and you have no other options. Before you take the offer just make sure you read the contract very carefully, don’t sign any NDAs in any part of the process and reach out to previous interns on LinkedIn to ask them abt their experience.
Base case is that you’ll be fine but you won’t be doing the type of work you’re looking for.
Yep this is so dodgy a lot of students have enquired to me about Artane Partners, apparently on their website it says they've raised $5bn and worked on many transactions but when you click on said transactions nothing happens and they also don't have any other news sources other than their own website and LinkedIn. The very unusual thing is the sheer number of interns they've managed to amass in days who have all have their LinkedIn's converted to the firms own outreach banner and position acceptance posts with the exact same wording. My advice is that this looks shady enough to warrant staying away, be patient and keep applying, you'll find something better which doesn't make you second guess like this.
The banner thing is so true ahaha. Reminds me of Caprae Capital.
Is this artane partners? Honestly looks like another one of those fake first year internships I’d be very careful and honestly you’d probably not get any of the experience you’re looking for
Yes it is haha
mate entire team looks odd. There is just something sleazy about their pictures and profiles
They give 'insufferable real estate broker' vibes lol
it makes absolutely no sense imo.
Starting with the selection process - I know how frustrating is looking for an internship non-stop especially when you're a bachelor's student, but always be careful of these type of scam firms. Most of them want your CV to train AIs or simply scam you like happened to you
Sharing Linkedin account - IMO this is completely wrong. Linkedin, as every other social networks, belongs to you and nowadays it can be considered an extension of your persona. Handing it out means you're basically giving up your "brand image" and completely associating yourself with the firm you're working at.
This applies wether the company asks for your credentials (never heard of it anywhere else) or most commonly when the company asks you to post certain things with a certain copy
You != Firm you're working at!!
Completely agree, also the funny thing is account sharing/automated outreach is literally against LinkedIn's terms of service lmao
Look at the people working there. Entire LinkedIn gives desperate loser energy. Should be no surprise its shady af.
What have you decided then
Will be speaking with someone from the team soon, but unlikely to go forward with them. I managed to bag a search fund internship just yesterday, so I'll probably be going with that. The guy who's running it seems great too, and its paid.
It's good, I received the mail from them too. Everything feels like a trap
Finance is goddamn tough to get into these internships, hope you get a good offer soon!
Agree it is goddamn tough
They ask for your banking login too?
I'd be very cautious here.
The LinkedIn part is the biggest red flag to me. Asking interns to use LinkedIn for outreach is one thing, but requiring you to hand over your login credentials and change your password to one provided by the firm is completely different. That would violate LinkedIn's terms and puts your personal account at risk.
The "automated outreach engine" language also sounds like they're using employees' and interns' accounts to scale cold outreach. Whether that's legal or not, it's definitely not standard practice for an IB internship.
The fact that they fast-tracked you despite what you felt was a weak VI, combined with the difficulty verifying their transactions, would make me do a lot more diligence before signing anything. I'd want to speak with current or former interns, check where alumni ended up, and verify at least a few deals independently.
If this were a well-known boutique with a strong reputation, I'd maybe give them the benefit of the doubt. But for a relatively new firm with limited information online, I'd be hesitant to give them access to my LinkedIn account.
Personally, I'd ask them directly whether a separate work LinkedIn account could be used instead of your personal one. Their response will tell you a lot. If they insist on full access to your personal account, I'd seriously question whether it's worth it.
Best case, it's an unconventional boutique. Worst case, you're being recruited primarily as a lead-generation tool rather than an actual finance intern.
Exactly my thought process. Will speak to someone there and ask about a separate LinkedIn account because I see no reason for them to use my personal one.
Thanks for the advice
That's the same happened here, the interview I did was shit like totally shit. Then I got the mail.
I also wanted to talk to the past interns of theirs but it seems impossible, I don't think they had interns before and texting the current employees means the firm would be handling their account too. I felt like this is a bd role wrapped up in IB role.
Exactly
There's an alumni from my school who works there, so I'll be trying to contact them, but the same worries
I wouldn't go there. Firm reputation matters. No better than getting a NW mutual internship
Sounds like Selby Jennings level buffoonery. Chop shop trash
My advice is avoid.
Sorry not reading allat. But the premise makes no sense. An intern would never be the face of BD. Interns may do the leg work but a partner will have their name on it.
For reference, I’ve had to do LinkedIn outreach before at an internship. The partner gave me his LinkedIn password and I would send the message through his account. Nobody you reach out to will respond to you because they see intern. That’s why VCs have so many low level “partners”.
Red flags everywhere. Asking for your LinkedIn password is insane. No legit firm does that. This is probably questionable or data harvesting.
If you check for reddit reviews, there'd be none. They are messaging and asking to delete the posts on reddit.
From what little I skimmed they are a placement agent so a lot of what some of you are looking for is a search in the wrong direction.
Based on your concerns though, the company is essentially using your name and likeness for business development. If they were serious they would make a corporate sales account on LinkedIn and grant access to it as a member of the team. As it is now after you leave anyone who blocked/ignored you is going to remain that way later.
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