Guys,
This is a serious and sincere plea to any of you undergraduate kids who're using these silly titles on their LinkedIn profiles. Please for god's sake, take this out. It just looks stupid and wannabe-ish. I don't know who started doing this and where, but it's just annoying to see. We get that you've received an IBD internship. We get that you're going to fancy shmancy investment bank. We also get that you worked really hard to get it and now you want to show it off to the world. But please... DON'T do this.
When Should You Update Your LinkedIn Title?
For all you wannabes who don't agree with me, think about the number of times you've come across someone's profile on LinkedIn who has an "Incoming Private Equity Associate at Carlyle/Blackstone/Blah Blah [insert PE fund here]" or an "Incoming Research Analyst at Viking/Lone Pine/Blah blah [insert HF] here". Never, right? Not once? Because its stupid and immature. Its ok if your internship or full time role starts in 6 months. Just fucking wait for it and you can happily update away on Day 1 of your dream job.
But What About Recruiters?
....And finally, for anyone who pulls up the "I'm doing this for recruiters" argument, calm your tits. It can wait. You can start networking with headhunters the day you enter your IB gigs.
Please be mature about this. I beg you.
- JD
Mod Note (Andy): Best of 2016, this post ranks #7 for the past year
Recommended Reading
Want more advice about how to use LinkedIn professionally? Check out these WSO posts.
Also, I have gotten emails from undergraduate students with the signature saying "Incoming Summer Analyst"... in your email signature?? Really??
But they're usually the people who include their school/major/minor/certificate/whatever-anyone-who-didn't-go-to-your-school-wouldn't-know and also their leadership roles in campus clubs on their signature. Some people just need validation in that form.
In those situations, I give kids the benefit of the doubt -- they're young and probably excited to show others what they've accomplished thus far. I did once receive an email with a legal disclaimer (the ones that go "CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: this email including any attachments is intended only for the use of the individual or entity...") from a college junior. Who was writing from their university email. Where they manually and consciously put that signature in. For every email in our correspondence. That was just bizarre.
lol I was just thinking about this: gives such a try-hard, amateurish impression
Cool story bro, care more.
I'm sure there are far more important things you can spend your time on
... I do not understand the monkey shits!? This is on point.
If life--and perception--were merely a calculus equation to be balanced/maximized, you'd be right.
...
Sounds like you're right with them with that Wharton display pic. Nice job.
Pretty sure he's the guy that lists his title as "Private Equity - VP" but is still in undergrad. Wouldn't put any stock into anything he says.
People MS'ing OP = college kids who use these silly titles
I've never really cared about this, nor anybody else should. However, just for amusement purposes, I've actually seen people with "Incoming Spring Week Analyst" titles. "Springs Weeks" is a UK phenomenon, so for those of you who don't know it's basically when you spend 2-10 days at a bank shadowing people, going to presentations etc. during spring time of first year university.
Equally annoying: people use "MBA" as a designation who did their MBA at Southwest Dakota State University.
It's still an MBA. If you did your undergrad degree at a non-Ivy, would you say you don't have a degree?
Hey man, Don't talk shit about Southwest Dakota State University. It's on the target list; I heard it's a main feeder for some top megafunds...
Maybe they worked hard for it. Maybe that's their biggest accomplishment. You don't get to shame them for education.
It's just a way for college kids to boast about their accomplishments. You'd be surprised by how many posts I see on Facebook starting with: "I'm so happy to announce that I will be interning at..." People simply want recognition and social media provides an outlet for them to get it. Those who don't do such things are usually annoyed by those who do.
Nothing wrong with using it on your linkedin, thats what linkedin is for...
Everything wrong with using it as an email signature
It does reek a bit of insecurity and validation seeking. It's just follow the herd mentality. I also find it a bit strange that people feel the need to put "MBA" or "CFA" after their name. IMO if you're currently attending college and not doing an summer internship, just write "Student at _____ College"
The reason why you don't see "Incoming Associate at _____" is because they're still employed somewhere else whereas many never put school as their title as they believe it should always be something employment based.
CFA, CPA, CFP, etc. are designations earned. I think they belong after a name. I do agree with you about MBAs, though. That should not follow a name.
One thing that annoys me is when college students put "President & CEO at (some $50 business they created)"
Or they're part of the school's investment club and their title is "Portfolio Manager at (name of mickey mouse school fund)"
It's just cringeworthy.
It could be worse. I've seen "Incoming IBD summer analyst at JPM", and in the description of the job "Offers from Lazard, DB and Citi"
lol this takes the cake
If you look hard enough you will find "Received superdays at BAML, CS, Evercore". It's almost like you're living in some alternate dimension like the Matrix.
>Hire a bunch of wannabes and showoffs >Complain about the fact they are wannabes and showoffs
Something is wrong in the IBD culture.
I can see both sides of the issue. When I first got my offer, I was really proud but resisted the douche temptation. Then people started asking what I would be doing after graduation, and I felt this would just be a good cover. I didn't want people in my network to think I was unable to score anything....
I got an email from HR a few weeks ago telling me to update my title as future analyst, or whatever. So really, it seems like most banks are advocating for people to do it. Not just some point of pride or one-upmanship.
Highly doubt HR actually told you to do this lol
I mean they actually did, so thanks. It would be pretty lame to be making that up. LOL, right?
This is my situation. I'm graduating in 2 weeks and signed for a job back in October. I don't want to be a try-hard and put anything in my title, but I also don't want my network to think I couldn't land anything. Someone else made the point that later in life, you don't put "incoming associate at ____" because you currently have a job. People do it in college because they don't have a job yet. I think that's spot on.
It's really classless and you will already have a bad rep at the shop you're going to if anyone there sees it. I know it's super exciting, but not worth it.
I think it's fine as an undergrad. What's sad is the 25/26 year old "aspiring investment banker" or "motivated self starter" as their job titles.
Both. It looks absolutely silly when students write this on LinkedIn, and 99% of the time, these are the kids who brag to everyone that they are in IB and look down on those who are not.
Wow this thread really took off. Its amazing to see people on here think its ok to have one of these titles. Anyway, to each his own. Go ahead and use those titles, no one can stop you from doing so. But no one can stop me from telling you its silly. Be hungry, but be mature and humble about it. If for any reason, an offer does gets rescinded, then you can end up looking like an idiot. May not happen today due to frothy markets but it certainly did during the crisis - its happened to enough of us on this forum. My point to these kids is I don't think it attracts the right kind of attention/validation you're seeing. There's just limited upside to this maneuver and unlimited downside.
For the guy who thought I did this because had a "buyside exit opp", I'm way beyond that bro, I'm not 22. The point there was to really convey I've worked for a few years at different types of firms and I haven't seen this be appreciated anywhere.
It is more of a update than bragging rights - at least that's why they tell us to do it, believe me I felt douchey putting it up but all my fancy networking friends told me it's the move.
LinkedIn isn't for bragging, it is to stay in touch. The reason I did that once was because: it isn't as if I would email every contact I have and let them know what is going on.
Also you'd be surprised how many headhunters look for that title and reach out to you alarmingly early.
If a "incoming" post on LInkedIn is the most annoying thing you have seen all day, you must be having a pretty good day.
I never understand the way these threads evolve. A bunch of Certified Users tell you that putting "incoming" and then your future job title as your header in LinkedIn is douchy and downright stupid, and then a bunch of college kids proceed to argue.
To be honest, I currently have this on my LinkedIn profile. I start in a couple months and I have used the title to connect/network with some people at the bank who would have other wise not have gotten back to me. People don't really care what you say in a message on linkedIn, they just go straight to your profile and look at your qualifications. (We all do it, just admit it) Having something on my profile that says "Hey, I will actually be working with you for the next two years, maybe I'm worth the time to speak to" helps a lot. I agree with you that 'Incoming Summer Analyst' and 'Incoming IBD Analyst for 2020' are a pretty ridiculous, but sometimes they can honestly help get your name in the door at some places. Just my thoughts.
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I love how people are saying it is a way to "update your status" on linkedin, bro you can wait till you actually start and put the summer analyst title on linkedin then. It is cringeworthy as OP says and it is a way for douchey insecures to social media brag. Social media bragging is an obsession that has corrupted my generation like a bad infection, I can't stand it. I do not have an instagram, I do not have a twitter, I do not snap-chat, I am the only one I know in my age range (22-28) that doesn't do these things. I am a generally private person and these platforms are mostly used for dick-measuring... I am confident in the size of my dick and don't need to compare.
p.s. who the hell decides these "best responses"? Half of them are just awful, how does a "best response" have more MS than Silver bananas?
@dan_yo23" the fact you think your network is judging you for potentially not having an offer while you are still in school says it all. You aren't that special. The people you added on linked-in are not that worried about some student potentially having an offer. They also do not care that you're an "incoming" anything. Once you get on the job use the title, that is it.
Thanks for your rant.
I'm an incoming analyst, have it on my LinkedIn, and two recruiters have reached out to me so far this year.
And when you grow your big boy pants you will realize that it means absolutely nothing you smug pos.
This is a non-issue. No one I've spoken to (all experienced bankers in LDN) gives a damn about whether you put incoming analyst or not.
In fact, my friends that HAVE put it are getting attention from recruiters.
A few posters have referred to being contacted by recruiters on LinkedIn.
I hope they realise that the "recruiters" who cold connect via LinkedIn are the bottom feeders in the industry. The type who aggregate as many resumes as they can and fire them out to every job opportunity, hoping something will hit a target.
(In case you think this is a good thing - it is not a good thing at all. It is, in fact, a bad and dangerous thing. Pro-tip - always take care which recruiters you give your resume to and be very explicit, in writing, that no copy should be provided to anyone else without your explicit, written permission. Even then, don't trust recruiters. Perhaps we can start a thread some day about how many recruiters can and will fuck you over as they chase their commissions and how good recruiters are rare and valuable and don't cold contact via LinkedIn.)
Having a recruiter "reach out" to you via LinkedIn due to your incoming title is no badge of honour.
Treating it like a positive is a badge of naïvete.
deleted
In my view, the main dangers are:
Your resume gets heavily shopped to every opportunity, regardless of whether you're a good fit or not. The risk then is that HR departments/other screeners get used to seeing your resume, it gets tired and you get vetted out of roles that you could have been a good fit for.
Your resume gets heavily shopped, word gets around and eventually gets back to your employers, particularly when you may not be seriously looking to move. The person shopping your resume is a recruiter under pressure to builder a network, make budget and desperate to make his/her commission. They'll be happy (consciously or subconsciously) to shop your resume to look like they have quality product in their portfolio, build their network. They'll happily gamble that an employer may like the look of your resume and you may just be interested in that opportunity. They can come back to you and spin it like they found the opportunity first and are bringing it to you.
I'm sure there are others. It comes down to the incentives in this situation. You're putting yourself at the mercy of a broker who is incentivised to sell you ASAP.
Some good brokers will realise that they make the best commissions by selling quality and will be selective in how they shop you.
However, when you're an intern (let alone an "incoming" intern), you are not quality. You are a commodity.
You are a lump of clay with a high opinion of itself which has the potential to be shaped into something decent. Typically, that process takes 2 years at the grad level. That is, we see grads as only breaking even around the 2 year mark, where the value they add exceeds their all-in cost (ie salary, seat, the associated support staff etc).
So any recruiter who is shopping you before you've been in the the job for at 18 - 24 months is not shopping you around the market on a quality proposition basis. They are shopping you as a low quality, commodity product.
Bear in mind that recruiters make commissions based on your salary. So not only are they shopping you as a commodity product, you don't produce much of a price for them.
How do you make revenue off that sort of product? A high volume of transactions, shooting at every target and hoping something hits. So you and the thousands of other "incoming" interns receiving the same pro forma LinkedIn in-mail are just part of a volume strategy.
Why would you want to trust your resume and your reputation to a recruiter with that sort of strategy? How much time do you think a recruiter with that strategy will honestly spend caring about your future when you don't generate much revenue for them?
I'd like to hear from recruiters who "reach out" to interns on LinkedIn but be less than dodgy. It's possible that they are playing a long game and looking to cultivate a relationship that will pay off after a few years.
However, I doubt the great number of recruiters contacting via LinkedIn really have that strategy, particularly when their greeting messages are bland, detail-free pro forma messages.
I had never even heard of the concept of "Incoming ____ Position" until I came across it on WSO. It's one of the more ridiculous and embarrassing ideas I've heard so far. I know WSO will supply me with something more ridiculous if I just keep reading.
For the record you guys are misdirecting your complaints. Kids do that, just like they put their their mickey mouse funds experience because that's what makes them stand out in the competition for the recruiters attention.
When top management will tell HR ''stop hiring tryhards and showoff'' then you won't see kids doing that anymore.
Yes, but what type of recruiters?
The most similar situation I can think of is where some young 15 year old girl starts developing breasts and discovers social media at the same time. She posts photos displaying her new endowments on the internet, then rushes to tell her friends about 'all these hot guys' who are now 'reaching out' to her. She relishes the attention.
I'm not saying that these young SAs-to-be will wind up internet-dating a 46 year old guy who lives in his parents basement and will later find themselves chained up in his secret, Cheetos-smeared pleasure dungeon and shitting into an old ice cream container. But the naivete underlying this sort of bragging, and the risks in relishing this sort of cheap/no value attention, is not too dissimilar.
As for the view that one needs to let one's network know - if it's your university network, it's just bragging.
If it's your 'network' in the professional world, generally they do not care. Professionals do not check LinkedIn with anything near the regularity that university kids check facebook. I would go on LinkedIn perhaps once every two months to see how many pending contacts I have racked up, unless it's specifically checking the profile of someone I'm doing business with. Like many banks, my bank has neutered the messaging system within LinkedIn, as that's a compliance issue. I don't bother looking at my feed because it is full of self-promoting shittery from a few of the wide range of people I've met professionally and eventually invited or been invited by. Imagine your FB feed dominated solely by the most crap, chemtrails/anti-vaxxer posting contacts, but instead they are linking to "thought pieces" (or worse, something they just read on ZeroHedge) which demonstrates they are fucking idiots.
Not because everyone on LinkedIn is a fucking idiot. But because those who try to use it as a platform for spreading views etc generally are idiots, desperate, narcissists or some combination of the three. Most sensible professionals just use LinkedIn so others can stalk their backgrounds before/after meetings. Most sensible bankers work at sensible banks which have a media/communications policy which clearly says don't publish shit on any platform in your professional persona without multiple internal sign offs.
As someone mentioned above, once you're working, you'll find recruiters "reaching out" to you all the time on LinkedIn. This is not a badge of honour. It's like being proud that you reply e-mailed to some spam and now get hundreds of CHeaP V!agRA e-mails every day (hey, they recognise that I have lots of sex!).
With very few exceptions, recruiters who contact summer analysts (actual or "incoming") are not the sort of recruiters you want to do business with.
If you get all excited and proud of your achievement when you get LinkedIn in-mails from recruiters who have noticed your "incoming" status and are full of flattering comments about how impressive your profile is - congratulations, you're a dumb mark and have fallen for cheap sales tactics. It's the social media equivalent of a cold call from a boiler room.
On the whole "kids these days" grumpy old man theme - I went to university in an era where there was no social media, barely any cellphones, modems ran on 14.4 and 28.8kbps, you had to wait 5 minutes for a porno jpeg to download and only a few people had e-mail addresses. Our only option for bragging was to tell people individually.
That individual, personal contact made the realisation that we were bragging far more obvious.
Coming up with self-deluding justifications for why this bragging was not really bragging was far harder. Self-awareness was generally harder to avoid and narcissism in oneself was easier to identify.
Social media seems to have made it far harder for self-awareness to pierce the narcissism that a lot of social media lives off. People are far more concerned about looking into the mirror to see the image they project to the world than to self-reflect.
Isn't that kind of the point of LinkedIn, though? Putting up titles that indicate where the person's going to be working, and in what capacity? Yeah , maybe the "I'm doing this for recruiters" argument isn't entirely true, but LinkedIn is the one social media site that people can really use to show off what they've accomplished professionally, right?
In all honesty, it isn't as bad to put the "incoming ib analyst" tag on linkedin, although, I personally don't support the idea. What i've seen that truly disturbs me is some people putting S&T trader @ Citi or TMT Banker @ GS in their personal social media profile that they use for casual interactions. I feel like Instagram, facebook, twitter, etc are your social media accounts that should not be tied up or reveal your professional status because that's when you cross the line and begin to become obsessive. People who do this look elitist and pretentious. People need to learn that everyone should not admire you for coveting a highly selective position in a competitive, cut throat industry. Be happy with yourself and acknowledge the good work you've done. Seeking validation from someone is for the weak, and it will hold you back in your career.
Dear all Certified Users and everyone who is actually working,
As one of the college students, I apologize for my generation's stupidity--especially on behalf of those who believe cold contact from recruiters is a positive sign when all of you have said that they are nothing but empty oases.
Please do not stop from providing insights to those of us who do respect your time on here and take your advice.
Sincerely, a monkey trying to be a human
Social awkwardness hinders you in terms of career progression and personal relationships. I personally wouldn't want to grab a beer or let alone work on any project with someone whose value was attached to their professional status or pedigree. Having interest and hobbies outside of work are important. There should be more to you than your occupation.
Why is there so much concern over what an incoming summer analyst does on their free time? I agree that it is a fairly immature but it's really none of my concern or anyone else's.
If an incoming SA put "incoming SA" on their LinkedIn profile, then I'm sure their immaturity will show during the summer. At that point, these kids can be weeded out of the crowd. No need to get all worked up over a kid when you have actual work to do and an actual life to live. On the other hand, if a SA puts "incoming analyst" after securing an offer, then that probably speaks volumes on the type of people that particular bank/group represents.
The bottom line is mind your own business. If you have so much concern over a kid you barely know, you probably don't have much work to do or don't have a life beyond getting worked up a line on someone's LinkedIn profile.
I had no idea this creates such a negative perception in the eyes of Associates/VPs. I made my LinkedIn title Incoming IB SA simply because everyone else at my school does -- I thought it was normal. After reading this though, I changed it to "Student at XX." Thanks for posting this OP, I didn't realize it seemed so douchey. Hopefully no one in my group saw my old title, haha.
In other words: who gives a fuck. Put whatever you want on your linkedin. Kid is proud he got a job, well done. Stop worrying so much about what other people do, and start worrying about how much of a dick you are for pointing such a small thing out.
Commented on this already about how putting 'incoming analyst / SA' etc on LinkedIn is pretty stupid, but seems there's a lot of students talking about how 'recruiters are reaching out to them' or its for 'networking with people in the team they'll be joining'. Let me explain what (at least for me) I think when various forms of connection come in and what recruiters do.
Random student / "incoming intern" adds me on LinkedIn - If you're actually joining my group, I'll probably leave it until you actually join and get to know you. If you're a nice person and good at your job, I'll accept. If not, I probably won't be seeing you again so I'll just leave it. If you're not joining my group or firm, it probably gets declined. I have so many other things going on in my life which in all honesty puts your LinkedIn request to the bottom of my priority pile.
Random student / "incoming intern" emails me - If your email is over-keen and asking for loads of detail, it goes in the 'to do' folder. I will have genuine intentions of getting back to you during my next quiet morning, but inevitably it gets forgotten. You follow up a few times (no more than once a week) and if I'm in a good mood I finally reply with some helpful information. If I'm in a bad mood or didn't like your email, it moves from 'to do' to 'Deleted'.
If you send me a very brief (2-3 sentence) email saying you're interested in learning more about the job or are starting something soon and want to meet for coffee or a beer, I'll reply straightaway. If you're a nice guy and not cringe-worthy keen when I meet you, I'll be happy to answer any further questions you have or help you out. If you seem like a socially-inept try hard, you won't be hearing from me again.
TL;DR - If you actually want to help your case with someone in the industry, be very brief and ask if they're free for a coffee or beer. Offer to pay and graciously accept when they insist. Buy the second round of beers. Recruiters are bottom-feeders and don't care about you and them getting in touch means nothing.
I don't totally agree with this post.
I was one of those 'douchey kids' who posted 'incoming analyst at X'. A part of it was, as people talked about, to 'verify status'. At my school, all of the prospective IB kids know each other/judge each other, and nearly everyone posts 'incoming summer analyst at X' when they get the offer - it's just a social construct from that perspective. Also, yes, that does include an incoming analyst at Blackstone.
Also, "I'm doing this for the recruiters" is a valid point. I didn't do it for the recruiters - I did it because 60 other kids from my school were and I wanted to prove that I was good enough to all of them, as vain and silly as that is. But, before I started for the summer, I had 2 PE recruiters - a small (~1bn fund) and a megafund reach out to me via linkedin to set up interviews. That wasn't the intention, and I wouldn't have imagined that could ever work, but, from experience, it did.
Also unexpected - just having the "incoming analyst at 'prestigious bank'" had numerous club promoters reaching out to me via linkedin, offering me spots on the guestlist. Not that any of that is worth that much, but, if putting a silly title online means I get a few good nights out of skipping the line at clubs I wouldnt have even bothered trying to get into otherwise, I say there is some value in that.
or you may want to put"incoming xxx" if you want to be featured in an article like "Meet the incoming Goldman Sachs intern with 11 previous internships and 10 job offers" on efinancial career.......