#10: you successfully cold emailed someone...now what? (this is the hard part)
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So your cold email worked! Someone actually replied and said yes to a call. When I was younger, this was an exciting moment…but also pretty scary.
What happens next?
Most people celebrate getting the reply, schedule the call, and then proceed to show up with zero preparation. They ask surface-level questions and walk away with nothing except a LinkedIn connection that will never turn into anything real.
Getting the call is the easy part, but turning the call into a relationship and asking them for a favor is the hard part.
If you’ve read our previous posts, you should have a good idea on how to discover your career interests, find hidden opportunities, build relationships, and write cold emails that actually get responses. This post will cover the logical next step:
What to do when someone gives you 30 minutes of their time
How to make those 30 minutes matter
The goal of these calls is to gain information but more importantly to build a relationship.
A successful call is NOT a checklist of questions or a mini interview where you try to impress them. It’s a conversation where the other person walks away thinking “that was a sharp kid - I want to help them.”
If they think that, everything else will follow: referrals, introductions, advice, opportunities and so on only comes from the other person genuinely wanting to invest in you. This only happens is if you show up prepared, curious, and real.
Before the Call: Do the Work Nobody Does
The biggest differentiator between someone who crushes these calls and someone who wastes them is preparation. This goes beyond skimming LinkedIn.
Here’s what this looks like at the extremes:
Read their LinkedIn deeply. Look at them holistically. Where did they start? What pivots did they make? What pattern does their career tell you about what they value?
Find anything they’ve published, been quoted in, or contributed to. This can be articles, podcasts, research, panel appearances, or projects. Get a good sense of the person you are talking to.
Research their company beyond the “About Us” page. Read recent earnings calls, press releases, or news coverage. Understand what the company actually does and where they are going. Do foundational research.
Prepare 5-7 specific questions you genuinely want answered. These are questions that cannot be Googled and is the most important part. If you could find the answer in a 10-second search, don’t waste their time asking it. If you are doing company research, you should naturally have questions to ask. Follow your curiosity.
Most people will skip this entirely - they figure they’ll just “be authentic” and let the conversation flow, but authenticity without preparation is just laziness. The professionals who are most willing to help you are the ones who can tell you put in the work before showing up.
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The Anatomy of a Great Call
We’re not going to give you a rigid script because each conversation is different and you need to develop your own style but there is a general structure that works. Once you internalize it, you can adapt it to any situation.
Open by giving them context (first 2-3 minutes): Thank them for their time. Briefly explain why you reached out and give a concise background on yourself - where you’re from, what you’re studying, what you’re exploring and why.
Transition to them (next 2-3 minutes): Let them introduce themselves and start with broader questions about their path. How did they get to where they are? What drew them to this field? What surprised them most about the work once they were in it? These questions are easy for them to answer and get the conversation flowing naturally.
Go deep on their actual work (next 10-12 minutes): This is the first meaty section and it’s where preparation pays off. Ask targeted, specific questions that show you’ve done your homework and are genuinely curious about their day-to-day reality. Keep in mind to lean into where they are focusing on and not getting to rigid - be flexible!
Here’s an example of a good question: “I read that your team recently worked on the direct-to-consumer pivot. It seems like that required pulling in people from marketing, product, and finance all at once - how does that kind of cross-functional work actually happen day to day? Is it collaborative or more siloed than it looks from the outside?”
This question proves you researched the company, thought critically about how the work gets done, and care about the specifics that would actually affect your experience. The professional will immediately know you’re not wasting their time.
If you end up interviewing at this company later formally, they will ask “why do you want to work here?” Instead of giving the same generic answer as every other candidate, you can reuse the exact words and phrases from this conversation. “I spoke with someone on your team who described the culture as intensely collaborative - teams are expected to pressure-test each other’s work before anything goes to a client. That’s the kind of environment where I learn fastest.” That answer is ten times more compelling than anything you could pull from a careers page.
Have a real intellectual exchange (next 8-10 minutes): If the conversation is going well, push it further. Ask a bigger question - something about where the industry is headed, a trend you’ve been following, a tension you’ve noticed. The key here is to have your own opinion and share it.
“We’ve been reading a lot about how AI is changing the analyst role in private equity - it seems like the firms that figure out how to use AI for deal sourcing will have a massive edge, but the ones who over-automate will lose the judgment that makes the best investors great. How are you thinking about that?”
Stay on top of current events in the space you’re exploring. It pays off enormously in these moments.
Make the ask (last 3-5 minutes): One of the greatest lessons we’ve learned is that you don’t get what you don’t ask for. Come into every call with a clear idea of how this person can help you. Not something greedy or transactional - something specific and reasonable. Here are examples:
Get connected to someone else: “This was incredibly helpful. It would be great to get another perspective on the product side - is there anyone on your team you could put me in touch with?”
Surface a hidden opportunity: “Do you know of any opportunities coming up on your team or at the company that might not be posted yet?”
Nudge an existing application: “I recently applied to the analyst posting on your careers page. Is there anything I can do to improve my chances of getting an interview?”
Clarify next steps: “What would the next steps look like if I wanted to be considered for a role on your team?”
We’ve found that asking for something in the follow-up could work just as well, but needs to be crisp and articulate. There’s no right way to do this, you have to adapt to the situation you are in.
Close with gratitude and an offer (last minute)
Thank them sincerely and then say something like: “If there’s ever anything I can help you with, please don’t hesitate to reach out.” It sounds simple, but it reframes you as a peer, not a supplicant. You might be surprised - professionals at service-industry firms are sometimes genuinely curious about recruiting timelines at competing firms, or they might need help finding candidates for other positions on their team. The willingness to help goes both ways.
Post Call Debrief
Reflect on these three questions:
Were they engaged? Did they seem like they wanted to be there, or were they watching the clock? Energy doesn’t lie.
How long did it last? The call was scheduled for 30 minutes. If it went 40 or 45, that’s a great sign - they have the power to end it whenever they want. If it ended at 15, you know what happened.
Did they act on your ask? If they immediately offered to make an introduction or forward your resume, you nailed it. If they gave a non-answer, the relationship might need more time. If someone does reject you - it’s one call with one stranger. Don’t let it dent your confidence. Move on to the next.
The real secret to finding success is to not stop after just one or two calls. It might sound simple, but this really is how careers are built. A real conversation with real people who decide they want to help you will take you further than anything you could’ve imagined.
If you do this ten times, we promise you’ll discover opportunities you didn’t know existed and those that never got posted.
If someone remembers you as the sharp, prepared kid who asked great questions and didn’t waste their time, you will be the first person they think of when they need to hire someone.
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Job Board
By the time a job is made publicly available, companies already have a shortlist of candidates. The unfortunate reality is that simply applying is not going to get you anywhere. You can still use these to understand a company and use this as you outreach.
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Internships
These links will take you to databases containing postings split by job function: Business Analyst, Accounting and Finance, Consulting, Marketing, Supply Chain/Project Management, Media and Entertainment, Data Analysis, SWE, Healthcare.
Full Time (No Experience Needed)
These links will take you to databases containing postings split by job function: Business Analyst, Accounting and Finance, Consulting, Marketing, Supply Chain/Project Management, Media and Entertainment, Data Analysis, SWE, Healthcare.