After interviewing 15+ people over the past 7 months, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t when it comes to reaching out.

The single most valuable advice I can give: follow up.

Here’s a clear example of when it worked for me, and how it led to an interview with UVA Men’s Basketball Head Coach.

CASE STUDY

How I Landed An Interview With UVA Men’s Basketball Head Coach

A bit of luck

Out of pure coincidence, on March 23rd, my parents were staying at The Forum Hotel one weekend and they bumped into Ryan Odom in the lobby.

Odom had been announced as UVA’s new head coach on March 22nd, so he didn’t even have a UVA email address yet.

Scouring the internet for how I could reach him, I narrowed my it down to three emails:

• mbasketballuva@gmail.com (UVA Mens Basketball Email)

• bacher@virginia.edu (Associate Athletics Director for Athletic Communications)

• vcuhoops@vcu.edu (Odom previously coached at VCU, thought it was worth a shot).

I sent the same message to all three:

Ignore the grammar mistakes

Two days later, on March 25th, I found Odom’s UVA email and sent it there too.

Being a bit impatient, I followed up on March 28th, and again on April 1st.

A few hours after the last follow up, I got a response 🎉 🎉.

Odom said he was busy building the roster but could make time for a phone call interview.

Funny enough, the next day the Associate AD replied to my original email saying Odom was too busy.

Sometimes, you have to go straight to the source.

Odom connected me with his assistant, and the rest was history.

THEORY

Following Up

Following up seems annoying. It feels like you're knocking on a door that was already shut.

As uncomfortable as it may be, it’s crucial to getting responses.

People aren’t ignoring you (most of the time), they’re just busy. Your message is buried under a pile of other emails, meetings, and deadlines.

In speaking with an IB analyst at Rothschild & Co, most of his successful cold email responses came from the first or second follow-up.

He even noted that some bankers would rather respond to a follow up than the first email, as it shows persistence.