An e-mail from a student

Last Saturday, I received the following e-mail from a student:

Dear GB,

My problem is I am a student in university and i went to some presentations of investment banks about internship. In which i have met a guy who has already worked there. I think i really fancy him and i have his email. I sent him an email to ask how is he but he hasnt replied me back. I am confused what should i do next? Can you tell me please?

I reckon it’s difficult to give reliable advice here because there are a lot of unanswered questions. What exactly happened between the student and the guy who works for the investment bank when they met? Is the student’s objective to find a boyfriend, or to get an internship?

Regarding internships, my experience is that the Human Resources departments of investment banks draw up a short list appropriate candidates, and then send round summary descriptions of each candidate to various managers within the bank, choosing managers who might have suitable short term projects where an intern could help. So the guy who the reader met could either be someone from a Human Resources department, or perhaps a guy who was a representative from a department which sometimes employs interns, and who was sent along to give the students an idea of what working in an investment bank is like. In either case, it is very unlikely that the guy would make the final decision about which students to give internships to.

I’ve said it before, but in my opinion it’s not good to get emotionally involved with colleagues. If someone is involved in hiring interns, they are very likely to have the same view as me in this respect, especially if they are from the Human Resources department. It’s very important to be seen to give all candidates equal treatment, and a liaison with an intern candidate would definitely be regarded as inappropriate if discovered.

My guess is that the guy gave his e-mail address to the student expecting to receive queries about investment banking and internships, rather than an e-mail asking how he is. If I’m right the guy won’t respond, even if he is gay, because he knows that developing friendships like this is inappropriate and unprofessional in this situation.

So what do I think the student should do? It’s simple really. I reckon he should

• Forget about the guy at the investment bank as soon as possible;
• Study hard if he wants an internship and perhaps a career in investment banking because the barriers to entry can be high;
• Look for boyfriends outside the business environment!

Do any readers have any other thoughts on this?