The First Offer Playbook
In-depth guides to the exact system we use with our students, from the first resume to the first interview. Written for business students starting recruiting, and their parents. Free, always.
All guides
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The complete freshman internship timeline: what to do each quarter
Most students find out how early recruiting starts when it's already too late. Here's what freshman year, sophomore year, and the start of junior year should actually look like, by field.
How to write a top-tier resume with zero experience
You don't need an impressive resume. You need a clean, specific one you can talk about. The rubric we grade every resume against, bullet rewrites, and a full before-and-after.
Building a target list of 50 companies (and finding the right contacts)
A target list is 50 names you'll actually email, not 50 companies you might apply to someday. How to tier it A/B/C, where freshman opportunities really come from, and how to find the right person at each firm.
The AI-assisted cold email system: personalization at scale without sounding like a robot
How to send 50 personalized emails a week without spending your whole week writing them: AI for research and drafts, a sequencing tool for sending and follow-ups, and you for the part that matters.
Cold email templates that get replies (and why they work)
The Two C's, subject lines that get opened, five templates for five situations, and the follow-up sequence. The exact structure our students use.
The networking call: a full framework and question bank
A reply isn't the win. The call is. How to prep fast, open so it doesn't feel like an interview, listen 80% of the time, ask questions that prove you listened, and send the thank-you that gets you remembered.
How to turn a call into a referral without asking for one
Calls are how you meet people. Introductions are how you get in the door. The referral close, what to do with a yes or a no, and how to stay warm for months without being annoying.
Behavioral interviews: finding and telling your 8 stories
"Tell me about a time…" decides more first rounds for students starting recruiting than technicals do. How to mine 8 stories from 25 questions, structure them, map them to every common question, and tell them out loud.
"Tell me about yourself": a 60-second answer that works
The first question in almost every interview and every networking call, and the one most students wing. The four-part structure, examples, versions for calls and interviews, and how to practice until it sounds like you.
"Why banking, marketing, accounting, or tech, and why this firm?"
"I'm passionate about finance" tells the interviewer nothing. The 3-bucket answer (mentality, the work, the people), how to build firm-specific versions from your calls, and the sector questions that catch students off guard.
Finance technicals for beginners: the study order that works
Accounting, then valuation, then enterprise vs. equity value, then M&A, then LBOs. Why the order matters, the core concepts in plain English, worked examples, and the questions to practice out loud.
Breaking into marketing and tech internships as a freshman
Marketing and tech reward what you can show more than where you go to school. How to build proof (portfolio pieces, one strong project), who to target, how recruiting timelines differ, and the questions to practice.
Externships: what they are and how to use them
No internship yet? Don't wait. How externships and scoped projects create real experience you can put on a resume and talk about in an interview, what counts, how to find or create one, and how to write it up.
For parents: how to support your student's internship search without taking it over
You want to help, and your student needs to own it. What the search actually involves, what to ask (and not ask), how to read their numbers, how to use your own network well, and what a realistic freshman year looks like.