To book a consultation about a career in M&A, private equity, venture capital, strategy consulting, transaction services or audit, start with a professional who does the work you want to understand. A short, focused conversation can help you test your assumptions, sharpen your applications and prepare better questions for interviews.
On Call an Insider, that conversation is a free, 15-minute phone call. You need sponsorship from two members to access the insider directory. You can then find a relevant professional and book a call at an agreed time. The insider calls you, so your job is to arrive prepared with a clear goal and a few useful questions.
This is not a paid coaching session or a recruitment interview. It is an opportunity to learn directly from someone doing the job.
What Should You Expect From a 15-Minute Career Call?
A career conversation is most useful when it answers something you cannot easily learn from a firm’s website.
You can read a job description to see that an analyst supports client work. A professional can explain what that support actually involves, which tasks take the most time and what makes a junior colleague dependable.
A focused call can help you:
- Understand the day-to-day work in your target sector.
- Compare roles that look similar from the outside.
- Identify gaps in your internship search or interview preparation.
- Learn what a particular team or firm values in junior candidates.
- Decide on a practical next step.
Keep expectations realistic. A professional can share experience and perspective, but a conversation does not guarantee a referral, interview or offer.
How to Book a Consultation on Call an Insider
1. Get sponsorship from two members
Access to the insider directory requires two members to sponsor you. That is the starting point before you can browse professionals and arrange a conversation.
Keep your career objective specific enough to explain clearly. “Exploring transaction services before applying for internships” gives a more useful starting point than “looking for advice about finance.”
You do not need a complete career plan. You do need a question worth exploring.
2. Choose a professional whose experience matches your question
Insiders create their profiles from LinkedIn and select three to five topics they can help with. Use those topics to guide your choice.
The best match is not necessarily the person with the most senior title. It is the person whose experience relates most closely to your current decision.
For example:
| Your current question | A relevant conversation to seek |
|---|---|
| Is M&A work a good fit? | A professional who can discuss junior responsibilities and working patterns |
| What does private equity recruiting involve? | An insider who lists recruitment or interview preparation among their help topics |
| How does venture capital work day to day? | A professional who can explain sourcing, research and investment-team responsibilities |
| What should a consulting applicant prepare? | An insider who can discuss applications, interviews or project work |
| How do transaction services and audit differ? | A professional with relevant experience who can explain their own role and its boundaries |
Read the profile before booking. If your question falls outside the listed help topics, another insider may be a better fit.
3. Book the free 15-minute phone call
Once you have access to the directory, choose a relevant insider and book a call at an agreed time.
Remember the essential details:
- The call is free.
- It lasts 15 minutes.
- The insider calls you.
Be available at the agreed time, keep your phone nearby and find somewhere quiet. Have your questions ready so the conversation can begin without a long setup.
Prepare Before You Book, Not Just Before the Call
The strongest preparation starts with one sentence:
“By the end of this conversation, you want to understand…”
Complete that sentence with a concrete outcome. For example:
- Whether audit offers the kind of early-career learning you want.
- How to make your consulting internship applications more focused.
- What an M&A analyst actually contributes during a typical week.
- Which experiences are most relevant before pursuing venture capital.
- How to explain your interest in transaction services convincingly.
Then review the insider’s profile, research the basic role and write three priority questions.
Avoid spending a free call asking for information already explained clearly on a firm’s careers page. Use that research as a starting point for a more specific discussion.
Instead of asking, “What does your firm do?”, ask, “Which parts of a junior employee’s work are hardest to understand from the job description?”
Questions to Ask by Sector
You will not cover every question below in 15 minutes. Choose the two or three that best match your goal and the insider’s help topics.
M&A
- What does a junior team member spend most of the week doing?
- What distinguishes a reliable intern from one who needs constant direction?
- What do students often misunderstand about the role before joining?
Private equity
- How does your team divide responsibilities across research, deal work and portfolio-related work?
- Which experiences help candidates explain their interest in investing credibly?
- What should a student investigate before deciding that private equity is the right long-term goal?
Venture capital
- How much of a junior role involves sourcing, research and conversations with founders?
- What makes a student’s interest in a sector convincing?
- How can a candidate demonstrate curiosity without simply repeating market headlines?
Strategy consulting
- What does a junior consultant own during a typical project?
- Which habits help new joiners become useful to a team quickly?
- Beyond case preparation, what should candidates understand before interviews?
Transaction services
- What does the team expect an intern to contribute?
- How does the work differ from audit in practice?
- Which parts of the role tend to surprise new joiners?
Audit
- What responsibilities do interns and first-year employees typically take on?
- How does the workload change across the year?
- What helps a junior colleague build trust with the team and clients?
Technical preparation may come up, including valuation, LBO modelling or accounting knowledge. Use the conversation to understand what to prioritise and why, rather than asking the insider to deliver a technical tutorial.
A Simple Structure for the 15 Minutes
A little structure helps you respect the insider’s time without making the conversation feel scripted.
Minutes 1 to 2: Give brief context
Introduce your stage of study, target sector and reason for choosing this conversation. Keep the background short enough to leave room for discussion.
Minutes 3 to 11: Explore your priority questions
Start with your most important question. Listen closely and ask a follow-up when an answer reveals something useful.
A thoughtful follow-up often provides more value than rushing through a long list. If the insider mentions that interns struggle with prioritisation, ask what good prioritisation looks like in practice.
Minutes 12 to 14: Turn the discussion into an action
Ask which next step would be most useful given your situation.
That might mean refining your target roles, preparing stronger examples for interviews or speaking with someone in a different function.
Minute 15: Close on time
Thank the insider and briefly name the point you found most useful. If a follow-up would help, ask whether they would be comfortable receiving one.
Do not assume a short call creates an ongoing mentoring relationship.
Should You Ask for a Referral?
Do not make a referral the default objective of a first conversation. Start by understanding the role and assessing whether your background fits.
If the discussion naturally turns to an opening, you can ask what application route makes sense. A referral may or may not be appropriate, and the professional should have room to decide without pressure.
Your immediate goal is to leave better informed and make your next application stronger. That is valuable even when no introduction follows.
What to Do After the Call
Write down your takeaways while they are fresh:
- What did you learn that changed your understanding of the job?
- What should you do next?
- What still needs clarification?
If you have an appropriate contact channel, send a short thank-you that mentions one specific insight. Follow through on any action you agreed to take.
Call an Insider also hosts career and interview questions by sector, answered by the community. Those discussions can help you prepare before a call and explore questions you did not have time to cover.
Book a Focused Career Conversation
Visit Call an Insider to explore conversations with professionals in M&A, private equity, venture capital, strategy consulting, transaction services and audit. Get sponsorship from two members, choose an insider whose help topics match your goal and book a free 15-minute call. Bring a clear question, and be ready when the insider calls.