AI Skill Report Card

Drafting Coffee Chat Outreach

B+78·Jul 30, 2026·Source: Web
13 / 15

Given a target firm (e.g., "Citi Healthcare"), do this end-to-end:

  1. Find a Cornell alum (or close alternative) working there via LinkedIn.
  2. Pull 2-3 specific, interesting details from their career path.
  3. Find or infer their professional email.
  4. Check the user's calendar for open slots in the next 7-10 days.
  5. Draft a personalized email in Gmail Drafts using the template below — do not send.
Recommendation
Add a 'bad example' showing a generic, unpersonalized email being rejected/ignored to contrast with the good example — currently only shows good outcomes.
14 / 15

Progress:

  • Step 1: Identify target person at the firm
  • Step 2: Research their background for talking points
  • Step 3: Find their email address
  • Step 4: Pull 3 available time windows from user's calendar
  • Step 5: Draft personalized email into Gmail Drafts
  • Step 6: Confirm draft with user before batch-repeating for next firm

Step 1: Identify the Person

  • Search LinkedIn (or LinkedIn Recruiter if available) for alumni of Cornell (prioritize "College of Agriculture and Life Sciences" / bio sciences overlap, but any Cornell degree counts) currently working at the target firm.
  • Prioritize: Analysts/Associates (most responsive), then VPs. Avoid MDs/Directors for cold coffee chats unless no junior alum exists.
  • If no Cornell alum exists at that firm, fall back to: (a) alum at a peer group/division, or (b) non-alum with a notable non-traditional (STEM/bio) background — this is a strong personalization hook since the user is a bio sciences major.
  • Note: full name, title, group/coverage area (e.g., "Healthcare Investment Banking"), school/grad year.

Step 2: Research Talking Points

Look for specifics, not generic facts. Good sources: LinkedIn "About"/experience section, firm bio pages, alumni panels, podcasts, published deal league tables, Cornell career center spotlights. Find 2-3 of:

  • Their path from major → IB (especially if non-finance major, e.g., bio/STEM — strong resonance with user's profile)
  • A specific deal, sector focus, or rotation they've done
  • Any Cornell-specific overlap (same college, club, professor, pre-med-to-finance pivot, etc.)
  • Notable career pivot or timeline detail (e.g., "spent 2 years in a lab before recruiting for IB")

Avoid generic praise ("impressive career") — cite the specific fact.

Step 3: Find Email

  • Try firm's standard email pattern: firstname.lastname@firm.com (JPMorgan: firstname.lastname@jpmorgan.com; Barclays: firstname.lastname@barclays.com; Citi: firstname.lastname@citi.com; Evercore: firstname.lastname@evercore.com).
  • Cross-check against any publicly listed email, Cornell alumni directory, or handshake/LinkedIn contact info section.
  • If uncertain of pattern, note it explicitly to the user rather than guessing silently — flag "unverified email" in the draft summary.

Step 4: Pull Calendar Availability

  • Check the user's Google Calendar for the next 7-10 business days.
  • Select 3 windows that are:
    • 30 minutes long
    • Outside of classes/existing events
    • Weekday mornings (8-9am) or evenings (5-7pm) preferred — realistic for a banker's schedule
  • Present times in the user's timezone AND note it's flexible to the recipient's time zone if the firm is NYC-based and user is in Ithaca.

Step 5: Draft the Email

Use this format, then create it as a Gmail draft (do not send):

Subject: Cornell Student — Coffee Chat Request

Hi [First Name],

My name is [User Name], and I'm a sophomore at Cornell studying Biological Sciences with a strong interest in [healthcare investment banking / IB]. I came across your profile and saw that [specific detail — e.g., "you transitioned from a molecular biology background into healthcare coverage at Citi" or "you worked on the [X] deal during your time in the group"], which really resonated with me given my own background.

I'd love the opportunity to learn more about your experience at [Firm] and hear how you navigated the transition into [group/division]. Would you have 20-30 minutes in the next couple weeks for a quick virtual coffee chat? I'm happy to work around your schedule, but a few times that currently work well for me are:

- [Day, Date] at [Time] ET
- [Day, Date] at [Time] ET
- [Day, Date] at [Time] ET

Thank you so much for considering — I really appreciate your time.

Best,
[User Name]
Cornell University | Biological Sciences '2X
[Phone] | [LinkedIn URL]

Step 6: Confirm & Repeat

  • Show the user the draft summary (person, firm, talking point used, email confidence level) before moving to the next firm.
  • Repeat for each target firm (JPMC, Barclays, Citi Healthcare, Evercore, etc.), creating one draft per contact.
Recommendation
The skill is highly specific to one user's context (Cornell, bio sciences major, sophomore) — consider parameterizing school/major/year as variables so it generalizes beyond this one persona, or note in description that it's tailored to a specific user profile.
15 / 20

Example 1: Input: Target firm = Citi Healthcare Output:

  • Person found: Sarah Kim, Cornell '19 (Biology & Society), now Associate in Citi Healthcare IB
  • Talking point: She spent a year in a research lab post-grad before lateraling into banking via an MBA-less associate program — direct parallel to user's bio background
  • Email: sarah.kim@citi.com (pattern-matched, unverified)
  • Draft created in Gmail with subject "Cornell Student — Coffee Chat Request", referencing her lab-to-banking pivot, with 3 times pulled from user's calendar (e.g., Tue 8am, Wed 6pm, Thu 8am ET)

Example 2: Input: Target firm = Evercore, no Cornell alum found in Evercore's healthcare group Output:

  • Fallback: Found a Cornell alum in Evercore's general industrials group instead, flagged to user: "No healthcare alum found at Evercore — found [Name] in Industrials instead. Want me to proceed or search harder for healthcare?"
  • Proceeds only after user confirms direction
Recommendation
Address edge cases like: recipient has no email listed anywhere, recipient's LinkedIn is private/sparse, or all calendar slots are full — these gaps in Step 3/4 handling would strengthen completeness.
  • Always personalize with a specific fact, never "I saw your impressive background."
  • Prioritize alumni — shared Cornell identity is the single strongest opener.
  • Keep emails under 150 words — bankers skim.
  • Always offer 3 concrete times, not "let me know when works" — reduces friction.
  • Flag any unverified email pattern explicitly rather than silently guessing.
  • Save every email as a draft, never auto-send — user reviews and sends personally.
  • Batch by firm so the user can review one at a time rather than getting overwhelmed.
  • Don't use generic templates with no specific personalization — instantly recognizable and ignored.
  • Don't target MDs/Directors first — response rates are much lower; start with Analysts/Associates.
  • Don't invent details about someone's background — only use verifiable info from LinkedIn/bio pages.
  • Don't offer vague time windows ("sometime next week") — always give specific day/date/time.
  • Don't send the email yourself — always leave in Draft for user's final review/send.
  • Don't ignore timezone — if user is in Ithaca and recipient is in NYC, both happen to be ET, but double check for firms in other cities.
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Grade B+AI Skill Framework
Scorecard
Criteria Breakdown
Quick Start
13/15
Workflow
14/15
Examples
15/20
Completeness
15/20
Format
13/15
Conciseness
12/15