Recruiting Journeys | Asset Management: Adam Kulam ’24, Antares Capital
Adam Kulam ’24 discusses his path to landing a role with the alternative asset manager.
In this series, recent Yale SOM graduates break down the recruiting process that led them to their current roles.
What was your job recruiting process like?
In my first year at SOM, I recruited for investment banking. It’s a structured process where you have 30-minute coffee chats with alums or people who work in the industry. You pitch yourself as someone who wants to work in banking, and the person on the other end of the phone asks you some technical and behavioral questions. I was fortunate enough to land an internship at the bank Evercore; it was a good experience but not a perfect fit, so I didn’t end up going back full-time.
In my second year, I had to re-recruit for banking, but without that structured process. So I opened up the aperture of my career interests to include investment management and research as well as banking. One of the first conversations I had was with an EMBA alum, who told me that the recruiting process would involve a lot of labor, and that I shouldn’t be discouraged by the amount of cold outreach that I would have to conduct. I reached out to everyone in my network, including people I went to college with and SOM alums, focusing on getting my name out there and learning what was available.
Right before spring break in my second year, I had two conversations with high school and college classmates who worked for Antares Capital. A few weeks later, an associate-level opportunity in their group opened up. I was already plugged in to the company culture and the role from talking to my friends, and they forward my information to the head of their group. I went through about nine different interviews and received a job offer in April.
Learn more about the Yale SOM Finance Club and visit our finance information hub.
Which SOM classes best prepared you for your current role?
All of my finance electives were really helpful. I took Security Analysis & Valuation with Professor Matthew Spiegel, which taught me to build a financial model of a company from the ground up and forecast its performance. I also took a course called Risky Credit, taught by John Rappaport, a partner at Cyrus Capital Partners, which taught me how to think about high-yield and distressed debt. The course Renewable Energy Project Finance, taught by SOM and School of the Environment alum Dan Gross, was extremely helpful because it involved working in Excel and troubleshooting financial models and data—things I do often in my current role.
Which SOM resources helped you the most during the recruiting process?
The Career Development Office (CDO) does a great job administering behavioral interviews. I did four or five mock interviews through the CDO when I had interviews lined up with my current firm. I was very intentional about the things I wanted to work on and provided information about the profiles and seniority of the people with whom I was speaking, and they were able to tailor our practice sessions accordingly.
Clubs also helped. The Investment Management Club does a great session on how to network, and the Finance Club teaches students how to send emails intelligently and how to connect with strangers during coffee chats and other conversations.
What advice would you give to current students recruiting in asset management?
The most important factor is volume, by which I mean reaching out to people and having as many productive and constructive conversations as you can. A lot of students fall into the trap of applying to jobs on Workday or LinkedIn, and thinking that this is going to result in interviews. But most professional traction comes from someone on the inside who is willing to advocate for you in their own office. It’s important to build those sorts of relationships across as many firms as you’re interested in working with, and those conversations will be much more impactful for your professional success than sending your résumé and cover letter somewhere.
