Free template

Free recruiting networking tracker

A spreadsheet built specifically for IB networking — the fields that actually matter, sensible statuses, and a workflow that keeps you from losing track of follow-ups. Download it and use it with no account, no signup.

Most students start networking with a mental list, move to a rough spreadsheet around contact ten, and abandon that spreadsheet by contact thirty — not because tracking is hard, but because most trackers are missing the two or three fields that actually drive behavior. This template has the fields that matter and nothing extra to maintain.

Get the template

Two formats, same fields. Both open with a few example rows already filled in so the layout is obvious — delete them and start adding your own contacts.

MarketIQ Networking Tracker — Excel
Formatted, with dropdowns for outreach status and a field guide on the second tab.
.xlsx
MarketIQ Networking Tracker — CSV
Plain text — opens in Google Sheets, Excel, Numbers, or Airtable.
.csv

To use the CSV in Google Sheets: open sheets.google.com, choose File → Import → Upload, select the CSV, and pick "Replace current sheet." It'll come in as plain data — the Excel version has formatting and dropdowns already built in if you'd rather start from that.

The fields, explained

Fourteen fields, but only a handful matter every day. Here's what each one is for:

Contact name
The banker or contact's full name.
Firm
The bank or firm they currently work at.
Group
Their coverage or product group (e.g. TMT, M&A, Healthcare, PE) if you know it.
Role / title
Analyst, Associate, VP, MD, etc. — helps you judge how much time they realistically have.
Connection source
How you're connected: alumni, referral, cold, family/friend, professor, career center, club.
Email / LinkedIn
Whichever you have — ideally both once you track one down.
Outreach status
Where this contact currently sits in your process. See the status list below.
Date first contacted
The date you sent your first message. Never changes once set.
Date last contacted
The date of your most recent email or conversation — the field to update every single time something happens.
Next action
What you're supposed to do next, in a few words: 'send follow-up,' 'prep for call,' 'send thank-you.'
Next follow-up date
The date that action is due. This is the field you sort by every week.
Coffee chat status
N/A until a chat is scheduled, then tracked through completed and notes logged.
Notes
Anything specific from a call or email worth remembering before your next touchpoint.
Application status
Optional — only worth filling in once you're actually applying to that firm.

Sensible outreach statuses

A small, fixed set of statuses is what makes the tracker scannable. Too many options and you'll spend more time deciding which one applies than actually updating it — these nine cover the real states a contact moves through:

  • Not yet contacted — On your list, but you haven't reached out.
  • Drafted — The email is written but not sent.
  • Sent — Outreach sent, no response yet.
  • Replied — They responded — your move to schedule a call or reply again.
  • Follow-up due — 7+ days since your last message with no response.
  • Coffee chat scheduled — A call or meeting is on the calendar.
  • Coffee chat done — The conversation happened — log notes and plan your follow-up.
  • Went cold — No response after a follow-up. Deprioritize, but don't delete the row.
  • Referral submitted — They've referred you or submitted your resume internally.

A simple sample workflow

  1. Find a contact (alumni search, referral, or cold) and add a row with their name, firm, group, and connection source. Status: Not yet contacted.
  2. Write the outreach email. Update status to Drafted if you're not sending it same-day.
  3. Send it. Update status to Sent, and fill in date first contacted / date last contacted with today's date.
  4. If they reply: status to Replied, update date last contacted, set next action (e.g. "schedule call") and a next follow-up date.
  5. If no reply after 7 days: status to Follow-up due — this is the row you act on this week.
  6. After a coffee chat: update coffee chat status, log two or three lines in notes while it's fresh, and set a next follow-up date for your thank-you note.
The single most useful habit with any version of this tracker: update date last contacted and next follow-up dateevery time something happens, not at the end of the week. A tracker that's a few days stale is what causes missed follow-ups — not the format of the file.

How to avoid losing track of follow-ups

Pick one day a week — Sunday evening works well for most students — and sort the sheet by next follow-up date. Anything due that week gets actioned before you add a single new contact. Adding new names is easy and feels productive; it's also how existing follow-ups quietly slip. Protect the weekly review before you expand the list.

If you want more detail on what to log after a call specifically, see how to track coffee chats, and for the broader reasoning behind these fields, see how to track investment banking networking.

The spreadsheet works on its own.

Once your networking list gets large enough that the spreadsheet becomes cumbersome, MarketIQ gives you a dedicated recruiting CRM for managing the same workflow — contact discovery, drafting, and reminders included.

See how MarketIQ works

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a MarketIQ account to use this template?

No. The CSV and Excel files are free to download and use on their own — no signup, no account, no expiration.

Can I edit the template to add my own fields?

Yes — it's a normal spreadsheet file. Add, remove, or rename columns freely; the fields here are a starting point, not a fixed schema.

Excel or CSV — which should I use?

The Excel version has formatting, dropdown menus for statuses, and a field guide built in on a second tab. The CSV is the simplest, most portable option and works in any spreadsheet tool, including Google Sheets.

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