[V12]

No, i did not post this in the wrong forum, the networking im speaking about is the social type. It seems today it's more about who you know, rather than what you know.

Being a sophomore in college i've come to realize just how imporant networking is and i've also come to realize how hard it is to find a decent job, in the sector im focusing on (finance/investment banking).

So what i'm curious on is what industry you work in, and how you scored that first job or whatever it was that put you here today (education, connections, luck, etc...) and if there is any pointers you can give one in my situation as to where to start (i know an internship but even landing that job is hard, or at least 2 months of no luck has proven so)

..oh and since we're on this topic anyone wanna help a strugging business student from NYC 'get his foot in the door' lol

happy postings!

[design219]

An obvious bit of advice: Never burn any bridges. My current job is the direct result of recommendations from a former co-worker that I'd would not have expected.

[Sealobo]

I got my first job using a job agency. It's free.

How's your GPA adding up? The easiest way to secure a decent job is to present yourself with good grades. They might not get your dream job but at least you will get interviews.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by design219 

An obvious bit of advice: Never burn any bridges. My current job is the direct result of recommendations from a former co-worker that I'd would not have expected.

Ah, burn the bridges. There are lots of jobs out there, but only a few former bosses I'd really like to chew out.

(This is, of course, not very good advice.)

[SpaceMonkey]

My first "professional" sort of job was from an ad in an industry trade newspaper.

What got me the job was probably a combination of my education (least important), my related work experience as a student and my awesome recommendations from that. It was also the most comfortable interview experience I had ever had, because my boss' previous work experience was primarily in exactly the subject area that I worked in as a student and we sort of hit it off based on that (it was supposed to be a 30-45 minute interview and I ended up being there for almost an hour and a half).

Since you are a sophomore in college and you are most immediately interested in an internship at this point, I would do everything possible to get to know your professors and seek out their input on what direction you might go in. Since you are in a business major, I am assuming that at least some of your professors had a business background before becoming professors. They will probably not be able to directly land you an internship or job, but they may provide you with some valuable search tools or connections that you might not have thought of.

Landing an internship will usually be more about your grades and being able to effectively articulate why you want to be there than it will be about networking or being the "perfect" candidate, so in that regard I think the best thing to do is just keep applying to everything that interests you. Go to companies web sites, use the tools available in your career center, ask a senior classmate what worked for them, etc. Landing an internship or any other related part-time work experience will give you a much broader opportunity to start building a network or finding a mentor.

[V12]

Most of my professors do have MBA degrees and work in the business field however most don't want to help you during the semester or vice-versa as it looks like favoritism/bribery etc... but that is good advice to buddy up some professors in the future

as far as grades go im a 3.57 GPA, latin honors award, pretty well rounded and it seems like every internship i apply for, a foreigner, minority, or etc lands the job instead so that the firm looks politically correct. Now im all for the fact that the job should go to the fittest person for that position, but if a person with less social skills and gramatic or dialect problems is receiving a job over me, that out right bothers me. I hope in no way to come off condescending. In addition, everyone who lands a decent job or even a great entry level position does so becuase they or someone they know knows someone who knows someone and so on....

aside from that mini rant, any other advice from the wise macnn-er's? i've realized that being in NYC is both good and bad, its a lot of opportunity, but a lot of competition as well, and the competition is cut-throat.

[Paco500]

Can't really comment on the Finance thing, but I got into my field (I.T.) by taking a crap job with low pay at a "Geeks on Call" type place (this was almost 15 years ago- long before the franchises started). I worked hard, did well, and got a new job with better pay. I kept working hard and moving up and have done pretty well for myself.

I think the "it's not what you know it's who you know" thing is partially true, but I think how good you are at what you do is more important that either.

[Nivag]

Most of the work I get is from people I know, who then recommend me to others. When I work full-time for an ad agency I spent most of my nights out having drinks to the wee hours in the area of London I work and most of the people I met from this still give me work or pass my details on.

[starman]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Ah, burn the bridges. There are lots of jobs out there, but only a few former bosses I'd really like to chew out.

(This is, of course, not very good advice.)

I say chew him out if he deserves it. I did that once. Best thing I ever did. I found out that a year or two later he got fired for "accidentally" deleting the entire source code repository.

[Chuckit]

I actually have chewed a boss out before, and he wound up admitting I was right and giving me an unasked-for raise. Seriously. I still don't think it's necessarily a good policy in the general case, though.