What vs. Who

While it isn't a REQUIREMENT to know someone, it certainly helps. I'd say it would be best to be at either end of the spectrum versus right in the middle. You either want to be a genius or have sick connections, but being semi-smart and okay connections probably isn't going to get you anywhere.

People make decisions. People have the power to influence other people's decisions.

You can know everything in the world, but if there isn't anyone to help you execute, that knowledge is useless.

And how long are you going to last at a job if your retarded. You have to be atleast smart enough to keep it.

True, ideally you have both the "who" and the "what" part down.

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personal experiences...convince me..u just have to be competent to get the job done once you know someone...

i'll go with the who in this case

Sometimes though, what you know impresses the people who you need to know.

I worked at a company over the summer and spent some of my time with the marketing department. One of the guys I met there, really brilliant guy when it comes to corporate strategy, but not the best in terms of smooching or being someone else's bitch, used to write on forums about corporate strategy. I don't know the details, but somehow, he impressed a director at a much larger company through the forum and the guy invited him for an interview, which was more of a formality. The guy is working in corporate strategy now making over 3 times as much as he used to and with exec perks.

Who is way more important - we all know the same shit. I am a CFA, I am going to business school. I will know no more than alot of people out there. Its WHO I know that will help me get the job I want. Start networking now.

you need to know "what" to know "who"

Definitely who without question. Nearly everyone in banking got there by knowing someone who helped them in. Finance isnt hard. A bank will teach you all you need to know. It just takes knowing someone to get through the front door.

In my experience who you know gets you an interview, what you know or more specifically not being a complete arse gets you the job after the who part.

I think I mentioned this story before but I'll say it again. I know a kid from CMU who landed a job with GS's HF division solely through contacts. The kid is not too smart, took 5 years to complete his degree, and his GPA wasn't even that high.

But what matters is that his parents are loaded and have serious contacts. What's worse is he isn't even American, he's from the UAE.

how much did he make after graduating from CMU?