What is Networking???

I was recently admitted to UPenn Wharton. I'm not the biggest fan of Investment banking, but it is something that I look forward to in terms of internships and job placement after college. When hearing about internships – on this website and a multitude of others – there are usually 3 things mentioned: whether school is good/ is a target, if you're GPA is within a certain range (usually hear 3.5+ / 3.75+) , and how much networking you've done. Wharton is a target so I'm fine there; while I don't have a GPA yet, I know what I have to do (study, go to office hours, etc) so i'm fine there; but what does everybody mean by networking? Is that reaching out to alumni, connecting with people through LinkedIn, getting close with professors, interacting with clubs, making a lot of friends? What specifically is networking at these schools, and why do some people have trouble with it, while other shine? I ultimately want to end up at a bank like MS, JP, GS, Citi, etc. 

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Hi! I see that you also have a lot of experience and i'm hoping that you would have a moment to answer my networking related question:

I'm a Master Student from the Dept. of Geography of the University of Hamburg, Germany and trying to understand how innovations and the creation of new financial instruments work. I would love to hear from your expertise and experiences to get some insights for a research project:

  • To whom do you talk about your work/new ideas? Just to collegues in your firm or also other folks in the same business but in different firms?
  • Where do you meet these people?
  • Where do you meet in your "free time"? Like lunch breaks, after work or at weekends? Do you regulary talk about work in these informal spaces? Which places are important and why these? Does it make a difference for business talks whether you meet in a meet room or in a more informal setting, like restaurants, bars, etc.?
  • It seems to be important to have a big network, how do you get into these networks? How important is physical closeness, i.e. working in the same city, for networking? How important is your network for professional financial decisions and in the context of innovation? Did Covid change how important face-to-face physical contact is?

Thanks a lot! Really exited to get to know your point of view!

 

networking is forming relationships with anyone who is in the industry, or hopes to enter the industry you are pursuing a position in. in your case, this can be reaching out to alumni from wharton on linkedin, joining finance-focused clubs, and befriending people that are interested in high-finance as well. generally, it is a good practice to surround yourself with like-minded people no matter where you are - that in of itself is a form of “networking”. hope this helps

 

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