Growing Your Social Capital

Three New People I Connected With:

1.) Domain expert in your industry- Keith Moure
2.) Market Expert- Frank Laglio
3.) Industry Supplier- David Anderson

1) Who they are and what their background is and 2.) how the person fills the spot.
-Keith-
He is an expert on financial services and office disputes. He handles HR at a firm I interviewed for in Orlando for a summer internship and I could stand to learn a lot about the office and how it functions through him. I hope to learn some more interpersonal skills through further correspondence with him.
-Frank-
He is a market expert in the Orlando financial services market at a company I previously interned with but did not make a significant connection until I emailed him last week. He is a seasoned veteran in the field and has had experience in many markets and not just the Orlando one. He is a good connection to have as he has so many after so many year of experience.
-David-
David works at a financial product provider to the firm in which I interned at. I sat in on a meeting where I got his card last summer but never contacted him until recently to inquire about his company and their dealings within the Orlando market.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
-For all 3 people, I reached out via email then scheduled a phone call for further, and more personal correspondence so I could truly network with each individual beyond email. I kept it professional and acted as if I was doing research to gain knowledge on the job market within the financial sector itself.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
-The nature of the exchange I had with all 3 was very similar; almost inquisitive. I probed the 3 for information about the industry while acting generally interested in what they were saying. I think this practice will bode a long way with the salesman tactics I will need to utilize later when I have to do 'cold calls'.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
-Including any of the 3 in my network will increase the credibility of my network by diversifying the type of people I have in my network as a whole. In general, my network consists of my peers who are just now starting to enter the business world. I need to start finding more and more people who are in the real world and can give me real world endorsements and opportunities.

Reflection:

1. How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events?
-This experience will shape the way I participate in future networking events as it will make me think about who I truly need to know and give me a guideline on how to approach such a situation. It took me a little bit to realize that being personal and acting interested in the individual is the best way to earn their trust and truly form a network connection.

2. Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?
-This experience differed by, in the past, I generally didn't research anyone I connected with but, this time, I went out of my way to see why and how I was going to connect with them and then acted upon this strategy.