How I Earned My First Financial Job/How I started Networking

I was a bartender towards the end of college. It was great because for someone my age I was making a good amount of money while only working 3-4 days a week. I decided in my senior year that I really wanted to look for a financial job, but the market was still rough from 2008. I moved from a bar that allowed me to earn a good amount of money to one that was mediocre in terms of my financial compensation. This worked for me because the networking opportunities outweighed the money.

The new bar was an upscale bar filled with business people. I didn't have a financial network nor did my family, and so I created one on my own.  I met many individuals across the industry, and after some time and a lot of networking someone took the time to pass my resume along to their HR department.

Lastly when I was at the bar I made business cards on VistaPrint.com so that I would stand out in someone’s mind.

It is better to get someone else's information so you can follow up but at least the business card is something to remind people to call you.

Sometimes just saying hello can lead to something special.

I will post a topic on networking soon and go into more detail on what I did to build meaningful relationships.