To give a little context: I have 2.5 years as a Product Manager in a Tech company in India. I am joining Schulich in Toronto in September. I am not used to networking in Canada. My Questions:
What’s the most effective way of networking in Canada? Linkedin? Events and Seminars? Or direct cold calling?
As a new joinee, what should I do to ensure that I network with the most number of people in the shortest time?
Network in person, not on LinkedIn. Local CFA society, your MBA will provide you with networking opportunities, join a club or society and etc.
Also, quality of network > quantity of network
You want one on one time with important and relevant people. Look them up on LinkedIn. Pro Tip: you should be ready to spend money. If you buy people lunch, they will talk to you.
for me i played golf when i was back in CA…here in nyc i take them out to brunch or lunch or coffee. Prefer golf because this way, the dude will bring out 2 more of his friends to fill the group. But as i have said on this forum before i did play for D1 golf.
Handicap? I’m going to start doing that too as I was a +2 handicap (before I started studying for level 2).
wtf is handicap?
A handicap in golf tells you how good you/someone is in golf. It also gives you an idea of how you’ll play on different courses. For example, if you’re a 10 handicap and par for the course is 70, then you should shoot an 80 for you to play average. In my case, if par is 70 then I have to shoot a 68 for an average round of golf.
thats good. how come you are not a pro?
Last year I seriously considered giving up my job and trying to go pro, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the risk. I might try to qualify for the US open when I finish the cfa exams… anyway, even though I shoot under par, I once played with Loren Roberts and he kicked my ass… that guy just never missed a shot! Here’s something to think about- the difference between a scratch golfer and a pro golfer on average is 10 shots.
Yeah, probably the hardest part is you will have to play at your best for two days to qualify, and four days to be in contention. No mistakes for 72 holes is no mean feat.
+2 is pretty impressive though. As much as golf is on the decline in corporate america a lot of the higher ups still play. It’s a really good way for them to get to know you through company tournaments and client golf days. Obviously don’t go around telling people you’re a +2, but you might let it slip out that you’re a pretty good player.
+2 is very impressive. 1 something right now - haven’t been to the club since Nov. Although handicap is more of what you are capable of and not your average. Play in local and state am tournaments and you will meet a lot of good folks.
These days I manage around mid 70s these days from the tips.
When people ask me if I golf I generally say “I’m alright.”
Strangely, I work at a company with 50k+ employees, 2500 are located in my city, and we have no golf tournaments. The only one we have costs $5000 a person to get into because it’s a fundraiser. I want to get out of this company, but my director wants me to go into helping manage the pension fund some day so it might be in my best interest to setup a tournament.
I used to play in tournaments quite a bit, but studying for the CFA exams made me stop.
If I went and played 18 holes today, I bet I’d struggle to keep it under 75 right now… Just the other day I hit 4 golf balls for the first time in several months and my swing felt very foreign to me. Pretty much I hit everything left or right…
dude you around nyc? let’s play some golf this summer i play in NJ most of the times. I have met couple AF members in the city and it was actually fun talking about careers, etc and all the "big shots’ on the AF forum.
I’m about 1100 miles south of NYC and I’m nowhere close to being a “big shot” but if you’re ever down in TN or I’m ever up near you we can definitely go golf. If I get into managing the pension fund then I’ll be moving to Connecticut which wouldn’t be for about another year.