Receiving the Chevening scholarship would enable me to nurture existing networks

Chevening Networking Essay

Hello everyone, hoping to receive your comments regarding my essay.

Over the course of four years working at xxx, I was able to develop and maintain a professional network both within and outside the organization. My network consists of account officers from various departments of the xxx, senior officers of banks and classmates from my first masteral degree.

Information is vital to an organization and knowing who you know in the xxx would make it easier to have an access to such information especially in processing requests from banks. When one processes a request from a bank, the account officer prepares the memorandum on his own. The xxx does not maintain a database of previous requests processed and thus each account officer strategizes in processing the Bank's request. This is where knowing who you know expedites the processing of such request. If you know your respective account officers' banks and the requests that they have processed, you could request for the memorandum that they have prepared relative to the Bank's request. In one instance, I was able to prepare a memorandum in one day relative to request for delisting of a former employee of the Bank as compared to an average five days if I did not request if from a fellow account officer in my network.

Second, it is a requirement as an account officer of a Bank to continuously engage the officers of the Bank you are supervising. Aside from the usual professional interaction, I was able to connect with the officers on a personal level. For example, asking how they are working for the Bank and the difficulties their current jobs entail. By having that connection, the officers have become more open and transparent as to future activities and news regarding the Banks under my supervision. With first-hand information, I am able to develop supervisory strategies earlier as to address possible issues from the Bank's future activities and news.

Lastly, during my master's degree in Finance, majority of my classmates were from the banking sector with jobs ranging from analyst to managers. By developing this network, I get a feel as what their impression is of the xxx as a regulator especially when it releases new issuances with regard to the banking sector. Having that conversation and future ones, I am able to develop comments regarding future issuances of the xxx as my peers before would give inputs with regard to the issuance.

Receiving the Chevening scholarship would enable me to nurture existing networks by sharing what I will be learning from my masteral degree. Moreover, it would also enable me to create new ones by being more engaged in the future.

Leophil, in a networking essay, you have to show the reviewer that you have a professional network outside of the bank. Your network within the banking system that you work for is a given. Since that is an automatic network that comes with your profession, it does not qualify as an important network that helps in the accomplishments of other tasks within your work jurisdiction. It would be better if you focus the essay on the network that you created when you took the previous masters degree. Explain why this network is important to you. What sort of other positions or organizations are a member of this network? How have they been useful to your current line of work? How have you helped them in exchange? Would you say that the original network you created with your classmates has grown due to referrals? What kind of referrals were these and how did they help in the promotion of your career growth? These are the elements of a successful networking essay that should be contained in your networking essay.

@Holt

Thanks a lot for the comments. Will focus on the network that I grew during my Masters degree.