The POWER Of Networking

Wtites Trevor:

In an article entitled: '14 GOOD Reasons Why You Have Got To Be ‘CRAZY’... NOT To Join The INNER Circle Circle of TOP Business Decision-Makers In Your Area…!', I penned this as point 14:

14. One day you will need your inner circle contacts too. Remember that one day you are going to need the best people in various businesses in your local area… that you know and trust. When you sell your home you will want a real estate professional you know and trust for the best deal. When you invest your profits you will want a financial adviser you know and trust. When you sell your business you will want the best business broker. When you have a medical emergency in your family… the best medical professional. When you have a legal crisis… the best attorney. When you have a tax problem… the best tax specialist. When you want the best people that you know and trust… you can turn to your personal contacts made in the INNER Circle Business Forum.

Let me show you how this works. Last week I had occasion to send out a personal message of 'HELP' to SEVEN (7) attorneys that I cherry-picked from my network.

This was the message I sent:

'I need your help, please. My youngest daughter is currently at Tukkies orientation week - looking to study for a legal degree. However, yesterday she was thrown into a quandry as to whether to choose a B.Com.LLB or a BA.LLB direction. Given your real world experience, what advice would you give to this young lady that can perhaps help her to choose?'

ALL SEVEN (7) responded with incredible insights, won't repeat them all here, but here is a sample of just one for you to see how comprehensive such a response from your network can be:

Hi Trevor

Congratulations on your daughter's brilliant Matric results. That is definitely something to be proud of and she will definitely be an asset to the legal fraternity.

Both degrees are good and well-respected in the legal field. The defining criterion as to whether she is to do a BComm or not, is whether she wishes to go into commercial aspects of law or commerce itself.

The added business angle and base that your are taught when doing a BComm will always come in good stead. I myself studied a BJuris (purely legal) and LLB. I found that once I had finished I did not have any business knowledge. I then went to Wits business school, which I found gave me a more practical understanding of business. If I had done a BComm, I probably would have had that base when leaving varsity.

If she wishes to follow the less commercial aspects of law, such as family law, conveyancing and the like. Then the BA LLB will be more suitable.

One of the aspects that she should take into account is that she may change her mind about law at some stage and the base degree - Bcomm or BA, can be used as a stepping stone to a new career. For example if law is her first choice and Industrial Psychology/ Psychology her second choice, then the BA would be more suitable, as she can elect those secondary subjects in the BA curriculum and decide once she has finished her BA whether to do a LLB or Honours in one of those other subjects.

If she definitely wants to enter the world of commerce (company secretary/ economist/ attorney), then I would advise to follow the BComm route.

My friends and colleagues who have studied BComm and LLB have found the transition between law and commerce sometimes difficult. The manner of studying the two disciplines can sometimes be difficult to marry. It is definitely the tougher choice of the two. Your daughter sounds very bright so this will probably not be such a concern.

At the end of the day, finding articles and entering the legal field can be difficult. From our perspective we consider the academic record (more so than the choice of undergraduate degree done) and the persons ability to apply their theory in practice and whether the candidate has a specific interest in the field of practice.

I hope the advice helps and doesn't confuse her anymore.

Good luck and let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

All goes to show, it's not what you know, it's WHO you know! i am just so proud to have these incredible people in my contact network. Thank you ALL... :-)

So how many quality people do you have in YOUR network? Not enough? Start building your network today.

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - www.innercircleforum.com
trevor@innercircleforum.com