CARDSTAKBUILDRELATIONSHIPS,NOTJUSTCONNECTIONS

MohammedGhasemzadeh,MIMS2016

SamudraNeelamBhuyan,MIMS2016

UCBerkeleySchoolofInformation,FinalProjectReport

1

TABLEOFCONTENTS

Abstract...............................................................................................................................................2

Introduction........................................................................................................................................3TheProblem.................................................................................................................................................3CurrentSolutions.........................................................................................................................................4Oursolution.................................................................................................................................................7

UserResearch.....................................................................................................................................8Methods.......................................................................................................................................................8Findings........................................................................................................................................................9

Design...............................................................................................................................................13Version1....................................................................................................................................................13Version2....................................................................................................................................................14Version3....................................................................................................................................................15Version4....................................................................................................................................................16Version5....................................................................................................................................................17

Pricing...............................................................................................................................................19

Traction.............................................................................................................................................20

NextSteps.........................................................................................................................................21

Appendix...........................................................................................................................................22DataModel.................................................................................................................................................22SystemArchitecture...................................................................................................................................24UserPersonas.............................................................................................................................................25

2

ABSTRACT

Wemeetnewpeopleeveryday-atanevent,orinanewclass,orforaproject.Whilesometimeswedoknowin

aninstantwhetherwelikethepersoninfrontofusornot,thatusuallyhappensonlyinmovies.Mostofthetime,

wewanttogettoknowthemalittlebitbetter.Andthatintoday’sworldusuallymeansaddingthemonFacebook

orLinkedin.

However,FacebookandLinkedinarenotdesignedforbuildingrelationshipswithpeopleyou’vejustmet.Thereare

manytimeswhenyouwanttopresentonlyaparticulardimensionofyourself,withouthavingtoexposeyour

entiresocialnetworkandpasthistorytostrangers.Atthesametime,youdowanttobeabletointeractwith

them,safelyandgettoknowthembetter.Andthisiswherepeople,eventoday,fallbacktoexchangingbusiness

cards.

CardStakgivestheuserscontroloverhowtheypresentthemselvestostrangers,whileprotectingthemfrom

unintendedconsequencesofmeetingstrangers.Itgivesthemtheabilitytogettoknowtheothersandbuilda

relationship,beforedecidinghowtoproceedwithconnectingonadeeperlevel.

3

INTRODUCTION

THEPROBLEM

Whetheritisforpersonalgrowthorprofessional,meetingnewpeopleregularlyisalmostanecessityintoday’s

life.Variousstudieshaveshownthebenefitsofmeetingnewpeopleandhowthatshapesourlives.Somestudies

putthenumberofpeoplewhogottheirjobsthroughnetworkingashighaseven80%!Andit’snotjustabout

findingajob,peoplewhohaveastrongernetworkcanhirefaster,attachmoreclients(hencegeneratemoresales)

andaremorelikelytogetpromotions(ashighas95%morelikely1)withinacompany.Assuchvariousproducts,

channelsandorganizationshavesprungupinordertohelppeoplenetworkbetter-bothofflineandonline.

However,thecurrentdigitaltoolsthatallowustoshareourinformationwithpeoplewehavejustmetwerenot

designedforthatpurpose.E.g.Facebookwasdesignedforyoutoconnectwithyourfriends(andlater,brands),

whileLinkedinwasdesignedforyoutoconnectwithpeopleyouknewprofessionally.Bothofthem,whilegreatat

whattheyweredesignedtodo,nowhavealotofinformation(ourexistingnetworks,historicalinformation,etc.)

whichwedonotalwayswanttosharewithpeoplewehavejustmet.

Toaddressthisnewtusslebetweentheirdesiretonetworkandtheirdesiretoprotecttheirprivacy,peoplenow

usuallyareforcedtoadoptsomeversionofthefollowingoptions:

1. Choosingnetworkingoverprivacy:Thesepeopleadd(oracceptrequestsfrom)everybodytheymeet-

evenabsolutestrangers.Theygiveupontryingtomaintaintheirprivacyonthesesocialnetworkingsites.

Instead,theycuratewhattheypresentonline,sothattheycanprotecttheirprivacywhileatthesame

timeenjoythebenefitsoftryingtobuildarelationshipwiththeiracquaintances.

Thesepeopleacceptthedilutionofthequalityoftheirnetworkascollateraldamage,andsacrificequality

oftherelationshipsforquantity.

1"HowtoNetworkYourWaytoaJobPromotion(andaRaise)."2015.5May.2016

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-corcoran/how-to-network-your-way-t_b_7981780.html>

4

2. Choosingprivacyovernetworking:Thesepeopledonotaddoracceptrequestsfrompeopletheydonot

knowwell.Theyusuallylockdowntheirsocialprofiles,andprefertoexchangebusinesscardsasameans

ofbuildingaconnection.Theythenconnectwithpeopleoveremailorothermediumfirst,andgetto

knowthembetter.

However,thisleadstofarfewerrelationshipsbeingbuilt,becausetheconvenientaffordancesofsocial

networkingsitesarelostinthiscase.Thus,theysacrificequantityforquality.

Whatisworse,evenaftertheusershaveadoptedoneoftheabovechoices,theystillhavenotachievedamajor

partoftheirgoal!Afterall,theirultimateobjectiveisnotjusttohaveahighnumberof“friends”or“connections”,

buttogenuinelygettoknowthenewpersonbetter!Forthattohappen,thecontextinwhichthepeoplemetis

importanttopreserve.

Asmoreofourlivesmoveonlinetothesesocialnetworks,itbecomesevenmorecriticalthatwedesignsystems

andmodalitiesofinteractionthatprotectourprivacy.

CURRENTSOLUTIONS

BUSINESSCARDS

Thisweaponofchoiceforgenerationspastisstillacriticalinformationexchangetoolintoday’sworld,andeven

moresofornetworkers.Theygivepeopleaneasywaytocontrolexactlywhatinformationtheyaresharingwith

strangersatsomeevent.

Whilecardsallowspeopletohavemorecontrolovertheirprivacy,itretainsthesameoldproblemsthatthey

alwayshad.Allthecardsthatonereceiveshavetobeorganizedandmanaged,manuallyandindividually.They

alsodonotsupportanyinteractionsthatwouldallowthepeopletogettoknoweachother.Instead,both

participantsintheexchangehavetoadoptsomeothercommonmediumofcommunicationforthatneedof

relationshipbuilding.

5

FACEBOOK

Facebookoriginatedasawayforustostayintouchwithourfriendsandfamily,butmanypeoplestartedusingit

toaddtheiracquaintances.Slowly,atfirstandmorerapidlyastimewenton,thequalityofrelationshipsonthe

socialnetworksitedeteriorated.Soon,thenumberoffriendsonehadbecameastatussymboland“Facebook

userscastasidethemuchneededskepticisminfavorofgainingconnectionwithanotherseemingadmirer”2.

Butaddingthatrandomstrangeryoujustmetatanetworkingeventisadangertoyourselfandeventoyour

network.Simplybyaddingthatperson,youhavegiventhemaccesstopersonalinformationsuchasyourdateof

birth,emailaddresses,placeswhereyouwenttoschool,townswhereyoulivedinandsoon.Evenmore

dangerously,itexposesyoutoinformationleak.E.g.doyouregularlycheckinonFridayeveningsatapopularbar

downtown?Ordoyoucommentregularlyonafriend’sposts?Thesearejustacoupleofexamplesofthingsthat

canadduptoamuchmorecompletepictureofyou,builtfromsmallandseeminglyinconsequentialactivitythatis

sharedwithyourfriendcircle.Imaginethosestrangersbeingabletoputtogetheramorecompletepictureofyou

usingonlybitsofinformationthatyouneverthoughtwereimportant.Evenworse,suchlooserestrictionsonwho

youaddasa“friend”onFacebookcouldevenleadtomoreseriouscrimes,especiallyforvulnerableusers.

LINKEDIN

WhileLinkedinwasdesignedfortheprofessionalcontext,italsosuffersfromsimilarproblemsofpersonal

informationexposureandleakage.Theonlydifferenceisthekindofpersonalinformationthatisatrisk.

PeopleperceiveLinkedinrequestsinoneoftwoways-eitherthedigitalequivalentofhandingoverabusiness

card,oranendorsementofyourprofessionallife.Tosome,itisalowcostandlowbarriertransactionmeantonly

asacollectionofconnections.Toothers,itistheequivalentofvouchingforeachother’sprofessionalexperience

andisthusahighcostandhighbarriertransactionmeanttobeprotectedandguardedagainst.Tothem,addinga

2"DoIKnowYou?FakeFriendsAddingFreshDangerToFacebook."2011.5May.2016<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/10/facebook-friend-request-spam_n_821584.html>

6

completestrangeronLinkedinisgrantingthem“carteblanchetoyourprofessionalnetwork,whichtheywillbe

abletofreelysnoopin”3.ThisdichotomyiswhatmakesLinkedinfailasasolutiontoourproblem.

Source:https://twitter.com/williamPriceIII/status/646391108512165890

3"StrangerDanger:3GoodReasonstoRejectaLinkedIn...-Entrepreneur."2015.5May.2016<https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233176>

7

OURSOLUTION

Initially,wehadstartedwiththeassumptionthatpeoplewouldwantasimplerpublicprofilethattheycoulduseat

networkingevents,insteadoftheirbusinesscards.However,basedonouruserresearchandtesting,werealized

thattheproblemwasmuchdeeperthanthat-peoplewantedwaystobuildrelationships,togofromstrangersto

acquaintancesandthentofriendsorcolleagues.

Oursolutionhandlestheproblemofrelationshipbuildingontwofronts:

● CardStakallowspeopletocreatemultiplemini-profilesthattheycanuseatdifferentevents.Byallowing

eachusertocreatemultiple“cards”,weenablethemtopresentadifferentversionoftheirselfaccording

totheirneeds.

● CardStakenablespeopletoeasilyexchangeinformationwithpeoplethattheyhavejustmet,andfocuson

theinteractionsratherthanthelogisticsofinformationexchange.Byenablingeasierandsafer

interactionsbetweenacquaintancesandstrangers,andplacingitsquarelywithinthenarrowcontextofa

singleevent,CardStakallowsthemtobuildamoretrustingrelationshipwhichcanthenbemovedtothe

nextstage.

8

USERRESEARCH

METHODS

FIELDSTUDIES

Tostartoff,weattendednetworkingeventsandobservedhowpeopleinteractedwhilenetworking.Byclosely

observingpeopleintheseenvironments,weunearthedthevarioustoolsthattheycurrentlyuseasworkarounds.

Thesesessionsalsogaveusalotofrawmaterialforustoinformouruserinterviews.

USERINTERVIEWS

Weconducted38in-personinterviewsintotaloveraperiodof9months.Thebreakdownfortheinterviewswas:

● 12interviewswitheventplannersandorganizers

● 24interviewswitheventparticipants

SURVEYS

Aftereachevent,wesentoutasurveytotheusersaskingthemforfeedbackontheproduct.Thesurveyis

attachedintheappendix.

Wechoseasurveywasbecauseitwasnotpossibleforustoreachalltheparticipantsataparticularevent.More

importantly,theeventorganizershadsomereservationsaboutusapproachingalotofpeopleforfeedbackatthe

eventsthemselves.

USABILITYTESTS

Wedidalotofguerillausabilitytestingatevents,byshowingpeoplepaperprototypesandaskingthemtoperform

certainactionsandthinkaloudwhiletheyweredoingso.Thistestingduringaneventwasveryvaluableforplacing

thetestinginthecontextinwhichitwouldbemostused.

9

FINDINGS

PEOPLECAREABOUTBUILDINGRELATIONSHIPS,NOT“COLLECTING”CONTACTS

Weweresurprisedbythenowobviousinsightthatpeopleactuallywantedtobuildrelationshipsandnotjust

collectcardsorhaveahighnumberofconnections.This,andhownoneofthecurrentplatformswasreallyideal

forthis,wasatopicthatcameupregularlyinourinterviews.

“Igototheseeventstonetworkandgetahead.Butthatdoesn’thappenifyoudon’thavearelationshipwiththe

person.Ideally,whenyoufollowupwiththemlater,youwantthemtorememberyoufromtheevent.It’s

importantthattheycanputafacetothename,andhaveafewgoodinteractionswithyoubeforeyoumakethe

ask.”-HaasMBAstudent

IMPLICATION

Ourproductshouldmakeiteasierforpeopletobuildrelationships,andnotbeforjustcontactmanagement

THEREISNOUNIVERSALLYACCEPTEDFORMOFEXCHANGINGCONTACTINFORMATION

WITHANEWACQUAINTANCE

PeopleusedLinkedin,Businesscards,Facebook,handwrittennotes,variousappstomanagethecontact

informationofthepeopletheymet.Buteverybodywasusingtheseproductsandsolutionspurelyasadata

exchangetool.Whenitcomestotakingtherelationshipforward,theyusuallyresortedtoemailormessaging.

Andalmosteverybodycomplainedabouteverytool.Agreeingonwhichtooltouse,andonsubsequent

communicationetiquette,wasasourceofconcernformany.

“Iusuallyemailpeopleafteranevent,butI’mprobablyforgottentofollowupwithsomeonemorethanIhave

remembered.BetweenmyLinkedin,businesscards,emailsandnotes,Iprobablyhavelostmorecontactsthan

gained.”-Jobseekingstudent

10

IMPLICATION

Ourapplicationneededtobebuiltontopofexistingtoolssuchasemailandbusinesscards,andfacilitatecross-

channelinformationexchange.

PEOPLEWANTTOKNOWWHOTHEYAREGOINGTOMEETATANEVENT

Peoplewereusuallyinterestedtospendatleastafewminutesresearchingthepeopletheywouldbemeetingat

theeventbecausetheydofinditvaluableanduseful,butit’seitherimpossibleorrequirestoomuchtimeand

effort.

“OnEventbrite,IcannotseewhoelseiscomingexceptformyFacebookfriends.OnMeetup,Icanseethe

attendees,butthentoresearchthemIhavetosearchforeachoneofthemonLinkedin.That’sjustapain!”-M.Eng

student.

IMPLICATION

Havingtheprofilesofalltheattendeesattheeventisamusthaveforpeopleespeciallybeforetheevent.

PEOPLEWANTTOKNOWWHOTHEYSHOULDBEMEETINGATANEVENT

Ataneventfullofstrangers,peopleusuallystarttalkingtoeithertheobviouslyhigh-valuepeopleintheroom,or

tothepeoplerightnexttothem.Ineithercase,thepeopleweremissingoutongettingtoknowmanyoftheother

peopleinthesameroombecausetheydidnotknowwhotheywere!

“HowdoIdecidehowtotalktopeople?Idon’tknow…whoeverissittingorstandingnexttomeIguess?Ofcourse

Irealizethat’sareallybadwaytodothat,butI’mkindashy.UsuallypeoplestarttalkingtomeratherthanIstart

talkingtothem”-Technologyprofessionalatameetup

IMPLICATION

Theproductshouldhaverecommendationsaboutpeoplethatoneshouldbemeetingattheevent.

11

THEQUALITYOFTHEINTERACTIONSMATTERED,BUTSODIDTHEQUANTITY

Themoretwopeopleinteracted,themoretheytrustedeachother.Evenifoneonlyjustmetthepersonforafew

minutes,seeingthemagain,evenatthesameevent,madethemfeelfamiliar.Thus,moreinteractionsbetween

thepeopleincreasedtrustandmemorability.

“(onbeingaskedhowheknew“Ted”,withwhomhehadjustexchangedahigh-fiveashewalkedpast)Ijustmet

him10minutesago.Don’tevenknowhislastname!He’sjustafamiliarface”-MBAstudent

IMPLICATION

Theproductshouldallowuserstointeracteasily,andmoreinteractionsarecrucialtoitssuccess.

ACCURACYOFCONTACTINFORMATIONISCRITICAL

SomepeoplehadheardaboutCamScannerorothersuchappswhichscanacardandconvertitintoacontacton

thephone.However,mosthadgivenuponsuchappsbecausetheiraccuracywasnotashighaswasexpected.

Whenitcomestothecontactinformation,onewrongdigitoralphabetcanbreakdowncommunications,andthus

breakyourtrustintheapp.

IMPLICATION

Theproductshouldletpeopleentertheirowninformation,sothattheyretaincompletecontroloverany

informationtheyaresharingandanyerrorsinthecontactinformationisminimized.

REQUIRINGBOTHPARTIESTOHAVETHEAPPINORDERFORITTOBEUSEFULWASABARRIERTOADOPTION

Wewitnessedmanyinteractionswherethetwopartiesinaninteractionwouldnothavethesameapp.Rather

thanaskingonepersontodownloadanewapp,signupforitandthenuseit,bothofthemwouldmovetoeither

exchangingbusinesscardsoraddeachotheronsomesocialnetworkingsite,whichwasusuallyapoorerbuteasier

optionforboth.

12

IMPLICATION

Theproductshouldworkwithoutneedinganybodytodownloadanyapp.Oncetheyhaveinvestedsometimeinto

theapplication,theycouldthenbepersuadedtodownloadtheappforabetterexperience.

13

DESIGN

VERSION1

Fig:CardStakV1.Thiswascreatedasamockupandshowntopotentialuserstodeterminewhethercreatingsucha

platformwouldbevaluableornot.Emailsandphonenumbershavebeenblurredout

14

VERSION2

Fig:CardStakV2-CustomstackbuiltasaconciergeforUCBerkeleyNetworkingevent

Fig:Cardv2-PostIntegrationwithLinkedIn

15

VERSION3

Fig:Firstattemptatbuildingchatsystem.Thischatwasfilebased(ratherthanDBbased)andusedtoconstantly

pingtheservertodeterminewhetheranynewmessageswereavailableornot,makingitextremelyunscalable.

Thiscrashedmultipletimes.Thisalsodidnotallowprivateanddirectmessagingandchannels.

16

VERSION4

Fig:Newdesignmockupwithemphasisonlargerphotosofmembers.Thebigphotoswereahit,thecolors-notso

much.

17

VERSION5

Fig:CurrentdesignforStaks

18

Fig:Currentdesignforconversationchannels

19

PRICING

Basedonourcustomerdevelopment,wefoundthattheidealpricingmodelforthisproductwouldbeafreemium

onebasedonthenumberofcardsthatarecreatedinthatStak.Wewouldallowsmallereventstocreatefree

Staks,whichwouldserveasamarketingchannelforus,whilemonetizingsomeofthevaluecreatedbyour

productforlargereventswithmorepeopleandinteractions.

Tier Limitations Pricing

Silver Upto30cardsperstak Free

Gold Upto60cardsperstak $19.99perstak

Platinum Morethan60cardsperstak $49.99perstak

20

TRACTION

SofartheplatformhasbeenadoptedbytheSchoolofEngineering,HaasSchoolofBusinessandtheSchoolof

Informationfortheireventsandincomingclasses.Somestatisticshavebeendepictedbelow:

Metric Numbers

Cardscreated 2500+

Cardssaved 500+

Stakscreated 150+

Totalpageviews 75,000+

Fig:Chartshowinginteractionpermonth.Interactionsinclude:CVviews,LinkedInviews,messages,hellosentetc.

21

NEXTSTEPS

MOBILEAPPSONALLPLATFORMS

Whileappswereabarrierwhenitcomestoexchangingcontactinformation,theyareanassettopeoplewhen

interacting.Withthenewinteractionsmodule,webelieveitnowmakessenseforustobuildanappforallthe

majorplatforms.

FINDINGTHERIGHTPEOPLE

Wecanmakeiteasierforouruserstofindtherightpeopletobuildrelationshipswithby

● allowingpeopletofindotherpeoplethattheyareinterestedin,moreeasily

● providingrecommendationsforwhotoconnectwith

● allowingpeopletointroduceothers

TAKINGCARDSTAKOFFLINE

CardStakwouldbemorepowerfulwhenitaugmentspeople’sinteractionsintheofflineworld.Thiscouldbebetter

achievedbyenablingouruserstouseCardStakduringtheevent,e.g.bymakingiteasiertoaddsomeonethey

havejustmetusingprintableQRbadgesthattheorganizerscanhandouttotheattendees.

INTEGRATIONSANDPARTNERSHIPS

AmorerobustintegrationwithEventbriteandMeetupwouldcreateabetterexperienceforourusers,aswellas

giveusanadditionalsaleschannelthatcanbeleveragedforgrowth.

22

APPENDIX

DATAMODEL

Anaggregateof13tableshavebeencreatedandcapturealltherelevantinformationforusers,eventsand

activities.Themainthreetablesareshowbelowandthefulldescriptionandcolumnforeachofthe13tableshave

alsobeenprovided.

Fig:ThethreemaintablesusedforStaksmodule:cards,usersandstaks

23

Fig:Datamodelforinteractionsmodule

24

SYSTEMARCHITECTURE

25

USERPERSONAS

CHRISTOPHERCONSULTANT

Age:27

Gender:Male

Education:BachelorsinCS,fromColumbia

Workexperience:4years,intechconsulting

Hobbies:HeisaNYGiantsfan,andcatcheseverysinglegameatalocal

sportsbar.

Reads:BusinessWeek,WSJ,Techcrunch,Wired.

Background:“Chris”hasasteadygirlfriend.Nowthathispersonallifeismoreorlesssettled,hehasbeenfocusing

moreongettingmoreoutofhiswork,eventhoughhashaddecentprofessionalgrowthsofar.Heworksinamid-

sizeconsultingfirm,whereheworksonprojectsthataretypicallylessthan2months.Hemeetsnewclientsand

colleaguesforanewproject,andonaveragehedoesnotknow60%ofthepeopleheisworkingwith.Hedoes

nothaveatechbackground,butfollowspopulartechnologyblogstokeepuptodate,becauseitsometimescomes

inhandywithhisconsulting.HereallylikesWash.iobecausehehateshavingtotakehissuitstodrycleanersand

thenpickitup.

Hedoesn’thavedirectdecisionmakingpoweroverthetoolsthathiscompanyuses,butheiscapableof

influencingthedecisionmakers.

Motivation:Heisaparticularlydrivenperson,andwantstobetheyoungestpersontobemadeapartnerathis

firm.Forthis,hewantstohavemoresuccessfulprojects,butalsowantstoestablishbetterrelationshipswith

everybodyheworkswith.

26

Hefeelshisteamwouldbemoreeffectiveiftheygottoknoweachotherabitbetter.Itusuallytakes2to3weeks

togettoknowthepeopleheisworkingwith,andbythetimehegetstoknoweverybodyinvolved,theprojectis

almostover.

RACHELRECRUITER

Age:36

Gender:Female

Education:MastersinEnglish

Workexperience:4yearsasarecruiter

withalargetechcompany,nowan

independentrecruiter(freelance)

Hobbies:Shedoesn’tgetmuchtime

fromher2kids(7and3),butshedoes

lovelookingatPinterestforinteriordecorationstuff.

Sheisalsoanoccasionalatalocalrecruitersmeetupgroup.

Reads:TechcrunchandAngelList(tofindoutwhichcompaniessheshouldkeepaneyeon),theMuse.

Background:Herhusbandworksasanaccountantatmid-sizedstartup.Shehas2kids(7and3)whomshelove

dearly.Shehasahappyfamilylife.

Sheisafreelancerecruiternow,afterhavingworkedfor4yearsasarecruiterforSalesforce.Nowshehasherown

recruitingagency,andnowgetspaid5kto10kUSDforasuccessfulplacement.Shespendsasignificantamountof

timegoingtoororganizingprofessionalnetworkingevents,inthehopesoffindingcandidatesforhertorecruitfor

herclients.Shewastesalotoftimeattheseeventstalkingtopeoplewhoaren’tinterestedinjobs.Sheislooking

foreasierwaystobetterqualifythepeopleshespeakstoattheseevents.

27

Motivation:Shewantstospendmoretimewithherkids,whilestillmakingherindependentrecruitingfirmmore

successful.Shewantstobemoreefficientatherwork,soshecanspendmoretimeathome.Betterefficiency

wouldalsoleadtomoremoneyforher,whichisdefinitelyanimportantsecondarymotivator.

JOEJOB-SEEKER

Age:28

Gender:Male

Education:MBA2ndyearstudent-atatop15University

Workexperience:WorkedforFinancialAnalystforatoptierConsumer

PackagedGoodscompany(Kraftfoods)for5years.

Hobbies:Musicfestivals(he’sbeenaregularatCoachellaforthelast3

years),andfastcars(helovesTopGear)

Reads:CNN,NewYorkTimes,WSJ,

Background:HemajoredineconomicsfromUSC,withaboveaveragegrades.Heisgoodatbuildingrelationships

andpeopleusuallylikehim.Heisnotsuper-alpha,butisatthesametimeambitious.

HeisinterestedingoingtoInvestmentBankingbecauseheseeshisoldfriendsmakingalotmoremoneyinthat

industry.ThisiswhyhewentbacktoB-school.

Herealizesthathisgradesarenotthebest,buthewantstoleveragehislikeabilityandnetworkingskillstoland

opportunitiesinthefirmsheisinterestedin.Thisiswhyhegoestoallthenetworkingeventsorganizedbyhisb-

school.Hetriestoprepareforeacheventbyresearchingthepeopleattending,whenhehasthetime.

Motivation:Hewantstomakemuchmoremoneythanhewasearlierandmoreexciting,lavishlife.

28

CALLIECAREERSERVICES

Age:31

Gender:Female

Education:UniversityofArizona,MastersinPsychology

Workexperience:3yearsasacareercounsellor.2yearsat

careerservicesatheralmamater.Now4yearsinUCSF.She

recentlymovedtoasmallschoolinUCSFastheDirectorof

Careerservices.

Sheco-foundedtheUCSFFacilitatorsNetwork-a

communityofpracticeintheareaoffacilitationtoteachskillsandprovideasupportivelearningenvironmentfor

UCSFstaff.

Hobbies:LikespopularNetflixseries.Sheusedtolikehiking,butwiththekidshehasnthadthetimetodosoin

thelastyearorso.

Reads:Careermanagementblogs-shefollowssomepopularinfluencersinherfieldonLinkedinandMedium.com

Background:Shelovesherfamily,andmovedtoCaliforniawhenherhusbandmovedforanewjob.Shehasa1

yearoldkidwhoistheprideofherlife.

Motivation:Shelovesworkingwithstudents,andhelpingthemachievetheirhighestpotential.Shelovesherjob,

andisquitedriveninherquesttohelpherstudentsgetthebestjobs.Sheorganizesalotofnetworkingevents,

careerfairsandresumeworkshops.Shemaintainsgoodrelationshipswithrecruitersofvariouscompanies,and

triestoconnecttherightstudentswiththerightcompanies.

29

PRAVEENPREMIUM

Age:30

Gender:Male

Education:UCBerkeley

Workexperience:6yearsasasoftwaredeveloperatGoogle,

andnowisanengineeringmanageratCourseHero(theyhired

himaftertheirSeriesA)forthelast2years.

Hobbies:Likesplayingaroundwithnewtechnology-3dprinting,lasercutting,etc-andisanactgivememberof

theMakercommunity.

Reads:FollowsHackerNewsreligiously.Andreadsafewselectpeople’sblogswhowriteaboutdeeptechnology

issues.

Background:Heisintrovertedfellow,althoughheisbecomingbetteratmanagingpublicspeakingoverthelast

fewyears.

JoinedGooglestraightoutofcollege.Likedhistimethere,butjoinedAirBnbbecausehewanteddifferentkindof

challenges-especiallyingrowinganengineeringteam.

Hiscompanysendshimtorecruitingevents(careerfairs/infosessions)forrecruitingengineerstohisteam.Heis

alsorequestedtobeapartofpanelsathisalmamatersometimes.

UsedtobeactiveonStackOverflow-hasearnedlotsofprivilegesovertheyears.Heisn’tveryactiveon

StackOverflownowbecauseoflackoftime.

30

Motivation:Hereallywantstogrowhisengineeringteam,andgetthebestpeopleforit.Butthebestwaytodo

that,istomeetnewgraduatesandpresenthisengineeringchallengestothem.Soalthoughhedoesn’tlikeitvery

much,goingtocareerfairsandotherrecruitingeventsisanimportantpartofhisjob.Sometimes,hegets

overwhelmedbyallthepeopletryingtotalktohim.

Hewantstobeearlyadopterofdeeptechnologies,butdoesn’tconsideryetanotherapptobeexciting

technology.Atthesametime,hedoesn’twanttobeleftoutofhispeergroup.