The fine art of networking

[Strangefox]

So we’ve been talking about ranking and its importance for our future employment. People (some of them, at least) say that a prestigious school and a famous advisor will make your job search an easy and pleasant process. But some of us will prefer (or will have to prefer ) fit over ranking and a friendly but not-so-renowned advisor over a famous but brutal one who makes his/her students want to go hang themselves.

Does that mean that those who will study in not-top-tier schools will inevitably have great problems looking for a job? (I am interested in academic jobs so first and foremost I mean them but feel free to talk about industry as well.) I think there are other ways to boost your placement chances. And we must start learning about these ways as soon as possible and apply this knowledge starting from the first year in the grad program to truly make ourselves competitive. I will tell you what thoughts and ideas I already have on this issue and you please correct me if I am wrong and suggest your strategies.

First of all there are publications, that is obvious (duh!). There is not much I want to say/ask about them here but I would like to know if you have any tips on how to maximize a number of your publications. Mind that I am not from the US so I do not know all details about publishing process in this country. I’ve heard that it takes ages to publish now – is it true and are there anything we can do about it? Do chances to publish become significantly lower if travel funds in your school are not very generous and you can't visit many conferences? By the way, how many conferences to grad students usually visit a year?

Second of all, there is this post-doc thing that I have recently learned about (I am not from the US so this is something new for me). How to make yourself competitive for post-docs? How do people apply for post-docs actually, how do they search for post-doc positions?

Third and most important thing I would like to talk about is networking. I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit recently. We say that famous advisors are cool because they have connections but why can’t we find some connections ourselves? Let’s say, I will work in a field that is not very big so I can get in touch with different professors working on the same issues and make myself stand out. If you read a book or an article that is thrilling and great in all respects and may be you have some questions for its author along the way – there is this magical thing called internet, so you can find professors who wrote these books/articles and strike up a conversation via email and may be meet them at conferences. Am I right? I think it’s even cooler than having your renowned advisor carry you on their shoulders. You independently can create a fairly neat network and it will help you a lot when you are searching for jobs and it will be your own doing ! But of course we should not wait with that till we are writing a dissertation, we should start working on our network from the very first day in our grade program (if we haven’t started that before, of course).

So what is your take on that? Have I missed something? Any thoughts on how to make networking more effective and how to maximize our chances to find a job of our dreams in the future?

[starmaker]

People (some of them, at least) say that a prestigious school and a famous advisor will make your job search an easy and pleasant process.

Haha, no. It will make it easiER. Very different. People with blue-blood credentials start with a leg up, but if they expect to just cruise into a job without learning job-hunting skills they are going to be very sad later on.

But some of us will prefer (or will have to prefer ) fit over ranking and a friendly but not-so-renowned advisor over a famous but brutal one who makes his/her students want to go hang themselves.

Eh, false dichotomy. There are also good advisors who are famous and brutal ones who are unknowns.

Does that mean that those who will study in not-top-tier schools will inevitably have great problems looking for a job?

No, it just means that they don't go into the process with that particular extra boost.

First of all there are publications, that is obvious (duh!). There is not much I want to say/ask about them here but I would like to know if you have any tips on how to maximize a number of your publications. Mind that I am not from the US so I do not know all details about publishing process in this country. I’ve heard that it takes ages to publish now – is it true and are there anything we can do about it? Do chances to publish become significantly lower if travel funds in your school are not very generous and you can't visit many conferences? By the way, how many conferences to grad students usually visit a year?

This is one reason why people like famous advisors - a famous advisor who is also a good advisor (which not all of them are) can help you get more publications in higher-quality venues. However, you can still have good productivity without this advantage.

The travel funds thing depends on whether your field tends to be more conference-based or more journal-based. In mine, a lot of the leading publication venues are conference proceedings (which publish more quickly than normal journals, by the way), while in some, conferences are not considered reputable publication venues. If you are in a field where conferences are important, and your program doesn't have much in the way of travel funds, I suggest looking for conferences that provide competitive travel scholarships. Back when I was a non-degree student who didn't have access to my school's travel funds pool, I won a travel scholarship from a conference where I had a poster accepted.

Third and most important thing I would like to talk about is networking. I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit recently. We say that famous advisors are cool because they have connections but why can’t we find some connections ourselves? Let’s say, I will work in a field that is not very big so I can get in touch with different professors working on the same issues and make myself stand out. If you read a book or an article that is thrilling and great in all respects and may be you have some questions for its author along the way – there is this magical thing called internet, so you can find professors who wrote these books/articles and strike up a conversation via email and may be meet them at conferences. Am I right? I think it’s even cooler than having your renowned advisor carry you on their shoulders. You independently can create a fairly neat network and it will help you a lot when you are searching for jobs and it will be your own doing ! But of course we should not wait with that till we are writing a dissertation, we should start working on our network from the very first day in our grade program (if we haven’t started that before, of course).

Well, you want both your advisor's connections and your own - any student of a famous advisor who doesn't make their own connections as well is a fool. Again, this is a false dichotomy. You can network in the way that you described, and you can attend conferences and talk with researchers there, and you can volunteer as conference staff and network with the conference organizers. You can also have your advisor, famous or not, introduce you to the connections that he or she does have.

I've been one of the people saying that ranking and connections do matter, but I never meant it as "If you are in a famous lab your life will be Easy Street and if you're not you will be professionally doomed." It's more like, everybody is running a marathon, which will take even the fastest people over two hours, but the minority with the famous advisors and prestigious programs get a 15-minute head start. Everybody, including the people with the head start, still has to actually run the 26.2 miles in order to complete the marathon, and someone without a head start but with good strategy and training and endurance can still place quite well or even win the race.

[Strangefox]

you can volunteer as conference staff and network with the conference organizers

Interesting point! I guess one can volonteer as conference staff in a school when one is studying (not is some other place) so I must look out for conferenes in my department, right?

[starmaker]

Interesting point! I guess one can volonteer as conference staff in a school when one is studying (not is some other place) so I must look out for conferenes in my department, right?

That's one way to do it. If your advisor is friends with conference organizers at other schools, he or she may also be able to help you get a volunteer spot for conferences at those schools. There are conferences that are not affiliated with any particular department, that sometimes ask for all-comer volunteers, and there are conferences put on by professional societies where you might be able to volunteer by contacting the professional society.

Oh, also, your department will probably bring in visiting scholars to give talks sometimes, and you can attend their presentations and network with them.

[Strangefox]

That's one way to do it. If your advisor is friends with conference organizers at other schools, he or she may also be able to help you get a volunteer spot for conferences at those schools. There are conferences that are not affiliated with any particular department, that sometimes ask for all-comer volunteers, and there are conferences put on by professional societies where you might be able to volunteer by contacting the professional society.

Oh, also, your department will probably bring in visiting scholars to give talks sometimes, and you can attend their presentations and network with them.

Thanks a lot for the advice!

[a fragrant plant]

This is an interesting and useful post. In a few weeks time I'll be attending an important conference where many key scholars in my field will be there. I am becoming quite nervous now because I am not very confident in social situations. I think part of my shyness stems from the fact that English is not my first language. Although people think my English is absolutely fine, I can't help feeling insecure about it. I also have difficulty making small talk with strangers. Is there anything that I can do to overcome my insecurity? Specifically, how should I approach people in a conference? What are the etiquettes of networking in academia?

[Kathiza]

This is an interesting and useful post. In a few weeks time I'll be attending an important conference where many key scholars in my field will be there. I am becoming quite nervous now because I am not very confident in social situations. I think part of my shyness stems from the fact that English is not my first language. Although people think my English is absolutely fine, I can't help feeling insecure about it. I also have difficulty making small talk with strangers. Is there anything that I can do to overcome my insecurity? Specifically, how should I approach people in a conference? What are the etiquettes of networking in academia?

I have no idea about networking or if there are any rules. This is just how I try to get in contact with strangers at professional events: I am choosing my place to sit wisely. If there's a group of people already engaged in a conversation, it may not be easy to join them and be included. I am looking for people who are alone or in pairs and who also look kind of lost. If you ask if the seat next to them is taken, this can already be a great conversation starter. And if not, I'm just honest and say that I don't know anybody here and ask if (s)he does know many people etc.

A great GREAT way to get in contact with people at events is dinner/coffee breaks. There you can even get in touch with groups easily. Just look at the tables (I don't know how common this is in the US, but where I come from it's mostly tables without chairs where you have to stand. You just ask if you can join their table for dinner/coffee break (even if there are still empty tables, generally nobody will mind) and try to join the conversation. Just ask some questions or how they liked a certain aspect/presentation/whatever of the conference etc. Or talk about the food. If you like it (be not too negative, though) or ask what the other person is having and if (s)he can recommend it etc.

Also being an international student can be an advantage. I have found that people generally are very interested in where I come from. So when they hear your accent, they might ask you some questions which are a perfect conversation starter.

In general, asking questions is always a good idea. People like to help others, it makes them feel good.

Hope this helped.

Edited February 20, 2011 by Kathiza

[Strangefox]

This is an interesting and useful post. In a few weeks time I'll be attending an important conference where many key scholars in my field will be there. I am becoming quite nervous now because I am not very confident in social situations. I think part of my shyness stems from the fact that English is not my first language. Although people think my English is absolutely fine, I can't help feeling insecure about it. I also have difficulty making small talk with strangers. Is there anything that I can do to overcome my insecurity? Specifically, how should I approach people in a conference? What are the etiquettes of networking in academia?

An advice from somebody who had the same problem - that is me Had - like in the past - because I don't have it any more, or just a tiny bit

I was really shy for a long time but I found out that:

1) If you face your fear or insecurity - again and again and again - it will gradually fade away. Trying to strike up a conversation with strangers, you may make some mistakes first but just tell yourself that it is part of a process, that you are learning and that negative experience is also useful.

2) One thing that I've learned is that feeling secure is about acting secure. I might be a bit afraid talking with people I do not know, but I just don't let it show. And after awhile when I get used to these people, the feeling of security comes back. That leads to the next point.

3) Many, many people are somewhat insecure, they just do not reveal that Are you worse than them? Of couse not! Just learn the tricks Smile, be polite, do not speak too quickly or too slowly, act natural. Aquiring the skill of approaching strangers may seem hard but it's totally doable

Edited February 20, 2011 by Strangefox

[jergensultrahealing]

Another thing to add is that, generally speaking, people love to talk about themselves. So you can shoot for anything in that "About Yourself" category that spans from professional to personal. I typically try to find something that will get things started (even if I completely don't care about the topic) and build rapport, and then try to steer the conversation towards fulfilling my agenda.

So for example, I might strike up a conversation with you about recent political events in Europe or logging and mining techniques which are destroying the environment (neither of which I care about), but as we go along, I'm going to try to steer our discourse toward what I want to know -- in this case, it might be on funding, ideas for research that I can "borrow," employment opportunities, eligible relatives or offsprings that might be looking for dates, etc.

[anthropologygeek]

I think schools/advisor does matter. However, it only gets you the interview and you must stand out yourself. I've had both hands on advisors and hands off advisors and have excelled with both. I have found in the US if you have a work ethic your golden with your advisor. You would be amazed at how many grad students are lazy. And in that case advisor and school won't matter. They aren't getting the job let alone the interview.

[Kathiza]

eligible relatives or offsprings that might be looking for dates, etc.

Hahaha, love this