Tomorrow's Professor Msg. #211 NETWORKING 101: SOME BASICS FOR COLLEAGUE CONTACT

Folks:

The article below offers some keen insights into an important
practice -networking - that is often looked on negatively by
academics. Although the examples come from science, the suggestion
have appeal across the disciplines.
The article is from The Scientist, Volume #14[5]:32, March 6, 2000
and is reprinted with permission. More information on this excellent
biweekly magazine can be found at: http://www.the-scientist.com/

Regards,

Rick Reis
reis@stanford.edu
UP NEXT: Preserving Research Quality

Tomorrow's Academic Careers

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NETWORKING 101: SOME BASICS FOR COLLEAGUE CONTACT

From: The Scientist 14[5]:32, Mar. 6, 2000
Reprinted with permission

By Karen Young Kreeger

Schmooze it or lose it, right? Well, not quite. To be sure, there are
a lot of negative stereotypes surrounding networking, but it's not
necessary to make a hard sell to widen your sphere of professional
contacts, or even start one.

"People think that networking's a matter of sucking up to the
powerful, that it takes away from getting real work done, that it's
manipulation," says Philip Agre, associate professor of information
studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. The first
purpose of networking that pops into many people's minds is to find a
job. This might be the ultimate goal for most, but career counselors
note there are many other purposes outside of a direct job
search--career exploration, setting up collaborations, and nurturing
relationships with people you respect and share interests with.

"As a researcher you have two jobs--one is to do good research, the
other is to build a community around your research topic," notes
Agre. "As you build your network, you naturally gravitate toward
people with shared values; this is the basis of professional
relationships and jobs and grant money and all of the other things
that put food on the table." Agre has written "Networking on the
Network,"1 a guide to building and maintaining a group of
professional contacts, with special emphasis on using the Internet
and academic positions.

Typical scientific interactions in academia, business, and government
all involve some degree of networking, despite the purported disdain
for it. "Scientists think it's a horrible, alien thing, but in fact
they're doing it already," says Peter Fiske, an experimental
physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "When you go
to scientific meetings and poster sessions, ask people questions at
the end of talks, go on lab visits, or give a talk--that's
networking." Fiske is also the author of To Boldly Go: A Practical
Career Guide for Scientists.2

GETTING STARTED

Although most later-stage graduate students and postdocs are already
engaged in many of the activities that Fiske describes, taking that
initial step can feel awkward. First define your initial
network--make a list of people with whom you feel comfortable talking
about your career goals and interests and organize it into an
accessible E-mail and hard-copy Rolodex of contact information.

"Scientists usually gather a list of people they know [who] have gone
elsewhere and call them to ask them about job opportunities at their
locations," says David Jensen, managing director at Search Masters
International Inc. in Sedona, Ariz. "That's not what networking
really is. That's calling your friends and asking for a job." This
approach, he says, will only end up in the human resources
department, which he and others say can be a dead end. Rather, the
goal should be to gather information, much like the goal of any other
project that scientists manage. Jensen is also the moderator of the
Bio Online Career Forum3 and has authored several career-related
articles on the Web.

"I would first start with someone with whom you have some kind of
connection," advises Margaret Newhouse, formerly the assistant
director of career services for Ph.D.s at Harvard University and now
a career consultant. "Ask acquaintances and even people you run into
if they know anyone in the field in which you're interested. It's
usually six degrees of separation, so it doesn't take long." Newhouse
has written Outside the Ivory Tower: A Guide for Academics
Considering Alternative Careers.4

The kinds of contacts to start making are with people a couple of
years ahead of you who are headed in the direction in which you want
to go, says Jensen. For a person wanting to move to industry, a
typical opening question might be: You made a move to industry, and I
see you're with a good company, the kind of firm I'd like to be with
someday. How did you make that move?

Later, in a phone conversation, informational interview, or E-mail
exchange, Jensen suggests you start asking questions that are more
specific: for example, "At your company, who's the most important
hiring manager in the area of molecular biology?" He adds, "Don't ask
about open jobs."

BROADENING THE SCOPE

Outside of personal contacts or friends of friends, where can you add
to your network? Career counselors mention diverse sources:
undergraduate and graduate alumni associations, professional
societies and their directories and Mailing Lists, company Web sites,
meetings, and lab visits.

Calling, E-mailing, or talking with someone at a meeting are the
usual ways that people initiate conversation. "E-mail is so widely
used now, especially among scientists, that I'd be inclined to first
send an E-mail with a brief explanation, and maybe an attached
resume," says Newhouse. Close the message stating that you'll follow
up with a phone call within a few days to a week. "And then don't
forget to follow up," she adds.
Whether you make first contact in person, by phone, fax, or E-mail,
career counselors stress the need for a rehearsed, but not pat, spiel
describing your situation, your strengths, and the purpose of your
communication. "You need to have a three- to four-minute presentation
about what you're good at and also a five- to 10-minute version,
because at some time you'll be asked to tell more about yourself,"
says Jensen. Counselors also stress doing some preliminary research
on the person's area of study and organization by talking with
people, reading, and searching the Web to show that you're serious.

Paul Husak, a former postdoc from the Princeton University department
of molecular biology who is now looking for jobs in industry, is
leaving no stone unturned in his efforts to broaden his net. In
addition to getting in touch with former postdoc colleagues and
professors, he's contacted executive recruiters, searched directories
and Web sites for relevant contacts, and spoken with people at poster
sessions.

At the library, Husak used Moody's and other technical company
directories to track down firms that deal with virology and
immunology, his discipline. He made a list of 100 to 200 companies,
noting their Web sites. "I've proffered my resumes to some companies,
but directly to heads of research, development, and discovery, not
human resources."

Meetings are a great venue for meeting people, especially because
attendees seem to be more relaxed away from the stresses of the
office, classroom, and lab. "You have person-to-person
communications, and it eliminates the hassle of the telephone,"
remarks Jensen. But, he adds, it's inappropriate to use this setting
to hand someone your resume. "Establish a dialogue before you say:
'I'd like to send you a resume.'"

When you get to the point where you feel comfortable sending your
resume to a company, Judy Heyboer, senior vice president of human
resources at Genentech Inc., says that it's prudent to forward it to
both a researcher and the human resources department. That way your
information will reach the scientist who may know about unadvertised
positions now and in the future, as well as get your resume in the
firm's database of advertised positions. "We're running matches of
resumes and openings in our database daily," she says.

At meetings, Husak has made it a point to attend the poster sessions
of biotech and pharmaceutical companies. "I spoke to the presenter
and tried to find out who was heading up their projects and then
tried to also speak to that person, if they [were] at the meeting."
He also mentions that job fairs, professional associations, magazine
articles, and subscriber-based Web sites where resumes are posted are
other networking avenues and sources of potential contacts.

SCIENCE DOESN'T SELL ITSELF

One impediment to networking is that many researchers are implicitly
taught in graduate school that good research should stand on its own
and doesn't need a pitchperson to hawk it. "We're supposed to be
silent behind the publications," says Fiske. "But if you look at the
people who are really successful, they are those who, in addition to
doing good work, have the ability to communicate a compelling message
about why they're doing the work that they're doing. As scientists we
are all very passionate about what we do, and it's very easy for us
to speak passionately about why the subject we're working on
interests us and how it fits in. A hard sell isn't necessary."

Still, networking doesn't come naturally to most and as with any
skill, it's necessary to practice. Career counselors suggest
beginning by talking with students and postdocs who are a couple of
years ahead about the topics that interest you. One skill that
develops with practice is the capacity to ask good questions.
"Remember, particularly with the informational interviews, that
people like to talk about themselves," says Newhouse. Thoughtful
questions tend to keep the conversation flowing.
Hand in hand with practice goes tenacity. "Some people lack
perseverance when a door gets slammed in their face," says Jensen.
"Start with people who are easier to call and then build your nerve
up to the luminaries." But, he adds, it's important for people to
know they shouldn't be afraid to approach lab chiefs, heads of large
research programs, and the venerated in a discipline. These
researchers are approached constantly for suggestions from
headhunters and colleagues who are looking to fill openings, so
getting in their field of view could open you to their networks.

Others stress the utility of stepping back, taking a deep breath, and
gaining perspective on networking. "Beginners often make too big a
deal of building their network," says Agre. "They go in with this
tone that's very high key." Or, he says, they become extremely
self-deprecating, introducing themselves something like this: "'I
know you must be very busy, but your work is the greatest thing in
the whole universe. If you talk to me for one second, I'll be
eternally grateful and I'll name my children after you.'"

Exaggeration aside, Agre says that the way to approach networking is
straightforward. "If you're doing work in the same area as someone
else, it's inevitable that you're going to have a relationship with
them. Your whole life doesn't ride on this one conversation at this
one conference."

A universal theme that resounds with those interviewed is that
networking is first about building relationships. If approached with
respect and honesty, there doesn't have to be anything exploitative,
apologetic, or schmoozy about it.

Karen Kreeger (kykreeger@aol.com) is a contributing editor for The Scientist.

RESOURCES

American Association for the Advancement of Science's Nextwave
www.nextwave.org

Chronicle of Higher Education, "Beyond the Ivory Tower"
chronicle.com/jobs/archive/advicearch.htm#beyond

Networking on the Network
dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/network.html

Search Masters International, with links to career forums
smi.bio.com

M. Newhouse, Outside the Ivory Tower: A Guide for Academics
Considering Alternative Careers, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University
Press, 1993. Chapter on informational interviewing

P.S. Fiske, To Boldly Go: A Practical Career Guide for Scientists,
Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, 1996.

REFERENCES

1. dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/network.html
2. P.S. Fiske, To Boldly Go: A Practical Career Guide for Scientists,
Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, 1996.
3. www.bio.com/hr/forum/index.html
4. M. Newhouse, Outside the Ivory Tower: A Guide for Academics
Considering Alternative Careers, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University
Press, 1993.