Join the PROF WC subdivision and the WCC as we discuss ways for women to support each other and increase the recognition we deserve!
Hosted by the Women Chemists Subdivision and the Women Chemists Committee (Judy Cohen)
Join the PROF WC subdivision and the WCC as we discuss ways for women to support each other and increase the recognition we deserve!
Hosted by the Women Chemists Subdivision and the Women Chemists Committee (Judy Cohen)
We Are All Heroes in Moving Chemistry from Bench to Market
Bring a cup of coffee or your favorite pick me up and chat with the ACS PROF CWD Subdivision on “What types of accommodations do you use in the workplace.”
Hosted by the Chemists with Disabilities Subdivision (Cary Supalo)
Graduate students, no matter the discipline, have three overarching goals: publish papers, graduate, and get a job. Arguably, the latter is the hardest. A recent LinkedIn poll by Lou Alder suggests that 85% of new hires are filled via networking, which have been corroborated with another article from the Business Insider. [1,2] Networking along with other skills such as effective science communication, insight on external factors that influence science all are a part of one term: professional development.
With the overwhelming amount of resources for professional development, it can be an intimidating and time-consuming process for anyone. It should not, however, be delayed to the last minute as these skills can take years of practice. This article will share some of my personal “do’s” and “don’ts” to get you started.
Do: Build a personal brand
Developing a personal brand will force you to think about your value in the scientific community, increase your confidence, and grow your ability to self-promote your strengths and interests. In turn, this will also help you navigate conversations with complete strangers about yourself, a necessary skill that needs a level of mastery when building your network.[3] If you need more information from PROF, a previous blog post, authored by Matt Grandbois, discusses the importance of building a personal brand.[4]
Building your own brand will take time and effort, so start this like a homework assignment that was due yesterday. Once you have developed your “brand,” the next important task is implementation. How can you get your personal brand to translate into your resume/CV? LinkedIn? Cover letter? Research interests? Social media?
Don’t: Ask on the first meet about a job opportunity
When you are newly introduced to someone in a similar career you would like to pursue, it may be tempting to ask about future job opportunities at their company – resist the urge. It is likely that person you are speaking with does not have the correct information for you. Instead, focus on having a conversation that is informative about the company culture. In-depth conversations will help this person remember you longer and will help you feel comfortable at a later time. At that point, if you are interested in pursuing a job at their company/university, I recommend following the steps outlined in “How to ask for a job – without asking for a job.”[5]
Do: Attend local and national meetings
Attending research conferences at any level is a financial burden and time-consuming for young professionals. Still, it has the potential to bring sweeping changes and new dynamics for your network. Develop a strategy for conversations with others that work for you and practice, practice, practice. [6], [7] While COVID-19 has put a halt in-person meetings, virtual meetings have cropped up. While it’s not entirely the same experience, these virtual meetings are a great way to continue networking from the relative ease of your home (or workspace) without the hassle of travel costs.
Don’t: Expect your advisor (PI) to introduce you to their network
All research advisors are unique, and all of them tend to have a different approach to their professional networks. What are their expectations of you in different professional settings? Do they expect you to follow them around the conference and shake hands with their friends? Do they prefer you forge your own path? Can you speak to collaborators outside of the context of the joint project you are working on? Will their contacts help you reach your professional goals? If your career path branches away from your advisors’ career, then this will require networking in different circles. Don’t assume that your advisor’s network is enough.
Do: Prepare to face bias
There may come a time during a networking event, or at any point in your life, where you may encounter someone who has preconceived notions about details that define you. Unfortunately, race, gender, location, and age biases do exist and result in astonishing, off-handed comments that just make you want to drop your jaw to the floor. A web article from The Atlantic highlights the discrimination that minority groups face when networking.[8] When personal biases infiltrate your conversations with other science professionals, how you choose to handle those situations will become a part of your personal brand.
Biases have no place at a networking event, informal interview, or research conferences, but they do exist. Many societies, including ACS, have developed a member code of conduct,[9] and are exploring ways to file incident reports at national meetings.
Don’t: Stop enjoying your hobbies
Some of the most memorable conversations I’ve encountered with other professionals while building a conversation on scientific interests include discussion about shared interests and/or hobbies. These conversations make you much more memorable and bring a certain human component to light, meriting a better connection. It takes confidence to be able to network. Your mental health is a significant part to delivering that confidence to others and graduate students are most at risk for reaching a crisis point.[10] Graduate students can avoid burn out, overwhelming fatigue, loss of motivation, and chronic stress by maintaining a work-life balance.[11] Do something that brings you joy outside of the lab. In another PROF blog post, authored by Jarrod Cohen, he discusses mental health from the perspective of a graduate student working from home, which can often feel as solitary as working in a lab.[12]
Do: Follow up with new contacts
I cannot emphasize this enough – follow up with people you met! Your strategy is to get them to remember you, your joint conversation, to remind them of you (and your brand). When that next opportunity is presented, you want them to think of you as their first choice for the perfect candidate. Send them an email or LinkedIn message. Thank them for their time. Ask them if they have time for an informational interview. Ask how their technical talk went. It can be a simple follow up and check-in, or it can involve a further discussion of a topic you didn’t get to finish.
Do: Interact with the science community on social media
After the pandemic, all social events, including networking opportunities, may look different for conferences held at all levels. One way to work towards building your network during this time is to maintain a social media presence.[13] The top five social media accounts used by scientists for professional activities include ResearchGate, Facebook, Twitter, Academia.edu, and LinkedIn. Twitter has grown increasingly popular for scientists to communicate on a global scale in real-time.[14] AAAS has published resources for developing your own social networking strategies.[15],[16] One question I urge you to consider is – how does your social media strategy and content reflect your personal brand?
On a related topic, two ACS entities offer programming targeted for early-career chemists in ACS and are very active on their social media platforms – Division of Professional Relations (PROF) and the Younger Chemists Committee (YCC).
Division of Professional Relations:
https://acsprof.org/
Twitter:@acsprof
Facebook: @acsprof
Younger Chemists Committee:
https://acsycc.org/
LinkedIn: YCC ACS
Twitter: @ycc_acs
Facebook: @ycc.acs
Hopefully you have some new ideas on how to move forward on your networking strategy. Graduate students have a lot of responsibilities on their plate, and keeping up with your daily responsibilities and working on your professional development skills are very difficult to balance. To stay on track, one suggestion is set aside a half-hour during the week to take a break from your routine and work on your professional development. This will help you chip away at a large task, without the pressure of mastering a skill all at one time. Some other great web articles that I did not explicitly mention within this post are listed below:
https://cheekyscientist.com/how-to-network/
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/strategic-networking
http://blogs.nature.com/naturejobs/2013/06/20/networking-tips-for-graduate-students/
About the Author: Katherine (Katie) Johnson is a recent 2020 Ph.D. graduate and current postdoctoral scholar at the University of Nevada, Reno with a research focus on rare earth chemistry for luminescence and biological applications. Katie is the 2020 Younger Chemists Subchair for the Divison of Professional Relations, which has recently cosponsored a number of symposia and webinars including: “How to Get Your First Industrial Job” and “Mental Health in Graduate School.” Katie is also an active Younger Chemists Committee member where she is the Subchair of the Governance, Interface, and Outreach subcommittee, and is passionate about helping early-career chemists learn how to advocate for science policy, the importance of networking, and navigate their path through graduate school and beyond.
[1] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-survey-reveals-85-all-jobs-filled-via-networking-lou-adler/
[3] [https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/09/building-your-personal-brand]
[4] https://acsprof.org/networking-from-home/
[5] https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-ask-for-a-jobwithout-asking-for-a-job
[6] https://www.scienceofpeople.com/conference-networking/
[7] https://cheekyscientist.com/conference/
[8] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/09/networking-mentorship-milkman/539703/
[10] https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/03/06/new-study-says-graduate-students-mental-health-crisis
[11] https://www.nature.com/articles/nj7654-375a
[12] https://acsprof.org/mental_health_wfh/
[13] https://medium.com/@ReadMoreScience/a-scientists-guide-to-social-media-branding-f93e1a5c4463
[14] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41556-018-0253-6
[16] https://www.aaas.org/resources/communication-toolkit/strategies-social-networking-sites
It is something inevitable, yet unexpected. As we entered 2020, it was supposed to be a year of promise, a year of clear vision. Instead, a pandemic has taken over and ruled our lives both socially and professionally. The most impacted, albeit most ignored, is our brain. This abrupt change has impacted so much of who we are, including a cornerstone of way of being: our mental health.
As a graduate student, mental health is something that I think about a lot. Graduate school can often times feel like a heavy weight and a question with no answer. Mentally taxing, it often requires persistent work-life balance and acceptance of daily reminders of how far I have come since I joined these hallowed halls. But compounding the “routine” mental health challenges of graduate school with a global pandemic is definitely raising the bar for all of us. In writing this, I hope to share some strategies I have learned over the last few months that have worked for me and I encourage you to try them for yourself.
The first thing I noticed as I entered self-quarantine was my lack of a schedule. When I woke up, I took a short “commute” to my office downstairs, I ate in my dining room for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I relaxed in a room right next to my office. At the end of the day, I went back upstairs just to start all over again the next day. Life has become repetitive and the computer is currently my best friend. Living this day after day led to me to the conclusion that I needed to come up with a schedule for myself. Creating a daily routine of to-do lists helps maintain a sense of normalcy. I created work to-dos and personal to-dos that would keep me busy enough without overwhelming me. The daily list of to-dos included simple things like watching a movie with family or baking a fun dessert with my wife. www.workplacementalhealth.org has become a great resource to remind me of great techniques to build my “new normal”. Keeping a schedule, staying connected with friends and family, and staying active are as important to me and are probably just as important to you.
When thinking about the pitfalls that working from home can bring, the two most important things to be aware of when dealing with mental health are burnout and isolation. Burnout is often caused by a lack of a separate working area from your personal space leading you to work longer hours each and every day. Furthermore, the lack of extracurricular activities also will lead you to work more and relax less. Isolation is a major contributor to burnout. Finding ways to interact with others becomes extremely important. Overall, work needs to be contained and in a specific area. Make a space that is comfortable, professional, and away from personal activities.
Social interactions are equally impacted by our “new normal,” often nonexistent and at best experienced through the lens of a computer. These “happy hours” only allow one person to talk at a time and unstable internet conditions leave some unpleasant frozen images of us for all to see. Before the pandemic hit, many of my friends would connect in a group setting, making communication easier and more dynamic. These group settings unfortunately don’t work as well virtually. While it may be difficult or less comfortable at first, I urge you to try a more intimate setting with one to two additional friends on a video call. This allows for a more in-depth conversation that is more personal and laid back. Suddenly, you will notice a sence of normalcy and it will feel like a hangout and less like a meeting. The best part of this transition is that the 1-on-1 call is typically a free resource these platforms offer.
Last, but not least, the stress and anxiety of a global pandemic will persist until a vaccine is finally developed. Worrying over friends and family members contracting the virus continue to saturate our daily thoughts. What we must remember is that the news is important in moderation. News can be extremely informative, but it also stressful and can trigger a sense of panic. Make sure to not read too much into every headline. Use your scientific mindset to read the facts and come up with an appropriate conclusion. In addition, be safe and practice good hygiene. We are in control of our own bodies. Stay at home orders are being lifted and in some cases, reimplemented, so please stay safe and healthy. Wash hands, regularly clean frequently used surfaces, wear masks, and practice social distancing.
All of this has created a challenging experience at the best of times, but when times are toughest, we must remember that we all need to take care of our brains first and foremost. As I write this, I don’t aim to alarm anyone, but instead I encourage you to take a deep breath and focus on yourself before helping others. Overall, just remember life moves on and we are stronger when we stick together and help each other out to the fullest extent. Once you have established ways for strengthening yourself, reach out to others and make sure they are doing okay. I encourage you to share techniques you have learned with those around you and feel free to add them to the comments section below. For additional information check the resources curated at the end of this post.
About the Author: Jarrod Cohen is a senior graduate student at Rutgers University under the direction of Dr. Joachim Kohn. His research interests include developing new polymeric materials for use in medical devices. Additionally, his passion is to help develop professional qualities in individuals and equip them with resources to succeed in their careers. One way he has worked towards this goal is through his involvement with the ACS Division of Professional Relations. His job there has been to help communicate PROF’s mission through newsletters and email communication as well as help develop programming for national meetings as a program co-chair.
Join us for an exciting webinar – hosted by PROF members Matt and Jarrod!
Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at 2-3pm ET
Speakers: Matt Grandbois, DuPont
Moderator: Jarrod Cohen, Rutgers University
What You Will Learn
Co-produced with: ACS Division of Professional Relations and ACS Industry Member Programs