[Itech] Fwd: TP Msg. #1584 Beyond Academia – Five Conference Take-Aways
Teresa Franklin
franklit at ohio.edu
Mon Sep 11 12:12:08 EDT 2017
Hello IT Graduates,
Thought you might be interested in this discussion out of Stanford
University on job searching and presentations.
Best wishes,
Dr. Teresa Franklin
"A teacher affects eternity; [she]he can never tell where the influence
stops." - Henry Adams
Dr. Teresa Franklin
Professor Emerita, Educational Studies-Instructional Technology
CAEP 2015-2017
Fulbright Research Scholar to Turkey 2013-14
Department of Educational Studies
The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education
Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701
740-541-8847 (cell/office)
also: franklinteresa at gmail.com
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rick Reis <reis at stanford.edu>
Date: Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 10:53 AM
Subject: TP Msg. #1584 Beyond Academia – Five Conference Take-Aways
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*“That is interesting,” is the highest compliment in academic circles…. In
industry, however, “That’s interesting,” is a polite brush off. It is not a
good thing to hear. The compliment you seek is “That is useful.”*
1584
Beyond Academia – Five Conference Take-Aways
[image: Prof. Rick Reis]
Folks:
The posting below looks at PhD careers outside academia. It is by Dr.
Chris Golde, assistant director of career communities - PhDs & Postdocs,
BEAM Stanford Career Education, Stanford University and is from her
excellent blog *Grad|Logic: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Graduate School*.
March 7, 2017. [Gradlogic.org]. © 2017 Chris Golde. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Regards,
Rick Reis
reis at stanford.edu
UP NEXT: What is Social Science?
Tomorrow’s Academic Careers
---------- 1,260 words ----------
Beyond Academia – Five Conference Take-Aways
The fifth annual Beyond Academia <http://www.beyondacademia.org/> career
conference, held March 2-3, 2017 at UC Berkeley, offered a wealth of
information, advice, and inspiration.
Hundreds of PhD students and postdocs gathered to explore a broad range of
careers. The program
<http://conf2017.beyondacademia.org/the-schedule/#not-set:all>included
about 20 panels of PhDs working in non-faculty careers, a dozen workshops
on career skills, and two keynote addresses.
Here are my five top take-aways from the conference.
A Difference between Academia and Industry
Keynote speaker, Alexandra Zafiroglu
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-zafiroglu-a1885b62>, an
anthropologist who works for Intel <http://www.intel.com/>, shared one
important difference between academia and industry.
Academic research is driven by questions. The more questions the better.
The ability to ask really good questions is the hallmark of a good
scientist and scholar. Every answer leads to a host of additional questions.
In industry, by contrast, solutions are the name of the game. Each question
drives a quest for solutions. “Give me solutions, not problems,” is the
mantra.
One clue that you are on the wrong track. “That is interesting,” is the
highest compliment in academic circles.
In industry, however, “That’s interesting,” is a polite brush off. It is
not a good thing to hear. The compliment you seek is “That is useful.”
Write a One-Sentence Mission Statement
To focus your industry job search, write a one sentence “background and
interest statement” before you start looking. The two parts of this
sentence capture what you have done (your background and experience) and
where you want to go (your professional interests). It links the past and
the future. Here are three examples:
“I am a cell biologist with a background in angiogenesis research and an
interest in improving therapeutics for breast cancer.”
“I am an anthropologist with a deep experience in ethnographic research
methods (participant observation, interviewing, and deep listening) in
communities around the world, with an interest in improving the experiences
that consumers have with new technologies.”
“I am an electrical engineer with a background studying a variety of
renewable energy systems, with an interest in developing and optimizing
ocean wave energy production systems.”
This mission statement will help you:
• Identify companies that do what you want to do
• Identify functional areas in which people do what you want to do
• Explain your goal to everyone you talk with
• Identify people who do what you want to do, and talk to them, to get
their advice. (This is a way to expand your network.)
Connect Scientist to Scientist
When you are applying for a job posting in industry, your application is
more likely to get careful consideration if it is endorsed by someone
within the organization. This could be someone you know, but it might also
be a stranger who—like you—has a PhD and understands the knowledge and
skills you offer.
After applying through the formal channels, send another copy of your
materials to a scientist in the company. Surprisingly, this is not seen as
annoying. They want to make sure that talented people are hired.
Here is a sample email that has been successful for others:
*Dear Dr. Adams,*
*I have been reading with interest about the scientific developments at
Abgenix. Because of my background in XYZ, I have been reading with
particular interest the fascinating work, ABC, that you have been doing in
the area of XYZ.*
*I recently saw a job posting on the Abgenix website for a [Job Title} (Job
#12345), for which I feel I am very well qualified. I have already applied
on-line to the Human Resources website, but I was wondering if you would be
willing to also send my attached resume to the scientist who is hiring for
the [Job Title] position? Or, if you are the hiring scientist, I hope you
will read my resume and consider contacting me for an interview.*
*Thank you for your assistance,*
*Your name, affiliation, contact info.*
Both of these pieces of advice come from Bill Linstaedt,
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/billlindstaedt/> Assistant Vice Chancellor for
Career Advancement, International and Postdoctoral Services at UCSF
<https://graduate.ucsf.edu/>. Both the Office of Career and Professional
Development <http://career.ucsf.edu/> and Office for Postdoctoral Scholars
<https://graduate.ucsf.edu/postdocs> are under his leadership. For over 15
years, he has worked with thousands of PhDs and postdocs who are seeking
meaningful careers.
Approach a Presentation Like an Actor
Making presentations is something that every PhD student and postdoc does.
Presentations are part of job interviews, especially for technical
positions. Whether your goal is to inform, teach, inspire, or persuade,
your presentation will be better if you adopt some techniques used by
actors.
Actress and acting teacher Lura Dolas <http://luradolas.com/> offered these
suggestions. Both of these strategies are used before you ever start
talking. They will help avoid some common pitfalls:
▪ Stiffness in your body
▪ Lack of initial rapport with listeners
▪ Lack of energy
▪ Monotonous pitch, speech rate, and volume
Warm up before Your Presentation
Actors warm up before every performance. You needn’t spend an hour warming
up your voice and body. Even five minutes are worthwhile. These activities
should be done in a private space, while you are standing. (Don’t do this
in your car.) These are noisy, and you will look and sound foolish.
▪ Stand in neutral position: your head aligned atop your spine. Feet hip
distance apart. Knees loose. Hands at your side.
▪ Breathe deeply, into your rib cage. (Video
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc-_hoG4nec&t=185s>from the National
Theater demonstrates warm up breathing.)
▪ Bend over slowly. First relax your head so your chin touches your
chest. Allow your shoulders to fall forward. Bend forward vertebra by
vertebra until your hands they touch the ground. Roll back up.
▪ Massage your jaw to relax your mouth and allow it to move. Grab your
jowls and wiggle your jaw. (This looks completely ridiculous.)
▪ Warm up your voice. Repeat the sounds “Mee-Mah-Moh-Moo” from a high
pitch to a low pitch.
▪ Practice articulating. Repeat these tongue twisters: “Yellow leather
black leather red leather.” “Box of biscuits.” (The National Theater has
video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRdFtrv2yGA>for this too.)
Connect before You Start
Your audience wants to trust you. They want to come on the journey with
you. Before you ever utter a sentence, you can build empathy and
connection. This helps establish your credibility.
Here are the first moves when you go to the front of the room:
1 Audiences trust speakers who are alive and breathing. Be centered.
Stand in a neutral, grounded position.
2 Embody the verb “reassure.” Through your demeanor project reassurance.
You want the audience to feel safe with you. To trust you.
3 Smile.
4 Make eye contact with three or four people in different parts of the
room. Say or think, “Hello. Welcome.” Think (don’t say), “I am here. Your
troubles are over.”
5 Breathe again.
Then begin.
* * * * *
For the last five years, Beyond Academia <http://beyondacademia.org/> has
provided PhDs and postdocs with visions of the possible and examples of
their future selves. Prior participants are now panelists; their stories
provide inspiration and tactical advice.
The five nuggets above were surprises. It is also important to recognize
that nearly every panelist emphasized value of networking. Building a broad
professional network <http://gradlogic.org/four-i-networking/> will connect
you to people who, in turn can connect you to others. Tell everyone in your
network what your goals are. This will generate contacts with people who
can provide information and advice. “Networking is not a binge diet, it’s a
lifestyle,” said PhD student and workshop presenter Sahar Yousef
<http://www.saharyousef.com/>.
This was also one of the important take-aways from the 2016 PhD Pathways
<https://beam.stanford.edu/students/phds-and-postdocs/phd-pathways> conference;
I wrote mytop five take-aways
<http://gradlogic.org/phd-pathways-5-conference-take-aways/> from that
conference.
Published: March 7, 2017
Posted in Career <http://gradlogic.org/category/career/> and tagged alt-ac
<http://gradlogic.org/tag/alt-ac/>, career
<http://gradlogic.org/tag/career/>, goals <http://gradlogic.org/tag/goals/>
, job search <http://gradlogic.org/tag/job-search/>, Networking
<http://gradlogic.org/tag/networking/>, presentation
<http://gradlogic.org/tag/presentating/> on March 8, 2017
<http://gradlogic.org/beyond-academia/> by *Grad Logic
<http://gradlogic.org/author/gradlo5_wp/>*. Leave a comment
<http://gradlogic.org/beyond-academia/#respond>
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