"You aren't who we were expecting..."

A few too many times recently, I've gotten the above comment "You aren't who I expected" when I meet people in a professional context.  I could diatribe that being a young-(ish) female scientist puts me in the way of all kinds of bias and discrimination.  But given that presenting myself too young or girly is actually something I've worked really hard to scrub from my professional communications and presentation, that's not exactly what that comment means.  I may have bleached all the personality out of my applications- possibly to my detriment.

I do a lot of informational interviews- which usually means I find via a contact someone who might be willing to talk with me, have a couple emails back and forth and meet in person.  There is always that hesitation about approaching a stranger, but I had someone tell me recently they just assumed "Dr. Sandlin" would have more grey hair.  Plenty of folks that I meet face to face tell me I am very personable, not at all like the stereotype of a scientist that they imagine.  Or that someone with my passion for science shouldn't be unemployed.  It's flattering, but it does make me wonder- am I doing something wrong?  Have I drained the passion and personality away from my CV and resume in an effort to look like a moldable, blank canvas of a candidate?  Would I have a job if I led the professional summary on my resume stated "Ph.D. who is much better with people then you would think, actually likes talking and communicating and really gets jazzed up about exciting science"?

I doubt it, but I have decided to give a once over to my professional documents again.  I have a very plain-Jane business card with my contact info- which I like.  I have a fairly bleached out photo of myself on LinkedIn, which I need to update to something less pasty.  And I might retool the language there and on my resume to be a bit more honest about where my passion is.  I already don't have my dream job, but I work enough to pay my bills.  That should give me the leverage to really focus on just those pie in the sky opportunities- I don't need to be that blank canvas of an applicant anymore.  I can focus on being the best candidate for only the types of jobs I would LOVE to do.

Seriously professional networking

One skills I have been working very hard on these last few months is networking.  I'm not going to claim to be a genius at it now, but I used to be the type to go to a conference and only talk to the people I went with.  The horror.  I had occasion to go to a professional conference recently, and since I am reading Keith Ferrazzi's book (Never Eat Alone, I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but these are the concrete skills I am trying to put into practice), I wanted to rock the networking.  This was the conference I attended as a result of my volunteer work, which is in a fairly new field for me.  Perfect timing, I'll try everything I can think of, and if I totally blow it, this isn't a field where I have a reputation, or even know that I want one, so I can be as brave and brazen as I can stand.  I promise another short post about the content of the meeting since informal science is so fun, and Makers seem like cool people- but for now, networking.

Two days before the conference, a list of attendees was mailed out.  My former grad student self would have been too harried to open this file, but as a job hunter, I've got nothing but time.  So I flipped through and Googled just about every single person in attendance.  I didn't get too creepy deep on the info gathering (in Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi recommends trying to figure out what hobbies potential contacts might have), I just wanted to know their job function, because I was trying to get a sense of the hierarchy of the meeting.  Turns out, there were have a dozen folks from Major Funding Agencies, so I made a note and shared this with my colleagues.  I also found some people who had overlapping functions to the program we were presenting, as well as people in my geographical area.  Basically, I wanted to have some clue about the type of people who would be there, and to be prepared to recognize when I was speaking to someone who might be a good contact.

We were at this meeting to present a workshop, which was a lot of work to put together, frankly, so we really wanted to share our work with people who could help us in the future.  We had post-card sized info sheets about the program (the Click! Spy School through the Girls Math Science Program at the Carnegie Science Center of Pittsburgh) which my colleagues were using like business cards.  This conference was really great, being in workshops with people was very disarming, and it was a diverse group without a previously established hierarchy (unlike, say, conferences on virology).  This made it very easy for us to walk up to the woman with deep pockets from Time Warner Cable, interrupt her email and invite her to our workshop.  This turned into a friendly conversation about how Time Warner Cable got into the informal science arena (they started the Connect a Million Minds project, to connect parents and teachers to informal science resources).  Honestly, I was shocked that this worked- she came to our workshop, and loved it.

I also approached several other people I didn't think I would have the guts to- like the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.  He was totally cool.  The two things that worked really well for me here were 1) knowing who I was talking to, and 2) Having something to say to them. Part one doesn't take much mastery, just prime yourself to recognize the types of people you'd like to meet. Part two is a little harder, and something I will keep working on, having a clear, succinct message that is sincere and interesting to the person you want to connect with.  Not to ask for a favor, but to share relevant information.
I was not so strong on the second part- sure, talking about our workshop was a good fall back, but I really wanted to say "even though I am presenting this workshop for Pittsburgh, I am a volunteer there, and btw, I live in Seattle where I am looking for a job." This is a more complex message then I felt comfortable conveying.  But I did make good contacts with an editor at a major publishing house (who might be able to connect me with more freelancing?), and a researcher at the UW.

Oh, but this brings me to the third thing that I had never tried tactically before- being emotionally honest.  Usually, in this type of setting, I would have on my grown-up face, and speak in that mellow, 'professional' tone of voice like I am channeling and NPR jazz radio host.  But, I want to be remembered, and I want to be remembered well- and I was having a crazy good time.  So, yeah, I blathered a little about how excited I was about our workshop, and I bragged on some of my favorite exhibits in the hall of science and I said exactly how much I appreciated talking with these people (in one case, that came out "You are my hero!"), and every single one of the follow up emails I sent has been returned.  Awesome!

My current focus is networking

It's that time of year where companies slow down on hiring, the people that work in them slow down on working and it seems like a tough time to be seeking out open positions.  Rather than frustrate myself, I am trying to position myself to be readily and quickly available for when things finally get back on track in late January, new budgets approved, new work load assessed and hopefully there will be a big demand in the Seattle markets for newly minted PhDs.  How am I going to get ready for that?  I am really focusing on networking for the rest of the month.  I want to meet people, remind the people that I know that I am still here actively looking for a job. 

This feels like I am hauling business cards everywhere, and I am hoping to fill up my calender with coffee and lunches and that sort of thing.  But, I am currently reading the Networking classic "Never Eat Alone" (Why did it take my so long to start reading this book?  It's good, practical advise about how to be professional, and build mutually beneficial professional relationships.  I think the mutually beneficial part is really important for this whole thing to work out- I want to be remembered fondly as that helpful person who remarkably doesn't have a job yet, rather than that desperate schmuck who is scheming for work.  So, I've offered to volunteer with my local Chapter of AWIS, I shared my annotated photo album from the algae workshop with the other participants and I am making a lot of Christmas cookies.  This seems to be working because I have been getting better responses- now we have something to talk about in emails, I have provided myself the opportunity to prove my professionalism without jumping straight into OMG I want to work!  It also is giving me more interesting things to spend my time of than combing the job boards and recrafting cover letters for positions I am a terrible fit for.  It made me feel like spending a few hours working on that Picasa album of an algae lab was really productive, and having ways to break up the monotony of guilt and worthlessness that accompany joblessness is almost as valuable as the relationships I'll be able to cultivate in this way. 

Anyway, hoping to meet and endear myself to lots of people in the next few weeks and then be in a better position to find job in January.

Networking- go meet some strangers!

I'm learning a lot of things about networking these days.  I'm trying to be clear about what I need (a job, preferably on the West Coast) and what I have to offer (great technical background, and a Ph.D. in molecular biology) to all kinds of people: people who can help, people I don't think can help but let me practice my spiel, people I don't know- ALL kinds of people.  Very rarely (um, not yet once?) has anyone said, OMG, really?  Because we've been totally looking for a molecular virologist/blogger to start ASAP!  And that's ok, I'm really not expecting job offers to show up at cocktail parties. 

That being said, there is something to getting out there and mingling.  This fantastic networking story came while I was visiting my brother in Austin TX.  Austin is about the only place in Texas I would consider living, it's fun and my brother is there, but... it is crazy hot, and us Alaskans melt.  When he dragged me out to a Roller Derby Party, I was certainly not thinking too hard about launching a career there.  But he mentioned to the stylish group of girls that I was here because I'm free for employment!  Anyone need a newly minted Ph.D.?  Which of course prompted our host to ask, what is your Ph.D. in?  And I said, sheepishly, because these grrls are all tough and I am clearly bringing the dork to the party scene, "Oh, molecular virology.  I've been doing drug discovery, so I thought I'd find a job in pharma..." Which prompted this Betty Paige look alike across the room to say, "You want a lab job?  Let me give you my card, Life Technologies is hiring..."  AND THEN later, when we were laughing about Roller Derby was the key to the Austin Biotech market, the girl I was sitting next to said, "Actually, I work for a firm that does educational science publications..."  And of course they hire occasional freelance/contractors.  Brilliant!  (I should probably mention that although my sister-in-law considers most of these girls to be friends, she knows them all by pseudonym, so it isn't surprising to not know what their day jobs are.)

If nothing else, this just proves that it was a good idea to get myself some business cards printed.