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This
regularly scheduled blog brought to you by bribes of cute pictures
and videos of Tard the Grumpy Cat.
I
went out to dinner (and drinks) last night with some friends of mine
and I had to give my friend, Determine- to-Not-Be-Leftover-Christmas-Cake, props. We met a guy who
mentioned he was jobless and she jumped right in and offered that she
wrote resumes professionally. We all debated for a moment on whether
networking is a dirty word or not, then moved on after the new guy
said it definitely wasn't.
Ironically,
this is the topic that I've been interested in writing about for two
weeks. It's basically been consuming my free(more like stolen)time
and completely interrupted my advise-dispensing via interwebs.
I
never got the memo that you are supposed to do research at an
undergrad level if you have any hopes of doing grad-school. I'm so
freaking sick of school, I don't
care
whether I go to grad school but I also am not one to ruin present
opportunities if they can lead me to interesting future ones. I am
also naïve and think that I might actually be able to research
something which could assuage climate
change
and help my fellow humans in not dying.
Whatever.
In
the week before finals, I was invited to a bunch of fancy-pants
networking events. I was nervous. And anxious. For someone who's gone
on-stage in their underwear several times without caring, I was
surprised at how nervous I was. The prospect of being so far out of
my comfort zone, so far from what I knew, was terrifying. I realized,
very very suddenly, that if I did not mess up the evening, I could
actually find research to do over the summer and perhaps not starve
for 3 months(wheee!).
And
then I got there. And I realized all “networking” is...is just
being yourself. It helps a lot if you're a funny, outgoing and loud
individual. It helps if you are clever and know how to craft what you
say to be tailored to the person you're talking to. But mostly, you
want to find a person who actually wants to listen to the bullshit
you spew.
When
there are free-for-all networking events, the easiest way to actually
get anything done is TALKING to SOMONE. Make eye contact. Speak
engagingly with someone. A contact is a contact. You give people the
respect that they deserve but don't let that image of them on a
pedestal you have in your head stop you from being their colleague,
regardless if you're half (or a quarter) their age.
Even
if you wind up at an event where you have nothing to do with the
academia on hand, it's not impossible for it to be fruitful. If you
dig a bit in conversation, you might find some common ground which
could bring you a totally different direction that you hoped.
Then
FOLLOW. THE. FUCK. UP. Remind the contact who you are, a specific
point of interest (a joke they laughed really hard at, the 15 minute
discussion of mutant newts, whatever) and ask THANK THEM. Thank the
person who organized the event, and whoever invited you.
Because
of two such events, these are the things that I may be able to do
this summer:
*Go
to a National Park and study GeoScience in some of the country's most
beautiful places
*Research
(or be a lackey)
at one of the National Laboratories
*Maybe
something eeeeeeven cooler
Anyway,
I'm stoked. I also got buried under 17 feet of finals studying but
that's over now so happy sleep-full nights until next semester!
Hopefully.
And
in honor of this band continuing to be rad and putting out a new
album, here's Green Day's “Brain Stew.” Props to their
philanthropy, in case you didn't know about it.
