Networking 101: Some Basics for Colleague Contact

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 (Margaret Newhouse recommends building a network from current acquaintances.)

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 Listservs, 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.

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.

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.

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.

The Scientist 14[5]:32, Mar. 6, 2000