ANALYSIS AND OPINION CAREERS IN PHOTONICS
helpful answers than vague or extraneous ones. Again, this takes more effort, but it will yield better results and lets your network connection know that you appreciate them and their time.
These are just a few Researching an event and who will be attending can help with networking
others around you comfortable (a kindness) and makes you memorable in a positive way. Advance preparation is also
very important when contacting new people online or applying for jobs. At the time of this writing, we are in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and many people are working from home; both networking and applying for jobs may seem out of reach. It’s true that many typical networking opportunities are out of the question right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t network or seek new employment. Video and phone calls, virtual events and happy hours, email, and engagement on social media are all accessible networking opportunities right now, and they can all be used to meet people and make new connections.
When making ‘cold calls’ or sending ‘cold emails’ to new people, advance preparation is especially important because people are inclined to ignore messages from strangers. This is particularly true if the recipient is busy or the message
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is unclear or irrelevant. In this case, advance preparation allows you to do two things: make the message clear and easy to understand, and make it relevant and interesting. The former minimises the effort the recipient has to put forth to understand the message and the latter makes them actually want to respond. This applies both to connecting with new people and applying for a job. Before you ever pick up the phone or send an email or cover letter, do your advance preparation by researching the person or company. What is the mission statement on their website? What is their main area of research? Do they have a blog or twitter account? If they have a LinkedIn account, do you have any mutual connections who you could ask for an introduction? If it’s a company, who works there? Do you know someone who works there? Or do you know someone, who knows someone, who works there? Answering these kinds of questions through research and talking with existing
mutual connections will give you a distinct picture of your audience and how you need to adapt your message (i.e. your email, cover letter, or resume) to make it as clear and relevant as possible to the receiving party. Advance preparation is also
a valuable practice for asking questions. We have all known the sensation of annoyance at someone who asks us for information that they could easily have found themselves with a quick internet search or by re-reading our last email. That internet search and thoroughly reading emails are important kindnesses and valuable advance preparation for asking a question. Why would we get annoyed otherwise? Because when someone doesn’t do those things, it feels as though they expect us to do the work for them; we feel unappreciated. Doing that advance preparation shows that you respect the person’s time and it allows you to craft a question that is more likely to get a relevant answer. Well-researched, clear, and specific questions yield more
examples of how to incorporate advance preparation into your networking interactions. Advance preparation shows an attention to detail, respect for the time of others, and allows you to be more effective and relaxed. It can make your daily work interactions, email exchanges, and conference trips more pleasant and productive for everyone involved. And fortunately it is a trainable skill; the more you practice advance preparation, the easier and more reflexive it will become, and the benefits of it will accumulate as well. If you would like more
information on the sustainable networking approach and the motivations for adopting it, please see the previous article of this two-part series, titled ‘Sustainable networking: Your network’s success is your success’ (available on www.
electrooptics.com). My book, Sustainable Networking for Scientists and Engineers, is also available for free download from SPIE Press. I wish you all the best during this strange time, and with your networking and career pursuits. EO
Christina Willis is a laser scien- tist, writer, and public speaker, living and working in Washington, DC. She specialises in novel, high-power laser development, and has worked in metrology, laser tracking and imaging, and lidar applications. Willis is currently serving as the 2019-2020 Arthur H Guenther Congressional Fellow on Capitol Hill.
June 2020 Electro Optics 5
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