Share your experience_Networking at Conferences like a Pro by Raeesa Gupte

We started with the share your experience initiative recently.

Please see: http://pharmaliterati.blogspot.in/2016/04/share-your-experience.html

Herein we post another piece of experience by Ms. Raeesa Gupte, who is currently working as an academic post-doc at University of Kansas Medical Center. She has obtained her B. Pharma from university of Mumbai and MS and PhD from US. Her profile can be accessed here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raeesagupte

Networking at Conferences like a Pro!

Last year I attended the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting in Chicago. I had just graduated, was looking for a job and was attending the conference on my personal funds. So I was super-motivated to charm everybody I met till they offered me a job! There was only one problem. I was an introvert who didn’t know the first thing about networking. So I did what we academics are best at – I did some research. I read articles from Forbes, The Muse, The Cheeky Scientist Association, Careeralism, The New York Times and everything else I could possibly find on the internet that looked like a credible source. Then I came up with a strategy so I could successfully network my way through the conference. This is an overview of what I read combined with my personal experiences:

Plan and prioritize: It is easy to get overwhelmed by the deluge of posters and symposia at a large national conference. SfN was awesome because they had a mobile app that I could use to navigate my way through the five days without losing my sanity. Because I was interested in an industry position as a research scientist at the time, I decided to stake out all the symposia and posters being presented by pharmaceutical companies. A simple search of the company name in the app allowed me to see when and where industry talks and posters were going to be held. A couple of days prior to the start of the conference I planned my schedule also factoring in the amount of time it would take me to walk between venues.

Speak up: Show up to a talk early if you can and always sit in the front. This will not only help you get noticed but will also force you to pay attention instead of doodling away. Even if you are delayed and the talk has already started, chances are you will find a few empty seats in the front because people usually like to huddle in the back. When it is time for the Q&A session in the end, introduce yourself and ask your question. No matter how silly you think it is, always speak up! It is easy for people to miss you in a crowd but when you ask a question they notice you. And more often than not, they will remember you. Poster sessions also allow you to make new connections and it might be easier breaking the ice because the person is already talking to you!

Get business cards made: The first time I went to a networking event I became acutely aware of the fact that I did not have a business card. It made me look unprepared and unprofessional. There was also no way for the people I met to connect with me after the event was over. The first thing I did after I got home that day was design and order business cards online. Make sure your name, phone number and e-mail address is clearly legible. Instead of leaving the back blank, you can use it to highlight your skills and interests. This will humanize you and make sure that you don’t get relegated to the pile of business cards that never get a second look.

Be an active listener: Being an introvert, my greatest fear was that I would end up being tongue-tied in front of new people. A few networking events later I realized that people loved talking about themselves and that provided me with enough fodder to ask them a few questions. All I had to do was be attentive to what they were saying, which I was good at anyways! After the conversation I would jot down a few interesting things about them on the back of their business cards so I would know where to pick up the next time.

Have some fun: Most big conferences have an industry-sponsored social hour in the evening. I would highly recommend attending those. Not only do you get to make industry contacts but you actually get some decent appetizers and drinks. There’s no reason why networking shouldn’t be fun after all! Hanging out near the food will ensure that you will meet a lot of people and also have something to talk about. You can also mention an interesting seminar you attended during the day as an icebreaker. The vendor booths are another excellent networking opportunity. The company reps there are happy to chat with you as long as they get to scan your badge. You can get to know of unadvertised open positions and company culture from talking to them. And you also get to collect freebies in the process!

Follow up: All the effort you put into connecting with a new person will amount to nothing if you do not follow up with them. Shoot them an email after the event (preferably the same day while you are still fresh in their memory) telling them you enjoyed your conversation. Based on what you learned about them, provide them with something that would add value for them. For e.g., if the person was interested in sports cars you could send them a magazine article about the latest BMW sports model. It doesn’t have to be life-changing but they will appreciate the fact that you remembered the little detail about them and tried to help. The idea is not to get a referral immediately; you need to build a rapport first. Don’t expect them to offer you a job based on one meeting. Keep adding value to them and eventually they will return the favour.

So at your next major conference, don’t be a socially awkward lab rat. Be the affable scientist!

The article was originally published at:

http://www.kumc.edu/Documents/postdoc/March%202016(0).pdf

(Republished with the permission of the author).