People Skills Nick Feamster and Alex Gray CS 7001

Personal Promotion

The Market Think of yourself as a kind of mini-startup company that is selling –research technique, results, etc. –yourself (reputation, problem solving ability) Your goal: high-quality buyers

Finding a Buyers Market Hot topics will change –The buyers market is not about research area –…rather, its about putting yourself in some kind of niche Ultimately, if you are looking for a job, you may have to place yourself in a certain niche…versatility helps

Develop a Brand People want to assign labels to everything, or put you in a bucket –Its better if you choose that bucket for them –What problems, people, etc. are your customers? Previous lecture: Sound bytes/memes –Someone outside of your area should be able to succinctly summarize your value

Business Model Effectively, this is what weve been talking about in previous lectures What is your product, why will people buy it, why/how is it sustainable, etc.?

Advertising Think of having an advertising budget –Currency: Time Many possible media for advertising –Talks (in particular, job talks) –Web site –Popular press –Awards –Schmoozing at conferences

Web Page: Your Advertisement How people find you They may also use it to form their first impression of you Often, they come looking for something and find other things about you Things to include –Recent developments –Papers and talks –Photo and contact information –Pointers to project pages

Staying Marketable People are forgetful –Need consistent (though not necessarily continual) reminders of your work Reminders are not personal annoyances, but rather accomplishments and results –Papers –Results –…

Networking

Know Your Goals Why do you need to network? –Getting a job –Meeting collaborators –Enhancing your social or work life Knowing what you want to accomplish will help you figure out who to talk to (and budget your time accordingly)

Identify Relevant People What does relevant mean? –Typically, in research, this means that you share a common interest, etc. –Chance of forming a connection for research, career, etc. How do you find them? –Other well-connected people –Bibliographies, etc. –Name dropping –The best people of your own generation

Approaching People: Writing Maintain a persona –Others know you by a combination of your publicly visible activities (writing, talks, correspondence, etc.) Your papers can be a valuable representative for your persona –In some cases, your work may precede you –…very different from ordinary social settings!

Approaching People: In-Person Study some aspect of the persons research –Ask questions for which you are generally interested in the answer –Approach them with an intelligent question Avoid negativity and gossip

Exchanging Paper Drafts Providing or receiving feedback about a paper is a good way to form a connection –By exchanging feedback, you may converge to a new idea to work on –Form another connection (perhaps eventually helpful) Phrase criticism constructively

Following Up Keep your network warm Once you have identified a few key people, keep them up to speed –Send them your recent papers –Meet them at conferences and pring them up to speed Stay low-key –Exchange favors our of courtesy and respect –Dont have colleagues fill social voids

Think of as –The front page of the newspaper –…searchable –…highly distribut-able You should assume that your will be forwarded shrouds subtleties, like tone it also has brings out a lot of tendencies

Tendencies Knee-jerk reactions Treating people like machines Getting overwhelmed Having your time wasted…

Multi-person research

You and your our advisor Ideally, your advisor: –Feeds you with funding –Feeds you with good problems to work on –Guides you along the way to a good solution –Teaches you all the unwritten skills of research, explicitly or implicitly, including writing, speaking, reviewing, grant-writing, etc –Promotes you, internally and externally, for fellowships, jobs, committees, etc

You and your our advisor This is the closest of all your interpersonal relationships Look for compatibility in: –Ideas: ambition level, vagueness level, goals –Management style: independence, hands-on vs. hands-off, structured vs. unstructured –Personality: humor, life perspective, etc

You and your advisor Your advisor is: –Overloaded –Ultimately an intellectual, and excited by ideas Your advisor is happy if: –You save him or her time –You dont create last-minute emergencies –You understand the high-level goals, and come up with things he/she didnt think of –You learn on your own, and teach him/her –You dont give up instantly

Working well in a team Clear division of labor –No duplication of same parts of the task/project –Accountability –Clear coverage of all parts of the task/project –Clear leadership (if large or remote) Regular/tight communication