Reality Check

Day Three - Wednesday


Feeling of the day: Shamelessness.

I felt a lot less overwhelmed today, probably because I took some breaks when there wasn't a talk I was interested in. And I've already seen the most interesting of posters, so I could use those times as a break as well.

That being said, Wednesday was all about connecting for me. Networking using all means necessary in order to pursue my goals, which have been a lot better defined since I got here.

The feeling of the day was shamelessness because you have to be that in order to be able to walk up to a complete stranger, tell them your name and ask for a job/graduate position. I did that. You have to be ready to do that because you never know who you are going to meet.

As well, don't be afraid to use your peers or supervisors in the same way. When my boss from the DFO found out that my goal is to work with blue whales, he gave me a name and said he would introduce us if he got the chance. Don't use something like this as an excuse not to walk up and introduce yourself, but it's a good way of making things happen if you don't know what the person looks like.

Name drop. Seriously, it's not just about Hollywood celebrities. If you are working for a big name in the field, use it shamelessly, because that shows people that their colleagues have faith in your abilities or have trained you in some aspect, and that really means something to them. I've been dropping my DFO boss's name and the head supervisor of the dolphin project's name like they are hot around here, because they are well known people in their respected areas and having worked for them gives me a bit of a boost.

So even though it's sort of frowned upon in regular society, break that and do it, because you never know who's going to hire you based on it.

One piece of advice: have business cards. I didn't want to make any because I don't have an affiliation or even a permanent phone number, but I really should have just printed up just a hundred or so with my name, degree and email address to give out to people I am meeting here. Not that any of them would be the first to contact me, but then if I contact them in the future, they have something that reminds them of where and when they met me, so I'm less of a stranger.

Also print out copies of your CV. We don't have a printer in the apartment so I couldn't do this, but it's a suggestion I've been given in the past and really I think it's a good one. Because you might meet the boss/supervisor of your dream, and you won't want to wait until later to email them a copy.

I know that if my brain is becoming anything like the one's of these esteemed biologists, theirs must be complete mush and fried to a crisp and can barely retain what they ate for breakfast. So if you just meet them and leave them, they aren't going to remember you in an hour (that happened to me). So everything has to be fresh with them, which is why business cards and CVs are great ideas.

The evening had a workshop just for students, and I didn't hear a lot that I didn't already know. Make sure it's a passion and know what you are or are not willing to do to attain your goals. It's a tough process. Get used to ramen noodles. Learn to sleep 6 in a room because that's how you'll afford rent. I already know that I'm probably going to have to go back to a teaching job part time, even though you have no time to do anything once you're a Master's student. There's no money anywhere in this career.

So another piece of advice (I got this one from the pros): Try to get funding before you even apply for Masters. Or if you are sending out emails to professors, find out which ones will take you if you have funding versus the ones that really just can't take you on. Write a killer proposal for a project and start applying for everything. Literally everything.

One of the first things I'm going to do when I get home is start trying to piece together a proposal for a project I think I could make happen. It's going to be a tough process, but once you have a strong proposal you can use it for every grant you apply to, just tweaking it slightly here and there.

Okay, I think that's mostly what I wanted to say about Wednesday. Let's see what Thursday brings!

Speak Loud!

PS. I should say that on top of the feeling of the day, the feelings of the week are exhaustion and hunger. Because I refuse to pay lots for food, and half packs of ramen aren't very filling. I have never eaten so much crap in my life, but whatever my friends have left over I am scavenging like a vulture. Welcome to the life of a biologist.