Speaker 1: Assalamualaikum and kennichiwa. Thank you for joining today's episode of Academy Sibu with me, Dr. Azalea. Now, in this channel, we mainly talk about academic life and my past PhD journey, and we also talk about scholarships, of course. And because of that, I think it's also important to also include topics about life after PhD or after getting a degree because it's also very important to consider how you want to branch out after that. Either you want to continue in academia or going to the industry. Either way, it's also important to talk about those topics because we don't want to stay in grad school forever. And so for that, I was hoping that we could discuss the topic of networking in today's episode and why networking is especially very important while you are still in your PhD, while you are still doing your PhD or your master's either way. Alright, now before we get into that, I think it's important for me to state it out front that I am socially a very, very introverted person. There was a time when I thought that I might be extroverted and I think with my close circle of friends, I think I am quite extroverted. But when it comes to meeting new people or social events at work or school, university, I am very introverted and I am really, really shy actually. And because I was so introverted at these kind of social events before COVID and when we still had events, it made me very hard to make connections or network with other people. In fact, every time I went to a conference, I would be something that is labeled as a conference ghost where I just go in and do the presentation, go to some of the presentations that I like and then I am gone. I don't stick around for the events. If people listen to my research and came up to me and asked me about it, then that's fine, then I would love to talk there. But if not, then I am just back to the hotel room doing my own thing. And this actually was really, really not healthy because conferences are supposed to be the place where you make connections, where you network, where you let your research be known to people. And even though at that time, I justified myself for not talking to people. If they are interested, they will come and listen to my presentation. But a conference usually has over 200 presentations and some of them overlap and some people don't have the time. Most probably, they are going to go to a conference of someone they know or at least have some sort of acquaintances to go over someone that they don't actually know, I mean in that sense. But the main point I mean here is that although we always say that PhD is a lonely journey, it's a journey and each one is different, it's not supposed to be an isolated journey. When it comes to research, your research can't be an isolated one because even there's a whole point of literature review in the first place, you are building off of someone else's research and someone is probably going to build off of yours and when you continue it, continue it so that the field will eventually flourish and grow. So you can't think of it as like, oh you know, my research is just here, you have to find a way to branch it out and let it known because it might be very useful to other people's research as well. It's like, oh man, I was looking for this, I didn't know someone was already doing it. So that's why making connections and networking while you are in your PhD is important. However, networking or making connections can be something quite difficult for some people, myself in particular because when you are introverted, if any of you, I think you'll understand this struggle pretty well. It just takes a lot of you to try to talk or connect with people and especially when you are in the first few years of your PhD or Master's and there's just imposter syndrome bombarding you from all sides and you don't even feel like you deserve to be there and you feel, you know, who am I to go around to these people and talk about my research, you know, I'm just a nobody. So all those strong negative thoughts are there, it makes it even more difficult than usual to actually get the ball rolling when it comes to making network and connections. However, what I have discovered from my experience is actually this networking and this connection, making connections with people, it actually doesn't have to take that much out of you than you actually make it out to be in your head because in your head there's just so many things so you might make it sound as if like, oh my god, it's the most difficult thing in the world but it's actually much simpler than that. So if we take a look at the research behind Grenovetter's 1973 article which is The Strength of Weak Ties, his research basically says that we have a better chance of getting opportunities from the relationships that we, from weak ties from weak ties than relationships with strong ties and they defined weak ties, strong ties as in your closer circle, so your friends, your family, you know, the people who really know around you and your weak ties are, yeah, acquaintances, people you might have come across but just briefly, you know, but you know they exist there and they know you exist too so but you know, it's a weak tie and the reason given for this, now my explanation might not be on point so I will link down the article for you to read it in more detail. To summarize, your close circle or your strong ties are people who are similar to you so when they are similar to you, you guys gain the information, you guys have the same form of leverage so there is not possible that if there is any job opportunity or any other opportunity, it's, you know, either your close friends or the circle around you, you know, they are more probable like if they can do it, if you can do it then probably they can do it too kind of thing. Now, weak ties, the reason weak ties help you out is because they are outside your circle so it's someone that you, that is different from you, you don't have the same, well, you're different, you don't have the same similarities, I'm sorry and because of that, it's easier for them to identify you when there's an opportunity that comes up. Let's take, for example, myself as a Japanese speaker. Yes, in my own close friends and whatnot, in my school, of course, we all went to the Japanese school together so we all have that part of Japanese language with us but when I'm with Kot-hin's friends who are outside the Japanese circle, they will, whenever they think about Japanese language education or, you know, Japanese language translation, they will think about Kot-hin's wife which is myself. Now, going back to what I was saying about how networking and connection making doesn't have to be that difficult, it's because of this whole thing. You, all that you need to do is to establish a weak tie. You want to make a string, you want to have your existence, you want people to know of your existence so that you will come to mind when opportunities come up. Alright, so now we know why it is important to make weak ties and how weak ties won't take that much out of you. How do we actually start making weak ties or how do we start to make a networking or these connections? Like I said earlier, I'm extremely introverted when it comes to social events that, you know, it's hard for me to walk up to people and talk directly about my research. However, what I did find worked for me was sending emails and I think that is something that everyone can do especially in this day and age is to send an email to make yourself known or make your research be known. And I know that sending emails can also be quite daunting, you know, because so many things go through your head. Oh my god, what if, you know, what are they going to think when they read my email? You know, they're just going to ignore me, blah blah blah blah, all those thoughts. But let me tell you, I'm here to assure you that it's totally fine because there is nothing to lose. If they reply, if they open your email and they're like, and ignore you, it's fine, you know, then at least, you know, okay, you know, it didn't work out. But if they do open it, they do reply and they do give you input, then there's already a tie there, you know, like at least, you know, you have gained something but you didn't necessarily lose anything because in the first place, there was no connection anyway. Don't be too worried about the outcome because it's just an email. If they end up not being nice or you panic or whatever, you can always just decide to delete it or not read it. It's what I used to do with journal rejections, you know, at least it's not face-to-face. So that's why I said email is still actually a very better option for you to start making your read ties. Another thing that you can consider in the prospect of networking for looking for a job for a job search is applying for positions that you don't necessarily fit the full eligibility. And what I mean is, do you ever look like, you ever look at a job scope and you are checking all of the requirements, okay, I have this, I have this, and then suddenly that there's like that just one part that says you need at least five years of teaching experience to apply for this job and you're like, oh no, yeah, right? And you just end up not applying for the job. So even in that case, just try and apply for, just try and apply for the job anyway, just sending your resume because you don't know, even though that requirement is not filled, you might actually fill, you might actually be a desired candidate for some other positions that they do have, but they did not advertise. So in a way you can just send it in and then that way you are kind of in the system. And to be honest, this is actually one of the ways that I actually landed my current position in academia, because there were, I applied to a couple of different universities. There were a lot of, at the time I was in Japan, but in Malaysia there were a lot of teaching opportunities, part-time teaching opportunities in universities and they were all done online. So I thought that wasn't a problem actually, even though I was in Japan. And even though I did not have that much teaching experience as they essentially wanted, I sent in my resume, anyway, I sent in my CV and sure enough, yeah, none of them replied and it was okay because I did see that they eventually hired other people anyway. However, the great thing that what happened about that is, I guess that was around three, four months before my final defence. After I passed my final defence, after I got word that I had officially passed the defence, I think three days, exactly three days after that, I got a call. I got a call from my mum, of all people, saying that one of the universities I applied to had called and was asking meet her for my contact details because they said that on the resume I sent in, I didn't have, I left out one of my phone numbers or my contact emails and they wanted to offer me an interview. And now I'm here, you know. So you can't, you know, it's it's all right if you didn't, you didn't get it essentially, you know, that first thing that you actually wanted or needed, right, because you still have something else, you know, they do, they might have something else in store for you that even though at that time was not available, might be available at a later date. So send out those job applications for positions that you might be interested in because you never know when there will be something up for you. And why I think it's very important for you to do this while you are still in your PhD programme, maybe in your final year, is because especially if you plan on proceeding into academia, as in like the university, traditional university, it usually takes some time for them to process your application and for you to get the position. You know, like in Malaysia for normal university positions, lecturers and whatnot, it usually takes a maximum up to six months for them to reply for any application. So if you only wait until you have graduated, until you're ready to do all your job hunting and whatnot, you'll be waiting for a long time. And you might still be waiting in case you don't hear anything. So if you are still in the PhD programme and you are still sending it out, then you can even shorten the time frame or at least have let people know that, hey, I'm going to be graduating at this time. So you know, if there's anything, and that is something I actually did practice a lot in my emails to people, like frequently reminding them when I was graduating and when I was going to get my PhD so that they know that, oh, okay, by the time, we don't have anything for her now, but by the time she graduates, this position will be empty. So, you know, I think she'll be a good fit, something like that. So yeah, that's, I guess, a little bit about networking and the importance of making connections while you are still doing your, in your PhD. And I think this can apply to you at any stage at all, either way, just sending out emails or, you know, not essentially, you know, it's very hard to meet people now, especially during the COVID, but letting people know of your existence and your niche, your research, letting them know that, hey, I exist and I'm here. So, you know, that impression that you leave on people, even though, you know, it's just a quick glance, you know, when they look at it, that's why, you know, the impression you leave is like, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that was that one person, you know, it sticks in your head kind of thing. Anyway, that's it for today's video, I think. Thank you so much for tuning in. I hope you have found something beneficial. We will have a special guest in our next episode. It's not going, I swear to God, and we'll be discussing about more up-to-date issues about the MAX scholarship and applications and whatnot. So, tune in for that. Hopefully, I can get it done by next week. Anyway, take care, please stay safe, and Assalamualaikum. Bye.