Compassion & Community

This week has been tough for the Department of Epidemiology. We are mourning the loss of a student and friend of ours. Some knew he was sick and some did not; all of us are shocked and saddened by his passing.

I have seen faculty, staff, and student colleagues struggling to understand, wondering how best to remember him. I have seen loss and sorrow and hurt. And I have also seen compassion and grace.

This week I have witnessed some beautiful moments in between tears and questions. I have listened to a faculty member care for a student who was particularly close with the one we lost. This conversation was filled with moments allowing for grief and offerings of comfort.

I have seen the leaders of our department quickly provide space and support for our students to process and grieve together. They have publicly shared their emotions allowing others to feel safe to share theirs. I watched our Dean hug a student overcome with emotion and was deeply touched when a former faculty advisor spoke of rereading a letter of recommendation written for the student we have lost.

The loss of a young and talented person is hard to process. And while there is nothing about this loss that feels right, these moments have been another reminder for me that I am surrounded by really good people. I believe people are drawn to public health because they are deeply compassionate and have a desire to make the lives and experiences of everyone better. We have bold visions of a world filled with justice, equality, and health. Ambition is a core value of our department—we are used to thinking big. This week, the Epidemiology Department has paused to remember and to band together while we take extra moments to care for our own.

Instead of offering my PROspective on some aspect of your future career, I offer a hope instead. I hope that in the places you will work, you will find this level of commitment to both the big challenges in our world and the connection to those who travel our days with us. It is a special combination indeed.

Self-Advocacy

Advocating for yourself is a skill we rarely talk about or teach and yet you need to do just that when you negotiate a job contract, ask for a promotion, or get the appropriate placement in authorship for a paper or poster. 

Self-advocacy is a dance between being appropriately confident and respectful. It requires a thoughtful amount of introspection about the gifts you bring to the situation and what you do not have to offer (perhaps yet)  as well as a very clear sense of why you want what you are advocating for in each situation. While self-advocacy makes many of us cringe, there are some standard preparations that can ease the conversations.

Advocating for a promotion or new position demands that we are able to clearly and cogently champion our accomplishments while not being braggadocios. This can be particularly difficult for women. While not promoting stereotypical gender traits, research has consistently found that women do not self-promote well and that when they do, they are not seen as favorably as men who do.

Actually, it turns out that most of us are often much better advocates for others. When I was in graduate school, I applied for a teaching scholarship and was competing against a good friend of mine. Our department chair asked us to write our own drafts for the letters of recommendation. Due to a family emergency, my friend was not able to write hers in time, so I offered to write it for her rather than have her not apply. After she was awarded the scholarship, my chair met with me and said her letter of support had sealed the deal. By giving him a substantially more explicit draft letter of why she was a great teacher, I had advocated for her in a way I did not advocate for myself. It was a tough lesson to learn and one that data supports. We are often better at “other-advocating” than self-advocating – in part because we often tend to over-value other people’s achievements. Supporting others is a fabulous, but we must also learn to negotiate and promote our own accomplishments and needs.

Much of the self-advocacy in job negotiations is about salary, and while that can feel awkward, research will help you find the range of salary opportunities and then you should advocate for where your list of accomplishments fit in that range (be sure to fight the gender gap!). I also urge my mentees to consider negotiating for conference attendance, authorship opportunities, and other non-salary forms of compensation. In my research group, we set up authorship guidelines in advance for every study and work within these guidelines. While academia has been legendary for younger colleagues doing the work and getting minimal or no credit, this is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Clear conversations in advance can ease hard conversations later.

There are a few keys that go a long way towards a successful conversation when you are advocating for a promotion, new position, authorship, raise, etc., as found in this article.

1. The first is being very reflective about why you think you should be given this opportunity. What do you want to contribute and what have you already done that makes you a good choice?  
2. Then, set up a meeting to speak directly with the person who can best assist you and be sure to make your reason for the meeting known. You are going to come to the meeting prepared and you want them to be as well.
3. Clearly express your ask and provide examples of your work that supports this ask. 
4. And then, here is the part most articles don’t dwell on, listen. Listen to the feedback you are being given.

Ultimately, the answer might be ‘no’ and more self-advocacy won’t change that. However, this is not necessarily an indication of failure. First, the reality of budgets, organizational structures, and professional conventions might not fall in your favor – and these might be simply out of your control. Secondly, the act of prioritizing your goals and asking for them directly (and appropriately!) will give you a lot of credibility with your superiors. The next time an opportunity presents itself, they’ll have your priorities in mind and they’ll understand that you’re motivated and ambitious. 

On the other hand, if you are told you have asked for the promotion too soon or do not have the qualifications for the open position, your next decision is a fork in the road. You can use this information as a platform to ask for mentorship and guidance, or you can assume they are making a mistake. Both will get you on their radar but the first is more likely to make them your champion. 

At the end of the day, the dance of self-advocacy is tricky, but when you have done good work, you should be willing to ask for the appropriate recognition.  

Public Speaking

Most of us will not give a State of the Union address, be in the position to give an acceptance speech for an Oscar, or appear live on CNN. But almost all of us will have to speak in front of a group of people even though fear of public speaking is one of the most common phobias adults report (fear of spiders, snakes, and heights are most common). The name for the fear of public speaking is glossophobia and a whopping 40% of adults report having it. Mark Twain said, “There are two kinds of speakers.  Those who get nervous and those who are liars.” There are also some very logical methods to get past this fear and become a skilled public speaker. This article in Inc. focuses on five methods for speaking with authority and confidence including my favorite, tell a story.

While I am generally comfortable speaking to large groups, I have had a few memorable moments when I expected to be carried off a speaker’s podium, most notably when I was in graduate school speaking at a large conference in Vancouver. After becoming sweaty and shaky, I decided to take off my uncomfortably high heels behind the podium to feel more stable.  I made it through the talk and was then faced with trying to get my shoes back on during a question. My dissertation advisor was in the audience and commented, “You sure got shorter during the talk.” He may not have been the only one who noticed but I had remained standing, my primary goal.  Today, my first rule of public speaking is to be careful with my shoes.

In general, comfort in speaking to large groups is correlated with an obvious area of preparation; practice and more practice.  I like to script presentations, practice and then record it.  Then I listen to the recording specifically listening for places that do not sound like the way I talk so that I can change them.  Most people do not speak the way they write which is why listening is so helpful.  The other thing you hear if you listen to a recording is number of times you say “um.”  Learning to pause, without filler words, is actually a way to place emphasis on what you are saying. Listening helps you find those moments. The last thing I listen for is a way to simplify what I am saying.  I always cut out sentences and words that look great on paper but are not needed to make a point. This is an iterative process until I have a natural sounding, time-appropriate talk.

The last of the methods described in this article pertains to this Native American Proverb, “Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.” The best speakers are really storytellers even if they are talking about science or a mathematical model.  This is what connects to people and will help them remember what you have presented.

Lastly, as you approach the podium (in appropriate footwear!), remember that 40% of your audience fears public speaking, too. Your nervous energy is normal and the practice always pays off. 

Interviewing: Stories and Relatability are the Key

Job interviews are stressful, no matter how perfect the job or how ready you are to sell yourself. There are some classic ways to prepare to ease the stress: research the organization and the person/people you know you will be interviewing with, prepare your elevator speech about “why you”, and be on time (which actually means being early).

This article in Entrepreneur focuses on a few additional keys to a successful interview:  tell stories, relate, and be yourself. I think these go hand in hand when done well and are integral to setting yourself apart in an interview.  If you can tell a story about yourself that is authentic and highlights why you are a great choice for the position, you are revealing who you are in a memorable and relatable way.

Starting a class each semester is much the same as a job interview.  You have a few minutes to catch the students’ attention and convince them that this class will do more than fulfill a requirement. I recently read a tweet on #academictwitter asking how much teachers reveal about themselves in a classroom.  For those of you who have taken a class with me, you know I am quick to share stories about life. I was surprised how the majority of faculty responded to this twitter question with some very big boundaries.  “I share my degree and how long I have taught.”  That’s all?  That’s your resume and students probably already know that.  When I share relevant parts of my life, I am hoping to form a connection that I strongly believe enhances our time together learning about lifetables and study designs.

I contend students want to know us and want to be known by us. The same goes for interviews. And just like the first day of class, you don’t have long to make that connection.  The author of this piece said people fail his interviews right away if they recite their resumes.  My favorite interviews are when I put down my pen and paper and listen because you have captured my attention. 

It is hard to get past the nerves in an interview, but if you tell your story, you will be remembered while giving your interviewer the best insight at knowing if this is the job for you.