The 80-10-10 Theory for Work

1
The 80-10-10 Theory for Work

• 80 of week - do the best job possible, focus on
  your research, solve important problems, teach an
  awesome class, etc.
• 10 of week - focus on personal development,
  explore issues important to your future
• 10 of week - tell people about the job you are
  doing, pitch ideas, be your own marketing team

2
Networking is

• Meeting people
• Learning about careers, career paths, job
  opportunities
• Informing people about your career goals and
  abilities

3
Networking is

• A way to increase your job capture
  cross-section
• Something to engage in constantly
• Posters job fair
• Seminars recruiting presentation
• Lab visits informational interview
• Literature search company research
• Critical

4
Who is my network?

• Fellow students, colleagues, coworkers
• Relatives
• Past Employers
• Scientists
• School Alumni, chapter alumni, etc.
• Other job seekers
• Anyone you feel comfortable talking to
• Not everyone in your network understands your
  sub-field, or is even a scientist!

5

• Youve walked into an elevator here in the hotel.
  
• Someone asks What do you do? You have 60
  seconds.. What do you tell them?

6

• Field of Study
• The Actual Research
• Its Importance

7
The elevator talk

• Simple, non-technical summary or explanation of
  an idea that could be expressed in about 1 minute
  
• No jargon or geek language
• Good for
• Quick meetings, introductions
• Leading people to ask more
• This is harder than it sounds - practice!

8
Elevator talk challenges

• Being brief
• Knowing your audience
• Explaining without notes, jargon, acronyms
• Establishing your credibility
• Helping the listener understand the relevance

9

• I model the structure of hot gas in galaxies by
  looking at kinematic and chemical signatures in
  diffuse, high-z gas. I am looking for evidence
  of galactic fountains of gas created by
  supernova. This will help us understand how
  galaxies assemble over time.

10

• I model the structure of hot gas in galaxies by
  looking at kinematic and chemical signatures in
  diffuse, high-z gas. I am looking for evidence
  of galactic fountains of gas created by
  supernova. This will help us understand how
  galaxies assemble over time.

11
Fixing an elevator talk

• One technical term max
• Shorter sentences
• Use a short story, puzzle, or something concrete
  so the listener can relate it
• Test it on someone outside your field
• Analogies help - start with concrete idea,
  progress to abstract
• Write as you speak
• Imagine a high school student is the audience
• Clear compelling?

12

• Do you know how the atmosphere around the earth
  gets thinner as you go up in altitude? In the
  same way, the gas around galaxies gets thinner
  with altitude above the disc. When stars die,
  they explode as supernova, and blast material
  through the galactic gas. I study the chemical
  composition and movement of this blast material.
  If we can understand how it moves, we can
  understand a lot about how galaxies assemble and
  change over time.

13
Elevator talk is not

• 5-minute office talk (paper, notes, whiteboard)
• 20-minute guest lecture
• A sales pitch
• but it is the place to start to develop those.