A late-stage postdoc asks- 
Is networking really necessary? I don’t like the idea that ‘who you know’ is more important than ‘what you know.’ I’ve done a lot of great research, and when I get a job, I want it to be because of my work, not my schmoozing. It feels like cheating. But, I’m also just really uncomfortable at networking events, so that might be clouding my judgment... 

The point of networking is ultimately to connect over your work. Sometimes people do connect based on things not related to their work (i.e., we both did PhDs at UCSF), and go from there. But, connecting in this way just makes it easier to communicate human-to-human, and that helps inform which part of your work will be most interesting to share. The end goal is still to be recognized for the quality of your work, and it can be helpful to think of networking just as another communication channel. 

Additionally, networking often feels bad because we focus on the aspects we are least comfortable with, but there are many different ways to network! You can do any of,  

• Attend in-person events 
• Do informational interviews on the phone 
• Write on LinkedIn 
• Send an email follow-up to someone you saw give a talk 
• Talk to people you already know about your timeline and what you want to do next 

Try to take an approach that feels most ok to you; you don’t have to network in a way that feels really uncomfortable. For example, I’m more comfortable when I have more time to craft my messages, so I do a lot more networking via email than in-person. 

-David Blancha, Assistant Director, Career Development Team for Researchers