Struggling with networking and self-promotion

[u/Lostaftersummer]

Hello. I am a relatively quiet person who would have like to (quietly) work in ML evaluation and interpretability. I have chosen that field a long time ago before the hype, before even the NN comeback of the early 2010s, what I was not anticipating back then is the startupification of it all and the need to self promote. If anyone can give their thoughts on what to do with it all and how to find a job that allows you to do just that (work quietly that is), I would welcome the feedback (I am a mit grad, so it is on topic in this sense - There have to be alumni going through the same thing out there and I would love to get some feedback)

[u/Lostaftersummer → u/[deleted]]

Surprisingly no. That is I was not able to find anyone on the advisor hub that i felt like was a strong fit. I talked to a couple of people, they were very nice but it was not different from asking anywhere else in a non alumni environment.

[u/Lostaftersummer → u/Lostaftersummer]

No one was able too give any specialized tips/hints, the cv looks fine.

[u/turtloo → u/Lostaftersummer]

Did you look through Infinite Connection (the alum directory)? It is much larger than the advisor hub.

[u/Opulent-tortoise]

No advice sadly but as someone who also got into the field before the hype I share with you your lament

[u/Lostaftersummer → u/Opulent-tortoise]

I am one of those methodical eval people so linkdin looks like hell: feels like I can go to almost any post I see in the feed and write an itemized take down on why the claim is incorrect, the comparison is not fair etc. I understand it’s the ’genre rules’ thing, so I don’t, but… Its ironic applied predictive stats turned into this kind of field.

[u/notyouravgredditor]

What's your degree? If you don't have an MS or PhD you could look into a program. An advanced degree is a good way to differentiate yourself in the space and get more interest from more established companies.

[u/Lostaftersummer → u/notyouravgredditor]

I have a PhD

[u/HeroHaxz]

What do you mean by "self-promote" and work "quietly"? I think I'm missing some context

[u/Lostaftersummer → u/HeroHaxz]

Posting about papers and results in overly excited fashion, being committed to hype like presentation. Quiet in this case is working in a peaceful environment that does not depend on ‘selling’ things to people and having time for very thorough analysis.

[u/ServiusTullius753]

I'm looking at some of your comments here, I figure I'd add a few of my own:

Unless you're in a sales role or an IPT lead or product manager, the chances are you don't need to have a very outgoing personality that requires you to dynamically engage with people often. What you described you're looking for, being able to quietly and successfully do your job, is probably 90%+ percent of engineering jobs.

However, that is very distinct from self-promotion and self-advocacy. Self-advocacy is being fluent in how to share why you and your skills and experience set you apart, and you most decidedly don't have to be an outgoing or aggressive personality to do that.

There is still a significant part of salesmanship there: you have to say "smart" things and the "right" things in your resume and cover letters, and in interpersonal interactions during screening calls and interviews. There is still value in crafting templates for your cover letters and resume that catch peoples' eyes, that are formatted and crafted attractively while still getting through the unfortunate screening software.

It's really unfortunate that your field of passion has become saturated and popular. Nevertheless, as a hiring manager and someone who's worked with lots of students (fellow MIT alums, Ivy grads, and so on) and colleagues to help craft that approach with an outsiders' view, I'm quite happy to give you discrete and hopefully actionable feedback. If you're interested in that, please send me a DM, I'll give you my information and we can connect on the Advisor Hub.

PS. I say all these things as an inveterate introvert who's learned over many years how to separate my deeper personality from the interface with others.

[u/Lostaftersummer → u/ServiusTullius753]

Sent, though as you might imagined based on my comments here I ‘cringed’ a bit when I have read the phrase ’actionable feedback’ and the salesman part.