Building a professional network is another one of those skills analogous to when we say 'common sense is not that common'. We are naturally social beings and need a network of people to go about our day-to-day lives. However, in addition to a basic social network, it is crucial to build a professional network and guess what.. it does not come naturally to everyone and is in fact a practiced and honed skill. So none of us are born with this knowledge; only as we climb up our career ladder and interact with peers and leaders, do we begin to gradually learn how to go about it.
Whom to network with?
Everyone! You many never know which contact of yours would end up helping you out at a difficult stage or furthering your success. Especially at conferences such as the GHC, you may not even be aware that the person you just casually passed at the escalator, belongs to the same field as yours and could be a great contact to build. So next time, do not hesitate to strike a conversation with the person standing next to you. Or in a general case, be open to making new connections with all the people in your circles. Important pointer - do not exclude social networks to make professional connections. That is a great way to leverage your existing connections to strike a professional chord with.
When you introduce yourself to someone, it is important to make a personal connection every time. You should be confident, cheerful and exuberant to meet the other person. A smile can go a long way and make sure to look the other person in the eye when you're speaking. This ensures that you will both remember each other and not forget this casual conversation at the turn of the hour.
So how does networking further your career?
A good network has manifold advantages. It makes you and your work known in this era of information overload where you need to strive to make your mark. Also it provides a source of recommendation letters from your advisors or managers, co-workers, directors, other areas of your company, and recruiters in industry. Through your network, you can get invites to give talks and interviews, or to be on several program committees. You can find your network useful in joining technical or community service organizations that help you contribute to the progress around you. Essentially, talking to more like minded people leads to new ideas on topics of interest or different slants on old ideas, thus helping you in your work or when forming new collaborations. Last but not the least, networking also ends up creating long and lasting friendships!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Memorial Day Weekend :)
After much ado and cribbing about too much work and no play, I finally had a nice time this long weekend. It is now that I fully comprehend why people make such a fuss about California being so beautiful and the most coveted state to reside in, here in the US. I visited a variety of places from the countryside farmlands to the coastline extending into the wide blue ocean, and also to the bustling city amidst all the crowd. Heck I'm from Mumbai..and I'd be damned if I don't like people running all around me :)
So watch out for the series of upcoming posts for my travelogue...I realized it'd be a huge crime if I didn't blog about the beauty I witnessed and you didn't get to read it, in all its glory and detail :)
"I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance, I hope you dance"
So watch out for the series of upcoming posts for my travelogue...I realized it'd be a huge crime if I didn't blog about the beauty I witnessed and you didn't get to read it, in all its glory and detail :)
"I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance, I hope you dance"
Monday, May 24, 2010
Trying to accomplish...
I know when I've hit a writer's block. and now its precisely that.
Its such a new and exciting phase of my life with a cosy summer internship at Yahoo! in the coveted state of California :) I see so many new and different things almost every hour and my life and so much to pen down. And yet.. everyday I come home with the resolution to blog it all... unresolved. My brand new camera lies somewhere forgotten in a side pocket of my backpack. This is not like me.. or rather not the way I see myself among all of this.
And hence, i'm simply starting off with this little revelation for now. and mostly..for a few more days to come.. its going to be like this, with me penning down a quick thought or contemplation that crosses my convoluted mind.
I however did manage to accomplish a small personal feat after a long slack..finished off a novel in a night - "Big Money" by P.G.Wodehouse. The Wodehouse collection is worth a shot my avid reader friends. And nothing like a prolific author to stir your imagination of putting thoughts into words.
Looking at it, I have ended up writing quite a bit eh? :D encouraging..
Finally answering the question... Tryin to accomplish what? Well...lotsa things.. and pertaining to this particular moment... I'd tick brevity.
"Ye zindagi jo..hai naachti toh...kyun bediyon mein...hai tere paon?"
Its such a new and exciting phase of my life with a cosy summer internship at Yahoo! in the coveted state of California :) I see so many new and different things almost every hour and my life and so much to pen down. And yet.. everyday I come home with the resolution to blog it all... unresolved. My brand new camera lies somewhere forgotten in a side pocket of my backpack. This is not like me.. or rather not the way I see myself among all of this.
And hence, i'm simply starting off with this little revelation for now. and mostly..for a few more days to come.. its going to be like this, with me penning down a quick thought or contemplation that crosses my convoluted mind.
I however did manage to accomplish a small personal feat after a long slack..finished off a novel in a night - "Big Money" by P.G.Wodehouse. The Wodehouse collection is worth a shot my avid reader friends. And nothing like a prolific author to stir your imagination of putting thoughts into words.
Looking at it, I have ended up writing quite a bit eh? :D encouraging..
Finally answering the question... Tryin to accomplish what? Well...lotsa things.. and pertaining to this particular moment... I'd tick brevity.
"Ye zindagi jo..hai naachti toh...kyun bediyon mein...hai tere paon?"
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
A tribute to our beloved Mumbai Local!
Lets face it... I miss my Mumbai local trains! Any true Mumbai-kar in the US who sees the following picture and doesn't feel a pang of nostalgia is welcome to surprise me.
Contrast to the luxurious travel here in U.S.A., with trains in Mumbai, you were really in for a hugely tiring experience with some barbaric pushing around each time you "attempt" to board the train. What happens "after" you successfully conquer the herculean task of getting inside, deserves a separate post altogether! :D Local trains were an intrinsic part of my student life and, as my regular train companions would agree, the life of hundreds of my Mumbai peers :) The sweet memories of back home....
So here's an article dug up from some of my older posts, as a tribute to the trains which are like the bloodlines keeping the bustling city of Mumbai alive!
One of my best friends Karan is a member of the renowned Indian Railways Fan Club of America; better known as IRFCA of course. Somehow I wasn't quite aware of it when he described it at first but later I was amazed at the close-knit network of its fan members spread all across the country.
Now these IRFCA guys keep having interesting conventions and stuff and hang out and basically do everything related to their beloved topic...trains! And one day Karan tells me he and another fellow fan talked to a Mumbai Local Motorman ( read train driver for laymen :P ) and got a chance to actually ride with him in the motorman's cabin!!!! Now this is something! N not stopping at that.. Karan's friend had met the motorman uncle once again and he actually had a chance to work the controls! n not js watch :D
While I was going bonkers with jealousy, there came a surprise call from karan... "Hey mona, remember my ride in the motorman's cabin? Wanna do that??? I talked to him.......n he's willing to take us on!". YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS! was my reply without a second's hesitation. I was supposed to meet Karan at CST Station at around 2 pm and our friendly motorman uncle was gonna take us aboard on the 2:34 Kalyan bound slow local. Now the only hitch was uncle warned us that women are not normally allowed inside the cabin! ( How chauvinistic, I thought ) But he'll make an exception considering we were such sincere engineering students engaged in an active project involving the SIGNALING MECHANISM IN TRAINS. Oh well... that was our alibi to substantiate our sudden interest towards train driving; complete with a permission letter on the most-easily-reproducible "official" VJTI Letterhead with our "project-guide's" signature underneath!!!
So, I reach CST, haunted somewhere by flashes of images of the very same place ravaged by the gruesome events of 26/11, but nevertheless undauntedly excited bout this extra-ordinary ride. After waiting outside the officers' cabin for a while, inside which were a horde of people working on a host of controls and displays that centrally governs our entire central railway system, Karan pointed out to the motorman uncle (Lets call him Joe) who amicably led us to the 2:34 train that he'd be driving. While passing the compartments, which normally never earn a careful glance from hurrying commuters like us, Joe explained to us that, there are three types of bogies comprising the train:
1. the 76 ones: comprising the motorman's cabin
2. the 70 ones: carrying the driving motors of the train and
3. the 72 ones: extra compartments having only seats.
These 3 dabbas make up ONE unit and THREE/FOUR such units make up the whole 9/12 coach train; which therefore, in technical terms, is called an EMU (Electrical MULTIPLE Unit)! Now thats info for u, right? :)
Thus,I found myself beginning to learn tonnes about a field of info completely new to me and it was fun! After walking the length of the train, we reached the front cabin. Joe rolled up the destination indicator to Kalyan and then we entered into the small cabin for one of the rarest rides I'd ever be on!
What happened once the train started??........to be continued.. Keep dropping in..
Contrast to the luxurious travel here in U.S.A., with trains in Mumbai, you were really in for a hugely tiring experience with some barbaric pushing around each time you "attempt" to board the train. What happens "after" you successfully conquer the herculean task of getting inside, deserves a separate post altogether! :D Local trains were an intrinsic part of my student life and, as my regular train companions would agree, the life of hundreds of my Mumbai peers :) The sweet memories of back home....
So here's an article dug up from some of my older posts, as a tribute to the trains which are like the bloodlines keeping the bustling city of Mumbai alive!
One of my best friends Karan is a member of the renowned Indian Railways Fan Club of America; better known as IRFCA of course. Somehow I wasn't quite aware of it when he described it at first but later I was amazed at the close-knit network of its fan members spread all across the country.
Now these IRFCA guys keep having interesting conventions and stuff and hang out and basically do everything related to their beloved topic...trains! And one day Karan tells me he and another fellow fan talked to a Mumbai Local Motorman ( read train driver for laymen :P ) and got a chance to actually ride with him in the motorman's cabin!!!! Now this is something! N not stopping at that.. Karan's friend had met the motorman uncle once again and he actually had a chance to work the controls! n not js watch :D
While I was going bonkers with jealousy, there came a surprise call from karan... "Hey mona, remember my ride in the motorman's cabin? Wanna do that??? I talked to him.......n he's willing to take us on!". YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS! was my reply without a second's hesitation. I was supposed to meet Karan at CST Station at around 2 pm and our friendly motorman uncle was gonna take us aboard on the 2:34 Kalyan bound slow local. Now the only hitch was uncle warned us that women are not normally allowed inside the cabin! ( How chauvinistic, I thought ) But he'll make an exception considering we were such sincere engineering students engaged in an active project involving the SIGNALING MECHANISM IN TRAINS. Oh well... that was our alibi to substantiate our sudden interest towards train driving; complete with a permission letter on the most-easily-reproducible "official" VJTI Letterhead with our "project-guide's" signature underneath!!!
So, I reach CST, haunted somewhere by flashes of images of the very same place ravaged by the gruesome events of 26/11, but nevertheless undauntedly excited bout this extra-ordinary ride. After waiting outside the officers' cabin for a while, inside which were a horde of people working on a host of controls and displays that centrally governs our entire central railway system, Karan pointed out to the motorman uncle (Lets call him Joe) who amicably led us to the 2:34 train that he'd be driving. While passing the compartments, which normally never earn a careful glance from hurrying commuters like us, Joe explained to us that, there are three types of bogies comprising the train:
1. the 76 ones: comprising the motorman's cabin
2. the 70 ones: carrying the driving motors of the train and
3. the 72 ones: extra compartments having only seats.
These 3 dabbas make up ONE unit and THREE/FOUR such units make up the whole 9/12 coach train; which therefore, in technical terms, is called an EMU (Electrical MULTIPLE Unit)! Now thats info for u, right? :)
Thus,I found myself beginning to learn tonnes about a field of info completely new to me and it was fun! After walking the length of the train, we reached the front cabin. Joe rolled up the destination indicator to Kalyan and then we entered into the small cabin for one of the rarest rides I'd ever be on!
What happened once the train started??........to be continued.. Keep dropping in..
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Random Musings...
I have decided to continue the Dead-Week story later in the interest of public good :D It'll probably appear by the time I reach Dead Week in Spring... think it'll will pose a good contrast read ... :)
This last two weeks have been pretty eventful. I went to a temple for the very first time after arriving in the USA in about 8 months.. Swaminarayan Temple here in Atlanta. Apart from the fact that our elders have cultured us to pray to god once in a while, I was at a stage where divine intervention was really needed to pass the day! (trust me... the people who say doin master's is easy have either NOT been in Georgia Tech or HAVE been in VJTI masters program :P )
So we started off in the bus arranged for us by the India Club @ Georgia Tech fellows and it felt like goin on a mini-picnic with Ankur & Ankur :P and also.. Saurabh. It was quite far .. about half an hour drive; and one of those rare days where I had dragged myself out of bed at 8 am and admired myself at my dedication!
It was, as you can see, beautiful! But more importantly... serene... which is what I adore and something that temples in India never seem to be. I wish they kept temples back home a tad more cleaner :( Anyway, coming back...We had happened to reach a little too early and were not allowed inside until half an hour later. It was totally worth the wait..
It was the most mesmerizing sight :O Exquisite high quality marble carvings with an amazing arrangement of lights accentuating the designs and intricacies. What held my breath (i swear.. I could literally feel drawn to it..) was the central dome, in which, small budding petals seemed to be blossoming out of the buds and epitomizing beauty. All this.. in freakkin' white marble!
#Disclaimer: This picture is not by me as photography inside is prohibited. I just nicked it from the net to try to give you a glimpse into just how beautiful it was!
The main Swaminarayan 'moorti' was situated inside a sparkling gold 'makhar'. This was revealed only during an 8-minute 'aarti' time and some Indian prayers felt so enchanting on my ears.. Along with it, I prayed for all my mom dad, my loved ones and my career. (Bhagwaan...internship dilaado!! ) :D
What's a trip to a temple in India without Indian snacks adjoining it?? We feasted on dhokla, samosa aaaaaaaaand......wait for it.............sugarcane juice!! mmwwahh.. i cant believe how much I'd missed it! And after a quick lil shopping of some "chutney" and "ratlami sev", headed back... God bless....
This last two weeks have been pretty eventful. I went to a temple for the very first time after arriving in the USA in about 8 months.. Swaminarayan Temple here in Atlanta. Apart from the fact that our elders have cultured us to pray to god once in a while, I was at a stage where divine intervention was really needed to pass the day! (trust me... the people who say doin master's is easy have either NOT been in Georgia Tech or HAVE been in VJTI masters program :P )
So we started off in the bus arranged for us by the India Club @ Georgia Tech fellows and it felt like goin on a mini-picnic with Ankur & Ankur :P and also.. Saurabh. It was quite far .. about half an hour drive; and one of those rare days where I had dragged myself out of bed at 8 am and admired myself at my dedication!
It was, as you can see, beautiful! But more importantly... serene... which is what I adore and something that temples in India never seem to be. I wish they kept temples back home a tad more cleaner :( Anyway, coming back...We had happened to reach a little too early and were not allowed inside until half an hour later. It was totally worth the wait..
It was the most mesmerizing sight :O Exquisite high quality marble carvings with an amazing arrangement of lights accentuating the designs and intricacies. What held my breath (i swear.. I could literally feel drawn to it..) was the central dome, in which, small budding petals seemed to be blossoming out of the buds and epitomizing beauty. All this.. in freakkin' white marble!
#Disclaimer: This picture is not by me as photography inside is prohibited. I just nicked it from the net to try to give you a glimpse into just how beautiful it was!
The main Swaminarayan 'moorti' was situated inside a sparkling gold 'makhar'. This was revealed only during an 8-minute 'aarti' time and some Indian prayers felt so enchanting on my ears.. Along with it, I prayed for all my mom dad, my loved ones and my career. (Bhagwaan...internship dilaado!! ) :D
What's a trip to a temple in India without Indian snacks adjoining it?? We feasted on dhokla, samosa aaaaaaaaand......wait for it.............sugarcane juice!! mmwwahh.. i cant believe how much I'd missed it! And after a quick lil shopping of some "chutney" and "ratlami sev", headed back... God bless....
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Dead Week starts...
Monday 30th Nov 09:
A new week. A fresh flow of guilt pangs for the amount of work to be completed now that the weekend's over. Anyhow, weekends are not nearly as "WooHoo Party!!" fun as half of the world's population associates it with. There are a separate set of more potent "weekend" pangs! Ok..come monday..Some call it Monday Blues.. but what do you call the ones that don't end on Monday??
The last project of Advanced Operating Systems on Virtual Memory due in 2 days. This is already an extended deadline after changing a prior deadline which was bang on Thanksgiving! The Teaching Assistants derive some sinister pleasure from dropping such bombs on unsuspecting souls like us. So now zero chance of extension beyond the 2nd as the TA sent an announcement in italics, capitals and everything possible to make it clear to us eternally wishful ones. Me and my project mate had set today as the milestone for completing all coding and last 2 days for writing test cases. Umm... safe to say but we were nowhere close to "completion". We seemed to be stuck on some bugs.. But still...overshooting deadline by a day seemed like a tolerable error margin. phew! Little realizing I seemed to have overlooked my previous experience with AOS projects... they seem to just keep expanding and getting convoluted instead of wrapping up as the deadline nears.. brr...its gettin cold....
Tuesday 1st Dec 09:
Second last day to AOS deadline. 4th and last project in AOS.. the very thought was the only silver lining here. Though the challenging programming required gave me the adrenaline rush every time >500 lines of code worked smoothly as a unit, it was also enough to give me sleepless nights by the prospect of not completing by deadline.
At the same time, I had another live project in IMS - mobile apps. My team-mates there, especially one guy, Sivadesh, was beginning to get worried as I wasn't able to give any time to this project and kept arranging "important/urgent meets" to decide project work division like 'n' number of times; complemented by intermittent dhamki's like "its high time now!!!":P
This is how our meets went...we pretend to have some freakin idea of what to do, surf the net....then say..."u do this.. i do that..."......next week dawns....."u still haven't done this???...okay...(deep breath)... (again).. so this time PAKKA do this... i do that...." (while me wondering why dont the others finish their "that" in the meanwhile) But i had prioritized AOS to number 1... even though the other IMS project mattered just as much towards its respective grade. So at our hopefully final "important work division meet" i say.."m not doin nething till Dec 2nd midnite (AOS submission deadline)... uske baad i'll do the dance of freedom from 12 am to 1 am... n start IMS at 1 am... PAKKA!!!!" :D
To be continued....
A new week. A fresh flow of guilt pangs for the amount of work to be completed now that the weekend's over. Anyhow, weekends are not nearly as "WooHoo Party!!" fun as half of the world's population associates it with. There are a separate set of more potent "weekend" pangs! Ok..come monday..Some call it Monday Blues.. but what do you call the ones that don't end on Monday??
The last project of Advanced Operating Systems on Virtual Memory due in 2 days. This is already an extended deadline after changing a prior deadline which was bang on Thanksgiving! The Teaching Assistants derive some sinister pleasure from dropping such bombs on unsuspecting souls like us. So now zero chance of extension beyond the 2nd as the TA sent an announcement in italics, capitals and everything possible to make it clear to us eternally wishful ones. Me and my project mate had set today as the milestone for completing all coding and last 2 days for writing test cases. Umm... safe to say but we were nowhere close to "completion". We seemed to be stuck on some bugs.. But still...overshooting deadline by a day seemed like a tolerable error margin. phew! Little realizing I seemed to have overlooked my previous experience with AOS projects... they seem to just keep expanding and getting convoluted instead of wrapping up as the deadline nears.. brr...its gettin cold....
Tuesday 1st Dec 09:
Second last day to AOS deadline. 4th and last project in AOS.. the very thought was the only silver lining here. Though the challenging programming required gave me the adrenaline rush every time >500 lines of code worked smoothly as a unit, it was also enough to give me sleepless nights by the prospect of not completing by deadline.
At the same time, I had another live project in IMS - mobile apps. My team-mates there, especially one guy, Sivadesh, was beginning to get worried as I wasn't able to give any time to this project and kept arranging "important/urgent meets" to decide project work division like 'n' number of times; complemented by intermittent dhamki's like "its high time now!!!":P
This is how our meets went...we pretend to have some freakin idea of what to do, surf the net....then say..."u do this.. i do that..."......next week dawns....."u still haven't done this???...okay...(deep breath)... (again).. so this time PAKKA do this... i do that...." (while me wondering why dont the others finish their "that" in the meanwhile) But i had prioritized AOS to number 1... even though the other IMS project mattered just as much towards its respective grade. So at our hopefully final "important work division meet" i say.."m not doin nething till Dec 2nd midnite (AOS submission deadline)... uske baad i'll do the dance of freedom from 12 am to 1 am... n start IMS at 1 am... PAKKA!!!!" :D
To be continued....
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Dead Week Escapade!
Kickoff to the article series about an interesting climax to my first semester at Georgia Tech. I'd surely like to meet the sinister brain that coined the term "Dead Week" and tell him.... that contrary to the intended meaning signifying end of "most" lectures and end of sem for most students, for some of us unfortunate souls, it's a week that promises to leave us "literally" dead by the end of it.... :P
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