Sujani Sivanantharajah, the founder of PHSPOT.org sits down with public health heroes of our time to share career stories, inspiration, and guidance for building public health careers.
The message she hopes to share through these conversations is that building a career is not only about climbing up the ranks, but about crafting a life that you want, around your unique needs, and one that gives importance to your mental health, wellbeing, and building relationships and friendships: you can only do good in the world if you take care of yourself.
Through PH SPOTlight, you will connect with peers you have never met before, and build relationships in a deep and meaningful way.
This week Sujani unveils the transformative power of weaving relationship-building into the very fabric of your daily life. From striking up a conversation with a colleague to reaching out to a professional you admire online, I'll demonstrate the omnipresence of networking opportunities. Whether you're taking your first steps in public health or you're a seasoned expert, this episode promises to revolutionize your approach to building relationships and expand your professional network in ways you never imagined. Let's get ready to transform the way you think about networking in public health.
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Welcome to PHSpotlight, a community for you to build your public health career with. Join us weekly right here, and I'll be here too. Your host, sujani Siva from PHSpot. Hello and welcome to another episode here on the PHSpot podcast, and today we are talking about networking. It's another solo episode with me, so there's no guest today and it's going to be a short one, because I know you know this stuff and I'm just here in your ear telling you or reminding you some of the obvious things that we already know about networking. And so what I'm going to tell you today is maybe something that you've heard me talk about, and it's that networking happens everywhere, and that's the topic I want to talk about. But before we jump into that, I want to remind you that networking, or the other word that I like to use, or two words building relationships is the most important thing that you can do for your public health career. So, whether it's to find that next opportunity, whether it's to ask questions about you know the next steps in your career, whether it's questions about pursuing the next degree, whatever it is having really good relationships, so essentially, people that you can connect with, individuals you trust, individuals that you respect, to go to, for just some help to think through these things is going to be key. So if you are stuck at any point in your career, can you name five people that you can reach out to with no hesitation and know that they're going to help you out? So I hope you can say yes, but it's okay if you're not able to name five people who could help you out with your public health career questions, because that's why we're here. We're going to help you with that and it's essentially going to be a mindset shift that I'm going to talk about today. But just remember that and keep that in the back of your mind as I'm talking, because making some time to build those relationships is going to be key. Whether you are just starting off in public health, whether you're a student, whether you're five years into your career, whether you're 10 years into your career, the relationships that you build are going to be key and they're so foundational to building a great career.
Speaker 1:
So, going back to today's topic of networking, happens everywhere and I'm using the word networking because it's a word that we all know, but I prefer kind of building relationships. So just know that I use those to relationship building or connecting with individuals and networking all kind of in the same way. So when we can shift our mindset about networking, it doesn't become this thing that you you need a lot of time for or need to build up some confidence to like go to these events and conferences to connect with people. Networking essentially happens everywhere you go and it can be embedded in everything you do. So if you can shift your mindset about networking to this way, you know way of thinking, I assure you it will be much, much easier.
Speaker 1:
Yes, the dedicated networking events and conferences are important and you do need to go out to those. I encourage you, at least once a year if you can. But so are the informal conversations that you have both online and offline. Right, and that's what I want to remind you today that networking, building relationships, connecting with people, growing your community all of those things they don't need to happen at this special dedicated networking event or conference, and they can happen every single day, both online and offline. So what does that mean? That means that you have to think about one interacting with people in the world of public health in some way every day, if not a handful of times a week, and that can happen both online and offline, offline, maybe it's when you are in the office, when you are going in. I know some people have hybrid opportunities nowadays and so whenever you go into the office are there individuals that you can have conversation with, individuals, especially who you don't work with on a day-to-day basis?
Speaker 1:
I remember when I was in the office you know, pre-pandemic I used to love just catching up with people when I was making tea or waiting for the elevator or even just going out for after work events and coffee, and I really made it a point to book those things. So I'd ask somebody for a coffee or maybe just reach out to somebody and say, hey, I've heard that you've done this project and I'd love to learn more about it. And so some of those offline, in-person connections can go a long way and I encourage you to do that intentionally even now. You know, even if you don't have the opportunity to go into an office and there isn't a lot of traffic at your workplace, definitely make it a point whether you're in school now and you have professors or other colleagues. Make it a point whether you're in school now and you have professors or other colleagues. Make it a point to get those in-person times. And if there are individuals who you've met on LinkedIn, reach out to them for coffee or go for a walk, whatever it is you know, find people in your region and have those in-person conversations.
Speaker 1:
In terms of online connections, it's another way to network, and here are some ideas, so you know. One is if you read a paper or an article that someone wrote and you feel inspired by it it could even be a blog post that you wrote reach out to them, send them a note instead of just thinking that, oh, this was a really good piece of work. Reach out to them and let them know that you read their piece, this is what you took away from it, and that you just wanted to send them a note to let them know that and this is a form of networking, right You're planting the seed for this relationship that could potentially blossom into something more. So that's one example or one way that you could network kind of online. Another way to network online is by commenting and engaging regularly with content on LinkedIn or another social media platform where you get your public health, career info from, and when you show up in the comments section of some individuals who are always posting, you're going to meet and connect with people in the comments. Believe it or not, this happens.
Speaker 1:
You know, some of the people I have reached out to are people who I have engaged with in the comments, because we often will bounce off of each other's comments and we'll have good dialogue in the comments and then, you know, a couple days later there might be another post. And you know, linkedin's algorithm is just so great that when somebody posts or somebody comments, it shows up on your feed and these individuals are essentially part of your network and then you're able to engage there. And when you keep seeing that same person over and over again, week after week after week, naturally you're just going to want to reach out to them, right? You feel like you know them, and I've done that quite a few times where I've had conversations with people in the comments and then finally, months later, I send them a connection request and I say you know, I can't believe we're not connected already. It feels like we've been talking forever. So that's a form of networking. So don't dismiss that, and I really want you to try that. I know it's really difficult to put yourself out there to share your opinions and thoughts out in the open online, but it's a really good way to network and you can do it from the comfort of your own home or wherever you are right, so try that out. Other ways to network and this is something that I learned from Sue Griffey she's a great mentor here with PHSpot. She does a lot of great mentorship and career development type of advice and tips on her page on LinkedIn. So check her out.
Speaker 1:
And that's connecting with people in the same way you would connect with them in the comments of LinkedIn, but at webinars, at online events and online conferences. So when you're, you know, showing up to these types of events, you are essentially watching some sort of a live recording. But there's also a chat function, right, and typically the host might say like, hey, introduce yourself. And you introduce yourself, and when you do that, there might be somebody whose introduction really catches your eye. Start talking to them in the chat yourself, and when you do that, there might be somebody whose introduction really catches your eye. Start talking to them in the chat window, and then there might be other people who are really intrigued by the conversation that you guys are having and then you could take that initial connection and move it to either email, linkedin or other social media messaging platform, and that's really a great way to also network, because that person showed up to an event that you also showed up to, which probably you know, hints at the fact that you both have similar interests.
Speaker 1:
So I want you to just use today's very short episode as an inspiration to reframe the way that you think about networking, really reframe it as relationship building or human to human connection, so that you can take the pressure off of quote unquote networking and then, additionally, know and understand and believe that networking happens everywhere. And it's something that you need to do as much as possible because it's going to be extremely valuable as you grow in your public health career. And I talk about something called strategic networking, and that means you know, connecting and reaching out with people and content, going to events that are in line with the goals that you have set out for yourself. Right, and the best example I give is maybe you want to pursue a doctor of public health degree 10 years from now, a DRPH degree. So start going to those kinds of events, start following content written by individuals with that degree and start engaging with those communities, because, even though it's not something that you want to do immediately now. It is something that you want to consider for yourself in five to 10 years.
Speaker 1:
So imagine a relationship that you've built that has been five years of, you know, constantly showing up, constantly connecting with the individual, constantly building a relationship where there's mutual trust and respect, and then, when the time comes, you have somebody that you can lean on to ask them all the questions that you might have. Right, Remember that initial question I asked you can you name five people off the top of your head who could help you with any public health career challenge that you are facing or will face? And if the answer is no, then I encourage you to really, really really put some time into building your community, building those relationships, and if the answer is yes, continue to grow that circle of individuals and also strengthen those relationships. It's not something that you just do once and you let go of. Relationship needs nurturing, so I encourage you to continue strengthening those relationships.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so that's all I have for you today. It's a short and quick episode about networking happening everywhere, and I really hope this gives you that boost of energy or inspiration to go out there and build those relationships for your public health career. So until next time. This is Sujani. Thank you so much for being part of this community.
