A 2011 article titled "Quit Being So Nice" opens with this quote: 

A 2017 article opens with the same idea as this quote, but expands on the idea of likeability of men versus women in the workplace by summarizing a study done by professors in 3 European business schools. 

For others to see women as confident and influential at work, they needed to be liked and competent. For men, competence was the only factor. The authors defined "likeability" as "pro-social traits - such as helpfulness and kindness". 

Why am I even bringing this up? After nearly 5 months of radio silence on this side of the blog (sorry! I've been busy with EPICODE and RD exam tutoring), I've developed quite the list of blog topics on my notepad. 

The idea of social aspects in the workplace as come up again and again through some particularly difficult situations in the past few months. Some flew up out of nowhere, catching me off guard and really setting me into a tailspin. Others, like this one, are always bubbling beneath the surface. 

In this post, I'll touch on 2 topics: 

• Dealing with unprofessional social talk in the workplace 
• Adding small talk to your repertoire 

Search Google for "best powerpoint templates" and you'll get a number of modern designs for sales pitch decks, portfolios, business plans, and CV/resume presentations (like these).

Not sure what a CV/resume presentation is? If you're asked to give a presentation as part of a job interview, you might start with some introduction slides. CV/resume presentations put your CV/resume into a presentation format. 

Infographics have become popular in almost every field, but in more traditional areas, like science and academia, I believe there's a bit of a line to draw.

You may notice I have an infographic on my About page as well as on my LinkedIn.  Personal websites and the media feature of LinkedIn are great spots for some well designed graphics. Just make sure they are informative, and look good when display-cropped on LinkedIn.

While PowerPoint is still the go-to for slide presentations (sorry, Prezi, you tried but you just don't cut it in science), Powerpoint presentations have come far since 2003 clipart and animations. 

There are what I'd say are the Golden Rules of PowerPoint. You'll find these repeated over and over again in articles. 

​ I'll summarize them here so we all start in the same place: 

• Minimize text
• Choose high contrast text and background colors
• ​Use a consistent layout
• Don't read from the slides

For a great read, check out "How to Give a Dynamic Scientific Presentation" from Elsevier. 

I'm going to expand on these with a few tips that will take your PowerPoint presentation from good to great. 

Today I'm sharing an ELITE list of the best e-books I've come across in the past few years. I say elite because they are good. Not only do I download them, but I read them too! 

As the blog title says these are all free. 

I've written about how to prep for conferences (twice) and I've talked about it with many of you! But now I'm here at AHA Scientific Sessions 2017 - the biggest conference I've attended - and I have a whole new list of tips on tap for you. Before I do that (look for it in a few days), I want to talk about a topic that's come up gain and again in Early Career Programming events and in conversation with my colleagues. 

That topic is: how do you establish independence early in your career?

Last week I read that you should never ask someone to be your mentor. Why? Because if you're downright asking, you haven't cultivated enough of a relationship to let it subtly slide into the "mentor zone".

I disagree. 

Finding a mentor can be one of the more nebulous concepts in career development, and certainly the most frustrating. It's like dating...choosing a boss...a parent...? Nope, not quite any of those. Hence the nebulous. 

I'm a firm believer that you need to figure out what you want, and take the steps to get there. With that said, I recognize that being direct and putting yourself out there is a difficult thing to do, no matter how confident or outgoing you are. 

​So what now? 

​

In Finding Your Groove, I talked about reflecting on your working style, your schedule, etc. to knit your routine in such a way that it takes advantage of your strengths and minimizes your weaknesses. 

Just like there are some tasks I do better in a busy coffee shop than quiet at my desk, there are some tasks that need some background noise. Enter: Netflix (Hulu, AmazonPrime, HBO, Starz...you pick). 

So here's a not so serious post where I list some of my go-to shows. Scan the list and hopefully you find one you haven't seen yet, or maybe one you forgot about! 

What are your favorite shows or movies to watch while doing work?
​
​BMD

1. Free coffee refills

2. Outlets accessible to all

3. Catered seminars (free lunch)

4. Elbow room, in class and while studying

5. Professors that stay on topic

6. Perfectly timed public transportation

7. $2 drinks at happy hour

8. Naptime after lunch

9. Emails over meetings

10. Adorable puppies