Finding your inner extrovert
24 June 2014 9 Comments
Julie Preston coordinates NECTAR, an Early Career Academic/Researcher initiative at the Australian National University.
She is responsible for the delivery and evaluation of programs in which ECR share ideas, build confidence in leadership, develop cross-college networks, and acquire skills and knowledge required to establish a successful teaching and research career.
Julie promotes career development through ownership and self-empowerment.
Julie’s academic background is in Immunology and Microbiology. Her PhD thesis and postdoctoral research investigated mechanisms of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections.
Julie tweets at @julzpreston.
Photo by Martin Wessely (http://wesse.ly), sourced from unsplash.com
The recent post by @tseenster “It’s not you, it’s me” compared the conference approaches of an introvert and an extrovert.
My experience of conference attendance has been influenced not only by my own personality, but also that critical first impression of conference attendance.
My contrasting perspectives come from when I was a budding young scientist, then when I was an older – but equally impressionable – trainee career practitioner.
Personality tests, whether you believe them or not, have always labeled me an introvert. “Fantastic!” I thought. “That’ll get me through those long periods alone in the lab!”
The other end of the spectrum – extroversion – can be great for those short bursts of intense social interaction we call conferences. I attended a very small primary school where I was encouraged to find my voice and get involved, which, combined with other childhood pursuits, should leave me sufficiently confident in social situations like conferences.
So, what went wrong? Why were academic conferences such a challenge? And why did I feel more confident in my post-academic life?
