David M. Giltner | American Corner Lectures

22 February | Rectorate of NOVA University of Lisbon

Session 1: Designing Your Own Career Path in the Private Sector

Academic careers have well defined paths, but private sector careers do not. Where does one start? Learn five important steps toward building an exciting private sector career that fits your strengths!

Scientists and engineers often struggle to plan a private sector career. Most of our professors have no experience designing an industry career path and can’t help us. I recall my own advisor telling me “If you go into industry, you are on your own!” But it’s not as hard as it seems to design a career path that is exciting, rewarding, and most of all, fits your own personal strengths and interests. In this seminar I’ll teach you the process I’ve used for my own career and have taught to many others.

Learning Outcomes:
This seminar will teach the participants the following:
1. Five steps for designing an exciting and rewarding career in the private sector
2. How to determine which strengths are most important for an industry career
3. The best way to convince an industry hiring manager that they will be an asset to the company

Session 2: Telling Better Stories with the Same Facts

Learn how to talk about your academic research experience in a way that helps an industry hiring manager see you are valuable and industry-ready!

Local: Auditorium B | Rectorate of NOVA University of Lisbon

Inscrições Sessões na Reitoria da NOVA Aqui.

23 February | NOVA School of Science and Technology

Talk: Can a Scientist Find a Rewarding Career in Industry?

When considering a career in industry, many scientists face real challenges. We know that the private sector is a great place for engineers, but what about those of us with science training? Can we find a rewarding career path? Will we enjoy working in industry? In the last ten years I have interviewed dozens of scientists who have built successful careers in industry, seeking to learn what they enjoy about their careers and what strengths made them so successful. This seminar is a compilation of what I’ve learned from those interviews, as well as from my own private sector career, to answer that critical
question posed in the title.

Learning Outcomes:
This seminar will give the participants the answers to the following questions:
1. What are the strengths of a scientist that make them uniquely valuable in industry?
2. What are some of the industry jobs that are a great fit for a scientist?
3. Can a scientist find the same opportunity for freedom and creativity in industry?

Local: Library Auditorium

Inscrição Palestra Aqui.

Workshop: Genuine Networking.

How to Network when you Hate Networking (‘Genuine Networking')

Many people hate networking. They hate it because they don’t enjoy making small talk just to get someone’s business card or a LinkedIn connection. They hate it because it seems cheap and transactional. They hate it because they tried going to a couple of 'networking events' and it just seemed like a waste of time.
If you can relate to any of these comments about networking, I don't blame you for hating it. The good news is that they are all based on common ideas about networking that are just wrong. This workshop will help you see a much more positive view of connecting with people for the purpose of advancing your career and will give you some techniques for building your professional network that even introverts can do well.

Learning Outcomes:
This seminar will teach the participants the following:
1. Why networking is so important for building a professional career
2. Creative ways to meet people who share their career interests and goals
3. Six steps that even introverts can use to build a valuable professional network

Local: Ágora Room

Inscrição Workshop Aqui.

David M. Giltner short biography

David Giltner has spent more than twenty years developing cutting-edge photonics technologies into commercial products in the fields of optical communications, remote sensing, directed energy, and scientific instrumentation. David is the author of the books Turning Science into Things People Need and It’s a Game, not a Formula and is an internationally recognized speaker and mentor on the topics of technology commercialization, product development, and career design.

David has developed the unique ability to function well in both highly technical and business circles and has often functioned as an interpreter to help these two worlds communicate more
productively. In 2017 he started TurningScience to provide training and support for scientists of all disciplines seeking to work in the private sector as employees, collaborators, or entrepreneurs.

David has a BS and PhD in physics and holds seven patents in the fields of laser spectroscopy and optical communications.