Make a website
Todd M. Gureckis · · 3 minutes to readI think you should make a personal website. Yes, you. Grad student. Postdoc.
Here’s why:
Nothing really exists unless it is on the web. When people google you (which they inevitably do) then you want them to find your science “persona” most likely.
Students often say “but I barely have any papers yet and am busy working on them." This sounds like a very good point, but it is actually not a good excuse.
- You will have papers soon if you don’t have any and so then you’ll immediately have a place to put them.
- Google pays attention to things like the age of a page and so having a page for longer is better for it coming up in search results.
- Even if you don’t have a ton of papers just yet there is no reason you can’t begin demonstrating your writing ability, interests, skills in other ways.
If you want an academic job, those evaluating you will be helped by making it easier find examples of your ideas and see you as a more complete person. Usually a simple site has a CV, list of papers, contact info, research interests. That’s it. I think a personal page written in plain old HTML is the easiest way to make this. It doesn't have to be fancy. I wouldn’t build some profile on a commerical ($) system like Squarespace, etc… Just use the free academic hosting from the university, the lab server (I can give you a personal URL), or get your own. Lately more people seem to use github pages.
If you want a non-academic job I think a website also helps. Generally, again, employers will Google you so you add to this academic webpage links to github, etc…. Again, believe it or not, people are interested in the things you do in grad school + the minor things you have done outside:
- Contribute to an open-source project? Great!
- Write a post about something interesting? Good!
- Develop a data science project on the side? Amazing!
- Run a workshop/tutorial and share your slides on your webpage? Good!
For me at least the key thing is to just be in the habit of sharing what you are doing. Otherwise you only get the one time payment of “doing what you were asked” versus like sharing your slides/code/thoughts/writing/tutorial and later finding that lots of people found those things really helpful. There is also a point made in this other post about “notional audiences” (even if you don't have an known audience) that really does change they way you approach creating something.
"Oh but why would I want to write stuff on my webpage?" Well, odds are people will read what you write. There are several undergrads/MA students I gave very serious consideration to for PhD program (or accepted!) simply because they wrote an interesting blog post or tutorial on something they were interested in. It just demonstrates a commitment and interest to the topic/field. People recognize these things as “potential” in some cases. I’m not recommending everyone add “professional blogger” as a side gig. However person distribution some things can help fill the silence in places where you don’t have a lot of scientific output because you are just getting started. Also writing oddly helps you write and work out your ideas. I wrote about this recently.
I’m also not saying you have to mimic me and write and maintain a regular blog (it is a big commitment). You have to make your own call and follow your own personality here. I'm definitely not saying “cultivate a social media personality.” I’m just saying that, professionally, it'll help you to have a web identity distinct from your specific university, your specific lab, and your lab PI. It will pay off later.
Anyway, this is just a note of encouragement. Usually sometime between year 2-5 for PhD student I start bothering people midly to make a site. Generally every time I do it people complain and say they don’t want to and they don’t have enough stuff to put on it. I agree and am saying that maintaining a little personal site really should be an minor ongoing task in your life (~0.5 hour a month max?). Updating your CV/papers and other intellectual outputs is how the professional world sees you. You can’t do it overnight very well — "Help! I’m applying for a job in 2 weeks let me make a website" is a bad stressor. Start with something blank, modest, easy to update, and build it slowly over time. You might be surprised where it takes you.