Thread by @Pomerantz

Haven’t done one of these in a while, but brace yourself: incoming GIF-laden Tweetstorm!

Today’s topic: what to do if you are on the sidelines of the aerospace industry, wishing you could get in. I sure as heck don’t have all the answers, but Imll share what I’ve got.

Let me begin by saying that those of us in the aerospace community already are super lucky. As a general rule; we are living out our childhood dreams and doing something with long-lasting purpose.

It ain’t easy—sometimes, it is really, really hard—but it’s worth it.

Also worth saying: the space community is already full of lots of smart humans. In big companies and small, NewSpace and traditional, government and private; everywhere you look, there are a bunch of brainy humans working hard.

The down side of that is that the space community is sometimes SUPER guilt of Not Invented Here syndrome—which, in addition to being snobby, can lead to extraordinary wastes of time, talent, and opportunity. Plus the obvious negative impact on diversity and inclusion!

So, we’ve got a highly-appealing, not-that-big industry that has genuinely necessary high thresholds for entry + a bunch of largely bogus gatekeeping, historically. That can make it extraordinarily difficult for new people to get in the door. Smart, driven people get left out.

Ironically, the community that accomplished the most famous 1st step in the known history of the universe has made it unnecessarily hard for talented people to take the first steps along their career path.

So, okay. Let’s say you’ve decided to give it a shot.

Whether you are a student looking for your first job or a life-long aerospace enthusiast looking to go pro, you’ve decided to try it.

Errr, decided to DO it. Sorry, Master Yoda.

First and foremost: awesome! Great choice!

Hopefully, you’ve got the support of your loved ones, mentors, and teachers; but realistically, some of you may not. Regardless, you’ve got to chart out a plan. What do you do, hot shot?!?

Well, there are lots of gatekeepers you’ll need to deal with on your journey to a great aerospace career. I’m not here to pick on the underdog, but let’s start with the one gatekeeper you have ~100% control over: you.

(Don’t worry, I aim to get to other gatekeepers, too)

Even if you are positively brimming over with self confidence, you may be limiting yourself simply but not knowing the full scope of jobs available in the industry. While it is possible to want a job you don’t know exists, it’s generally easier to pursue a goal you understand

I’ll use myself as an example. My Bachelors is in Earth & Planetary Science. I went to Harvard, so let’s just say I wasn’t *entirely* lacking in confidence. As a relatively smart, well informed young space geek, I still somehow thought the only career route for me was to get PhD

PhD planetary scientists are great. I love them. But that’s far from the only route for that type of student to enter into / contribute to the aerospace industry. Ask people like @tanyaofmars or @elakdawalla - they can and literally have run full conferences on this point!

A common factor I see limiting people who want to work in space is they think there are like 5 job types in the industry: astronaut, mission controller, rocket scientist, astronomer, & Neil deGrasse Tyson (position already filled).

Those are indeed cool jobs—but that’s not all

In my own career, I’ve gotten work in (okay, *dabble* in) a huge range of disciplines: space science, engineering, law, policy, marketing, strategy, education, fundraising, insurance, international relations, & more. And I’m just 1 person who still has ~3 decades of career to go

So, step 1: broaden your understanding of the career options available to you.

“But wait,” you say. “How the heck do I do that? I’m just a student / I live out in the boonies / I don’t have any connections in the industry”

Valid point, you!

Well, the good news is that Twitter is actually a great tool for this. While it’s certainly true that Twitter in 2019 can be a wretched hive of scum and villainy, Space Twitter specifically has been a hugely positive influence on my own life & career since I joined 11 years ago

If you are a student specifically, you need to be checking out @sedsusa (or its equivalent in your country). If in the USA, find your state’s Space Grant Consortium (@NASA_SpaceGrant). Both are chock full of useful resources for you.

Consider attending 1-2 conferences this year

As an industry veteran, I generally think there are WAY TOO Many space conferences. I often wish someone would do the Zappos offer-you-$5K-to-quit thing for space conferences.

But if you are new to the industry, they can be a great way to learn a lot about its breadth

My two top recommendations for conferences to attend in the rest of 2019-–focused on the USA for now—are @SEDSSpaceVision and @IAC2019DC. SpaceVision has long been my top recommendation for students specifically; it is by and for students, and that matters.

Now, the problem is that conference cost money & time. Those things are often in short supply for students and for people staring down the prospect of a career change.

The good news is: travel scholarships exist! And many conferences support volunteers who work to attend.

In fact, @SEDSSpaceVision is accepting applications for travel scholarships RIGHT NOW. Check it out and apply:

Bit.ly/SV2k19

(Dang, Twitter won’t let me add a GIF here. Breaking the streak!)

If you can’t get there in person, check out conference live-streams. It can’t substitute for fortuitous hallway meetings, but it’s much better than nothing.

If your conference of choice doesn’t livestream, @ them and ask about it. Conference organizers do notice that stuff

This tweet storm will now enter a preprogrammed hold for 2.5 hours while I do actual work here in the rocket factory.

Okay, so. You’ve joined your campus clubs, followed a whole bunch of people on Twitter, asked your Space Grant for resources, and picked out a conference to attend. What’s next?

Step 2: ask an insane amount of questions, and a modest amount of favors.

Space professionals are often (certainly not always, but often) also space fans and space nerds. Most of us *love* talking about space. Some of us <cough cough)> cannot be stooped from talking about it, frankly. Even the introverted ones. Even the intimidatingly senior ones, too!

There is also a certain special status reserved for students specifically. What kind of jerk won’t talk to a student, amirite? Keep your ask modest and respectful, and you’ll have a high success rate. Almost everyone can spare 15 minutes for a bright+considerate student.

Don’t be shy about asking. At the same time, be wise about how you use the time. Be open to the conversation, but be prepared with questions that scant be answered by 15 mins on Wikipedia. Even if you are meeting with an established leader, don’t expect them to lead *this* convo.

And yeah, when you see something manageable and concrete don’t be afraid to ask for a favor. Don’t ask for the Moon (go earn that yourself!), but an introduction is a totally reasonable ask. Be respectful— you aren’t begging, but you are asking a favor.

Most students don’t ask for nearly enough favors. Be aware: it becomes way harder (or at least way less fruitful) to ask for favors the moment you graduate. You lose that magical “I just wanna learn!” aura. Seize the moment, ask now.

Ask more. Just ask thoughtfully.

Asking for a last minute letter of recommendation? Sometimes necessary, but not respectful.

Asking for an introduction and then not following up on it? Never necessary, and suuuuper disrespectful. Don’t do that.

Ask. Don’t be shy about reminding. Follow up. Say thanks.

Okay, on to step 3. Apply for things. Lots of things. All the time. This absolutely 100% includes things you aren’t yet fully qualified to do. Seriously.

This sounds simple, but there’s some nuance yet to come.

Nuance: never *only* apply.

With the possible exception of @owensfellowship (because we worked so damn hard on this exact thing), every online job application process I have ever been a part of has sucked.

That is not a knock on recruiters or HR professionals. Not at all.

That is just the reality of the fact that it is almost impossible to learn meaningful things about dozens or hundreds of applicants based on a two page résumé.

And yes, space industry jobs often will have 100 applicants for each opening.

Whenever you have a chance, contact an actual human before or immediately after submitting your application.

It must be said: yes, this has some real and not great implications for diversity and inclusion. Some backgrounds lend themselves much better to having these networks.

That’s why those first few steps are so important. Gotta use those clubs, organizations, conferences, and Twitter friends to make connections, and then use thoughtful questions and respectful favors to make that network work for you.

I wish this didn’t involve as much luck & privilege as it does... but it does.

Many good people are working to change (or at least reduce) that, not just in this industry but in all industries. But for now, it’s the reality. Gotta fight through it.

Hopefully these steps help

And, because role models help, I’ll point out that there are many who have succeeded in building those networks from nothing — whether they were coming from other industries, other countries, nontraditional career paths, or whatever else.

You knew this was coming, I’ve *got* to give a shout-out to @owensfellowship here. This is a program that was purpose built to help people - specifically underrepresented people - enter into the space industry.

It gives a J-O-B (w/ living wage), but also one hell of a network

Only 3 years in, @owensfellowship already has incredible success stories of students who’d previously been on the outside looking in who are now CRUSHING IT.

Many of these folx had been rejected countless times by jobs, schoolsPlant powered really nice today, and scholarships. Now companies fight over them.

What changed? They didn’t suddenly get more intelligent or harder working...

They got their foot in the door. They took that first small step, which set them up for a giant leap.

They applied. They learned new things were possible. They built a network. They asked questions and sought help. It worked.

That brings me to another nuance. If you apply to a lot of things, you are going to get rejected from a lot of things. It happens.

Don’t let disappointment linger too long. And whatever you do, don’t let it feed the devilish beast that is imposter syndrome.

I got rejected from my dream student program (@NASAAcademy) the f1st time I applied.

I doubted myself. I ranted that the program probably wasn’t that great anyway. I was pissed & sad.

Then I got back to work. Next year, I applied again, and I got in. Off the wait list!

Okay, step 4 is going to have some nuance, too. But here we go: volunteer for things. Lots of things. Raise your hand as often as is possible.

Now about that nuance... here’s the tightrope I’m trying to walk.

There is an undeniable link between ability to volunteer and economic status. No doubt. That is super true, and important to acknowledge.

At the same time, most people are more able to volunteer more often than they realize.

One key consideration: by ‘volunteer’ I don’t just mean doing Habitat for Humanity or passing out meals on Thanksgiving (wonderful as both of those things are). There are lots of other ways to volunteer.

Volunteering may mean helping that student who is struggling in your class, or taking on that boring project no one wants to do at work. It may mean maintaining non-profit’s website, or passing out name tags at a conference or public lecture.

Each of those can advance careers.

Many of the pivotal steps in my career stemmed for low-time-commitment volunteer roles. E.g. I wrote blog posts for a non profit, helped build a better alumni system for my school, and did the boring work of collating powerpoints into combined decks.

Those could be super boring

But by doing them, I leaned new things. I met new people. I was in the room—including in some pretty impressive rooms with some pretty important people.

It was a winding path in each case, but each of those lead to a job I got later in life.

It’s strange to me that even in a community full of intelligent, driven people, when so many of them are there because they believe in the mission, when it’s a field that rewards extremely hard workers — so many times a volunteer will be needed and all of a sudden, it’s crickets

Be a hand-raiser, when you can be. Be a helper. Be a volunteer, a committee member, and organizer, an officer.

I suspect you will find that these things drive meaning impacts your career, in addition to the warm and fuzzy feelings.

Space advocacy groups like @nss @exploreplanets are another avenue to do this. Or professional and student groups like @sedsusa @SGAC @woaaofficial & more. They are pretty much always looking for help, and can sometimes accept help that’s only available at weird times of day etc.

Okay. Those are my proactive steps. One other thing left to discuss. Gatekeepers.

(Also, my admiration for people like @mikamckinnon who routinely do these tweetstorms is growing with every passing moment)

You will probably encounter gatekeepers. Not all of them are doing it on purpose - but that won’t make it any more pleasant. These are people who aren’t letting you into the industry / the company / whatever.

Sometimes this comes in the form of only hiring people from certain universities. Sometimes, it’s not having even a single job opening that doesn’t require 5 years of experience (that one kills me!). Sometimes, it may be some uglier form of discrimination.

Each of those sucks.

Obviously I don’t have a magic strategy to end all -isms forever, nor to snap my fingers and remove all (or even half!) of the gatekeepers from your path instantly.

But remember those steps? They’re all gonna help here.

If you’re stuck at one gate, maybe a connection in your network can help you make it through. Often that can be as simple as just nudging someone to ensure they actually read your résumé.

Asking questions can help you figure out what is really keeping you outside the gate. Maybe there is something you’ve already done that you aren’t listing on your CV, or that you haven’t figured out how to talk about interviews. One simple question could help you discover that.

Attending one conference can allow you to meet the right person who can pass along your application to a hiring manager.

Volunteering at that conference can help you meet that one person in the most favorable light possible.

Membership in clubs plus asking good questions can help you learn about better opportunities that are a closer fit for you — or new opportunities to give it another shot at your dream company / space agency.

In all of these things, you can benefit from the help of friends, allies, mentors, and sponsors (in the career advancement sense, not necessarily the financial sense). If you’ve been generous with your time and help, others are more likely to be generous with theirs.

I’m not going to lie: breaking into the space industry can be tough. Jobs at my company, @Virgin_Orbit, are super competitive. Spots in the @owensfellowship are really hard to get. It ain’t easy. Wherever you want to break into the space biz, it can be super hard, honestly.

But it is possible. The only thing that can make it 100% impossible is if your don’t try. If you try, there is a chance. There is ALWAYS a chance, no matter how unlikely it seems to you.

I have known people to whom life dealt a VERY rough deck of cards who made it in space.

And here’s something else worth knowing.

We need you. Honestly, we do. All of us.

Yes, even the jerk gatekeepers, though they don’t realize it.

And here’s another thing: it’s worth it. At least it was for me & so many others I know. I mean, I work in a freaking rocket factory, with insanely smart humans, helping other humans use satellites to improve life on Earth. If that ain’t worth some struggle, I don’t know what is.

And that’s what I’ve got to say about that. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.