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Networking Thursdays  - Volume 10

3/30/2017

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Phil Hadikin lives in Daejeon, South Korea and hails from Castlegar, BC, Canada.

I was finishing my first one-year contract at Woosong University (WSU) and was debating whether or not I was going to re-sign for another year.  It was late December and I had to make my decision quickly because the deadline date for my contract renewal was approaching in a few weeks.  One afternoon as I was checking my "snail mail” mailbox at the office, the Director of the Woosong Language Institute also came by to check his mailbox.  He asked my how well I knew the Russian language.  That was an "out of the blue" question to ask, I thought.  I replied that I was fluent in Russian, as I was an ethnic Russian-Canadian.  I asked him why he wanted to know and he replied that Woosong was opening a new program in the Railroad Department that was going to be based on teaching the Russian language to WSU Railroad Engineering students.  Then, he asked me if I would be interested in the job. I thought about it for a moment and then replied that I would take the job.  The next day, I told WSU that I would re-sign for another year.  


Well, that was 14 years ago.  Today, I still teach at WSU, but am not fully involved with the Russian side of it.  Someone else teaches Russian and it’s to nursing majors.  In 2005 WSU signed a partnership agreement with FESTU (Far East Transport  University) from Khabarovsk, Russia. WSU requested a Russian teacher to come and teach the Russian language.  That teacher agreed to come for a year, but after 11 years she is still teaching Russian at WSU and, oh yeah, we got married and have two sons.  I am still working in the Railroad Department but now I only teach English to my students. It's interesting how things work out.  As the saying goes, when one door closes another one opens.


If you have a networking story to share, please send it to archerengcon@gmail.com.
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Networking Thursdays - Volume 9

3/23/2017

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Patrick Jackson is an ELT author interested in the use of songs, stories and real world connections to motivate learners. He believes that the classroom should be an enjoyable, happy and stimulating place for students as well as teachers. Passionate about Linked Language Learning, he is fascinated by the way technology, and especially social media, has the power to transform the teaching and learning experience. He is also interested in the ways in which we can help our students develop creativity and real confidence. Patrick spent 13 years in Japan teaching learners of all ages but is now based in Dublin, Ireland. He is the author of Potato Pals, Stars and Everybody Up and blogs at patjack67.com.

My best source of inspiration and contacts is my big sister. She is one of those amazing people who is always looking out for everyone around her and even though she has four children of her own and a hugely busy life, she always has time to give me some advice, send me an idea or put some nice contacts my way. In fact it was my sister who originally gave me the idea of sending the rough Potato Pals books to a publisher. At her suggestion, I sent off an unsolicited proposal which landed on the right desk at the right time because she knew somebody who knew somebody who knew who to send it to. I was very lucky but it wouldn't have happened had it not been for her encouragement. She has an amazing number of friends and is always happy to share them and ask for favours for her little brother. Yes, my sister has been my guardian angel all these years. We all need one.

If you have a networking story to share, please send it to archerengcon@gmail.com.
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Networking Thursdays - Volume 8

3/16/2017

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Pedro Arka studied mechanical and automotive engineering in Brazil and participated in an exchange student program in KAIST. He works as an financial analyst doing equity research and identifying investment opportunities.

A good example of an opportunity I got because of networking happened a couple of years ago. I was in college and I didn’t know what kind of job I wanted yet. I went to a family party with my girlfriend and she introduced me to her cousin, who studied at the same university as me. He had worked in different fields and gave me a lot of advice. We talked a lot about career paths, what to do after college, and many opportunities that were out there, especially in the fields he had worked in: consultancy and investment banking. In the middle of the conversation, he asked a friend to talk to us about his job and explain to me what he was working on. He was a director in a very well-known investment bank and he was thinking about developing a summer internship program in his department. He didn’t have any formal plan yet; it was just an idea, but he needed someone to try it out. “If I make that internship happen, would you do it?” he asked.
“Of course!” I said. Even though I didn’t know anything about banks, I studied a lot and did all the exams and interviews needed to fulfill the requirements. Finally, some months later, I started working in the finance industry. In fact, that was my first experience in this sector. I went back there some months later to do another internship. Today, I still work in the financial industry and that little opportunity was essential to get me started.


If you have a networking story to share, please send it to archerengcon@gmail.com.
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Networking Thursdays - Volume 7

3/9/2017

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Maryam Fayyazi studied mechanical engineering in Iran and Korea. She finished her master's course at KAIST in 2013 and continues to work and build her professional life in Korea.

After graduation, I started working in a small venture company which specialized in high-tech 3D sound & digital content tools. Working for this company was quite challenging because the company was small and there was only one person who could speak English. I decided to try a new field and contacted the CEO of another company who I got to know during my studies. He knows me well and kindly welcomed me to join his company. The documents for the contract and visa were being prepared when one day morning I received a text message from an old lab mate asking me if I was interested in joining a project coordinated between the Iranian government and the Korea Electric Power Research Institute (KEPRI). My old lab mates had also been working for KEPRI since he graduated so I knew a little about the organization. The same day, the CEO called me and informed me that there was an opportunity to work for a bigger and more famous company than his and it appeared they were looking for an Iranian. He added that it could be a great opportunity for me but he gave me the choice to work for him or take the new offer.  Who exactly recommended me to my current colleagues at KEPRI, I still do not know. My lab-mate? The CEO?  Someone else?  I still do not know for sure but I’m glad they did.

If you have a networking story to share, please send it to archerengcon@gmail.com.
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Networking Thursdays - Volume 6

3/2/2017

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Hello friends and thank you for coming back for another installment of Networking Thursdays.  This week you get a story from me.

Greetings from Madrid.  While many of my friends are starting their new semesters and greeting their eager new students I'm waking up in Spain.  I have spent the last two afternoons speaking to students and faculty members from the law school at the Complutense University of Madrid.  It's funny because until I arrived on Sunday evening I had never met anyone living here.  So how did this happen?


I love Google Flights.  It's a great tool for searching for short airfare sales.  It's how I got a flight to Istanbul in November for under $600 on Korean Air and this flight to Madrid on Alitalia for under $500.  Once I bought the ticket I reached out to my network to see if anyone knew any professors in Madrid.  Luckily, one of my former coworkers at KAIST knew several professors here that he had met during their time together in Boston years ago.  He reached out to them and let them know I was coming and interested in giving some talks.  Now I'm staying in one of the professor's apartment and have been enjoying many lunches and dinners with the other professor.  

In order to make this possible, several things needed to happen.  1. I needed a wide network of friends with international connections. 2. My friends needed to trust me enough professionally to feel comfortable "selling" my services to their friends who had never met me.  3.  I had to ask.  

I'm taking the train to Lisbon this evening but I can honestly say that my four days in Madrid have been fantastic thanks to the warm hospitality that I have received and the amazing professors and students that I have been fortunate enough to meet and spend time with.  What's next?  A talk in Surgut, Russia in April.  How did that come about?  Stay tuned and find out.


If you have a networking story to share, please send it to archerengcon@gmail.com.

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    Tim's Thoughts

    Here are some short ideas that probably don't deserve to be published but I felt were worth sharing.  

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