Why You Shouldn't Email Professors About PhDs — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00So, you want to do a PhD and you're
2. 0:01thinking about emailing a professor?
3. 0:03Well, just hold on because in this
4. 0:06video, I'm going to show you the things
5. 0:07you shouldn't do and give you the
6. 0:09perfect template for reaching out to a
7. 0:11potential PhD supervisor. So, here we
8. 0:14go. And here's a few things you need to
9. 0:15know because it's the mistake I see
10. 0:17people making the most. All right, then.
11. 0:20So, when I was in academia, the number
12. 0:21one thing I would get all the time is
13. 0:23emails from people I didn't know asking
14. 0:26to do a PhD or a masters with me. Now,
15. 0:28here's the thing is that you shouldn't
16. 0:31send bulk emails. You shouldn't blast
17. 0:34the world. A lot of people think that if
18. 0:36they just chuck enough emails out into
19. 0:38the world, they'll land a PhD. That's
20. 0:40not how it works. You need to be more
21. 0:42accurate. You need to be more targeted
22. 0:44because then your success rate will
23. 0:46shoot up. I received and my colleagues
24. 0:49received so many emails that uh it's
25. 0:52just easy to delete them because the
26. 0:54subject line isn't compelling. There's
27. 0:55no information and it's just like, hey,
28. 0:57just give me a PhD. No, stop
29. 1:00immediately. So, the first thing I want
30. 1:02to say in this is do not do bulk email.
31. 1:05So, I'll do bulk email.
32. 1:09No. Oh, look. My handwriting's terrible.
33. 1:12[laughter]
34. 1:13All right, then. Do not send out bulk
35. 1:15emails at all. Just get that into your
36. 1:17mind right away because that is the
37. 1:19number one thing I received and it was
38. 1:21the easiest thing to ignore. Stop it.
39. 1:23Stop it. Stop it. All right, then. What
40. 1:26should you do? Well, you have to
41. 1:27understand what an email actually does.
42. 1:30Now, an email won't automatically lead
43. 1:32to you getting a PhD. We need to send
44. 1:35these professors through a certain flow,
45. 1:38a certain process before they would even
46. 1:40consider you a candidate. So, we need to
47. 1:43go through the no like and trust uh sort
48. 1:47of like pathway. So, the first thing is
49. 1:49they've got to get to know you.
50. 1:52Then they've got to like you. And that
51. 1:54is probably the most difficult thing cuz
52. 1:56professors don't like very much. And
53. 1:58then there has to be some form of trust
54. 2:01involved by accepting you into their
55. 2:03lab. They're trusting that you actually
56. 2:05have the skills and the things that they
57. 2:07want of the people in their lab. So you
58. 2:10got to understand that the email really
59. 2:12is just to get to know and like. They do
60. 2:16not and will not ever trust you from an
61. 2:18email exchange. That goes deeper. It's
62. 2:21about relationships. It's about um being
63. 2:23a known entity that they then grow to
64. 2:27like and then ah this is a person I
65. 2:31could have in my lab. So an email won't
66. 2:34get you through all of these because at
67. 2:36the end obviously of this is a PhD.
68. 2:38Email really is probably only the first
69. 2:42one and two things. But first they need
70. 2:44to get to know that you actually exist.
71. 2:47Now how do we do that? Well, I'm going
72. 2:49to show you at the end of this video an
73. 2:50email template that I reckon is the most
74. 2:53effective, but cold emails and emails in
75. 2:56general really are not the best way to
76. 2:58get a PhD. So, that brings me on to my
77. 3:01third point. Okay, emails are just one
78. 3:04part of a multi-sorted approach that I
79. 3:06recommend a lot of PhD students take
80. 3:09because an email is easily ignored and
81. 3:12uh they get them all the time. But you
82. 3:13can do this thing known as channel
83. 3:15stacking where you send people through
84. 3:18different sort of like levels of
85. 3:20engagement. So that could be X or
86. 3:23Twitter, whatever you want to call it.
87. 3:25Um, it could be their LinkedIn,
88. 3:28it could be email, or it could be
89. 3:31anywhere else they are online. But
90. 3:33here's the thing, you can't just spam
91. 3:35them and be like, "I'm here. I'm here.
92. 3:37I'm here." It needs to be targeted. It
93. 3:39needs to be obvious. it needs to be um
94. 3:41less about you and more about them. So,
95. 3:45you can channel stack to improve the
96. 3:49success rates of a response. Remember,
97. 3:52we're trying to get them to know and
98. 3:53like you. Those are the first steps. So,
99. 3:56get onto their LinkedIn, engage with
100. 3:57them there, get onto their ex, engage
101. 3:59with them there, and then email really
102. 4:01is the least personal way of getting in
103. 4:04contact. And uh yeah, that's just the
104. 4:07realities of it. All right. And the last
105. 4:09thing you should know about all this is
106. 4:11that the biggest thing that you need to
107. 4:13cultivate is a relationship. That
108. 4:15relationship doesn't have to be deep and
109. 4:17meaningful. It just has to be some form
110. 4:19of relationship. The way I got my PhD is
111. 4:22that I had already done an honors year
112. 4:24in the institution that I wanted to do
113. 4:26my PhD in. That was my year abroad in my
114. 4:29third year of my undergraduate degree.
115. 4:31So, in this no- like trust, they knew me
116. 4:34because they already had um me in their
117. 4:38like vicinity doing research and I did
118. 4:41pretty well in that year. So, they knew
119. 4:43they knew me and hopefully some of them
120. 4:45even liked me. I had a meeting with each
121. 4:49individual professor that lasted for
122. 4:51about 45 minutes to an hour. I talked
123. 4:53about their research, what I liked, and
124. 4:55see if there was possible overlap. And
125. 4:57this is where we had to get them to
126. 4:59trust me. So, relationships really are
127. 5:02the only way you get to bridge this last
128. 5:05little bit. So, what can you do? Well,
129. 5:07there are a range of different things
130. 5:09that you can do if you don't know them.
131. 5:10Warm introductions are one of the
132. 5:12hottest things. Oh, did I do that? Warm,
133. 5:16hot. Anyway, you get the idea. Are one
134. 5:18of the best ways to actually get in
135. 5:20contact with a professor. Get a warm
136. 5:22introduction from a mutual contact. And
137. 5:25I know that that is very difficult if
138. 5:27you're an undergraduate, but that is one
139. 5:29of the best ways to get them through
140. 5:31this no- like trust. Okay, you can also
141. 5:34just reach out to other people in their
142. 5:36lab with questions, with emails, get
143. 5:38become a known entity, ask to do a
144. 5:40summer scholarship, ask to do a
145. 5:43placement, ask to just be around them so
146. 5:47they know you and like you. And then
147. 5:49that trust slowly builds. And I know
148. 5:52when you're um an international student,
149. 5:54you can't really do that. So, you really
150. 5:56do just have to rely on emails and this
151. 5:59channel stacking, but uh I'm going to
152. 6:01show you all of the appropriate ways
153. 6:04that I think you can increase your
154. 6:06success rate with this email template.
155. 6:08Um and let me tell you, it's easier than
156. 6:12you actually think. Oh, let me put in
157. 6:13relationships here. Um let's just do
158. 6:16person
159. 6:18uh person and then there we are. That's
160. 6:21relationships, isn't it? Everyone's
161. 6:23happy here. And then uh if you also know
162. 6:26someone that they know,
163. 6:29then that's also good. Okay.
164. 6:33Relationships, relationships,
165. 6:34relationships. That's what that means.
166. 6:35Okay. Here's the email stuff. This is
167. 6:36what you want, isn't it? All right.
168. 6:38Then, even though email is the least
169. 6:40successful way to get a PhD, you can use
170. 6:42it to your benefit. And this is how I
171. 6:44would do it. The first thing you need to
172. 6:45do is actually get a compelling subject
173. 6:48line. It's easy to see when someone's
174. 6:51just begging you for a PhD because
175. 6:53they're like asking for a PhD. Have you
176. 6:55got a space for a PhD student? Have you
177. 6:57got a PhD scholarship? Like it's just so
178. 6:59easy. And you just go ignore, ignore,
179. 7:01ignore. Super easy. So, you do need to
180. 7:03actually get to understand the professor
181. 7:05you are sending an email to. They like
182. 7:08broadly, I say they as in like the
183. 7:10general academic population like three
184. 7:13things. They like money, they like
185. 7:15papers, and they like prestige. And
186. 7:18there's a little cheeky trick that I can
187. 7:19show you in a minute as well, which is a
188. 7:21fourth one. But this is it here. Okay.
189. 7:23Compelling subject line. You should
190. 7:25reach out about a recent paper. Um,
191. 7:28instead of asking for a uh PhD position,
192. 7:31you need to start on that knowing and
193. 7:34liking. So, they're going to like you if
194. 7:36that you like their research, right?
195. 7:37That's the general thinking here. So,
196. 7:39you can put in something in the subject
197. 7:41line about papers, which is like a
198. 7:43question on your 200 whatever paper on X
199. 7:46left me with. Then they love correcting
200. 7:49people. They love having this paper sort
201. 7:51of like scene in the world because it's
202. 7:54very rare in academia that your paper
203. 7:56actually makes any impact outside of
204. 7:57your own field. So having someone
205. 7:59outside send you an email that is a good
206. 8:02thing. And also if you can give them a
207. 8:04chance to be right or correct you that
208. 8:06is also another little secret power.
209. 8:08They love doing that. It's a bit of peer
210. 8:09review in email form. And then here
211. 8:12something I couldn't reconcile in your
212. 8:13paper on X. Oh, that's going to they're
213. 8:15going to open up that because they don't
214. 8:16want to be wrong, do they? And then
215. 8:18quick check. Am I misunderstanding this
216. 8:20part of your paper on X? Now, they
217. 8:22absolutely are baited by this one
218. 8:24because they get a chance to correct
219. 8:26you. M a little bit of tasty correction.
220. 8:30Oh, they like being right and they like
221. 8:32that you are wrong. So, that could be a
222. 8:35good way into it. Okay. A second uh
223. 8:37compelling subject line is something
224. 8:39about grants. if they've just had a
225. 8:41grant application that's been successful
226. 8:43or they have um been successful in
227. 8:46getting money, uh they love to be told
228. 8:49that that's great. So, I wouldn't really
229. 8:51lean on this one too much, but
230. 8:52congratulations on your grant name
231. 8:54award. There we are. Great. Easy peasy
232. 8:57and uh something they would love to
233. 8:59open. Trust me. Okay. Another thing that
234. 9:01a lot of academics really love is
235. 9:03prestige. They love the fact they've
236. 9:05been mentioned in a prestigious news
237. 9:07outlet or in the conversation or they've
238. 9:09had something go viral. That is a great
239. 9:11way to get in contact with them. And you
240. 9:13can just sort of like reach out and saw
241. 9:15your recent feature in whatever a quick
242. 9:17question. Your recent article in this
243. 9:19publication caught my attention after
244. 9:21reading your piece in this newspaper or
245. 9:24magazine. Um you know blah blah blah.
246. 9:26Congratulations on your recent award is
247. 9:28another sort of like great prestige
248. 9:29thing that they love. You can often get
249. 9:31a sense that a professor loves prestige
250. 9:34if you sort of like look at their name
251. 9:37online and they have loads of news
252. 9:39articles about them. This is a professor
253. 9:41who likes reading about themselves.
254. 9:43There's a bit of narcissism in there.
255. 9:44So, you can lean into that and be like,
256. 9:46"Oh, I think you're amazing, too." And
257. 9:48they'll open that email more than just
258. 9:49an email line that's like, "I want a PhD
259. 9:52with you."
260. 9:52>> Yeah. They get those all the time. Then
261. 9:55this is the secret little hack that I
262. 9:58think a lot of people don't realize is
263. 10:00that professors have passion projects. A
264. 10:03lot of them have projects they love way
265. 10:05more than others. And it's easy to work
266. 10:08that out if they have got an online
267. 10:10presence. They'll talk about it on their
268. 10:12social media, on their blogs, in the
269. 10:14news. So making sure that you are really
270. 10:16leaning into their passion project.
271. 10:18Sometimes it's not the the project that
272. 10:20brings in the money for them, but it's
273. 10:21something they talk passionately about.
274. 10:23If they've given a public lecture
275. 10:25recently on something that they um love,
276. 10:29then talk about that because if they're
277. 10:31giving a public lecture, it means that,
278. 10:33you know, they want the world to know
279. 10:35about this thing and how they're
280. 10:37connected to it. They love it. So, here
281. 10:39you can see, oh, something you said
282. 10:40about a topic really stood out. Your
283. 10:42work on whatever caught my attention or
284. 10:44after hearing you talk on whatever
285. 10:46passion area, that is a good way of
286. 10:49opening up that kind of conversational
287. 10:52dialogue. so they know and they like
288. 10:54you. That's what the email is really
289. 10:56about. And any of these uh sort of
290. 10:59approaches or options for a subject line
291. 11:02is going to be opened way more than the
292. 11:04generic ones that are just easy easy to
293. 11:07ignore. So think about your professor.
294. 11:10Think about what they would absolutely
295. 11:12love and then just lead with that. We're
296. 11:14not asking for a PhD in this email. We
297. 11:17are just getting them to know us and
298. 11:20also to like us. So, what about the
299. 11:23actual email itself? Well, I recommend
300. 11:24you do a threepart email. Keep it
301. 11:27simple. Keep it uh lighthearted. You
302. 11:29don't want to dump all of your CV and
303. 11:32the stuff that you've done. Save that
304. 11:33for later when you get to the trust
305. 11:36stage. At the moment, we just need them
306. 11:38to know and like us. So, here on the
307. 11:41body of the email, the first thing I
308. 11:42recommend you do is get their attention.
309. 11:44You need to signal to them that you know
310. 11:47about them, that they are a known
311. 11:49entity. you've read some of their work
312. 11:51and link it into the subject uh line
313. 11:53that you have decided. Keep it short
314. 11:55because there's nothing worse than
315. 11:57opening an email and having a massive
316. 11:59paragraph to get through before you get
317. 12:00to the actual meat of the stuff. They
318. 12:03need to get to the ask as quickly as
319. 12:06possible, but there's some sort of like
320. 12:08pathways which are a bit kinder than
321. 12:10others and just being like, "Hey, do
322. 12:11this for me." Um interest. The second
323. 12:13thing I recommend you do is give them a
324. 12:15feeling that they rarely get, which is
325. 12:16being genuinely understood and someone
326. 12:19genuinely interested in their work. In
327. 12:20academia, you're told all the time that
328. 12:23this isn't good, that this isn't good,
329. 12:24you should be do more of this, but now
330. 12:27they are receiving an email not only
331. 12:29from someone who knows them, who knows
332. 12:31their work, but also now has shown an
333. 12:33interest. So, give them a feeling that
334. 12:35they rarely get, which is love. Oh,
335. 12:38academia doesn't give them love, but
336. 12:40that's all they really crave, unless
337. 12:41they're narcissists, when really they
338. 12:43just want to hear about themselves. So,
339. 12:45you can give them a feeling that uh they
340. 12:47are very important if you suspect
341. 12:49they're a narcissist. And then the last
342. 12:51thing, and this is one of the most
343. 12:53important things, is you need a low
344. 12:55friction ask. If you're emailing about
345. 12:57potentially doing a PhD with them, it's
346. 13:00a massive effort to get you a PhD in
347. 13:04their lab. They need to understand what
348. 13:07you want. They need to go through all
349. 13:08this admin. They need to uh you know
350. 13:11find you a funding. They need to get you
351. 13:13a computer, a desk. Like that is not the
352. 13:15point of a first email. So it needs to
353. 13:18be super low friction and you have to
354. 13:21understand what you really want from
355. 13:22this email. So here there's sort of like
356. 13:25three options. So invite a response that
357. 13:27takes under 30 seconds and helps them
358. 13:30feel helpful. So or is it helpful got
359. 13:33two L's or one L? Doesn't matter. You
360. 13:34understand what I mean? Option one, ask
361. 13:36a clarifying question. I may be
362. 13:38misunderstanding this, but if you
363. 13:40reached out and you're asking about a
364. 13:42recent paper, tell them about that paper
365. 13:44and you say, "Hey, I may be
366. 13:46misunderstanding this, but blah, blah,
367. 13:48blah, blah, blah." And that just gives
368. 13:49them the opportunity to say no, yes, or
369. 13:51just show that you're interested. That's
370. 13:54all you want. They probably will ignore
371. 13:57it. But this is more likely to get a
372. 14:00response than, "Hey, can I have a PhD in
373. 14:02your in your lab? Have you got a place?"
374. 14:04They're just going to say no. That's the
375. 14:05easiest low friction response in that
376. 14:07case. Here they've got an opportunity to
377. 14:09correct you, which they absolutely love.
378. 14:11Option B, advice question. So, do you
379. 14:13think it's reasonable way to think about
380. 14:15blah blah blah? This is um something
381. 14:17that's low effort for them, but it still
382. 14:20requires a little bit of investment in
383. 14:22you um and the response. So, I think
384. 14:25that this is probably the easiest one to
385. 14:28ignore because they're like, "Oh, why
386. 14:29why does this matter?" But um this last
387. 14:31one is probably the most uh frequently
388. 14:34used which is option C delegation or ask
389. 14:36for a connection. So is there a postoc
390. 14:38or PhD student you suggest I reach out
391. 14:40to? Um if you can actually find a PhD
392. 14:44student on their group list that
393. 14:45actually sort of like did the research.
394. 14:48You can say is it possible to get a
395. 14:50connection through to blah because I'd
396. 14:52love to ask a few more questions.
397. 14:54Remember this isn't about getting you a
398. 14:56PhD. It's about pushing you along the no
399. 14:59like trust channel. And that is what an
400. 15:01email should do when you first reach out
401. 15:04to a potential PhD supervisor. It's a
402. 15:07long game. Correct me in the comments if
403. 15:09I'm wrong. I don't know of anyone that
404. 15:11has reached out completely cold
405. 15:13completely unknown as a entity as a
406. 15:16researcher and landed a PhD in uh you
407. 15:19know in a respectable institution just
408. 15:22because they sent out an email and was
409. 15:24like blah give me a PhD please. I don't
410. 15:27think that's ever happened. This is what
411. 15:29you've got to do. Lead them through a
412. 15:31no- like trust. Remember that the first
413. 15:34email isn't going to be your home run.
414. 15:36It isn't going to land you a PhD, but
415. 15:38it's going to start the process of you
416. 15:40finding a professor that is engaged with
417. 15:43people from the outside. And remember
418. 15:45that quite often they need you as much
419. 15:48as you need them. Um the more famous the
420. 15:50professor, the more emails they're going
421. 15:53to get. So, uh you really need to stand
422. 15:55out and you stand out for all of the
423. 15:57right reasons. You're likely going to be
424. 15:59ignored anyway. But if you send out
425. 16:01enough of these and they're targeted and
426. 16:03they're specific and they're phrased the
427. 16:05right way, miracles will happen for you.
428. 16:08All right, then let me know in the
429. 16:09comments what's worked for you if you
430. 16:11have managed to land a PhD with a email.
431. 16:14And uh yeah, I'd love to hear about it.
432. 16:16All right, then. I'll see you in the
433. 16:17next video. All right, then. If you like
434. 16:19this video, go check out this one where
435. 16:20I've got an awesomely long beard. It's
436. 16:22from ages ago and I think the stuff in
437. 16:25there is still relevant today. How to
438. 16:26sell yourself to a potential research
439. 16:28supervisor. Let's go check it out.