Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
When I did my PhD I hated it when (most) people asked about my research. It&#x27;s not because I wasn&#x27;t interested, it&#x27;s because I&#x27;m really interested and was (still am) bad at giving concise summaries, so I felt like people who really didn&#x27;t care and wouldn&#x27;t listen to the answer were asking me to embark on a long explanation that required a bunch of preamble etc, just in order to make conversation.<p>Anyway, I feel largely the same about work. I love talking about what I do, but not with people who aren&#x27;t listening and who are just asking to form an opinion of my social status. So 9 times out of 10 I just sort of mumble something and talk about something else, just like in grad school.