I developed a strong network with key Ministry of Health and Sanitation authorities. Chevening.

Hi folks, as part of my preparation for the 2018-19 Chevening scholarship application, I have commence work on my networking essay and will appreciate any effort to help me build a good networking essay.

Below is my answer.

my aspiration is to be the Principal Investigator

During my 1 year 6 months period of work as a Laboratory Assistance at the Central Public health reference laboratory (CPHRL), I developed a strong network with key Ministry of Health and Sanitation authorities within the Laboratory sector in Sierra Leone including the, Director of Hospital and Laboratory services in the person of Dr. Math Lebbie, Miss Doris Harding the National Manger of Laboratory services with whom I work as a volunteer in the molecular department and Dr. Isata wurie, consultant to the CPHRL and lead scientist for Association of Public Health Laboratories(APHL) in-country . The advice and experience I gained working with them as a volunteer helped me tremendously in pursuing my aspiration of being a laboratory scientist.

Working at the Lassa fever VHF research laboratory in Kenema as Laboratory Research Scientist, has furthered strengthen my professional network. I have been connected to world class medical research scientists from all around including, Robert F. Garry from Tulane University USA, who is the Principal Investor for the ,Lassa fever research program in Sierra Leone. He oversees our Laboratory; provide leadership, mentorship and technical support to us. Prof. Pardis Sabeti , Principal Investigator at the Broad Institute at Harvard USA, Prof. Christian Happie Principal Investigator at Redeemers University Nigeria and many other very senior and experienced researchers like Dr. John Schiefelin from Tulane USA , Prof. Kristian Anderson from Scrip's research Lab USA etc. I have worked with all these researchers on a research project titled: 'The outbreak of Ebola Virus disease in Lassa fever zone" which was published at Oxford journal of infectious disease volume 214 (jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/214/suppl_3.toc). and our connection has been very useful in building my capacity.

As a participant in the 2016, Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) summer workshop hosted by the Sebati Lab at the Harvard University and the Broad Institute, USA, I have been able to build a very good network with other researchers from Africa countries like Nigeria, Senegal and Liberia forming a cohort of the next generation Africa scientists. My network also spans to other senior Laboratory researchers working on Hemorrhagic Fever viruses and we have formed a consortium called, Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium (VHFC) of which I am a member. (vhfc.org/consortium/people/sandi, and vhfc.org/consortium/people).

I hope to leverage on these networks in the future to achieve my career aspiration of being the Principal Investigator for my own research lab to answer scientific question on diseases most affecting Sierra Leone and other countries.

Hi there are some language/grammatical weaknesses in your essay you may wish to consider revising.

1. During my 1 year 6 months period of work as a Laboratory Assistance => this is slightly awkward phrasing. Be simple and straightforward eg. I worked as a Lab Assistant for (duration) at (place). I have developed....

2. including the, Director => remove the comma

3. Laboratory Research Scientist, has => remove the comma

4. Principal Investor for the ,Lassa => remove the comma

5. project titled: 'The outbreak of => remove the colon

6. He oversees our Laboratory; provide leadership => replace the semi-colon with a comma

John, the Chevening networking essay does require you to simply rattle off the names of the people whom you have worked with in your various capacities as a professional. Rather it requires you to offer evidence of your networking abilities by presenting a situation during your professional career, regardless of your position or duties, that required you to create a network where you did not have any. What was the situation? How did you manage to develop these contacts? How did the contacts help you to resolve the situation on hand? Present your networking abilities in a manner that showcases your skills in developing the network for future use as well. More importantly, explain how these networks can help you as a Chevening scholar, if these networks will be beneficial to the future scholars whom you will expect to be mentoring as well, and if you can weave your existing contacts with your future Chevening related network. Needless to say, you will need to revise the whole essay. Since you have an early start, you have plenty of time to make the necessary changes and create the best essay possible for your application.

Thanks folks. below is the new version of my write up.

I have always believed that were people with similar thoughts and profession are connected, greater things happens. Before this time, I have been wondering on how to get connected to professionals in my desired career path. The breakthrough began when I was sent for a three months student internship at the Ola During Children Hospital clinical laboratory in Freetown. My meeting with Mr. Sam Aliyah, the head of the Laboratory marks the beginning of the networks I have today. I enjoyed working under his supervision and I grabbed practical skills on gram staining, blood smear preparation and how to use a microscope. Upon graduation I expressed interest working in the Laboratory to him and he appreciated it. He then connected me to the National Laboratory Manager who also doubles as the Head of the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory (CPHRL).

I worked at CPHRL for 1 year and 6 months as Laboratory assistance and I developed connections with key Ministry of Health and Sanitation authorities within the Laboratory sector like, Director of Hospital and Laboratory services, and Dr. Isata wurie, Consultant scientist to the CPHRL. Working with them I understood the Laboratory Health Safety Practices, and I learned diagnostics skills like Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and immune assays like ELISA. The experience I gained working with them as a volunteer developed me for my current job.

I have worked at the Lassa fever VHF research laboratory in Kenema as Laboratory Research Scientist an employment which gained primarily because of my skills in PCR and ELISA for almost 1 year 4 months now. I have been connected to world class medical research scientists like Robert F. Garry from Tulane University USA, the Principal Investor for the Lassa fever research program in Sierra Leone. He oversees, provide leadership and technical support. Prof. Pardis Sabeti, Principal Investigator at the Broad Institute USA, Prof. Christian Happie at Redeemers University etc. and together we have published a paper titled, The outbreak of Ebola Virus disease in Lassa fever zone.

In June 2016, I was sent by my Laboratory to participate in the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) summer workshop hosted by the sebati Lab at the Harvard University. The 50days workshop exposed my to a pool of young Africa scientists and I was able stretch out my connections to other participants through personal discussions and friendship and we ended up forming a cohort of the next generation Africa scientists.

Should I become a Chevening scholar, I am sure of meeting more people and therefore it would be obligatory to give back to Chevening and my society by providing mentorship to future scholars and engaging colleague Alumni with the same profession to design research project on our life threaten diseases.

John, now I have to ask you something about all of the people that you mention in your essay as being part of your personal / professional network. Did you seek permission from them to refer to their names and specific positions in your essay? The reason that I ask this is because the mention of these people's names means that you are giving the reviewer the authority to confirm the existence of these people, their recollection of you as a worker in their department or as a partner in the accomplishment of a task, and, a confirmation from these people that they are truly a part of your network as they know you on either a personal or professional basis.

Most importantly, are you going to be able to present letters of recommendation from these people to add credence to your Chevening application? Consider all of these points before you continue the name dropping trend in your essay. Remember, these information will be vetted for validity, truth and integrity. If you have not gotten express written permission from these people to use their names either verbally or through their recommendation letters, it would be best for you to change the slant of your essay instead.

It won't be difficult for you to write a new, more appropriate essay. All you have to do is look up the examples of the previous networking essays that were written by applicants before you in this forum. Their work has already been reviewed and submitted. A number of them successfully got into the program. So emulating their networking essay in terms of content presentation will be very helpful to you at this point.

To be honest I have not seek permission to mention the names of all those I have named in my network essay. However one of them have already consented to write a recommendation for me should my application be process to the next stage for interview. I actually applied last but I was not invited for interview which is the more reason why I have began my home work now.

Thanks very much Holt for the caution,appreciated. while I proceed reading some network essays, can you please help me know, which of these two is more important for inclusion. There names or their position/institutions.

Neither, what is important is that you portray how you develop your networking skills in the performance of your duties. The best illustration for this essay is normally to present a situation at your offic wher eyou were called upon to either create a network of your own in order to accomplish a task or, use an existing network that you were unfamiliar with in order to deliver results. The names of the offices are important in the sense that you will be justifying the actions you took and mentioning the involved offices in terms of network creation. So focus on the situation, why a network was important at that time, if you had a network in place or not, how you developed the network or further developed it, and what the end result of your networking skills was. After that, you can focus on developing the "how will the network you have help Chevening scholars in the future? If you read the examples of the networking essays here, you should get a pretty good idea as to how to best approach the essay development on your end using your sources.

Thanks Holt and friends for your time. base on your advice I have draft a whole new version of my Networking answer. your correction is highly needed.

Throughout my academic and professional career I have experienced the importance of having the appropriate connections. Building networks was important for me to get my first volunteering work and to succeed in my jobs.

Being ambitious, after my BSc. Studies in 2013, I relocated to the city (Freetown) for a new beginning. Knowing the challenges ahead, I developed strong courage to move. My goal was to start my career as a volunteer at the Central Public Health Reference Laboratory (CPHRL) under the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS). To achieve this, I was supposed to meet with influential people within the Ministry like the Director of Hospital and Laboratory service, National Laboratory Manager, and other professionals. I believe my successful meeting and establishing my network with them rest largely on my preparedness to make use of the opportunity. For example to get the National Lab Manager convinced to allow me work as a volunteer at the CPHRL, I had to provide pile of evidences to justify my qualification. I presented my internship report from the internship I did at Ola During Children Hospital laboratory and proof of successful completion of my BSc studies etc. Volunteering helped me not only to meet more influential people; it also boost my practical experience in the Lab and my networking skills, without being shy or afraid of communicating with authorities and other senior professionals. My work at CPHRL is a clear example of that.

My current job at the Lassa Viral Hemorrhagic fever Lab in Kenema has strengthened my networks. In 2016, I was sent by my Laboratory to participate in the Africa center of excellence for genomics of infectious diseases workshop in the United State. This was a life changing experience for me as participants were from over 6 countries. The atmosphere was friendly which encouraged me to establish more professional contacts. As an extrovert, I find it easy for me to work and speak-up to a stranger when there is a need. Out of the lot I met, meeting scientist from Liberia was a huge opportunity for me as we had time to discuss about the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak that ravaged our countries (Sierra Leone and Liberia). My first experience into international scientific community was laudable and increases my zest to attain higher education in oversees. During the workshop, I realized that effective communication and establishing of essential network is the backbone to any career development pathway.

Being knowledgeable that as I advance my career, the problems I will need to solve for result delivery will need strong cooperation and resources, I have leverage on the collaborations my Lab has with the western world to create strong personal network with other well placed Research scientist at the Broad institute and Tulane University USA.

My aim is to be part of the strong network of young leaders that Chevening generate. Should I become a Chevening awardee I would be able to collaborate with these key players to achieve my aspirations.

While there is not a single event in this essay that clearly portrays how you have created and used a network within the requirements of your job, this essay is acceptable enough. Acceptable in the sense that it at least provides an overview of the network that you have and how it was created. If you make it past considerations and get to the second round, be prepared to justify your network with actual examples that can be verified in relation to your application requirements. This does not provide a direct example as to how you hope to use your current network as a Chevening scholar and also, how you hope to aid the other future scholars using your existing network. However, you implied it within the essay.

This is the problem with any applicant who starts the application process even before the applications are open. Since the applications do not open till August 2017, you are not really capable of properly addressing the requirements of the essay at this time. That is because you have not asked the right questions of the scholarship committee members via email, chat, or other contact methods, which can only be done when the applications are open. Neither have you properly examined, assessed, and used the finalized networking essay examples all over this forum in the development of your networking essay. However, you can set aside this essay for your use once the applications open. There is no other way left to improve this essay. It is sufficient to a certain degree and that is the best that you can do.