Next Steps

At this stage, some of you may feel ready, depending on your background, to apply to a few robotics jobs. Some of you are waiting to start Term 2, and add motion planning, localization and hardware skills to your resume, before looking for a job. Wherever you are, the best time to begin networking and finding a community within the robotics industry is now. The more ingrained you are in the robotics industry, the more likely an employer will perceive you as a roboticist.

Other than looking for job opportunities, networking also allows you to:

• Find out what cool things other roboticists are doing
• Hear about major events or upcoming robotics challenges
• Discover upcoming trends and hot topics in the field
• Share your interests with others just as passionate as you are

Top 3 Platforms for In-Person Networking

There's no secret about where to find robotics networking events - most organizations and groups use the same platforms as everyone else: Meetup, Eventbrite and Facebook.

1. Meetup has over 2,200 robotics meetups around the world. Depending on your interests, you can go to meetups focused on NLP, machine learning, autonomous cars, and more!
2. Eventbrite is a popular platform for small and large groups. You'll find robotics-related events in small villages to large cities.
3. Facebook Events are really popular with university and local groups. You'll likely find maker-space type events and academic talks here.

ProTip: You can easily get on academic or local events listservs. Find the event hosts on any of the three platforms above and go to their website to sign up.

Top 4 Platforms for Online Networking

1. Udacity's Robotics Slack Community. As a member, you can chat with a wide audience from company CEOs to hobbyists. Industry professionals all over the world are active, in discussions about new research to hosting mini robotics challenges.
2. IEEE. By joining IEEE, you're plugged into an international professional organization, where you are able to connect with experts and get industry news before anyone else does. If you're a student with an .edu email address, you get a heavily discounted membership price.
3. Silicon Valley Robotics. One of the bigger professional networks out there, membership gets you events and job boards, in addition to access to a larger community. If you're not in Silicon Valley and there's not a similar group in your area, start your own! Professional networks start with a few people talking about their interests and career goals in a café, and can grow to encompass thousands of people.
4. LinkedIn Groups. Unsurprisingly, LinkedIn is the best platform to connect with other professionals with shared interests - this is a primary function of LinkedIn! In addition to joining robotics-related groups, look for large communities, such as alumni networks. Best of all, LinkedIn is free!

ProTip: Here's a fill-in-the-blanks message you can send to someone on LinkedIn. Remember to customize!

"Hi, my name's [] and I'm currently a Udacity Robotics Nanodegree student. I'm working on a [project] and saw that you worked at [company]. I've read about the work you all are doing on [related topic]. Do you have time next week for a quick 30-minute call? I am really interested in hearing what you and the company are up to in this field. Thank you!"

Learn More

Stay up to date on robotics news. When you go to these events or are talking to another roboticist, you want things to talk about!

• Robohub has daily news, including interviews with industry professionals.
• DataTau is focused on data science and many of the surfaced articles and blogs are related to machine learning and artificial intelligence.
• Udacity Talks, in addition to TED Talks and similar platforms, let you see into the minds of leading roboticists. Check out Sebastian Thrun's interview with Nest's CTO Yoky Matsuoka and Rodney Brook's TED Talk on why we need robots.

You have a lot of resources to continue exploring the robotics field and community. Get to it, and we'll see you again in Term 2!