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Asked to participate in prestigious conference, what should I do?

A


I am first year phd student and I have been asked to attend a prestigious international conference at my university. I have been asked to assist the professor in charge. It could be a fantastic opportunity but I am worried that I am not good enough - that I may be lacking the necessary communication skills and confidence which could possibly let my professor down or that I will somehow, be 'found out' by the conference. Can anyone offer advice? Would assisting the professor at, what is a prestigious event go far in my three month viva?
Cheers

S

Go, do it, and enjoy. If you've been asked to assist, your prof obviously thinks you're good enough. Have faith in yourself. Lots of us here suffer from 'imposter syndrome' - do a search on the forum and you'll come up with lots of posts. We worry people will think we're frauds and will see through us. The way to beat this is to believe in yourself, and also bluff your way through until you really are confident enough. It's important that you grab opportunities as they are given to your thorughout your candidature, so grab this, learn and have fun!

ooh, definitely do it! If you don't then you won't build up the experience necessary for the next one you are invited to. The prof will know how experienced you are and take that into account. Do you know what 'assisting' means - it could be just showing people to seats or something anyway. Its not something you should get overly stressed about - if you stop phrasing it as a "prestigious international conference" and more "a few people coming to talk about research" then it will probably be less scary.

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