The least qualified person in quantum.
My LinkedIn headline comes up in conversation from time to time, and as you may imagine, there’s a story behind it. After all, we don’t normally seek work based on our real or perceived lack of qualifications, and I’m not completely insane. Well, I always respond with the same story, so I might as well write it down and publish it for the benefit of everyone who is curious enough to wonder, yet not curious enough to ask.
Cleansing My Profile
I don’t have a PhD. I discovered years ago that if you’re hiring and you really, really want someone with a PhD, there is nothing I can put on my profile — projects, papers, reports, presentations, certificates, hackathons, courses, workshops, lectures, summer schools, articles, blogs, etc. — in any quantity that will substitute for it. Unqualified is unqualified, so I stopped trying to look less unqualified. If you don’t require a PhD, then my portfolio is my CV, and my LinkedIn profile is my ice breaker.
Chatting on LinkedIn
One day, I was chatting with a very distinguished member of the quantum community. If you follow the industry at all, you know who he is. Anyway, we were chatting about a particularly unscrupulous organization. I was attacking their ethics and behaviors when this VIP began attacking their academic credentials. I replied something to the effect of, “I’m in no position to question anyone’s credentials; I’m the least qualified person in quantum.”
Taking a Videocall
Fast forward to the next day, and I was on a routine videocall. This was my first call with this particular organization, so we began with a round of introductions. There was the PhD in theoretical physics and the PhD in experimental physics, and then it was my turn. After listening to their backgrounds and remembering the previous day’s conversation, I led off with, “I’m the least qualified person in quantum.” They smiled, and then we proceeded to have a productive call.
Circling Around
Immediately after the call, I messaged the VIP again. I explained what happened at the start of the call and said that I was thinking about changing my LinkedIn headline accordingly. The VIP thought it was funny, so I changed it. I have been “the least qualified person in quantum” ever since.
“Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.” — G. I. Joe
Epilogue
If you forward the video to 9:08, Dr. Shannon Whitlock of QPerfect introduces me pseudo-anonymously as “the least qualified person in quantum.” Achievement unlocked. Then, if your curiosity is sufficiently piqued, you can read my review of QPerfect’s MIMIQ on Inside Quantum Technology. And for even more content from the least qualified person in quantum — if you just can’t get enough — subscribe now to The Quantum Dragon. It’s not the newsletter you need right now, but it’s the newsletter you deserve.
