New job, old presentation template?
September 17, 2013 3:39 PM Subscribe
I will be giving a talk at a job interview, about scientific research that I did several years ago. The powerpoint slides use the (somewhat gaudy) template of my former employer, the institution that funded the research. Should I keep the template or change it?
I work for industry company A, doing R&D work in A's subfield. I have a job interview with company B, an institution that straddles the line between industry and academia; they've asked me to give a seminar when I interview there. I will be talking about work I did 5-8 years ago, while I was working at academic lab C (a US national lab). Take it as given that the old work at C is much much more relevant than my current work at A, in terms of the job at B, and that this is what I will be talking about 100%.
Now, the question. All my presentations about this project/work were made using the powerpoint template of institution C. When I use these slides, on that template, I would only like it to indicate that the work was carried out at institution C and I thank them for their support. (which I will of course say in words). I would not like it to indicate that I haven't made new slides in 5 years, or that I am claiming affiliation with a lab I no longer work at - but is that subtext really a danger? I don't really know what message a slide template carries, or is the choice of template much less meaningful and loaded than I think it is?
I would be less worried if it were simply a choice of color scheme, a solid header bar, and a logo in the bottom corner; but it is a vivid, colorful, eyecatching, heavily-branded template that the impolite might refer to as "gaudy". Is it okay to alter that template, or is that (like the sanctity of the corporate logo) simply not done?
There is no reason at all that I should consider using the templates of my current home-institution, A, right? Not even including their logo, right?
I could get rid of the template entirely (perhaps just include lab C's logo in the lower corner). In that case, though, I've got a sparse white background, something that I haven't dealt with in 15 years, because I've always worked for places that required us to use their templates. The white feels wrong. What color schemes are appropriate for a job interview?
I work for industry company A, doing R&D work in A's subfield. I have a job interview with company B, an institution that straddles the line between industry and academia; they've asked me to give a seminar when I interview there. I will be talking about work I did 5-8 years ago, while I was working at academic lab C (a US national lab). Take it as given that the old work at C is much much more relevant than my current work at A, in terms of the job at B, and that this is what I will be talking about 100%.
Now, the question. All my presentations about this project/work were made using the powerpoint template of institution C. When I use these slides, on that template, I would only like it to indicate that the work was carried out at institution C and I thank them for their support. (which I will of course say in words). I would not like it to indicate that I haven't made new slides in 5 years, or that I am claiming affiliation with a lab I no longer work at - but is that subtext really a danger? I don't really know what message a slide template carries, or is the choice of template much less meaningful and loaded than I think it is?
I would be less worried if it were simply a choice of color scheme, a solid header bar, and a logo in the bottom corner; but it is a vivid, colorful, eyecatching, heavily-branded template that the impolite might refer to as "gaudy". Is it okay to alter that template, or is that (like the sanctity of the corporate logo) simply not done?
There is no reason at all that I should consider using the templates of my current home-institution, A, right? Not even including their logo, right?
I could get rid of the template entirely (perhaps just include lab C's logo in the lower corner). In that case, though, I've got a sparse white background, something that I haven't dealt with in 15 years, because I've always worked for places that required us to use their templates. The white feels wrong. What color schemes are appropriate for a job interview?
Best answer: Depending on how far you want to delve into this, it might make sense to look at Lab C's branding / identity management guidelines. I've seen some that would forbid your using their templates at all once you're no longer part of the institution; others might not forbid using the templates, but probably would forbid altering the template on your own, including something like using the logo without other parts of the template.
Not that I really think anyone would find out and you'd get into any sort of trouble for altering a powerpoint template. But it might be a consideration for you if you may run into someone from Lab C who would recognize that you are using outdated or altered templates and might find it distracting. Or if you just want to do right by the branding policy of a place you no longer work but might still be maintaining some professional ties.
In your shoes, I'd ditch Lab C's template and go for something plain and professional. White background fine but not required if there's a color you like better. Do make sure your text and background colors have good contrast for easy readability.
Put a slide in toward the beginning or right at the end, crediting Lab C, thanking your former colleagues there or the research participants, whatever is an appropriate way to do the crediting in your field.
posted by Stacey at 3:55 PM on September 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
Not that I really think anyone would find out and you'd get into any sort of trouble for altering a powerpoint template. But it might be a consideration for you if you may run into someone from Lab C who would recognize that you are using outdated or altered templates and might find it distracting. Or if you just want to do right by the branding policy of a place you no longer work but might still be maintaining some professional ties.
In your shoes, I'd ditch Lab C's template and go for something plain and professional. White background fine but not required if there's a color you like better. Do make sure your text and background colors have good contrast for easy readability.
Put a slide in toward the beginning or right at the end, crediting Lab C, thanking your former colleagues there or the research participants, whatever is an appropriate way to do the crediting in your field.
posted by Stacey at 3:55 PM on September 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
"Once upon a time" I put together a presentation for a competitor. (Presentations are part and parcel of the kind of work I do - not R&D, but rather marketing / training.)
Anyway one idea that you can consider is using a 'generic', non-company-branded PowerPoint template. (I ended up using one from Microsoft's website under 'look for more templates online'.)
And then for any company-specific (and company-branded) research you are to present, simply take a screenshot of the entire screen and paste it over the generic template you are building your presentation with. (Presumably you have a majority of slides that reflect your work, rather than your employer's 'proprietary' or otherwise they-own-it materials.)
I of course did use some secondary materials while at the then-current company, but more generic not-specific-to-the-current-company, more like materials I dug up while there that was germane to the presentation.
Depending on how you want to present yourself, nothing terrible about a white background (but I think you can certainly do better). Some of the most memorable presentations have a variety of images that fill the screen (think Steve Jobs).
Good luck!
posted by scooterdog at 4:17 PM on September 17, 2013
Anyway one idea that you can consider is using a 'generic', non-company-branded PowerPoint template. (I ended up using one from Microsoft's website under 'look for more templates online'.)
And then for any company-specific (and company-branded) research you are to present, simply take a screenshot of the entire screen and paste it over the generic template you are building your presentation with. (Presumably you have a majority of slides that reflect your work, rather than your employer's 'proprietary' or otherwise they-own-it materials.)
I of course did use some secondary materials while at the then-current company, but more generic not-specific-to-the-current-company, more like materials I dug up while there that was germane to the presentation.
Depending on how you want to present yourself, nothing terrible about a white background (but I think you can certainly do better). Some of the most memorable presentations have a variety of images that fill the screen (think Steve Jobs).
Good luck!
posted by scooterdog at 4:17 PM on September 17, 2013
Change it. Using their template makes it look like the presentation is theirs and not yours. You don't want there to be backroom conversation questioning where the slides came from or whether or not they're proprietary.
Use your own slides, then mention and thank the other organization.
posted by cnc at 4:38 PM on September 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
Use your own slides, then mention and thank the other organization.
posted by cnc at 4:38 PM on September 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
Change it, and if you're worried about what "look" your slides should have, you can't go wrong with doing them in the LaTeX beamer class which has many excellent templates that are instantly recognizable.
(you can sometimes get good approximations of them for Powerpoint)
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:58 PM on September 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
(you can sometimes get good approximations of them for Powerpoint)
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:58 PM on September 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, everybody. I'm definitely changing it.
On Stacey's advice, I went nosing around the C website, and discovered that even they think the 2008-era template was garish, because the current template is sweet and subdued with a subtle stripe at one edge and a tiny logo in the corner. Of course, the info I was looking for, "who's allowed to use the template" was in the employees-only documentation section, as was the new template.
So I'll just make something of my own from scratch, as classy and professional as possible. I think it's the right decision (and suspect I knew that all along and was just trying to duck out of the extra work). Thank you all for convincing me it had to be done.
posted by aimedwander at 5:41 PM on September 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
On Stacey's advice, I went nosing around the C website, and discovered that even they think the 2008-era template was garish, because the current template is sweet and subdued with a subtle stripe at one edge and a tiny logo in the corner. Of course, the info I was looking for, "who's allowed to use the template" was in the employees-only documentation section, as was the new template.
So I'll just make something of my own from scratch, as classy and professional as possible. I think it's the right decision (and suspect I knew that all along and was just trying to duck out of the extra work). Thank you all for convincing me it had to be done.
posted by aimedwander at 5:41 PM on September 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lukemeister at 3:50 PM on September 17, 2013