BGS Career Development
Making It Count!
This Nature article emphasizes the importance of expressing the excitement of research through one’s scientific writing. Done successfully, communicating science can both increase its accessibility and progress your career. The author explains how to use research to tell a story, determining when to write and when to use a figure, and more.
Read the full article here.
The NIH Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) career development blog recently published this post about navigating a multi-prong career search. The author is a postdoctoral researcher who found themselves weighing their interest in a tenure-track faculty job versus a non-academic career, either in medical writing or graduate & postdoc professional development. They reflect on the logistical challenges of strategically applying to both academic and non-academic jobs as well as the factors that led them to ultimately accept a role helping postdocs navigate their career search processes. These factors included intuition, work-life balance, and salary, among other considerations.
Read more here.
This Nature article explores the uses of Twitter in professional development. The platform allows for broad-dissemination of information in a tight-packed format, making it a powerful tool for science outreach. As the author explains:
“Many are keen to make research visible and understandable to the wider community. For many, Twitter is one step towards this goal, because it allows non-scientists to find new research instantaneously without having to seek it out on lab or university websites. Twitter also provides a ‘way in’ for members of the public who want to contact scientists directly.”
The article details how scientists use the platform to increase circulation of their own publications, how they use automated paper-searching bots to populate their Twitter-feed with relevant papers in their field, and ways it can facilitate personal connections.
Read more here.
A recent post from the NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education (OITE) careers blog features a useful tool for career exploration: InterSECT Job Simulations.
As OITE explains, “It can be difficult to find internships or detail opportunities that allow you to see if a field is a good fit for you in real life. And while informational interviews are fantastic, they don’t allow you to try things out for yourself. This is where an online job simulation can be of help.”
Each task has been reviewed by professionals in that field for authenticity. Read more here.
In this Nature article, one scientist describes the panic he felt when, during his fourth year of graduate studies, he was told his PhD could pose a liability to pursuing an industry career. Partially because of declining opportunities for full professorship in academia, he had decided to pursue a career in industry only to be told that hiring managers perceive PhDs as overqualified and too independent.
The author describes the steps he took to actively combat misperceptions that might arise when submitting a CV alone – he supplemented online applications with networking events and informational interviews. Ultimately, the author credits the problem-solving skills he gained in graduate school with the positions he holds today – consultant to Fortune 500 companies and manager of three biotechnology startups.
Read more here.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) held their Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. this past February 14-18, 2019.
Sam Effron (CAMB) attended, and he shares his personal reflections on some of the meeting’s main themes (such as, “the collectivity of science, the intersection of science and policy, and the complexity of science communication”) via a series of blog posts.
The latest installment in Effron’s 3-part series explores the question, “Where Does Science Fit on Capitol Hill?” Though scientists may understand the need to contribute their expertise within the political sphere, many may not know where to begin. Effron describes the important connections one must forge in order to navigate bureaucratic red tape, such as with staffers, and delves into concepts such as “activated science” that are key for prompting action.
Read the entire article as well as the rest of the series on the PSPDG blog.
