BGS Career Development
Making It Count!
In this Nature article, Dr. Crystal Upperman discusses her own career path and provides tips for diversifying one’s CV as a doctoral candidate. Briefly outlined, the seven steps for making the leap to industry include:
Read the specifics on each step here.
The NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE) recently published two articles on the topic of feedback. Understanding how you as an individual process feedback is critical to personal and professional development.
The first article focuses on controlling one’s reception of feedback by focusing on the type (Appreciation, Coaching, or Evaluation) as well as aspects that might be personally triggering (Truth, Relationship, and Identity Triggers.)
The second article also addresses reception of feedback but focuses on analyzing your past experiences taking in feedback, then communicating what you’ve learned through introspection to your mentor.
This article in Nature explains how a doctorate in STEM prepares individuals for a career as a diversity and inclusion (D&I) professional within academia.
The article details the experiences of various underrepresented minorities (URMs) – the challenges they faced as doctoral students and the careers in diversity and inclusion that they built to ensure other scientists would have adequate support systems. The scientists interviewed focus especially on the parallels between their doctoral research and their current work in D&I.
Read more here.
The Society for Neuroscience published a two-part interview with Khan Ozol, a neuroscientist and global head of talent scouting at Novartis. In part one of the interview, Ozol shares the career path that led him to his current position. He focuses specifically on the influences that helped him realize his passion for entrepreneurship, with a focus on science.
In part two, he describes the types of positions available in industry and some of the typical career trajectories. Though Ozol frequently mentions neuroscientists, his insights on how to be a competitive candidate in industry are widely applicable.
Nature research journal has provided an online career guide on how to give a great scientific talk. As the author notes, “The gut-punch feeling of dread that the prospect of being on stage can trigger will be familiar to many early-career scientists.” Still, the ability to present one’s research with clarity not only helps to cement one’s own understanding of their subject matter, it can also help attract collaborators at conferences.
The article provides tips and suggestions on how to develop public speaking skills and keep calm in front of an audience.
Read more here.
The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology developed a guide for those interested in the career path of medical science liaisons. They provide the following overview of the role and responsibilities:
“MSLs play an integral role as part of the medical affairs team to serve as a subject matter expert within a specific therapeutic area (e.g., cancer biology, autoimmune diseases). They educate internal (e.g., sales and marketing) and external (e.g., physicians) stakeholders on the most updated scientific and clinical data and best use of products (e.g., drug treatment, medical device), gather pertinent clinical insights from healthcare practitioners to inform product needs, and establish relationships with key opinion leaders across the field.”(Via ASBMB)
The post also delves into salary information, typical work schedules (flexible, with remote working opportunities and lots of traveling), qualifications, and various resources to learn more about the MSL career path and where to find open job postings. Students strongly considering this field may be especially interested in the Interactive Simulation Exercises for Career Transitions website, which contains job-simulation exercises.
Read more here.