Many trainees find themselves in the process of preparing for interviews which will require a presentation of their research. This is common for both academic and industry positions. A former NIH postdoc who successfully transitioned into an industry role shared some tips on how to nail your interview presentation. 1. Present a cohesive story showcasing past research One to two really solid and relevant stories are the key here. Bounce your ideas off lab mates, mentors, etc. Practice your talk and ask for feedback. Sometimes ideas that seem to flow naturally for us feel jumbled or confusing to our audience. Appreciate any insights others share as valid critiques to pay…

Congratulations on submitting your application to medical school!  Now that your primary application has been verified, the medical schools that you have selected will be sending you secondaries.  Many of the schools will also request that you complete additional situational judgement tests to complete your application.  Here is some general information to give you an overview of what to expect: Secondary Essay Questions Secondaries are sets of additional questions that medical school requires of applicants and helps them to gain more information that the school needs to know about the applicant for their program. These questions can be categories into adversity, diversity/inclusion, and research. The OITE pre-med advising team recommends…

Many job seekers mistakenly think that after an interview, they should just sit back and wait. Unfortunately, your work is not done yet! You should always follow up with thank you notes after an interview. Hiring managers have reported that they have eliminated candidates who failed to follow up with a thank you because it demonstrated a lack of professional maturity and often struck interviewers as just plain rude.  It is considered standard practice in the United States, so always try to send an email within 48 hours of your interview. You can also follow up after you have sent your thank you emails. If you haven’t heard from the…

Post written by guest blogger Ana Martins Ribeiro, Special Programs Coordinator in OITE. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from more than a year of teleworking and social distancing is that people are extremely versatile in adapting to new realities and finding innovative solutions. As the world slowly celebrates the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, our workforce is reluctant to the “return to normalcy” idea; in fact, people’s “new normal” seems to be seeking for new and creative opportunities for revamping their careers. “The Great Resignation” has reshaped the world of work and is here to stay. If you’re considering new professional opportunities or a shift in your career, my…

Job searches can be overwhelming and sometimes it is difficult to know exactly where to start. Resume Worded has put together a step-by-step checklist to help you stay organized and task-oriented.  Here are the things you’ll need to think about when job searching: Your Resume/CV These introductory documents are what help you get an interview. A strong resume/CV gets past initial filters/screens and makes a strong impression on hiring managers. Make sure you understand what type of document (resume, academic CV, federal resume) to use for the job you are applying to. Create impact on your document through strong content and a clean, easy to skim format. Lastly, always have…

A few years ago, LinkedIn (LI) rolled out a new feature to help make it clear to employers that you have the necessary skills.  LI developed online assessments which have been designed by subject matter experts and are in different topic areas like business, technical, and design. LI users can take an assessment by navigating to the skills section of your profile and selecting the relevant Skill Assessment. These assessments are timed. If you have a disability, you can activate the accessibility feature for Skills Assessments which should give you more time to complete the test. By default, your score is private; however, if you score in the 70th percentile…

We have often remarked that a job search is more akin to a marathon than a sprint. In truth, job searches can be long, exhausting, and demoralizing.  Even in the best of economic times, job searches average six to nine months. The hiring landscape during Covid has been pretty bleak, although we are seeing signs of improvement on the horizon. About 55 million Americans filed for unemployment since the pandemic began, so you are not alone in your job search woes. Here are some tips to help keep you positive and motivated when a job search stretches on, and on, and on… 1. Focus on the things you can control.…

Post written by guest blogger Angie Snyder, PsyD, Wellness Advisor Over 14 months ago, our lives changed abruptly when we needed to stay home, social distance, and mask-up due to coronavirus.  For many, this sudden change led to life circumstances that were vastly different than how we’d lived before.  Now well documented, people across the globe have experienced great challenges including loss, grief, fear, stress, economic destabilization, and the psychological impact of monotony.  Despite all of the difficulties, some people have also found benefit and enjoyment to the changed circumstances – people have learned to enjoy a slower pace of life, more time with family and loved ones at home,…

Career decision making is something that everyone struggles with at some point; in a recent blog post, we wrote about this struggle, which can lead to a tendency to drift into decisions. Turns out, there are two basic decision-making styles. Which one are you — a maximizer or a satisficer? Maximizers tend to take their time and don’t feel comfortable choosing until they feel they have explored every option and have chosen the absolute best. Satisficers on the other hand prefer to be fast rather than thorough and they tend to choose the option that first meets all of their needs because it is good enough. The word “satisficer” comes…

Post written by guest blogger Anne Kirchgessner, Career Counselor at OITE Many times in career counseling, we meet with fellows who say they are not sure of their skills or how to express them to employers. Fellows also often overlook or take for granted skills that they have developed which are valuable to employers.  It can be difficult to evaluate your transferable skills. If you take time to reflect on your experiences you can develop more confidence about which skills and strengths you want to take forward in your next career step. One way to do this is to identify skills and link them with evidence through specific examples so…