Scientists and trainees often have a hard time seeing how their lab-based skills can be applied beyond the bench. When you are job searching, whether you are seeking a position in academia, industry, or government, it is essential that you have a clear idea of your main attributes and how they could be applied to your intended position of choice. Identifying skills you already have developed and will be able to transfer to your next professional position is a key component of a successful job search. If you need help identifying possible transferable skills, take a look at the OITE blog post on “What are my transferable skills?” Many trainees…
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Why the 11th Annual Career Symposium is Awesome!
Why the 11th Annual Career Symposium is Awesome! The 11th Annual NIH Career Symposium is on May 18, 2018. This great event features career panels to help you make career decisions. Register now and join us! Top 11 things on why the career symposium is awesome: You can look at what careers you might want. We have faculty, industry, government, bench, non-bench jobs to highlight. Come hear about what these folks do all day at their jobs to make sure you are ready. You could also decide which careers do not fit you. If you are unsure what is next, you can “test” careers-it is just as important to…
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Opinion: Don’t Start Work Until Age 40
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Opinion: Don’t Start Work Until Age 40
According to Laura Carstensen, a Psychologist at the Stanford Center on Longevity, our lives and careers have been arranged wrong. She contends that we shouldn’t start working until the age of 40. Instead, she purports that rather than a four-decade professional sprint ending abruptly at age 65, we should plan for longer careers which are dotted with more breaks along the way. Breaks that account for the myriad factors in one’s life, namely family needs and opportunities for more learning. The current norms around career pacing don’t allow young adults to explore careers through education and apprenticeships. The current model doesn’t account for the demands that come with having children…
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Why the 11th Annual Career Symposium is Awesome!
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From the Archive: Making the Most of Your Transition to NIH
Part Two of a Two-Part Series on Transitions *** Before reading this post, take a moment to read Part One – Understanding the Impact of Change*** If you are just arriving at the NIH as a summer student, postbac, graduate student or postdoctoral or clinical fellow, adjusting to your experience at NIH represents a transition that will be one of many transitions you will face in your career. You may be starting a new phase after leaving a comfortable niche in your undergraduate or graduate university. Or you may be exploring some new opportunities. Having a model or road map for your transition can be helpful. William Bridges is a…
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Procrastination and Avoidance
Procrastination involves avoiding specific tasks; while avoidance tends to be a more general pattern that develops and can cause recurring issues both at work and at home. Most people can relate to occasional bouts of both procrastination and avoidance. About 95% of people admit to putting off work, according to Piers Steel, author of The Procrastination Equation. But, just to ensure you don’t feel alone in these challenges, check out this TED talk from Tim Urban, “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator”. In their research, Pychyl and Blunt found seven triggers which can make tasks feel even more aversive. Usually the task is: Boring Frustrating Difficult Ambiguous Unstructured Not…
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Would You Wear This at Work?
Open-plan offices have become very popular in recent years and they seem to be the go-to option for most tech companies, especially in Silicon Valley. Some companies, like Facebook and Netflix, even tout that not even their CEO has an office. The open office plan was supposed to be less expensive for organizations and conducive to lighter, more open and collaborative companies. Organizations felt that if they removed walls, they would increase visibility and communication among employees and teams. Small startups, large corporations, and co-working spaces all jumped on the bandwagon. Increasingly though, more and more research is proving that open-plan offices are problematic. Ethan Bernstein and Stephen Turban, at…
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The Biggest Mistake on PhD’s LinkedIn Profiles
Many PhD students and postdocs wonder if they really need a LinkedIn profile. Very often they are told by their advisors that using LinkedIn is a waste of their time. Perhaps it might not be the best go to website for academic job searches; however, if you are exploring any non-academic options, then you need to start using LinkedIn. To ignore this huge platform would be a mistake and especially disadvantageous for an industry job search. Recruiters are actively sourcing job candidates via LinkedIn. With 590 million users worldwide, one of the keys to standing out is maintaining an active presence on the site. Another key to effectively marketing yourself…
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Using Online Job Simulations for Career Exploration
Are you considering a career in medical writing? Intellectual property? Program management? Regulatory Affairs? Science Education and Outreach? And beyond? If so, you should check out online job simulations which allows individuals to test out various jobs. 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. You can explore information about a variety of careers of interest to scientists, such as science policy, university administration,…
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Are Millennials the Burnout Generation?
In her viral BuzzFeed essay, “How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation,” Anne Helen Petersen thoroughly details how economic and social demands/constraints have led millennials to feel burnt out. Unlike previous generations, millennials accrued more education, more debt, and were more willing to put career progression ahead of anything else. Millennials are seen as the generation to have killed various objects and industries. One example is the diamond industry. Many millennials are not getting married and, if they do, it is later in life and partners rarely have the financial stability to spend on a diamond engagement ring. But, many millennials feel the promises made to them growing up have been…
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From the Archive – NIH Alumni: Where are they now? Biomedical Engineer/Lead Medical Device Reviewer
Name: Joshua Chetta, PhD Job Title & Organization: Biomedical Engineer/Lead Medical Device Reviewer, FDA Location: White Oak, Silver Spring Md How long you’ve been in your current job: 1.5 years Postdoc Advisor, IC (when at NIH): Joseph Frank, Clinical Center What do you do as an Engineer/Device Reviewer? I’m in CDRH, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health. Most people know about the FDA in its capacity as a drug regulatory agency, but it also regulates medical devices. Things like implants, pace makers and all the hardware that you would see in a hospital room – all of the monitoring devices. So, the medical devices have their own regulatory pathways. My day to day job…
