Ahhh, career fairs. It seems they are a rite of passage in a career search. Career fairs are a good idea to research companies and network. Career fairs are a bad idea if you think you will walk away with a job (statistics show that less than 2% of attendees get a job directly from a job fair). So, how do you navigate a career fair? Here are some tips: 1. Before going to the Career Fair: * Develop a strategy to maximize your time at the event. * Identify target organizations by reviewing the list of participating employers (for the upcoming Montgomery County Career Fair, that list can be…
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Assessing Your Skills, Values & Interests
Whether you are a postbac, graduate student, postdoc or clinical fellow, you probably have wondered how to blend your individual interests, values and skills into a satisfying career. Self-assessment is an integral part of an effective career planning process and involves asking yourself about your: Skills -How good am I at different lab techniques or giving talks? -How are my language, mentoring, training, writing and communication skills? Interests -What interests me? For example, do I prefer running the experiment or writing up the experiment? Values -What is important to me in a job? For example, do I need to have a lot of variety or do I prefer to have…
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NIH Alumni: Where are they now? Review Toxicologist
Name: Omari Bandele, Ph.D. Job Title & Company: Review Toxicologist, FDA, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS), Division of Food Contact Notifications (DFCN) Location: College Park, MD How long in current position? 10 months Postdoc Advisor, IC: Douglas Bell, Ph.D., National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research Triangle Park, North Carolina What do you do as a Review Toxicologist? In our Division, we evaluate the safety of chemicals in food packaging materials that may migrate into food over time or that may contact food during the manufacturing process. Some examples are chemicals used in the manufacturing of potato chip bags, microwave…
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How I Used LinkedIn to Get a Hiring Manager’s Attention
Part one of a two-part series written by guest blogger Dr. Phil Ryan, Director of Student Services at the Office of Intramural Training and Education. I am in an enviable position because I love my job. Regardless, we should all be looking forward in our career and thinking about what the next step entails. While I am not actively pursuing new positions, every now and then a job posting comes to my attention and piques my interest. I am sure many of you have had a similar experience. Usually the scenario goes like this: you see the job title and it sounds like something that really interests you. Next, you…