The OITE Career Blog posted back in 2015 that Twitter was a great resource to utilize when job searching. For a basic overview of Twitter for job searching, check out that post #JobSearch – Using Twitter to Find Jobs.
However, a lot has developed in the last five years. Twitter has become one of the most popular social media platforms; as of 2019, it had a reported 320 million active users. Many scientists have taken to Twitter because it can be used as a great tool to connect with others (even those in positions of power and leadership) in a very purposeful and active way. Scientists have remarked that Twitter is a great platform for seeking out scientific collaborations, finding new mentors, networking, and job searching. These are all reasons that are important at every stage, but especially early in one’s career.
If you are new to Twitter and looking for an introduction on how to get started, here are some excellent resources for you to check out:
1. An article from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) entitled “Ten simple rules for getting started on Twitter as a scientist”. The introduction states:
“This article is written by a group of researchers who have a strong feeling that they have personally benefited from using Twitter, both research-wise and network-wise. We (@DrVeronikaCH, @Felienne, @CaAl, @nbielczyk_neuro, @ionicasmeets) share our personal experience and advice in the form of ten simple rules, and we hope that this material will help a number of researchers who are planning to start their journey on Twitter to take their first steps and advance their careers using Twitter.”
2. Daniel Quintana, a Research Scientist at the University of Oslo, recently published a book “Twitter for Scientists” which you can read online for free at https://t.co/Zmku1uk45d . This book covers everything from composing tweets to taking care of yourself on Twitter.
3. In preparation for this blog post, we asked trainees at the NIH for tips on how they use Twitter, specifically which hashtags and accounts they recommend following. Here are some crowdsourced ideas for your inspiration:
For job searching:
Add #PostdocOpps, #SciJobs, etc…
Follow @ScienceCareers, your field societies e.g. ASM/ASTMH/ASV etc., labs, @MicrobiologyNet (Microbiology Network), @BeyondProf (Beyond the Professoriate, a good place to explore nonPI jobs), @Parasitologyjo1 (Parasitology jobs), @PostdocJobsBio (postdoc openings), @STEMPhDCareers, etc.
For science and scientists:
The field societies, journals, @bioRxiv, @theNASEM (Nat’l Academy of Science), @nationalpostdoc, NSF and NSF_Bio, NIH, NCBIStaff, @NewPI_Slack (for future PIs), @NIHFunding, @OSM, @PLOSECR (PLoS Early Career Scientist Community), @GradSlack (for current/future grad students), @RNAJournal, @RNApreprints, @WomenInMalaria, @WIParasitology (Women in Parasitology), @BLACKAndSTEM, @Also_AScientist (community of unique scientists, LBGTQTIA inclusive), @AcademicChatter (or #AcademicChatter), @CSHL_WISE (Cold Spring Harbor Women in Science)
***
@careerconversations
@academicchatter
@choo_ek (Esther Choo)
@fromPhDtoLife (Jennifer Polk, PhD)
@jenheemstra (Jen Heemstra)
@BeyondProf
@PhD_Balance
@Also_AScientist
@VirusesImmunity (Prof. Akiko Iwasaki)
@Thoughtsofaphd (PhD Diaries)
@PhDForum
@Acwri
@WriteThatPhD
@Academicswrite
***
#NIH
#ScienceJobs
#SciJobs
#STEMPhD
#SciComm
#ScienceCommunication
#SciPol
#SciencePolicy
#HealthScience
#Academia
#AcademicTwitter
#AcademicChatter
#AcademicKindness
#AcademicJobMarket
#Science
#Education
#Research
#SciComm
#ScienceCommunication
#MentalHealth
#MedicalEducation
#Physicians
#Healthcare
#Pulication
#Medicine
#Research
As a reminder: you can also follow us at @NIH_OITE. We post about career-related and wellness events and topics frequently, so we hope you will find our account to be a good resource about staying up to date on all things OITE.
Quintana, D.S. (2020). Twitter for Scientists [eBook edition]. Retrieved from https://t4scientists.com/. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3707741
