Name: Julien Debbache, PhD

Job Title & Organization: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Zurich

Location: Zurich, Switzerland

How long you’ve been in your current job: Two years

PHD Advisor, IC: Heinz Arnheiter, NINDS (Now NIH Emeritus); Individual Partnership Program (Rennes 1 University, France)

Emails are a huge part of everyday life. Look at your own inbox and I am sure you will agree. In today’s world of constant digital communication, strong writing and effective communication skills are more important than ever. Especially if you are job searching, remember that all of your correspondence throughout that process is being critiqued. You only have once chance to make a good virtual impression, so pay careful attention to detail!

Here are some of the most common email mistakes to avoid:

1. Misspelling the recipient’s name.

Part two of a two-part series written by guest blogger Dr. Phil Ryan, Director of Student Services at the Office of Intramural Training and Education.

Asking for a raise can be anxiety provoking; therefore, many people put it off because they are afraid. A very common error is to hope the problem will be magically solved and your boss will automatically remedy the situation for you. The second most common mistake is allowing the built up resentment of feeling underpaid to grow to a point where you begin making aggressive demands.

Generally, neither approach is successful. If you are hoping for a pay increase, here are some things to take into consideration before having that conversation with your boss.

1. First and foremost, objectively research the worth of your job in your city.

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.

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?

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

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.

Recently a few trainees have inquired about ResearchGate, so we decided to take a further look at this site. It was founded in 2008 by two physicians who discovered that collaborating with a friend or colleague (especially one across the world) was no easy task. They created this website with the intent of helping make scientific progress happen faster.

In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, we decided to take another look at what luck really looks like.  If you search the word “luck” on this very career blog, many of the results include interviews with NIH alumni who have attributed some part of their career to luck. This is a small example which reflects a larger sentiment.  Many individuals feel that their career path has unfolded by chance and they somehow just got lucky. In fact, there is actually a Career Development Theory of Planned Happenstance pioneered by Dr. John Krumboltz which supports this.