JOIN MICELLA PHOENIX DeWHYSE--GRAD STUDENT EXTRAORDINAIRE--AS
SHE MAKES HER WAY THROUGH GRAD SCHOOL IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING
INDEX OF ARTICLES
It pays to keep in touch with people, especially if they seem
genuinely interested in your success.
Well, since I've given myself enough of a head start on
my job search to take my time--or enough rope to hang myself--I
guess the question is now where the heck to start looking.
Attempting to begin a job search without a clear picture of the
current climate (and your own needs) is like trying to fish without
bait; you might get lucky and hook something, but don't count on
it. In the interest of improving the odds and with some
self-awareness in hand , it's time to start seeking a sense of
direction.
I'm facing the same decision many scientists face: to flee or
not to flee the bench. I'm not crazy about my
current research, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave bench
work behind and the prospect of an academic job sometime in the
near future. I love to help people learn (including classroom
teaching), but I'm not sure I want to continue to postpone my
non-career life while negotiating the long postdoc-to-tenure-track
road (i.e., relationships, kids, family).
In my younger days, I swore off industry, but I'm thinking about
swearing it back on again. The question is: if I go into industry,
what kind of work would I have to do to maintain my viability for
academic employment? In addition to trying to decide if I'm fleeing
the bench, I'm also trying to decide if I can be bought for just a
little while, remain satisfied scientifically--monetarily shouldn't
be too much of a question--while remaining viable for a research
post.
The main value of a postdoc is that it allows you to broaden
your research skill set and learn new techniques, which makes you a
better candidate for most research jobs. Then again, in an
industrial job I'll likely learn other things. What is a
prerequisite for what? Do I need a postdoc to get an industry job?
Will the experience gained in industry serve as a postdoc? So far,
the answers I get from industry people I've talked to (recent
graduates from my department and others) is that you'll need
flexibility more than you'll need hard experience for some
industrial positions. You may never encounter your thesis work
again.
I've started searching the Internet for industrial
biotech/biomaterials opportunities and it's not a pretty picture:
where are all the jobs? If, as Dave Jensen suggests in
"Ten Traits of the Job-Search Rebel" only 15%-20% of the
positions are officially listed in either publications or online,
I'm in for a long ride. I'm trying to refrain from early angst
because Jensen brought up an excellent point
just last week --a bad attitude about your job search will send
potential employers running for the hills. I'm trying to start and
remain positive and optimistic. If so few opportunities are posted,
maybe things aren't as bad as they seem. But how do you apply for
jobs that aren't advertised? How do you find those jobs?
I realized recently that there are some very valuable people in
my life, even in my department. It's strange: once I let it be
known that I was starting my job search, my professors started
being, um, inquisitive and (oh my goodness!) helpful. In addition
to the faces in my department, I've started reaching out to people
from former lives: professors from my undergrad years, and people
I've worked with during summers and the year that I took off before
starting graduate school.
This is where my network begins. It pays to keep in touch with
people, especially if they seem genuinely interested in your
success. I've found that one of the most difficult things to do in
graduate school is to keep up with the outside world, but as I
embark on my next journey, I'm glad I did. Staying in touch has
been one of the most helpful things I could do. I've written a
number of e-mails letting the world know that I'm ready to start
looking for my next lily pad and that any assistance they could
offer would be greatly appreciated.
I've starting digging to see which companies and
labs--university and government--do the scientific work that piques
my interest. I've also been researching here on our beloved SNW how
to do an in-depth investigation on a company and how to
successfully complete a job search. I highly recommend a number of
columns that I'll detail below.
Another of Dave Jensen's many columns--
"Tooling Up" from January 2001 presented two ideas that were
new to me: creating a job-search support group and a database.
Jensen suggests developing a job-search support group to help widen
your network and pass along information to help yourself and others
as you embark on a job search. If we all must do a job search at
some point, wouldn't it be nice to have resources available so you
don't spend the first parts of your search haphazardly learning the
ropes? I'm seriously considering proposing such a group to my
department or the departments in the college of science and
engineering. There is something daunting about searching for a job
alone, and résumé posting on Monster is not my idea of looking for
a job.
As for the next task--scoping out companies--two other Next Wave
writers--Charles Boulakia and Peter Fiske--have taken on this
topic, in
"Zeroing In on a Company" and
and "How to Separate Ideal Employers from Bad Ones During Your Job
Search" . Boulakia focuses on how the nuts and bolts of
company-digging--size, location, international status, financial
statistics, and reputation--can help you decide whether to even
*apply* for a job, and then goes on to describe how to collect
information during the interview process. Fiske gives more detail
on the kinds of places that you might want to work, as well as a
list of items that can make a work situation a job from hell. All
of this is very useful information that I wish I knew when applying
to graduate school.
In addition to the articles highlighted here, there is a
treasure trove on Next Wave about different career paths to
consider, from
patent law to
science policy to
bioengineering and myriad other career options. In case you
haven't found it yet, there's an
index to recent features .
Once I've done my homework and gotten my job research settled,
I'm looking forward to doing a little informational interviewing.
(I'm doing my job by the book, folks!). At least two other articles
in Next Wave give great hints on how to conduct informational
interviews: Peter Fiske's "Informational
Interviewing: How to Be an Insider at Every Opening" and David
Bomzer's Insider's Edge column,
"Informational Interviewing: Getting Information You Can Use"
.
Fiske focuses on the importance of an informational interview,
why a company would actually submit to an informational interview,
and provides some practical dos and don'ts. Bomzer takes a more
systematic approach: Where to start, what you might ask, and how to
analyze the data you get from the interview. Remember friends, we
must be like scouts in the wilderness--be prepared at all times.
The opportunity to have an informational interview with someone can
arise at any time--who knows who you might meet in the airport?
Just ask one of Peter Fiske's friends who found the
perfect opportunity by chance .
I don't know about you, but I have a lot of work to do, a degree
to finish, and a job to find. As always, stories of triumph,
tragedy, hope, and despair are welcome, just drop me a line at
micella_phoenix_dewhyse@hotmail.com
. Good luck, and may the force be with you!