Women in Biology Internet Launch pages

Page 2: Career/Job Resources

If you just arrived, please start at the index page for an introduction to the site and an index to the major topics at left (you can use the buttons to navigate between all the pages). The starting page also provides a special section for all recent additions to this site; these will eventually be moved to their appropriate category as new resources are added.

Links I consider to be of particular interest or use. Your mileage may vary.
Direct quotations are in color.

Section contents:
Resources
Non-academics

Other options
Academic jobs

negotiating
Job listings
Ethics
Dealing with the media

Practical career information

Start here: these reports and articles about the state of the profession have been moved to the reports/data page.

• Biology career prospects
• Government reports and studies

Individual development plans are a way to assess where you are and where you want to be, particiularly useful for postdocs but also for students and junior faculty. Some resources: FASEB IDP template WICB column on using IDPs Postdoc compact includes suggestions for both postdocs and advisors IDP plan for students and postdocs (.doc file from UCSF)

General resources and career planning Also see alternate careers, and PhD and postdoc study

• The Scientist'sGuide to Traditional and Alternative Careers provides extensive information, including an outstanding collection of links on all sorts of careers from traditional academic toindustry to everything imaginable. Information here ranges from how to negotiate an offer to what training you need for a particular job. .
• Networking for dummies: No matter what you do, your future depends on relationships with other people. .
• How to do what you love.
• Phds.Org is continually updated and offers an extensive, ever-expanding collection of relevant links for science PhDs--everything from finding jobs to science funding. Highly !
• Congratulations, Doctor, Now what?: comments on the 1998 Trends in Life science report (see above). Requires free password.
• Report from the ASCB member survey about the time to PhD and career patterns of members, which also suggests a glut of PhDs in biology....
• ...but that depends on how you look at it. For the positive spin on the Trends... and ASCB reports, see this opinion from The Scientist. This is the syllabus of an interesting class on "survival skills for a research career" from U. Iowa.
• The end of the academic affair: a woman scientist tries to figure out what to do when the academic offers don't come. "Any remaining hope I had for an academic career is fading. I am geographically limited in my career search and I am unwilling to be a second-class citizen/postdoc for much longer."
• Out of the lab and into the marketplace, from Nature
• Plugging the academic pipeline: making informed decisions about your career path.
• Why won't she behave?, or, the value of the permanent postdoc.
• A career planning center from the National Academy
• Science magazine's Next Wave, an "electronic network for the next generation of scientists". Lots of information here about nuts and bolts of science careers, targeted at, but not limited to, senior grad students and postdocs. Includes sections on finding a job, as well as career transitions out of academe, postdoc and faculty issues and much more. Password required, but free. Updated frequently. .
• CV posting site from Science. This can be accessed by biotech/pharma companies.
• The Scientist's Lifeboat, figuring out what to do. Rather cynical viewpoint.
• Careers in biology provides links to sites around the internet. Aimed at college students.
• Opportunities for Women in Biomedical Careers
• Careers in national laboratories
• Young Scientists Network Archive. Although aimed more at physical scientists, this is one of the original sites addressing the perceived PhD glut in academic research.
• Network of Emerging Scientistsprovides a discussion list and a number of other resources.
• Bioplanet: The bioinformatics home page. Includes career info and job listings for this new discipline.
• Resources for women in mathematical biology
• Online career sites run by different universities can be helpful. This list was assembled by The Chronicle.
• Career strategy columns from ASCB WICB committee cover diverse topics from asking for a raise, to online communities.
• Career site from U. Arizona has transcripts from career discussions with a huge variety of scientists. Excellent resource.

• Off the bench: career options for scientists
• Traitors or Trailblazers?: women pursuing alternative careers
• Alternative careers in science, an overview of resources from HMS Beagle. (Password required, but free).
• Careers in transition: a list of resources from Science's Nextwave (free password may be required)
• Web resources for non-academic careers
• Nonacademic careers, a list of articles from The Chronicle of Higher Education
• The Labrat.com features CV posting, job lists, interview tips and more. Directed at non-academic science.
• Negotiating salaries in the private sector
• Will you be my mentor?: finding mentors for the non-academic track.
• Cover letters for non-academic jobs
• If you're ready to leave the academy:
  • Deprogramming from the Academic Cult,
  • Four steps to succeeding outside the academy
  • Tips for leaving the academy
  • More tips about life after grad school, from the authors of "what are you going to do with that?"
  • PhDs Work, helping young scholars find careers and succeed outside academe.
  • The difference between a CV and a résumé and how to convert from one to the other: here's one version and then another version from The Chronicle, and also from Columbia University career center
  • From The Scientist: Career Guides for the Perplexed, or, how counselors help move scientists from the lab to the office.
  • On the verge of a break with academe, or contemplating career options in science
• The corporate life:
  • Ruling in academic hell or serving in corporate heaven: deciding which track is for you.
  • From academe to industry and back: things to consider about corporate culture.
  • An article from The Scientist comparing jobs in academia and industry. The survey data and selected quotations are particularly interesting!
  • Women in Biotech and Pharmaceuticals, from Science. A frank look at corporate positions from those inside.
  • Scientist as entrepreneur
  • A study that shows women scientists more interested in industry than academe; discusses how companies could do better at recruiting women. From Catalyst, a web site to promote women in business.
  • Leaving the bench for a corporate perch: options in the business world.
• Writing
  • Science Writing program at UC Santa Cruz is an option for those with degrees in natural science and full time academic or field research experience. Also check out classes at your local University extension.
  • Abandoning academe with few regrets, one biologist's transition to a freelance writing career.
  • A Guide to Careers in Science Writing from the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.
  • National Association of Science Writers has considerable information on its site:
    • Advice for Beginning Science Writers
    • Deleting the "Free" From Freelancing
    • How to Keep Readers Interested
    • Reporting Cancer Cures
    • A Field Guide for Science Writers
    • Communicating Science News
    • Examples of Award-Winning Science Writing
• Intellectual Property
  • Careers for scientists in patent law, from The Chronicle of Higher Education
• Management consulting
  • PhDs into MBAs: management consulting as a career option. From The Scientist.
  • From The Chronicle, see this management consulting article. Here's another: a first person description of moving from a science PhD into management consulting. This article reconsiders consulting as a career option.
  • Consultant for a day, also from The Chronicle
  • Educational consulting

• Info specific to the grad student/postdoc experience (before the job hunt begins) is on page 1.
• Know what you're getting into--check out the faculty issues and chilly climate in academe
• The best place to start is The Chronicle of Higher Education:
  • The Chronicle requires a subscription for full online access, but daily news summaries are available for free, and they have a free site sampler of recent articles. Worth exploring, as there is lots of information here about all aspects of academic life from job prospects to benefits to intellectual trends. Your university library probably has a hard copy.
  • Most helpful from the Chronicle: the Career Network site. The valuable articles here are free, and updated every Friday. These cover many aspects of job hunting and career strategies, ranging from meeting with headhunters, to getting partner benefits, to dealing with senior searches. I recommend the series of regular advice columns with much practial information, amongst them Catalyst, a column specifically for scientists, Career talk, practical advice on job hunts in and out of academe, Beyond the Ivory Tower for those leaving the academy, Balancing Act, on work/family issues, and my personal favorite, Ms. Mentor, who archly answers academic career questions (she has also written a book for women academics). The site provides an index to recent articles by topic. .
• Also check out a new competing magazine, Inside Higher Education for a less establishment view.
• lists of academic-related sites
• What's wrong with academe?
• Science Politics for Dummies, or rules to survive by in the real world. Consider this part of your education. (From the Beagle; requires free password.)
• Science magazine's Next Wave site has a free Career development center for postdocs and junior faculty, aimed towards the academic, and with lots of relevant articles. Updated frequently.
• Staying ahead of the competition: acquiring the skills for the next position before you get it.
• In Praise of the Research University, a commencement address.
• Another point of view: Academe's Angry Generation, a column from The Chronicle of Higher Education
• Minority and Women Doctoral Directory sends CVs of recent doctorates to interested universities.
• Archive of the Tomorrow's Professor Listserver: Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering
• Preparing future faculty is "a collaborative effort of 108 colleges and universities... to give doctoral students a fuller sense of what the academic profession is like and to prepare them for what it is likely to become in the years ahead."
• What you need to know before you work abroad
• Protocol matters from the Chronicle. Rules and etiquette exist. It behooves you to learn and follow them.
• Small colleges or universities: This may be a particularly good option if you like teaching, and like the idea of incorporating your science particularly in teaching. Great students, too.
  • Going the small college route: Thinking smaller.
  • Check out more on small colleges on the academic career issues page
• Community colleges or private secondary schools. Also see community college section on the academic page (e.g., what it's like once you have the job )
  • Community college job search
  • The application packet for a community college job.
  • Preparing for your interview at a 2-year school
  • Interviewing for a community college job
  • PhDs teaching at a private secondary school, which may be more academic than a university.
• Attending meetings: learning how to get the most out of them
  • Getting the most out of conferences
  • Attending professional meetings
  • Conference Man describes his insights into the behavior of academics at enormous conferences. Although written about the MLA, this could equally describe the annual ASCB or Society of Neuroscience mega-meetings.
  • Socialize carefully: don't be tempted to indulge in a conference romance. Here are two articles discussing why:
    • Don't do it
    • Sex, collegiality and conferences
• Making posters
  • Making professional scientific posters
  • Poster design and presentation
  • Posters 101
  • Poster advice
• Giving talks
  • How to give an academic talk, good advice for improving your seminars.
  • Talking science: preparing your seminars and job talks
  • How to give a job talk in science, from The Chronicle
  • Dealing with public speaking anxiety
• Organizing your job search: Know what to expect. Also see starting your faculty position, next page.
  • Indecision: what kind of job do you want?
  • If you are juggling a search with a child, check out our section on having your career and a baby
  • Is this a good year? How one student tries to look for a job.
  • Five reasons to start your job search this year, and also Five reasons to wait.
  • What to do the summer before you start the job hunt
  • Along those lines: Use your summer wisely; much academic hiring is seasonal and starts in the fall. Be prepared.
  • Dr Dilettante Is it a problem to be TOO diverse on your CV?
  • Recommended summer reading for the job hunt
  • Getting psyched up to get on the market
  • Mistakes to avoid in your job search.
  • How to do a massive (two-body) job search, written for computer scientists but appropriate to biologists.
  • Applying for an academic position
  • Landing an academic job: the process and the pitfalls.
  • A bill of rights for job candidates, or ways to civilize the process. Also a warning of what to expect. From The Chronicle. From the same place, a job applicant's manifesto: why do we put up with this? Also, Job searching for dummies
  • Using the internet to check out the institution, or, how to know to whom you are applying. From The Chronicle.
  • Your own worst enemy on the faculty job hunt, and bad answers to good questions from The Chronicle
  • Getting great recommendations for jobs and fellowships. From The Chronicle.
  • When to admit you're looking for a new job, from The Chronicle of Higher Ed.
  • Advice on getting an academic job: one biologist's experience. I don't agree with all his opinions, but he has a lot of good suggestions.
  • Teaching versus research, or in what sort of institution will you be happy?
  • The British System: interviews and applications work differently in the UK.
  • Perfect job in imperfect place or vice versa??
  • Should I give up my research? a postdoc laments after a disappoint round in the job hunt. The answer is, no. But be realistic, adaptable, and work on your CV and job hunting skills (try some of our links for hints.)
  • Coordinating two searches
• Search Committees from both sides
  • Search committee slip-ups
  • A tale of a successful search from the search committee's perspective ... and then a later update when it all went wrong. Not only did our top choice have a fantastic research record, he also expressed a strong commitment to teaching at a liberal-arts college like ours, making him our dream hire and us, he said, his dream employer. We were ecstatic .....Several months later, we were awakened from the dream when he suddenly informed us that he did not want to be at a liberal-arts college after all and would instead be seeking a job at a research university.
  • Recruiting vs. searching: how to get the best candidates.
  • It's about fit, or how even the best candidate on paper can be a disaster. From The Chronicle
  • When the search committee doesn't call
  • When good searches go bad. It's your perfect job. But there's just one thing....
• Working on your CV and cover letter, and research plan: It is the cover letter that gets the committee to look at the rest of your package, so spend time on it!
  • From The Chronicle: two columns on cover letters. The first offers general guidance. The second discusses science cover letters.
  • The Basics of Science CVs
  • The CV doctor
  • Fixing your CV for a teaching position
  • Writing your research plan for your faculty job applications.
• Teaching Portfolio: generally, this is a rare requirement for research science jobs. Most medical schools and research institutes will not request teaching information, beyond a list of your experience on your CV. Large universities may want a "teaching statement". Colleges and smaller schools that are oriented more towards teaching than research may want a detailed description, called a portfolio.
  • How to write the teaching statement from The Chronicle of Higher Ed.
  • Assembling a teaching portfolio, from Brown Univ.
  • How to write a teaching portfolio from U. Texas.
  • Developing a portfolio, from Ohio State.
• How much should you say?
  • How much should you reveal on your CV?
  • What should I say? How a faculty candidate should disclose (or not) sensitive information about tenure, politics, etc. Also see The ins and outs of job searches, for more about mixing public and private matters.
  • Hiding the baby on the job hunt, or why having a real life is a liability.
  • Pregnant on the job market
• Interviews
  • Academic Interview Preparation Guide, although not specifically for scientists, has excellent general advice. Also on the same site: Job Hunt Tips.
  • Etiquette: being civilized at the table. More important than you might think in the interview process.
  • Landing a tenure-track position at a small college, including a discussion of phone interviews.
  • Staying cool in the hot seat: a guide to interviewing
  • The art of interviewing
  • Interviewing Strategies from The Network of Emerging Scientists.
  • The interview
  • PhD interview prep guide for jobs in academia
  • Interview questions in the academic job search Inappropriate questions: the necessity of hiding who you are.
• Offers and negotiating: it's not over yet.
  • Assessing an academic job offer
  • Negotiating your first job offer
  • After the offer, before the deal: Negotiating a first academic job
  • Negotiating teaching responsibilities
  • What to do if you have several offers
  • How to negotiate a faculty job offer. From (of course!) The Chronicle
  • How to negotiate
  • Negotiating salary
  • The right startup package for beginning science professors
  • The Salary calculator, or what's the cost of living where the job offer is? Also see What's it worth? from R&D magazine, to see ballpark figures that account for experience, discipline, and location
  • Should I take this job?
  • Reading the fine print on an academic job offer
  • Negotiating a better offer
  • Negotiating that first offer
• When is it time to give up on finding an academic position?
• Dealing with rejection when you didn't get the job.
• Faculty career issues is now so big it has been moved to a separate page. This section talks about getting the job; the faculty page talks about keeping it!

Finding a job: links and listings

• Ads in journals focus on research positions, especially those in academe:
  • Job listings from Science. Freely searchable.
  • Job listings from Nature
  • Job listings from Cell
• Free job listings from the Chronicle of Higher Education. The most recent listings require a paid subscription, but the ones from past weeks are available for free. This site includes typical teaching faculty positions as well as administrative positions and searches can be restricted geographically.
• NatureJobs, a free site that includes additional resources.
• ScienceJobs is a new site from Cell, Biomednet and New Scientist journals, with bioscience positions in industry, government, and academia
• Online resources for jobs in Biology from the Chronicle of Higher Education
• SCWIST on-line work pathfinder: Guiding Women in Science into the Workplace
• The Bionet newsgroup Jobs Offered board
• Commercial sites Obligatory Disclaimer: Listing here is not an endorsement of any commercial entity.
  • Bio Online Career Center
  • BioSpace Career Center: Biotech and Pharma jobs
  • Pharma/Biotech jobs database for corporate job ads.
  • Sciweb focuses on jobs in industry
  • Jumping Pills: a job site for the Pharmaceutical Industry
  • Academic and non-academic positions are posted at University Job Bank, which also has a section just for postdocs
  • Alkami Bioscience Career links
  • Bioview.com, another commercial job site
  • Advancingwomen.net provides resume posting for professional women.
• Employment links for biomedical scientists is a clearinghouse of useful links and job ads.
• FASEB career resources
• Employment links for biomedical scientists--huge collection of all sorts of job listings links including academic, search firms, etc.
• International Academic Job Market Science listings.
• Online job sites, an exhaustive list from U.C.Davis. Includes grades and reviews.
• Job listings from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

• Avoiding misconduct in your research
• On line science ethics resources
• On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct In Research (1995)
• Ethics in biology from the Online Ethics Center.
• Keeping your lab clean, or avoiding scientific misconduct.
• When your mentor becomes a thief: stolen work, stolen credit
• The moral un-neutrality of Science, an essay by physicist-turned-writer C.P. Snow. In his novel The Search, he wrote "A false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit. " Snow is famous for coining the term "the two cultures" to describe the gap between science and the humanities.

• Surviving a media onslaught: how to effectively communicate with the press about your latest breakthrough. From The Chronicle
• Also from The Chronicle:Stop the presses
• Are you ready for television? from The Chronicle

Go to page 1(History, Education, Organizations)
Go to page 1a (Reports and Studies)
Go to page 2a (Faculty issues)
Go to page 3 (Chilly Climate)
Go to page 3a (Chilly climate in academe)
Go to page 3b (Personal life)
Go to page 4 (Books, Miscellaneous)
Go to index

Standard disclaimer: Any opinions are my own and do not represent the views of my employer.