Get Linked in ! ...

.. or should I say “Get LinkedIn !”
I’m not joking, you really need to! LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool which many researchers and students overlook, even if they’re engaging in other types of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. The reason cited for ignoring LinkedIn in favour of other social media is that people can’t see its immediate benefits. And this is true. It probably won’t help you with your career right now, especially if you’re not currently job-seeking.

HOWEVER, when you do start looking for new opportunities, you will need to make use of your contacts and this is where LinkedIn is a valuable tool for networking your way to a new job or career. In order to ensure you are as well connected as you can be, it’s essential to plan ahead and start building your web now. Just like the spider looking for a fly, you may not need it right now, but if your web is not in tact when the fly comes along you will probably miss out. This is particularly true of those looking for a job in industry or business as recruiters use LinkedIn to find new employees (so make sure your profile and keywords are promoting your best qualities and skills).

Engaging with LinkedIn also gives you the opportunity to join specialist groups where you can discuss topics of interest or ask and answer questions. All of this activity will boost your profile and get you better known. You can search for organisations or job types of interest to you and even select preferences such as countries or company size.

This is just a snapshot of ways in which LinkedIn could bolster your career prospects so think about joining it sooner rather than later. Once you start sending out invitations to link with people you will soon find yourself connected to a large web of potentially useful contacts (who may even endorse your areas of expertise). You can also add your profile link to your CV as a way for employers to read more about you.

Related Blog: Social networking

Strike your PhD from your CV?

A recent discussion on the LinkedIn group, PhD Careers Outside of Academia asked this question:

“I recently completed a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology. I've been looking for a job in industry for a few months. I'm using every resource I can find - friends and acquaintances, LinkedIn, staffing agencies, Monster, company websites. I've had very few calls and no interviews for research positions whatsoever - only interviews in high turnover positions, like sales. Often I find a position that doesn't ask for a PhD, but sounds like it would be a really good fit for me (and vice versa). From speaking to a few people, it seems like, other than assuming I may be expecting a higher salary, employers don't want to consider someone who is "over qualified" (or over educated) because they fear the job seeker is just taking a stop-gap position and won't take the position seriously, quitting the moment something better comes along. Is it reasonable to account for this by removing my PhD from my resume ….? All of my references are from my PhD program, so if granted an interview, I would probably have to disclose to the interviewer that I have a PhD - otherwise they will probably learn as much from my references. Any advice / suggestions / anecdotes are welcome!!”

Amongst the many responses was some very sound advice, some of which I’ve summarised annonymously below (but you can see the whole discussion by joining the LinkedIn group).

“There was a significant discussion on this a year or so ago. In North America, concealing your PhD is a big no-no. When recruiting for a high level position over there, every aspect of you record can be checked and absolute honesty is expected from current and prospective employees of any reputable organisation. The likelihood is you will be found out if there's any hint of anything that doesn't add up…… To sum up, don't try it and instead focus on your skills that are applicable to the job you are chasing. You could place your qualifications on the second page of your two page CV or resume to downplay it, but don't even think of trying to remove it. If someone looks for you on the internet, there's a good chance you'll be found.”

 “it's almost always easier to land a job if you have a technical/research-related gig going already. So, for instance, if you're looking to get into a career path in industry, you might consider landing a postdoc research job first. Of course, you might get a great job before finishing your PhD.”

“It's not enough just to say you have a PhD - make sure your resume and cover letter explain why your PhD will help you do that job better.”

“I will make just two short suggestions: first, as recommended earlier, make your CV a "functional" CV. Highlight what you can do for your employer. Skills rather than education. Second, along the same lines, perhaps you can de-emphasize your PhD. Keep it on the CV, but not front and center as with an academic CV.”

“The cover letter is a powerful instrument to not only introduce yourself in a more compelling way then your resume allows, but also to layout specific information regarding your professional expectations for a position. It is a great place to discuss why you are a great fit for a position regardless of whether or not a PhD is required. … Don’t pigeonhole your skill set to the bench. Communication, teamwork, teaching and mentoring, management, problem solving, and critical thinking are all highly-desirable skills that can be applied broadly in any position. Demonstrating that you can leverage these skills at and beyond the bench shows that you can contribute more than just your scientific prowess to an organization. … Consider getting some help from either a headhunter and/or a professional CV or resume writer. Depending on where you are looking, there may be up to a hundred (sometimes more!) applicants for a single position.”

“One thing I took from asking about how I was selected for an interview was that both my cover letter and CV directly spoke to my relevant experience and specifically answered the question of why I wanted THIS job. Put the most important things you have done first. Highlight the parts of your experience that have been the most rewarding and explain why this makes you a good candidate in the cover letter. Whether you are overqualified or under-qualified, it comes down to making HR see that you are unique and providing them with a valid reason to bring you in.”

Ironically, amidst this discussion a report was published in the UK by Vitae which compared the employment statistics of PhD graduates with masters and degree graduates. The findings show that PhD graduates had the best rates and levels of employment over those with other academic qualifications concluding that a PhD is a definite asset in these times of recession. See the full report here: http://www.vitae.ac.uk/CMS/files/upload/What-do-researchers-do-Early-career-progression-2013.pdf

Finally, I think this piece of advice from one of the contributors of the LinkedIn discussion sums things up very well:

“I don't think omitting "PhD" from our resumes is the answer - maybe de-emphasizing it by putting relevant skills and work experience at the top, with a section called "Education and Research Experience" at the bottom with PhD under that. But in the end, we all want positions that require (or at least  prefer) a PhD, because if not, it really de-values the PhD and the countless hours of challenging work we put into it.”

Interviews: When coming 2nd is no consolation

Unlike some competitions where prizes are handed out for coming 2^nd or 3^rd, or in particular sports such as professional golf and tennis, where even 20^th place reaps some monetary rewards, job interviews are not so forgiving. In most cases, if you don’t come first, there is little reward other than knowing that you made the ‘final cut’. If anything, being ‘pipped at the post’ is more frustrating than coming further down the field. This has been born out recently with a postdoctoral researcher whom I’ve been coaching. Applying for tenured positions, she has succeeded in being short-listed for interview from as many as 65 - 80 initial applicants. However, as yet she still hasn’t managed to achieve first place at interview. Feedback from the interview panel has been extremely positive, encouraging her to press on as she has the potential to succeed, only that she was not the most convincing candidate on the day.
 

Perhaps this chimes with other researchers reading this blog, who may have found themselves in a similar position. So what can you do about it? Well, first of all you need to remain confident and positive. Your CV/resume is obviously doing its job by getting you to interview. You are clearly demonstrating ‘on paper’ that you have the expertise required in the job specification. What you need to do is extend the process one step further to demonstrate in person that you are the best person for the job. However, comparing the feelings and attitude you may experience when writing your application with those associated with the prospect of an interview are quite different. Applications are completed alone, from a distance and with time to think, re-write and perfect your words. On the contrary, interviews are up close and personal with little time to organise your thoughts and project yourself to the best of your ability. You only get one chance to give your optimum performance, so you need to be well prepared, word perfect(ish) and convincing. You have marketed yourself in your application but do you match up in person to your promotional material?

Hiring people is a risky business for employers. In the main, they put a lot of time and money into the process to try to ensure they select the right person – someone who can do the job, who can develop the project further, whilst fitting into the team and culture of the organisation.  So how can you perform well at interview to achieve the star prize of being chosen for the postion? Here are some useful tips:

1.    Believe in yourself. If you don’t feel confident in yourself, how can the employer? Remember, you have been selected for interview so the employer will want you to do well so that he/she can select someone from the pool of candidates.

2.    Present yourself positively to the interviewer(s). Don’t dwell on anything negative – always end on a positive note.

3.    Body language can work in your favour and against you. Good eye contact, a firm handshake, upbeat language and tone of voice is as important (if not more so) than the content of what you say.

4.    First impressions count significantly so ensure you begin well by dressing appropriately.

5.    Prepare and practice. As with an exam or your PhD defence, you can predict many of the questions which are likely to come up. E.g. Why do you want this job? What can you bring to the organisation or research project? What has been your greatest challenge? How did you deal with it? Etc. Academic leadership interviews will ask you about your research vision and ambitions.

6.    Support your answers with evidence and examples to add weight to your testimony.

7.    Make your answers relevant to the employer or research department – try to refer to what they do and match your responses to their needs.

8.    Prepare some questions to ask at the end of the interview; although you can always say they have been answered during the interview. This is your opportunity to find out more about the employer/ research/ business so that you can also gauge if it is right for you.

This is just a short summary of tips to help you at interview. For more comprehensive resources refer to the resources page (near the end of the list). My book also has a CV and interview section specifically tailored to research bioscientists. 

PhD currency outside of academia

Recently I’ve been following a very interesting discussion on the LinkedIn Group PhD Careers Outside of Academia about the currency of PhDs and their value to their owners in terms of getting a job outside of academia. The discussion was provoked by an article entitled, The road to the structured PhD, which questions the value of PhD training for forging a career in business. The resulting comments from members of the LinkedIn group have been rich in individual experiences and personal stories and includes gems of wisdom and advice to peers. I have summarised some of the comments here (anonymously since the group is members only) to relate some of the shared insights from the discussion (you can see them all if you join the LinkedIn group):

“PhD recipients are full of potential. Yet many of them struggle to find jobs in industry. I don't think it's the fault of the job candidates or their training. I think it's mainly because 1. There's way too many of them, competing for too few jobs, and 2. Employers have little imagination when it comes to hiring. They so often play it short-term safe, refuse to do any training, and miss out on the longer-term prize.”

“I think it all goes back to the fact that PhDs are not trained for the reality of the job market they're facing these days. PhD training is structured to serve the academic world. Very few PIs have the experience and/or feel comfortable to give advice and encourage for a career outside of the ivory tower. Therefore, few graduate students are prepared to enter the life science industry and what they're prepared for is mainly a career in the research department. So what is left for a recent PhD? Many try to get into industry but have not learned how to "sell" themselves to those employers, so if they don't hear back from job applications, the alternative is a Postdoc in academia, more technical training again tailored to stay in academia….. Our institution has taken a radical approach by designing a program that takes PhD scientists and engineers and teaches them general management skills focused solely on the life science industry, specific career path skills (like regulatory affairs, bioprocessing, medical devices design etc) and, crucial in our program, every student participates in a 2 semester industry sponsored team project. This exposes students not only to more strategic thinking but also provides situations that ask for team conflict management, time management and many more.”

“Consider what someone does to earn a PhD. They study their field until they are at the leading edge. Then they establish and conduct a research project that creates and documents something unique and significant. Along the way they have to demonstrate that they can form and lead a team, manage funding and budgets, and manage a project. They also have to pass many tests of themselves that stress their personality and dedication. These are all valuable traits to a company if the graduate can transition their learning to industrial reality.”

“During your PhD, you acquire new technical skills, but also soft skills that you can transfer in an industrial context. You manage your thesis project, you decide (with your thesis supervisor) of the guidelines, you manage people (trainee, technician), you interact with a lot of people and you present data in an efficient way.”

“I recall a conversation I had with my soon-to-be manager in my first job post PhD. He said "I am going to give you a chance, because someone also gave me a chance when I was a new PhD. You may be a brilliant addition to the organization, or you may fail miserably, but I will take that risk." His words hold a lot of truth - some PhD folks are not well adapted to life outside of the tower. Others have little or no trouble. Whether you use your dissertation topic to further your career (I did not) or just leverage the vast amount of specialized training you received you must convince a potential employer that your skills translate - and to do so you must believe that yourself.”

So what can you do to increase the currency of your PhD to employers outside of academia?

1. Be aware of your skills and competences (such as project and financial management, teamworking and communication) beyond the subject of your research project, and understand their value to other career areas.
2. Identify gaps in your skills and experience relevant to your preferred career and try to address them by taking on additional work or courses during your PhD or postdoc.
3. Be able to communicate and market yourself to employers in an application form or CV.

Related blogs, pages and articles:
http://chronicle.com/article/From-Academe-to-Market/137965/
http://www.biosciencecareers.org/2012/12/career-alternatives-what-career.html
http://www.biosciencecareers.org/2012/02/12-ways-to-enhance-your-employability.html
http://www.biosciencecareers.org/p/new-book-career-planning-for-research_12.html

Be good to yourself ...

…. “because you’re worth it”, says a major advertising company’s strap line.  And you are!

Distracted by a personal crisis and possibly influenced by SAD, brought on by a lack of sunlight up here in the north of England, I recently found myself feeling rather uninspired and a bit flat. This resulted in me having lower motivational levels than usual and feeling generally lethargic, which is why my blog has been neglected of late. As things start to improve and the lighter evenings begin to kick in I can feel myself starting to come back to life again – hence the rediscovered motivation to write a new blog. I knew the ‘dip’ in enthusiasm would ebb away eventually – I just bided my time and accepted that you can’t work at 100% all the time. You need to listen to your body and respond accordingly, give yourself an occasional break, accept that you can’t be working 24/7, all year round.

“Luxury!”, I hear postdocs and postgrads cry. “We don’t have time for a break. We need to keep going; running experiments, generating results, analysing data, writing papers and so on. It’s all we can do to fit in the odd conference or departmental seminar!”

I’m generalising here of course, as I know not all researchers think this way. However, if you’re one of those who does, take a few minutes out of your schedule to read the following five suggestions, which hopefully demonstrate that even when you’re not doing research you are still being productive:

1.       Read something other than scientific papers relevant to your research – it could be a novel, newspaper, blog, or research/review paper from another field. Reading widely broadens your horizons and promotes innovative ideas, even blue-sky thinking.

2.       Treat yourself every now and again – eat your favourite meal, go for a walk, do yoga, watch a movie, go shopping – it’s amazing how ideas can come to you when you’re relaxing and enjoying yourself.

3.       Get involved in extra-research activities, e.g. join a learned society, where you will receive a membership newsletter, discounted conference fees and access to travel grants (and a little independence!).

4.       Attend career development events – all early career researchers have the right to professional development to help improve their prospects in a range of careers.  

5.       Prioritise your workload – use this model to guide you:
 

 

Of course, the obvious caveat to this blog is that if you’re reading it I’m probably preaching to the converted, and you’re already doing these things anyway! :) 

Related blogs and pages:
Time management

Learned societies
Career development events

Finding the 'right' career path

Reading over an interview about my career recently, which described the moment when I realised that the things I enjoyed about science were not the experiments themselves but rather all the other things I got to do as a scientist, it occurred to me, “If only I’d known then what I know now, how much easier my life would have been.” Specifically, if I’d known that I wasn’t a particularly technical person and that communication and helping people were where my strengths lay, I would have started my career off on the right footing. Instead, I careered around in the dark for quite a few years before finding my ‘calling’.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing”, as the saying goes: it’s easy to review the past and make wise observations in the light of new information. My former self would probably jump at the chance of some insider information from my current self to help me on my way, but would this be a wise move? Would my life have been as rich and interesting if I had made no mistakes from which to learn? Mistakes can help us to increase our self-knowledge, build our capacity to deal with life’s difficulties and make us wiser about ourselves and the world around us.

So if you’re currently reflecting on your career and wondering whether some of your previous decisions were flawed, don’t be dismayed: You can’t do anything to change the past, but you can change your future. If you think you’ve taken your career down the wrong path ask yourself, where does it feel particularly comfortable or uncomfortable? PhD students and postdoctoral researchers may be unsure about their career prospects in academia, but there are many other options to consider. Those working in industry may be looking for a new challenge, perhaps a change of scenery, a different emphasis on their everyday work. Review what you do – your likes and dislikes – discover where your passions lie (including things you do outside of your research). Even if you feel that now is not the right time to be making a career transition, you can take action to enhance your talents and build on your strengths. It needn’t be something big and expensive, it could simply be to get a paper written, make contact with someone to help you with an alternative idea, investigate a course or conference. All the things you do, including the ‘mistakes’, will ultimately jigsaw together to form a pattern for your career; a career which is comfortable fitting and suits your abilities, interests and ambitions :). 

Related content: Enhancing your employability ; Self awareness

"Wordle" your CV

If you're wondering whether your CV or application form is getting across your key messages why not cut and paste it into WORDLE and see what your word cloud looks like. If the largest, most prominent words are those which you consider promote your best assets and/or match your current job specification then it's achieving its aim. If not, you may want to reconsider the way in which you are presenting yourself.

 

I'm quite happy with the results of mine above. Have a go and see what yours looks like  - it's a fun and interesting way of looking at yourself :)

 

Happy Christmas!