Career Paths
Paul
McDonald
Welcome to Consulting….
I feel like this is my first day at some strange group counseling session. As everyone looks around nervously, I stand up and finally say, “My name is Paul, and I left academics to become a consultant.” Phew, that feels better. More and more academics are deciding that t...
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Marina
Enachi
9 New Webinars: Transitioning to Industry Jobs and Beyond
We would like to let you know about the free webinars coming soon on Bio Careers. All you need is your computer and internet access to attend. On the day of the webinar, we'll open the room twenty minutes prior to the start so you'll have plenty of time to get your spot and check that you...
Gaia
Vasiliver-Shamis
Taking the leap of faith – saying goodbye to the bench
Humans are creatures of habit, and since scientists are mostly humans too (pending on their exposure level to ethidium bromide) they get comfortable at their little benches. And even if they really want to do something else they tend to stick with what’s familiar and rather keep their pipett...
Kate
Sleeth
The Ethics of Repetition: Replicates vs. Repeats
How many of us have read a paper or listened to a presentation and wondered exactly how many times an experiment had been repeated? In an ideal world the writer or presenter will have clearly noted this detail as n= (insert number between 2- x) and it helps you have confidence in their work. &...
Dr
27
My reasons to move elsewhere in academia
In my last entry, I discussed how I got started in what I call the epic job search of 2011. The epic job search spanned the late fall of 2010 to May of 2011, but it wasn’t until January of 2011 that I got full force on the job applications/interviewing cycle. It wasn’t an easy decision, but once...
Wenny
Lin
Retirement benefits in the federal government
Recently, The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that on average, federal government employees are underpaid by 26.3% compared with similar non-federal jobs. This “pay gap” has widened over the last couple years while federal salaries were frozen.With such a large difference in pay, I wondered,...
Virginie
Adam
Feed my mind!
As a goodbye present after my PhD defense, a friend of mine gave me a very interesting book: Science, a history. It’s a fascinating account of the birth of the scientific method, with a portrayal of the charismatic protagonists who made scientific discoveries that advanced human knowledge.
Kate
Sleeth
Following Directions
I was recently involved in the review process of the Summer Academy applications for my institution. We accept around 50 scholars each summer for 10-12 week programs which consist of both high school and undergraduate students. This is the first time I have been involved with this proces...
Kate
Sleeth
Letter to my Younger Self
I submitted an article to the Science club for girls website earlier this year. The website states “Women who share a love of science, engineering and technology, who are in different stages of their careers, share with their “young selves” words of encouragement, glimpses into the futur...
Clement
Weinberger
To postdoc - or not?
OK, I've made "postdoc" into a verb. Sorry about that, but the question remains "does one need to do one?” The key to considering a postdoc as an optional first step rather than a logical or expected first step is in deciding what your long term goals are before you decide on a postdoc. I’...