Advice from Your Peers
Science and Engineering

The following advice was offered by Ph.D. students on their career plans surveys shortly after their graduation.

"I thought about where I wanted to be in the future and made a list of what was important for a potential postdoc position to get me to that goal"

"I basically contacted people who were doing interesting science, asking them if they had room in their lab for me...I found that it is helpful to bring some type of funding to the lab if you are super interested in their science."

"I credit the Biomedical Career Fair and the networking/following-up advice I received from Career Services for landing this job. I met a woman from the HR dept of my new organization at the Biomedical Career Fair in 2004 (I went even though I wasn't on the market) and talked to her again at the 2005 Fair. Thus, I was able to follow up with her when they posted a position I was interested in Jan 2006. (First, I had applied via their web site and heard nothing). I really feel it was through networking that I received an interview. The Career Service's critiquing of my resume was also very helpful. I went to a few other career fairs and they helped me prepare a resume for that kind of experience. The only advice I have is to not be afraid to call."

"First I chose an area of the country in which I wanted to live, which had a large number of PIs. Then I sorted through all the PIs for ones whose research I found interesting (around 25). Then I shopped those names around to Penn PIs whose opinion I trusted--I didn't toss out all the people they didn't know, but I did toss out all the people they discouraged. Then I went through the list again, and gathered a top 12. I sent my resume to those PIs. Some didn't respond at all; some did respond to tell me they had room; and a few offered me interviews. Before I went on the interviews, I contacted other PIs in their fields to ask about them, and went comfortable to accept either job if I liked the job and the lab. Then I took the one that "fit" best...I would encourage students to ask several faculty members what they recommend looking for in a postdoc given their career goals, and to listen between the lines for their comments about PIs."

"Academia often looses sight of the fact that career development is its main purpose. Don't make that same mistake as a student. Put more time and effort into developing your career skills than your work. Remember that if your work was really that important it would have already been done by someone with more resources and experience. Get experience and make friends outside the curriculum through campus resources like the GSC, GAPSA, your student government, and interdisciplinary student interest groups. Any work experience is good experience. "Resume builders" have a way of teaching important lessons when you least expect it."

"E-mail prospective research labs for interviews for postdoctoral position."

"I posted resumes on various job posting networks on the internet (i.e. monster.com), submitted resumes electronically via specific company web sites, and sent resumes to people I knew in the field I was interested in. The best job interviews came through head-hunters, but in the end I was unable to land a permanent job due to lack of experience. So I'm contracting in order to get the experience."

"Asked professors for contacts and career strategy advice. Some were not as helpful as others, but others were incredibly helpful - just have to give them all a go."

"I posted a couple different versions of my resume on Monster.Com, Careerbuilder, and several other internet sites. I also set up profiles on the web sites of every major and minor biotech and pharmaceutical company and on every university and college in the Philadelphia area. I found temp work and built up my resume by signing up with several science-specific temp agencies (OnAssignment Labsupport) and working at a small company. Ultimately, I found that applying directly for jobs through university web sites got me a couple interviews and is how I ultimately found the job I have now. The science temp agencies got me a couple interviews with biotech firms, but temp work is tough because it hourly and has no health benefits."