If you piled it all up, there are many mountains of information, advice, etc. on the academic job search process. It is different for not only fields of study, but also personal and financial situations. There are, in other words, many things that make your particular job search idiosyncratic. [Read more…] about The Job Search, Part 1: The Application
jobs
Scholar’s Compass Navigating Transitions: In the Middle of Things
“And surely I am with you always.†– from Matthew 28:20 (NIV)
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me? - Psalm 13:1 (NIV)
Reflection
If I had known the cost involved with starting my new job, I might have reconsidered. It’s not that I hadn’t expected it to be hard. We were, after all, moving across an ocean, and thus moving away from my husband’s family and many mutual friends. Furthermore, my husband and I were switching roles. He was quitting his job of 9 years, and I, in my new role as campus pastor, would become the one with the full-time job. I would be taking my incomplete dissertation with me, hoping to have time to finish up amidst the transition, while my husband would have the chance to explore whether he’d like to do more academic work or find work in a slightly different area. It was an amazing opportunity, despite the challenges, so how could we not be excited about it?
[Read more…] about Scholar’s Compass Navigating Transitions: In the Middle of Things
The Intersection of Church and Business
J. Nathan Matias (@natematias), Research Assistant, MIT Media Lab Center for Civic Media continues his Urbana12 series. This post in original form (12/28/2012) can be found here. As some of you know, the seminar is part of the Business Changing the World Track. Thank-you Nathan! Great to have you contributing material to the ESN Blog. Your work is much appreciated.. ~ Thomas B. Grosh IV, Associate Director of ESN.
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This weekend, I’m at Urbana, a gathering of Christian students interested in the work of the church worldwide. Over the last few days, I have been blogging seminars, in which a speaker gives a talk to around 50-60 participants.
Speaking today are John Greenhill & Chi-Ming Cheng of Dayspring Tech, a web and mobile app consultancy.
“How can Christians bear witness to the reign of God in a for-profit business?” they ask. Ministry is usually considered a non-profit endeavour. They’re not here to talk about personal discipleship in a place of business (which is good), but how businesses themselves can bear witness to God.
These issues rise to the fore when you start making basic decisions in your business. This sometimes requires us to expand how we think of business; it also requires us to expand the meaning of the word ministry.
John was an aerospace engineer coming out of school in ’87 — not a typical ministry education. He wasn’t doing ministry training, translation, or languages. He sometimes wondered how his passions fit together, but he came to discover the broad varieties of living out the gospel in a discipline. We should be encouraged by the variety, freedom and possibilities that are available to us.
John shares a quotation from Amos 5:15, “Hate evil and love good, then work it out in the public square.” The gospel must be worked out in our lives and it is not isolated, but it works itself out in the public square and everywhere else. It applies all the time, everywhere, in all arenas. How? That’s what this talk is about.
Chi Ming is speaking now. He starts out with a story of the first time he spoke on business at a seminar for InterVarsity students. His session was double booked with one on relationships. He spent that hour session with an audience of two. Today’s group has around 60 attendees.
Chi Ming’s web and mobile app company, Dayspring Technologies, is in San Fransisco. It was founded 15 years ago by 3 church members. The company has 16 employees and $1.7 million in revenue. Recent projects include an entrepreneurship mentoring platform for the US State Department and the ImageNations group. They have also recently worked on a household budgeting app. Recent partners and clients include Accel, KPCB (VC), MercyCorps, North Face, PJCC, UCSF.
What does this have to do with announcing the kingdom of God? [Read more…] about The Intersection of Church and Business
Finding a Postdoc in the Sciences: Nailing the Interview
Kelly Seaton continues her series on finding a postdoc in the sciences. Previously: One Postdoc’s Journey, Where Should I Begin?, Identifying the Right Position
What questions do you have about the postdoc interview process? Do you have any interview experiences or advice to share?
Photo credit: solarnu via Flickr
Once you have submitted your applications and landed an interview, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. Be prepared! This may seem like an obvious point, (and not even worth mentioning!) but there is more to preparation than meets the eye.
- Who will be part of the interview process? Are you meeting just the primary PI, or multiple faculty members? You should read up and be familiar with the research of every person you’ll be interviewing with. My postdoc interview process included many people — 8 faculty members, the Division Chair, the COO of the Institute, multiple collaborators, and Human Resources. Ask for an itinerary if they don’t provide one, and know something about each person and their primary research, if applicable. By doing this, you’ll have a starting point to get them talking, and the 20 minutes or so will go much more quickly.
- Giving a seminar on your thesis research is a given for most postdoc positions — so take some time and effort to tailor it to your audience. Ask yourself if they are directly in your field of research (Pharmacologist talking to Pharmacologists), somewhat related (Geneticist talking to Cell Biologists), or in a totally different specialty (Physicist talking to Neurologists doing Electrophysiology).
- Have a seminar prepared even if there isn’t one scheduled. On my second interview for my current position, I knew I was meeting people at a collaborating company, but there was no seminar scheduled. I prepared a talk ahead of time, tailored to the audience (Pharmacologist talking to Engineers and one or two Biochemists). This saved me from panicking at the last minute and made me look good when they asked me an hour ahead of time if I could talk about my research.
- Read papers ahead of time. Again, this should be obvious, but is often overlooked. Know as much about the lab as possible — read publications by the lab and Google the PI and lab members to be as prepared as possible when you interview. If you notice that the PI has collaborators from other institutions on their papers, ask about those collaborations. It’s amazing how much a little extra effort can pay off.
2. Relax. You are interviewing them to see if they are a good fit for you, as much as they are interviewing you for the position. If you are relaxed, enthusiastic, and engaged in the interview process, it will be more enjoyable for you and you will stand out in the field of candidates.
3. Engage with everyone you can. I have known multiple cases where postdoc candidates were offered other positions in the same department, based on their seminar and interactions with other professors afterward. This is especially critical if funding in the interviewing lab is not certain. If nothing else, it gains you exposure to others in the department and the beginning of departmental interactions if you should accept the position.
4. Ask questions. What is the lab atmosphere like? Do people collaborate both within and outside of the lab? What opportunities are there for publications, and what are the PI’s expectations for the number and frequency of publications? Does the PI encourage and fund postdocs to attend national conferences? Do they have funding available for your research, or are you expected to provide your own funding either before or within a year of joining? Are postdocs allowed to pursue outside opportunities such as teaching? Do not be afraid to ask questions about what matters to you and your career goals — you want to make sure it is a supportive environment conducive to achieving your future career goals.
5. Follow up. It may seem old-fashioned, but send a thank-you to every person you interviewed with. An e-mail will suffice, but be sure to thank them for their time and include something specific that you talked about — e.g. “I really enjoyed hearing more about your research into the role of Heat Shock Proteins in myocyte death during cardiovascular disease, etc.†When you write to the primary PI, reiterate your interest in the position, how your interests fit with the lab in general, and that you look forward to hearing from them again soon. Now that I’m on the other side and interviewing technicians, it shows me that the candidate is engaged, and appreciates the fact that I took time out of my busy day to talk to them.
Another good way to follow up is to ask to for the contact information of former postdocs from the lab. They will be able to answer more questions about the lab environment, the PI’s mentoring style, and how it prepared (or didn’t prepare) them for their career after the postdoc.
What questions do you have about the postdoc interview process? Do you have any interview experiences or advice to share?
Kelly concludes her series with advice for starting your new position.
Finding a Postdoc in the Sciences: Identifying the Right Position
Kelly Seaton continues her series on finding a postdoc in the sciences. Previously: One Postdoc’s Journey, Where Should I Begin?
Once you have decided to pursue a postdoc position and have a reasonable idea what you would like to study or where you want to live, the next step is to find a position that is a good fit for you. In this post I will give a few suggestions on what to think about in terms of a “postdoc friendly†lab and how to start looking for specific positions.
Looking for places that are “postdoc friendlyâ€
While life post-graduation does offer more freedom and flexibility than graduate school, many challenges still remain for postdocs. Postdocs are in a transition period between student status and faculty or “real job†status, as it is essentially a time of extended professional training. There are many important life choices to make as well — buying a house, finishing paying off student loans, and whether or not to start a family. My suggestion is to look for “postdoc friendly†institutions — places that take into consideration the unique challenges facing postdocs, and that offer postdocs resources to help enhance their personal and professional lives.
A great resource for issues concerning postdocs is the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA). Their website contains several helpful links to resources for postdocs, and they help to advocate and drive policy-making for postdocs across the country. Look for universities, government or industry positions that have adopted these policies for their postdocs, and that take into account the unique challenges facing postdocs.
An important consideration for some post-graduation is the timing of starting a family. Many postdocs do successfully start families during their position, but be sure to review the prospective institution’s policy on leave for postdocs (particularly if postdocs are not considered university employees). The NPA recently developed some recommendations for maternity leave as a postdoc, which is very helpful to consider if you are thinking about starting a family during your training.
Consider universities or government positions that have an Office of Postdoctoral Affairs or a Postdoctoral Association. Often, institutions that have these offices have put some thought into postdoc employment, and can help provide both professional and personal resources as needed. Particularly look for places that clearly delineate policies on matters such as time off for postdocs, employment classification (are you a university employee or not?) health benefits, dispute resolution, etc. This can be a huge advantage — otherwise you may be dependent on the lab you land in, and it will feel more like graduate school than extended professional training.
Finding a specific postdoc position
At the end of the series, I will put together a resource page with links and ideas on how to find postdoc postions. In the meantime, here are some places to get started.
- There are several locations where postdoc postions are advertised, including including Science (Careers portal, Postdoc listings) and Nature (Careers portal, Postdoc listings), or through advertisements in national societies.
- Some universities do not consider postdocs as employees/staff and therefore do not post those positions on a Human Resources website. However, if a university has an Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, contact them or look at their website to see if they have postdoc listings.
- Contacting someone personally may also be a good way to find a position. You can look through the NIH RePORTER website to find professors with NIH funded research in a subject area or institution of interest, and it also lists the duration of the grant funding.
- It is definitely ok to e-mail professors and state that you are interested in their work and inquire if they have any postdoc positions open. Make sure, however, to attach a CV, and clearly indicate that you are familiar with their research. Keep your e-mail short and to the point, and emphasize how their research fits with your current skills and future interest. If you can find a personal connection, that is even better (i.e. through LinkedIn, your advisor, or if you can find alumni from your school that have worked with them).
Next up: Tips for making it through the interview process
Do you have any questions for Kelly about finding the right position? Are there other resources that you’ve found helpful in your search?