Tag Archives: career fair

#NJCEBoston – a review

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Naturejobs team

{credit}David Fox{/credit}

On Tuesday May 20th the Naturejobs team hosted their first  international Career Expo in Boston. We’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who made it and we hope you managed to get a lot out of your day with us: making new contacts, become inspired and picking up some freebies!

As with our previous London-based Expos, we like to learn from your experiences to make sure that each time our Expo gets better and better; that you continue to gain career inspiration and insights from our conference speakers, and that you meet the right people at the exhibition. In order for us to do this, we would be delighted if you could give us some feedback. We will shortly be sending out some evaluation forms, but if you want to leave us some feedback now, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below, use Twitter or Facebook, or email them directly to naturejobseditor[at]nature[dot]com. 

exhibition

{credit}David Fox{/credit}

We would also be very keen to know if any of your new contacts and networking opportunities lead to something further. Whether it is just an informational interview, a coffee or (wouldn’t this be a lovely) a job, we want to hear about it.

For those who couldn’t make it, there was plenty of live Tweeting on the day, and you can find many comments, thoughts and discussions under the #NJCEBoston tag. We will also be uploading our coverage of the day, thanks to our #NJCEBoston journalists. But just in case you can’t wait for those pieces, here are the three key points that people took away from the day:

Networking: it’s not a bad thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with knowing people – it’s all about who you know, that’s how business works. Joanne Kamens from Addgene did a great presentation on this, and a write-up will follow shortly.

It’s all about the story: from the moment you start looking for a job to the moment you’re in the interview, it’s all about telling your stories. Interviewers dont want to hear facts, they want to know you, and your story.

Communication: according to both industry and academic experts, this was The most wanted transferable skill. After all, without any communication, nothing gets done.

But now that the Expo is over, take a look at our handy tips for how to follow up on your networking at a science careers fair: After the fair.

How to prepare for a science careers fair: After the event

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The fair is over and you were a glowing success. Now it’s time to capitalise on the networking you did, those business cards you collected and CVs you handed out.

Always follow up with people you spoke to. Many of the recruiters will base their impressions of you on your continued conversation. Here are our top Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to follow-up letters:

  • DO send the email within 48 hours.
  • DON’T do it as you’re leaving the building: you don’t want to be too keen.
  • DO make it specific: mention something from the conversation that was memorable (e.g., a project that you did your homework on).
  • DON’T warble on about how amazing the science career fair was (although the Naturejobs Career Expo will be awesome).
  • DO proofread all emails you send out: spelling and grammatical mistakes will completely undermine all your efforts from the day.
  • DON’T send the wrong email: make sure you’ve got the name and organisation correct.
  • DO attach a CV where appropriate: if you didn’t have one on the day, and the recruiter asked for one, then it would be appropriate to attach one.
  • DON’T send a generic one: tailor it to the job role and company.

An example email may look like:

Dear Mr/Mrs/Dr [INSERT SURNAME],

It was great to meet you at the Naturejobs Career Expo in Boston yesterday. I’d like to thank you for taking some time to talk to me about [INSERT PROJECT NAME]; it’s a fascinating piece of work that I have been following for some time now. As I mentioned, this is a field that I am keen to enter, and your organisation appears to offer excellent opportunities for someone at my level.

I have followed your suggestion of [INSERT SUGGESTION – might be attach a CV, upload CV online etc]. I do hope this brings me one step closer to the job as a [INSERT JOB TITLE] you mentioned.

If you need anything else from me, please do not hesitate to call me at [INSERT PHONE NUMBER] or use this email address.

Yours sincerely,

[INSERT YOUR NAME]

Following these simple tips will hopefully get responses from all your conversations. And, fingers crossed, an interview or two.

Good luck!

LinkedIn tips for jobseekers

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At yesterday’s American Chemical Society virtual career fair, social media expert and author Joshua Waldman gave advice on how to optimise your LinkedIn profile for job-seeking. Although LinkedIn is not primarily a job search platform, Waldman says it’s safe to assume that potential employers will look you up online and so you should have control over the information presented about you.

To start with, make good use of your LinkedIn headline. This gets attached to your name and photo in every communication that you send within LinkedIn and “is probably going to be in many cases your first impression”, says Waldman. You can write up to 120 characters so instead of just listing your job title alone, consider crafting a statement that explains what you do and what sets you apart from others who do the same. You can change your headline by clicking on the edit link next to your name in the edit profile section.

Once you’ve optimised your headline, take a look at your profile summary. Waldman recommends this should answer the following questions:

  • Who are you – name, job, specialising in…
  • What do you do – what particular problems do you solve
  • Why are you the best – describe your successes

If you are currently unemployed, also explain what kind of job you are looking for in your summary and incorporate a call to action to encourage potential employers to get in touch.

Your overall profile should be 100% complete, says Waldman. “Recruiters and hiring managers have been using LinkedIn for a long time now. They know when profiles are not complete and when they see [incomplete] profiles, [alarm bells] go off in their head.” Profiles that are complete also show up higher in LinkedIn search results.

If you are connected to your current employer and you don’t want them to know you are actively job-seeking, Waldman suggests you turn off your ‘activity broadcasts’. These announce when you change your profile, make a recommendation or follow a company. These alerts can be a “red flag for employers”, says Waldman. To turn off the broadcasts, click on settings under your name in the top-right of the page – the option is under privacy controls in the profile section.

Make sure you include a photo of yourself in your profile. “We are very visual animals,” says Waldman. “If we don’t have a picture, we create a feeling of distrust.” He adds that concerns over discrimination shouldn’t stop you posting a photo – as well as there being legal protection against discrimination, showing who you are can help you find a job you’ll be more comfortable in. “Unless you show up to your job interview with a paper bag over your head, they’re going to see you at some point,” says Waldman. “If the organisation is going to look at your picture on LinkedIn and make a discriminatory decision, that’s probably not a place you want to be at.”

Our final tip from Waldman’s talk is for students who are unsure if they should set up a LinkedIn profile before they start work – Waldman says go for it. “If you really look at your experiences, you can start to fill out a very nice-looking LinkedIn profile right away. You’ll have more time to grow a larger network and you’ll have a leg up on your peers who wait until they graduate.”

We’d also encourage you to join the Naturejobs science jobs and careers discussion group on LinkedIn to see highlights from Naturejobs and to connect with fellow jobseekers.