Tag Archives: resume

Highlights from the Naturejobs Career Expo

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We run a quick summary of yesterday’s #NJCE16

What are the best ways to make yourself into the most appealing job candidate? How do you perfect your CV – or resume? And what should you do before, during and after a job interview?

These questions and many more were answered Wednesday at our Naturejobs Career Expo in Boston, Massachusetts. We had speakers from academia, industry, government and non-profits, who presented crucial information on navigating your career during a day of conference sessions and workshops. We’ll post lots more about these secrets in days and weeks to come, but here’s a sneak preview.

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Most read on Naturejobs: March 2015

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The most popular reads on the Naturejobs blog and Nature Careers in March 2015.

naturejobs-readsIt’s that time of the month again for us to say a MASSIVE thank you to all our contributors, interviewees and of course, our readers! Without you, this blog wouldn’t exist.

To celebrate that it’s the end of the month, payday, Lent is almost over and the fact that we can almost crack open the Easter eggs (I confess I might have had a nibble at mine already), we’ve collated the top ten most popular reads on Naturejobs this month. This includes any podcasts, blog posts and Nature Careers articles.

1) The hidden job market by Barry O’Brien gives an insight into how to find those jobs that aren’t traditionally advertised. Unfortunately, this is for about 80% of all jobs that are going… so this piece is definitely worth a look!

2) The second part of the postdoc series: What is a postdoc? is a quick look at the basics of what a postdoc really is.

3) The postdoc series: Insights, careers, options is the opening post to our Postdoc series on the blog in March, and introduces you to some of the concepts that the series touches on.

4) The postdoc series: The plight of the postdoc looks at the challenges that postdocs face, aprticularly in the life sciences.

5) Do you ever wish you’d stayed in science? Some scientists do, some don’t. But now, there is the option to do science and science communication at the same time.

6) Jobs in the USA: Academic CVs and industrial resumes

7) An academic postdoc position might not be the right thing for you. You might want to get a sneak peak into the industrial science world, so maybe part 4 in our postdoc series, Postdocs in industry will be useful to you.

8) One of the most popular pieces on Nature Careers, especially on social media, is all about sexual harassment and assault that is ever-present, and much-hushed in academia. It’s worth reading Social behaviour: Indecent advances, to make yourself aware of the situation.

9) Viviane Callier and Nathan Vanderford’s piece, Wanted: Information, argues that more detailed information about scientists’ movement after they leave academia will help future researchers make more sense of the career options that lie ahead of them.

10) Postgraduate careers: The hunt for the elusive alumni by Paul Smaglik also argues about the need for information about university alumni. It’s obviously something on many-a-researcher’s mind.

Special thanks go to our Naturejobs and Nature Careers contributors in March 2015: Prital Patel, Lauren Celano, Gina Maffey and Barry O’Brien for the Naturejobs blog. Virginia Gewin, Julie Gould, Rachel Cernansky, Paul Smaglik, and Viviane Callier and Nathan Vanderford on Nature Careers

How to look your best on paper: Part 2

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Contributor Prital Patel

CelanoDuring the first half of the Naturejobs Career Expo conference talk, “How to look your best on paper”, Lauren Celano spoke about the skills that should be highlighted in your resume for various career paths. In the second half of the talk, Celano elaborated on the differences between CVs and resumes, how to chose the right one for your application and how to compile your experiences in the best way.

Curriculum Vitae versus Resume

A Curriculum Vitae (CV) documents your academic career including publications, awards, honors, affiliations, presentations and teaching experiences in reverse chronological order. They tend to be at least two pages in length. CVs are common in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East for most job applications. In the United States and Canada, CVs are primarily used for academic and research positions or fellowship applications. For non-academic positions, a resume is generally preferred. Resumes are concise documents summarizing your qualifications, education and work experiences. They tend to be no more than two pages.

The key goal for each of these documents is to ensure that they are succinct. Don’t minimize any of your accomplishments; instead highlight the things you’ve done that are most relevant. Continue reading →

Your online CV: 6 tips to get it to the top of the pile

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An online CV is now an everyday part of the job hunt, but there are some simple ways to make sure yours catches the eye of a potential new boss.

 

Who needs paper?

Who needs paper?{credit}iStockPhoto/Thinkstock{/credit}

We all know it’s a fiercely competitive job market out there. And when focusing on applying for jobs and fending off the competition for elusive openings, it’s easy forget about those employers who are out there searching for talented people like you.

At Naturejobs, we have scientific employers around the world searching for potential candidates and downloading their CVs . If you haven’t already uploaded your CV you really are missing out on a simple route to finding a perfect role and connecting with great science employers.

If you’re planning on uploading your CV to Naturejobs, use the following checklist to get your CV to the top of the list.

  • Stay current. Make sure your online profile is complete. Provide as much information about yourself as possible so a potential new boss knows exactly who you are and what makes you tick. Check your CV is up to date, and do that regularly, topping it up with any new information on, say, public speaking, awards or new publications. If you have been shortlisted by an employer, they will be alerted every time you update your CV.
  • Link it all up. The joy of online job hunting is you can include plenty of web links in your CV to other materials should anyone be interested, without spamming them if they are not.
  • Re-location re-location. The majority of the employers who are using our website are looking for people who might be willing to relocate. Have a good think about whether this applies to you, and if it might, tick that box!
  • Be specific. Remember that employers will be using the search tool to find the ideal candidate. Maximise your chances of getting to the top of the pile by selecting all the specialties that apply to you when filling out your profile, rather than using the ‘other’ box, as it’s unlikely employers will be searching for ‘other’ as a specialty.
  • Match up the keywords. Check the keywords you use in both your CV and your personal summary, as both of these are picked up when an employer searches. Check through the job advertisements and job descriptions of positions you are interested in, and make sure they match the words in your personal summary and CV.
  • Be visible. Make sure your CV is searchable by ticking the box on your profile page.  Of course, the option is there to make your CV invisible to employers in case you are worried about a current employer seeing your profile. Remember though – these days, it’s fairly customary to have an online employment profile, even if you are not actively seeking a new job. It’s the way many scientific collaborations now take place.

For more tips on writing a CV and cover letter, check out the Naturejobs career toolkit here.