Alternative careers in translational research

Posted on 27 Dec 2013 by Catherine de Lange

By Sean Muthian, contributor

Want to keep working in translational research but prefer a role away from the bench? Then opportunities abound.

For PhDs who still want to have a hand in translational research, but do not necessarily want to be the ones at the bench, there are many options. There are jobs in regulatory affairs, with the FDA or EMA, and policy work with the NIH. Disease oriented non-profits, such as the American Lung Association, or private foundations, such as the Michael J. Fox Foundation, also commit funds and efforts to accelerate the search for cures. At these organizations, you can improve opportunities for large numbers of translational researchers. In the United States, one of the best resources for staying up to date on news and events, and catching up on policy issues in translational research is the NCATS website. NCATS is the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and is part of the NIH. In Europe EATRIS, the European Advanced Translational Research Infrastructure in Medicine, is a similar resource.

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There are also clear opportunities on the business side because the labs proficient at generating discoveries are not often adept at turning ideas and some IP into a marketable product. According to an AAAS and Sigma-Aldrich survey of academic translational researchers, 62% of translational researchers believe collaboration with their business school would benefit their work, yet only 13% are in such collaborations now. This highlights a necessary growth of the support network for academic translational researchers. Where can you fit in then? Good options include positions in business development or tech transfer at academic institutes, academic partnership development and management in industry, or as a patent agent at an IP firm.

With these new career options in business and law come some questions: Continue reading →

Off-Track: Finding your path after leaving academia

Posted on 20 Dec 2013 by Catherine de Lange

By Carolyn Beans, contributor

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Before continuing on the academic track, many of my fellow graduate students and I wanted to at least know what other options we had, so we organized an alternative careers day. We asked professors for the names of former students who went on to careers outside of academia. We searched online for biologists working for local businesses and nonprofits. We invited about a dozen panelists from institutions ranging from the EPA, NIH, and NAS, to the Nature Conservancy and local biotech companies.

Just a quick glance at the program was enough to inspire hope for a challenging and fulfilling career off the academic track. These jobs exist! We found them! And they sound amazing! Oh, by the way, inspiring panelist, how did you go about getting that job? We learned that many career paths off the academic track go something like this: A post doc, a job that was OK but not quite right, then a move for family reasons, then some volunteer work, and then hearing about a job opening at the right place at the right time through a random supermarket encounter with a friend of a friend. Continue reading →

How to answer: What was the most interesting article you read this morning in The New York Times?

Posted on 13 Dec 2013 by Catherine de Lange

We recently asked you what your most hated interview questions were. Here we share our tips on how to answer them. For answers to the other questions, check out the series links at the bottom of this post.

5. What was the most interesting article you read this morning in The New York Times?

Our readers told us they felt this question was particularly unfair, because they were so busy preparing for the interview that they didn’t have time to read the paper. As one reader put it: “to be honest, I don’t read the New York Times. I’m overwhelmed by conference papers and peer-reviewed journals. I don’t know what the target audience for the New York Times is but it’s definitely not scientists. Besides, it took me two hours to get here for the interview. I didn’t exactly have time to read the newspaper in the morning.”

For questions like this one, you are expected to think laterally – of course you can’t answer the question directly if you don’t read that paper or you didn’t read anything that morning because you were preparing for the interview*.

When it comes to science roles,the interviewer might be wanting to find out what you are interested in outside of your field, how aware you are of how what you do fits in to public interest and current affairs, or whether you are so involved in your work that these issues pass you by. If you genuinely have been too busy with work recently to stay abreast of current affairs, then explain why. For instance, “over the last four weeks I have given three conference presentations and submitted a grant proposal, so I have been unusually busy with my own work, but normally I read…” and list the media you normally consume.

If applicable, this question could be a good way to talk about how technologically savvy you are – do you gather your news and information from social media and blogs at all? Do you use on and offline technologies (such as pocket or evernote) to organise yourself and share content with your colleagues and peers?

Of course, if you did read something you found really interesting this morning (and all the better if it ties in to your work) go ahead and talk about it – it’s a great opportunity to go off-topic and share your enthusiasm for something that really gets you going.

Whatever you do, turn this question into a positive about what it is that you do do, rather than what you don’t read or what you don’t like about the publication, or the the state of science which means that you are too busy to do anything but your work – you will come across as a grump and unable to manage your own time effectively.

Good luck with the interview – and let us know how you get on.

*Needless to say, this does not count if you are applying for a job at the New York Times…

How to answer: Why does a PhD want an admin based job?

Posted on 06 Dec 2013 by Catherine de Lange

4. Why does a PhD want an admin based job?

To be fair, this is a very good question. Why are you applying for a job you are overqualified for, or which is far from your area of study?

It may be that you are desperate for work, that you see this as a stop-gap whilst you look for something that you really want to do, or you just can’t find anything else. This is certainly not what the interviewer wants to hear, so if this is the case you need to come up with something better.

Of course you might genuinely want this job, in which case the employer wants to hear that you are not going to get bored, that you understand it’s not an academic role, and that you have a good sense of the direction it will lead you in. Convey to the interviewer what it is that you are excited about with this job, and why you think the skills you already have can be applied to the role. They might be worried for instance, that you are too analytical in your thinking and not practical enough, so give them examples of projects you have managed and how good you are at time management.

If the reason for applying for the job falls into the first of these two categories, it really is work considering whether you have any options elsewhere. Doing a job because it will teach you new skills and experiences, and boost your CV, even if it’s not your dream ambition is fine – but if you really are despondent about the idea, it is unlikely you will get the job in the first place, and even if you do, it might make you miserable.

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Monthly Archives: December 2013