Tag Archives: USA

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.

Continue reading →

A Tale of Two Labs – Our Academic Journeys in China and in the USA

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The journeys of two professors show how to survive and thrive in the different academic systems of the US and China.

Guest contributors Zhiyong Jason Ren and Defeng Xing

Once upon a time, we worked in the same lab. Ten years later, we both lead big research labs – in Boulder, USA, and Harbin, China. We have similar backgrounds and research interests, but our journeys were very different. After reading Turning Point: Chinese Science in Transition and Nature’s How to build a better Ph.D, we want to share our stories with young researchers in the hope it might help them navigate their own science adventure.

How did we start?
It was 2006 when we first met at Penn State and became lab mates and close friends. When it became time to decide on a career path, Ren chose to become an assistant professor in the U.S., while Xing returned to his Alma Mater in China. In an “ever-lasting” U.S. tenure track system, Ren was handed a well-structured guideline for new principal investigators (PIs), while Xing got a pile of applications on his desk, so he could recruit from various young talent programs.

Ren (L) and Xing (R) in 2006

For Ren, winning the position meant he started the job as decision-making group leader, though he didn’t receive much training.  For Xing, it meant joining a big group with an established platform and shifting gradually from a team player to team lead. Continue reading →

Mobility: US VISA Options

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Exemptions in the USA visa system make it easier for mobile scientists looking for work in the USA.

Contributor Susan Gelman

naturejobs-blog-visaThe H1-B is one of the least complicated visas one can have to work in the U.S. It is ubiquitous and fairly easily attainable for employees doing specialized work, at least at academic institutions.

Unfortunately, they are in high demand and granted in limited quantities in the corporate world. Each year, only 85,000 H1-B visas are allotted. By the first fiscal week of 2015, the U.S. government had received 230,000 petitions.

Fortunately there are loopholes (officially known as exemptions) to circumvent the quota, and an extremely important one is the academic exemption. This allows industry employers and universities to collaborate. Here the university can nominally hire an employee for part-time work, and the industry employer files for the visa. Some Boston-based universities are beginning to explore this option by renting out science centres for profit and in return allowing employers to piggyback off of university visa capabilities; other states are in the process of proposing similar models. Immigration attorney Richard Iandoli, who led the workshop, emphasized that while immigration policies are in desperate need of updating, these loopholes can be extremely useful. “The exemptions aren’t big enough, but they are significant enough.” Continue reading →

Jobs in the USA: Academic CVs and industry resumes

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Looking for jobs in the USA? Here are some top tips on academic CVs and industry resumes from Lauren Celano.

Contributor Lauren Celano

Who needs paper?

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

Although CVs and resumes both contain information regarding experience, accomplishments, research focus and education, these documents differ in many ways. Understanding these is critical for candidates applying to non-academic positions. Here I highlight a few of the key differences. The details provided below refer to academic CV’s and industry resumes for the USA job market.

Industry resumes: A resume is meant to simply hit the high points and be directed toward the position of interest.

Length: Resumes are typically limited to just one or two pages, and this depends upon an individual’s experience. A candidate with limited work and/or educational experience should try to stick to just one page, and a more experienced candidate can extend to two.

Format: The first page typically starts out with a summary statement(s) that tells the reader who you are, what you do and how it directly relates to the position of interest. It also includes information on experience and positions you have held, which could include undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral research along with education.

The second page could contain a skills and techniques section, peer review experience, selected awards, leadership, and papers and presentations. Continue reading →

Enough doom and gloom part 1: Science funding is cyclical

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Contributor Scott Chimileski

A few months away from finishing a PhD, my social media feeds are filled with negativity about postdocs, jobs and funding. Article after article, elaborate infographics – there are even special calculators now that predict your chances of becoming a principal investigator.

labpredictor-scott-chimileski

{credit}Image credit: Scott Chimileski{/credit}

It is certainly true: the competition for a position as a science professor and to earn funding as a researcher is increasing. Raising consciousness around these issues is important, and these articles, driven by genuine concern, do help. However, I think it has gone too far. I see it affecting my peers on Facebook: “Wee!! Sadly this motivated me to get out of bed, someday I could make $40k!” accompanied by a link to the article “Too Few Jobs for America’s Young Scientists.” This same sort of sentiment is echoed on Twitter.

It’s human nature to focus on bad news; but it is long overdue to have a critical look at all the doom and gloom. Before we panic – before we decide there are too many PhD students and dream-up ways to intervene – let’s consider the history surrounding these issues, allow a little optimism in, and explore the positive. In this three part series, I want to help uplift my fellow young scientists. Continue reading →