Changing Careers

Christine
Zafra

Life after grad school?

Before you start reading, please take the time to note that it ends with a question mark. That’s not to imply that “life” ends after grad school. It’s meant to imply that there are lots of things that a PhD can do. After spending at least 25 years preparing for something, everyone hope...


Thomas Patrick
Chuna

What About Headhunters? Part 3

Hello everyone! I wanted to take the time to circle back and continue the discussion about headhunters, and what they mean to you as a job seeker. In previous blogs, I made the following points about headhunters:


Anibal
Valentin-Acevedo

Switching Paths

Having a job is an essential part of our adult life, and it is definitely something we need in order to survive. It is something we depend on. If we think about it, most of us will spend most of our productive life working, so looking for a job or staying at a job that we are unhappy about might ...


Lamar
Blackwell

Why is Career Change Hard?

One of the most difficult things to do for ourselves is change.  There is a comfort level in what we already know and do.  We understand the current problems in our jobs and are used to them.  We know the aspects we like and what we don’t like.  And while we may want to like our current situat...


Caroline
Ceniza-Levine

Five Ways To Manage Fear When You Stretch Outside Your Comfort Zone

I thought about writing about growth, since it’s spring, and growth is something that happens when you stretch outside your comfort zone. (I did write about growth for the 4/16 issue of the newsletter in case you missed that one!) But the flip side of the positive growth that comes when you stretc...


Jane
Yang

Ready for a major career change? You’re not alone – part one

I am new to Bio Careers Blog.  Excited as I am as a first-timer, I will set a rule for my blog: I do not intend to give out specific action items or tips to fellow job seekers. You see, I am one of you.  After many years of academic research, I am ready for a major career change.  It seems lik...


Ron
Hunter

Good or Bad: It is still change

At my desk, I have a sign that reads, “The most dangerous phrase in the language is ‘we’ve always done it this way’ by Rear Admiral Grace Hopper.” Growing up as a child of a military serviceman can be seen as the ultimate training in becoming comfortable with change. We moved around q...


Charlene
Milliken

From Archaeology to Science and Technology Policy: Making the Leap from Academia to the Real World

Does this sound familiar?: After several years, the end is finally in sight. The Ph.D. is practically in your hand!  But you want to quit.  Why?  Because you’re sick of academia.  You don’t want a career in teaching, you’re burnt out doing research, or you feel like you’r...


Michael
Salgaller

Job-Hunting: Riding the Emotional Roller Coaster

Looking for a position – even voluntarily – is stressful. If the job-hunt is discretionary, if you can stay where you are long-term and perhaps are simply bored, it’s comparatively less stressful. But even then, there’s something unsatisfying about where you are that’s making you look...


Caroline
Ceniza-Levine

How Do You Convince An Employer To Give You A Chance When You Are Changing Careers

  Rutendo asks: I am a Medical Doctor, trained and currently working [outside the US]. I want to make a move into Clinical Research, and I do have related experience when I was working in one of our teaching hospitals. We’d have several studies running concurrently, so in between admitting...