Re: Search. A Career Guide for Scientists

249 Pages·2017·10.07 MB·English

by  Teresa M. Evans, Natalie Lundsteen and Nathan L. Vanderford (Auth.)

ReSearch
A Career Guide for Scientists
Teresa M. Evans
University of Texas Health and Science Center at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX, United States
Natalie Lundsteen
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, TX, United States
Nathan L. Vanderford
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States
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About the Authors
Teresa M. Evans, PhD
Teresa Evans is a graduate of the University of Texas (UT) Health Science Center
in San Antonio where she received her PhD in neuroscience in 2014. During her
graduate training she built a foundation of career development programming for
graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in biomedical science. These efforts
grew into the foundational programs of the Office of Career Development that
she now directs. As the director of Workforce and Career Development, Teresa
provides guidance and consultation through one-on-one meetings that can focus
on the discussion of resume and CV preparation, mock interviews, disserta-
tion planning, strategic networking, and skills and values assessments necessary
for effectively navigating the graduate education journey. Teresa also facilitates
monthly workshops that focus on a variety of topics and hosts regional sympo-
sia tailored toward a graduate STEM audience.
As a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacology, Teresa’s research
interests focus on mental health in graduate students and postdoctoral fellows
around the globe. Teresa is an advocate of career development efforts for gradu-
ate trainees at the UT System and national society levels where she has pre-
sented at multiple conferences such as Experimental Biology, the Association
of Plant Biologists, and Sigma Xi.
Teresa is passionate about the communication of science and science out-
reach at the local and national levels, for which her efforts have received inde-
pendent funding, have been published, and have resulted in her founding the
nonprofit organization San Antonio Science. Through science communication
and outreach Teresa hopes to empower trainees to communicate their science,
pursue a career that they find fulfilling, and provide the tools trainees need to
determine what career path that is.
As a recent graduate and a highly networked STEM professional, Teresa has
a breadth and depth of knowledge in careers available to trainees as well as the
dynamic biomedical workforce. As a certified career development facilitator, she
has specialized training in career guidance practices and is well suited to provide
tailored career guidance to STEM professionals. As a scientist, faculty member, and
academic administrator, Teresa helps scientists to consider the challenges faced in
pursuing a career both inside and outside of academia. Teresa’s career has recently
expanded to include a role outside of academia. She has recently taken on a role as
xi
xii About the Authors
Partner at a business accelerator in San Antonio. In this role, Teresa is establishing
a novel 15 month business acceleration process for the technology industry, lead-
ing operations for the accelerator, and providing one-on-one guidance to portfolio
companies. Teresa is a life long learner who is passionate about empowering others
to achieve their goals in life, career, and business.
Natalie Lundsteen, PhD
Natalie leads the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center’s career
development program for all PhD and postdoctoral biomedical science research-
ers, and she is confident that her background as a career advising professional and
workplace learning researcher have prepared her for writing this book.
She has spent nearly 20 years working in research universities, including
Boston University, Stanford University, the University of Oxford, and MIT.
She currently works as the director of Graduate Career Development and is
an assistant professor in psychiatry in the Graduate School of Biomedical
Sciences at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where she provides career devel-
opment advising and resources to graduate students, alumni, and postdoctoral
researchers.
After many years of university academic advising and career counseling work,
Natalie undertook doctoral research at the University of Oxford, which focused
on the transition experiences of students moving from academia to workplaces.
Her current research examines how doctoral students are trained for careers, and
what universities can do to better prepare candidates for professional workplaces.
Natalie’s broad research interests are in workplace learning—particularly the
development of expertise in practices, along with interest in student development
theory and student transition experiences. Her research interests in workplace
learning and doctoral education developed concurrently with a changing and dif-
ficult economic landscape, so she has a deep understanding of the difficulties of
the academic job market for doctoral students/researchers.
She is a regular contributor to Inside Higher Ed’s Carpe Careers advice for
PhD jobseekers and has presented career workshops at annual meetings and
conferences for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the
American Society for Cell Biology, and the Society for Developmental Biology,
along with being an invited career development speaker to STEM campuses
around the world. Having worked with thousands of graduate students and
postdocs in a range of international institutions, Natalie is familiar with the
pressures faced by science trainees in navigating their career choices and under-
stands the specific challenges of science careers.
Nathan L. Vanderford, PhD, MBA
Nathan earned a PhD in biochemistry in 2008 from the University of Kentucky
(UK). Over the last several years, he has primarily focused on an academic-based
About the Authors xiii
research administration career path and, in the process, earned an MBA. In
his current positions at UK, he is an assistant professor in the Department of
Toxicology and Cancer Biology, instructor in the Graduate School, the assis-
tant dean for Academic Development within the College of Medicine, and the
assistant director for Research for the Markey Cancer Center (MCC). In these
positions, he plays a key role in facilitating research and education initiatives
that take place within the MCC and across the College of Medicine. He has
scholarly interests in the areas of lung cancer etiology and epidemiology, aca-
demic-based research commercialization and in improving the state of graduate
education. He is deputy editor for the Journal of Research Administration and
an associate editor for the journal Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship.
At UK, Nathan provides ad hoc and formal career development mentorship
and career counseling to undergraduate and graduate students as well as to post-
doctoral fellows. He has also been involved in conducting workshops focused on
enhancing PhD trainees’ workforce readiness. And, he has developed a course
(titled Preparing Future Professionals) at the level of the Graduate School focused
on developing trainees’ interest in various career paths and enhancing the skills
needed for such career paths. Nathan has also published several articles on the
topic of improving the education and training of the next generation of STEM
professionals with a focus on addressing the current and future state of PhD educa-
tion and training. These articles have been published with Science, Nature, Nature
Biotechnology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, F1000Research,
Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship, and The Scientist. He has also been
invited to speak on these topics at annual meetings of the American Association
of Colleges of Pharmacy and the American Historical Association as well as at
numerous academic institutions. Ultimately, through his experiences, Nathan has
a unique perspective on providing career guidance to graduate trainees.
Lindsay Bira, PhD
Dr. Bira is assistant professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine at UT
Health Science Center, San Antonio and also runs her own business as a clini-
cal health psychologist, consultant, and speaker. She received her PhD from
University of Miami and competed residency at VA Boston Healthcare System
as a Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine fellow.
She currently lives in San Antonio, TX, where she focuses on clinical research
to reduce combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder and treats a range of
issues in private practice.
Sharon Kuss, PhD
Sharon Kuss is both a postdoctoral researcher in virology and a postdoctoral
intern in career development at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center, where she also completed a PhD in Microbiology.
xiv About the Authors
Lily Raines, PhD
Lily Raines received her PhD in Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology
from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Following her PhD she served as the
Global Projects Manager for International Activities for the American Chemical
Society where she now manages their Office of Science Outreach. In this posi-
tion she coordinates the National Chemistry Week, Chemists Celebrate Earth
Day, and the Chemistry Festival Programs.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Lindsay Bira (Chapter 5), Sharon Kuss
(Chapter 16), and Lily Raines (Chapters 6, 10, and 18) for their contributions
to the book.
The authors would also like to thank the following individuals for contrib-
uting the case studies in this book: Hashem Dbouk (Chapter 16), Abby Evans
(Chapter 17), Zen Faulkes (Chapter 11), Robin Frink (Chapter 9), Josh Henkin
(Chapter 16), Cath Latham (Chapter 17), Alaina Levine (Chapter 12), Sarah
Martin (Chapter 9), Roisin McMahon (Chapter 12), Vidhya Nair (Chapter
9), Sina Safayi (Chapter 17), Vicki Stronge (Chapter 16), Joseph Trombello
(Chapter 6), Guillermo Vela (Chapter 13), Jamie Vernon (Chapter 11), Tracey
Wells (Chapter 17), and Nicole Woitowich (Chapter 4).
xv
Chapter 1
Introduction
We, the authors of ReSearch: A career guide for scientists, are passionate about
ensuring that graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are afforded the opportu-
nity and resources required to pursue the careers of their choice. It is our goal to
provide insights that will guide individuals on their career journeys in a way that
is clear, concise, and appropriate for science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) professionals. We are aware that some of our readers may have already
gone through one, two, and even three or more career searches to find themselves
in the positions that they currently have. Therefore, we have designed this book as
a guide for our readers as they research their next career transition.
Throughout the book our readers will find activities to catalyze their career
planning, expert insights from STEM professionals in a variety of careers, and
key chapter takeaways designed to ensure that ReSearch is a valuable resource
that our readers return to throughout their careers.
We hope that you enjoy this book as much as we have enjoyed collaborat-
ing to create it. Please reach out to us with questions, via social media, and
share this book with others. It is our hope, and that of our contributors, that the
resources throughout this book will be utilized by graduate students and post-
doctoral fellows far and wide.
ReSearch. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804297-7.00001-X
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 3
Chapter 2
Common Career Characters
Teresa M. Evans
Chapter Takeaways:
l As a scientist you have been taught the fundamental skills to research and plan for
your career path.
l It is possible to overresearch and plan so remember to REFLECT regularly on your
career plan.
l I n this chapter, we outline the three most common types of trainee career
planners:
l The optimized observer: This is the trainee who is always observing and
exploring options, learning from the experiences along the way, and
managing the journey accordingly.
l The midway modifier: These individuals have a clear and thought-out plan
for their career from the beginning.
l The conclusion changer: Our final example is the conclusion changer.
These ladies and gentlemen experience an unforeseen whammy near the
journey’s end that causes a need for the plan to be changed.
Just as we know that every fingerprint is unique, it is also true in career planning
that every career path is unlike any other. It is important to understand that there is
no “one-size-fits-all” protocol for devising a successful career path. There can be
many variables that impact a journey just as there are variables that impact our data
collection processes within the laboratory. For example, the economic landscape
has impacted the way that we view research and funding, industry development, and
downturns have shifted the needs of the job market, and, more fundamentally, each
of us have personal variables that impact where our career path may lead.
As scientists we are trained to manage entropy and identify variables within
the lab. We are here to tell you that these same skills will be fundamental to the
very existence of your future career. It is also notable to consider that the pro-
cess for researching career paths and developing skills and knowledge to build
a career can spin out of control. Let’s consider a student, Stan, who attends
every career development workshop offered at his university, conducts count-
less informational interviews, and is left with nothing but the realization that
ReSearch. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804297-7.00002-1
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 5
6 SECTION | 1 Introduction
there is no one prescription for the perfect career path. This feeling can be a
lot to handle. Stan, if you are reading this, it is going to be okay. Take a step
back from your career research extravaganza! It is time to reflect. We are here
to teach you how to not only collect useful career planning information but also
teach you how to reflect on what you find and apply it to your choices. We’ll
unwrap this information in future chapters.
Scientists are unusual adults. Many of us turn out to be career learners
in many regards. Many of us also have little experience working in “the real
world.” And for the sake of this discussion, working at the mall does not count
because that is likely not the work experience that will be useful for you to
obtain your dream job. While we are trained specialists in our areas of research,
it is rare for individuals, in their 20s and 30s to not have had any experience
in the professional workplace. Just take one look at your Facebook feed, and
if you are like us, it is clear…those friends who left undergrad for an industry
position are in a different place than you…just accept it now but know that
your time is coming! Unlike those fellow undergrad students on Facebook, your
summers have been spent in the lab working under sometimes quite extreme
pressure rather than interning and learning about various professions and work
cultures as they might have done. This is further complicated by the fact that the
outside world also has a very limited understanding about what goes on inside
the depths of the laboratories within the Ivory Tower. For these reasons, we will
also teach you how to translate and sell your skills to the outside world in a way
that is appropriate for any career path you might choose.
Now, let’s shift gears a bit. For the purpose of this scenario, imagine that
you are embarking on the longest, toughest, and the most challenging journey of
your life. Imagine that this journey at times can be quite pleasant and rewarding
but at other times can be down right miserable. Oh, and when you reach what
you think is the end of the journey and you see the light at the end of the tunnel,
you can only enjoy it for a moment before you realize that the light is a freight
train screaming toward you faster than you can get out of the way. Would you go
on that journey? Well, the truth is that many of you are already on this journey
but you might not yet be aware of what is ahead of you. Now, reread the sce-
nario and think about it as if the journey is analogous to your research training
and the train represents the next step in your career. This is the true story of the
student who does not plan for their career until they see the light at the end of
the tunnel. You need to plan for your career long before you see that light so that
the train does not slap you in the face.
As scientists and career guidance professionals, we have observed that
there are three common types of trainee career planners as outlined below.
Read these and consider where you might fit or whom you might know in
each of these areas:
The optimized observer: This is the trainee who is always observing and
exploring options, learning from the experiences along the way, and manag-
ing the journey accordingly. Beware if this is you. Remember Stan? He is an