Is Project Management a career option for scientists?

According to a recent Science Careers article “Tooling Up: The Project Management Career Track“, it certainly is!

Although the article points out that it would be difficult to obtain such a position fresh out of graduate school, it discusses the career path that one scientist took from his graduate school years to reach a project management position.

Even if you are currently a post-doc, you will learn what you need to do to start the path to moving into science project management.

After you read the article, we would like to hear your thoughts and comments, please share them with us.

Science Policy Fellowships

Do you want to take a break from the bench?

Do you want to apply your science skills and experience to serve society?

For 36 years, the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships have provided a very unique opportunity for scientists to apply their knowledge and skills to federal policy, while learning first-hand to craft science policy in Congress and/or implement science policies in federal agencies.

Eligibility & Criteria
Successful applicants must hold a doctoral level degree (PhD, ScD, MD, DVM, etc) in social sciences, biological sciences, mathematics, or others. Applicants with an MS in Engineering and 3 years of post-degree professional experience also qualify. You must have completed your degree by December 15, 2009. View complete eligibility and criteria details.

The fellowship is a year-long opportunity, beginning September 1, 2010 and ending August 31, 2011. Fellows in most executive branch agencies have the opportunity to renew their fellowship for up to 12 additional months.

Stipend and Benefits
Stipend ranges between $73,000 to $95,000. Benefits include relocation allowance, health insurance reimbursements, and $4,000 for assignment-related travel, conferences, and/or training. In addition, fellows will be exposed to professional development opportunities, including seminars, workshops, career sessions, and networking events.

The AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships online application system is now open! The deadline is December 15, 2009. For full details, please visit the AAAS Policy Fellowship website.

To learn more details, RSVP for a webinar on October 2, 2009 at 12:00 pm ET. The webinar will cover more info about the fellowships application, selection, placement processes, and ask questions of former fellows.

Alternative Science Career Trends Booklets

Here is yet another link to a resource generated by AAAS/Science for PhD-level scientists who are searching for alternative career options:

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/tools_tips/outreach/away_from_the_bench_booklet

This extensive 36-page PDF booklet contains great tips for creative ways to search for alternative science jobs, different career options, and online resources.

In order to download the booklet, you will have to register your email address to receive email updates periodically from AAAS/Science. You will receive an email confirmation that includes a link to download.

Nontraditional Careers for Scientists Webinar

The AAAS and Science Careers have organized a webinar titled “Nontraditional Careers: Opportunities Away from the Bench“. The format is a table-round discussion with experts from industry, government, and non-profit examining various career options available for scientists in the different sectors. In addition, the webinar will present and discuss strategies to help you if you are interested in a non-research career.

The bad news is that the webinar took place earlier today.

The great news is that the webinar will be available online for download for free in the next few days. If you register, you will receive an email notification when the webinar is available for download.

Do science skills translate into career options?

As my dates for defense and graduation are rapidly approaching, naturally, question marks have been popping in my head as to what the future holds for me. It’s no big secret that upon graduation, I will be taking a break (perhaps a permanent break) from bench research.

In hopes of getting a better understanding of what jobs are available in today’s economy, occasionally, I browse the “Classifieds” section for employment opportunities. One particular job posting intrigued me, but the job listing did not provide specific details for the job requirements.

Now, if I were to apply to that position, I was thinking, I can highlight a number of things that I have learned as a graduate student… critical thinking skills, troubleshooting, handling criticisms (from committee members and reviewers), communication skills (presentations and writing), etc. In addition, I have had a long standing interest and experience in web development and marketing.

However, I realized that while those skills are useful to a non-science job, I lacked industry-specific experience and knowledge, which is often what employers are searching for. Interestingly, this topic was somewhat featured in an article in a recent issue of Science Careers titled Transferring Skills Into Career Options.

The article highlights some of the challenges as well as presents potential solutions for postdocs who would like to capitalize and apply their sets of skills on alternative career options.

The bottom line is that working in the lab day and night will most likely fail to provide you with the necessary knowledge/skills to cross over to an alternative career. The solution is to get involved in different things that interest you. Not only will this help you learn about the specific sector, but this will demonstrate your interest in that sector.

In addition, as the article states, there is a number of professional societies that focus on helping and providing career advice to post-docs. If you are a post-doc, seek out professional societies from which you can benefit. However, do not just attend workshops to learn about the skills – get out of the lab and apply those skills.

While many graduate students and post-docs often times feel pressure to only focus on research and may be indirectly discouraged from pursuing other experiences outside the lab, I think more PIs are becoming more open-minded about this.

One final encouraging note (and I have heard this from many credible sources): the skills learned from being a scientist are often the core requirements for success in any field. Learning the industry-specific information can be done on the job.

Generation Y?

Were you born between 1980 and 2000? Are you frustrated with your job? Are you an employer or a soon-to-be employer of someone who was born between 1980 and 2000?

Either way, The Truth about Gen Y by Elisabeth Pain will definitely provide insight into the psychology behind what Gen Y has to offer and what they desire from employment.

The Gen Y stereotypical characteristics are often represented as a challenge to the workplace environment. However, the article highlights a refreshing and encouraging view of the Gen Y characteristics. It is often overlooked that capitalizing on the unique characteristics, talents, and dreams of Gen Y can lead to tremendous opportunities in the work environment.

Why have a resume or CV?

Seth Godin is a remarkable marketer. His blog (which is one of my personal favorite blogs and I highly recommend subscribing to it) is a testament to his outside-the-box incredible thinking about more than just marketing.

Last March, he posted a blog entry titled “Why bother having a resume?”. While you may disagree with the practice that Seth recommends in his blog entry… conceptually, how would you stand out?

Of course, one of the important determining factors in getting hired as a researcher is a CV highlighting a number of publications. But in addition to a respectable publishing record, what else would a department chair, hiring committee, or a PI be looking for?

Would your CV/application stand out from the pile of other excellent CVs with equally respectable publishing record? How would you make it stand out? It’s not easy, but neither is accomplishing something remarkable.

Collaboration for Young Scientists

A healthy collaboration in science can be a crucial element for conducting a successful and sustainable research program. By combining their different strengths toward a common goal, scientists can usually help one another reach their research targets more efficiently.

For young scientists (especially graduate students and post-docs), establishing collaborations can provide another set of benefits, which are discusses in Peter Fiske’s recent article in Science: Opportunities: Career Advantages of Collaboration.

In addition, in his article, Fiske writes about how to identify opportunities and what should you look for in a collaborator, if you are a young scientist.

From Research to Leadership

Often times, many scientists find themselves in a position where they transition from performing experiments and research into a leadership position. This transition may occur automatically, such is the case with transitioning from a post-doc position to an assistant professor. Other times, the transition requires more conscious effort, which is the case if a recent PhD graduate chooses to apply for a management or leadership position in a company or organization.

Typically, graduate programs provide little, if any, training in management or leadership. Even if the graduate student expresses interest, he/she can be, at times, discouraged from pursuing extra-curricular interests (such as business or leadership courses) that would distract them from their research.

I think it would become incredibly valuable if more science PhD students were encouraged to pursue courses that would strengthen their leadership and management skills. These young scientists would bring better efficiency in managing their research projects and labs.

Even if these individuals transition to a job in a non-science or non-research position, we should not look at the situation as if we’ve lost a scientist, but we should think of this as sending out a scientist to serve our society. Beyond a doubt, these individuals would bring a scientific approach to whatever job/task they are performing. I firmly believe, and I know that many agree, that bringing a scientific approach to other fields would be of an incredible value to our society.

If you are a graduate program chair or PI, consider encouraging your students to take business and/or management courses.

If you are a graduate student who is interested in leadership, speak with your PI frankly about your interest in a business class or two. If you are not allowed to do this, consider developing your business, management, or leadership skills on your own. Visit Amazon.com or your local bookstore and find management/leadership books. I highly recommend the following authors: John C. Maxwell and Ken Blanchard.

Better Communication with your PhD Supervisor

Effective communication with a supervisor is always crucial for success. Figuring out how to efficiently and effectively communicate with your PhD supervisor is especially important while in graduate school.

The following article written by Patricia Gosling and Bart Noordam was published in Science Careers a few months ago. I think it does a great job highlighting some of the communication challenges that PhD students face in figuring out how to communicate effectively with their supervisors. In addition, the article provides helpful advice for students to maximize the benefits of interacting with their PhD supervisors.

Mastering Your Ph.D.: Better Communication With Your Supervisor

While the article was written specifically for PhD students, it addresses universal communication concepts that are relevant and can be very helpful in many other settings. We hope you find the article helpful.

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