PhDretreat

Career paths
for Life Scientists

Dr. Barbara Janssens

Weil der Stadt, June 2012

PhD Career Manager

Dr. Barbara Janssens

v Masters biotechnology (Ghent, Belgium)
v Erasmus (Uppsala, Sweden)
v PhD in molecular cell biology
(Ghent, Belgium) in 2002
v Postdoc cancer & cell migration
(Institut Curie, Paris, France)
v Trainee Publishing at Wiley-VCH in 2005
Ø  Publishing (ms central, peer review, editing, writing, typesetting, proof corrections)
Ø  Corporate (finance, controlling, customer service, marketing, promotion,…)
v Biotechnology Journal: Managing Editor and co-Editor-in-Chief
v Management and strategic journal development biotechnology
v Teaching Scientific Writing at HBIGS, DKFZ, Berlin, EMBO

Ø 2011 PhD Career Manager for Helmholtz International Graduate School for
Cancer Research at DKFZ Heidelberg, Germany

27-Jun-12 Page 3 Barbara Janssens PhD Career Service

My career path

Playground
network

Graduate school

Teaching Editor

Your career path? Today’s aims?
v ? v Career development

v Your Topic? v Career Plan A/Plan B

v Your Aim? v Jobs in the Life Sciences

v Job hunting
Ø Job searches
Ø Networking
Ø CV writing

v Scientific vs soft skills


Career paths in the Life Sciences
v Career development

v Career Plan A/Plan B

v Jobs in the Life Sciences

v Job hunting
Ø Networking
Ø CV writing



Career Development
Concept:

Scientific Life
Beyond the Lab


Career paths

A

Supervisor/Mentor
Advisor B

…

C


Careers Service Milestones


•  Seminars
•  Students/postdocs invite speakers from industry/
academia for open discussion events

•  Practical workshops
•  Job/postdoc searching, networking, interview training
•  General training and “soft skills”

•  Booklet with “job profiles”

•  Science and Society activities
•  Interest – Engagement - Experience
•  Real PLUS on CV


•  In 2011 100 counselings a max 1h
Ø General orientation
Ø CV check
Ø Application

•  Career lunch on Thursdays
Ø Get together
Ø External guests: Consulting, Roche, P&G, EVI,…

•  Annual Survey


•  Build network
•  At present Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing,
Research Gate,…
•  Facebook 240 „likes“, 360 „friends“
•  Mailing list „jobs-for-phd“
•  Trace and keep track of DKFZ scientists
•  Collaborations and joint calendar


Collaborations
v  Heidelberg Campus
Ø joint CAREER CALENDAR http://tinyurl.com/5wuerfx
-  DKFZ PhD Council and Postdoc Network (PDN)
-  DKFZ Senior Scientists Network (INESS)
-  DKFZ Alumni
-  BioContact
-  HBIGS graduate school
-  EMBO, EMBL Advanced Training, EMBL Alumni
-  Heidelberg University careers service
-  BtS Biotechnologie studenten initiative

v  International partners
-  Oxford and Cambridge Universities Careers Services
-  Karolinska, Stockholm, Sweden
-  Albert Einstein College New York, Cold spring Harbor, MIT
-  Institut Curie, Paris
-  Companies (Merck, Bayer, Siemens, BASF, Roche, Springer, Wiley, ..)





v Job hunting
Ø Networking
Ø CV writing
Adapted from Gerd Altmann www.pixelio.de



What is your Plan A?

Academia

Industry

Don’t know


DKFZ PhD students want…


Career Aim after PhD at DKFZ


EMBL PhDEIPP students do after their PhD?
What do students go…
(Data from students who defended since 01/2004)

Scientific careers
outside research (13%)

18
9
Private sector
Academic
research (7%)
research (80%)
108

Helke Hillebrand, EMBL 2010

EMBL Postdocs go…
What do Postdocs do after EMBL?
(Data from 921 postdocs whose whereabouts are known)

Scientific careers
outside research
(1%)
32
Non-scientific careers (3%)
90
Private sector
research (10%) 13

786 Academic
research (85%)
Helke Hillebrand, EMBL
27-Jun-12 Helke Hillebrand 08/2010Barbara Janssens
12 Page 20 PhD Career Service

„Freedom“ in Academia
v Temporary contracts and grants
Ø You have to plan funding for next year

v Freedom is relative


Academic positions in
France, Germany, UK, USA

Reinhard Kreckel
http://www.daad.de/ID-E_Berlin/media/pdf/postdoc-vortrag-kreckel.pdf published in
http://www.forschung-und-lehre.de/wordpress/?p=9723

For Academia you need passion…

v … and publications


„Safety“in Industry

v Permanent contracts possible (often after trainee)

v But also planning:
Ø Appraisals („Mitarbeitergespräche“)
Ø Projects
Ø Funding

v Safety is relative
Ø Mergers and restructuring
Ø Moving (Asia…)


Non-academic jobs
v You can do everything!
v Research in Industry (big pharma/small biotech)
v Research/Project Management
v Publishing, medical writing, journalism
v Science communication and public relations
v Patents
v Teaching
v Sales and Marketing
v Consulting
v Clinical trials and applications
v Investment banking
v Regulatory agencies
v Informatics
v ...

Entry points in Pharma Industry
Business

Sales Reg. Product Manager

Medical Affairs
Compliance Specialist
Ass. Project Manager

CRA (Clinical Res.) Patents
Biostatistician Strategy
Science

Postdoc Management

Operational Strategic
Adapted from Tilo Senger and Daniel Gau,, Career Paths in Today’s Pharma Industry, DKFZ 2012

Trends in Industry - job market

v Understand industry and the market

v Pharma outsources R&D
§ More collaborations
§ Less positions (postdocs etc)
§ But Project Managers needed

v Biotech driving force
§ Scientific entrepreneurs
§ Less certain

v Consulting
Tilo Senger and Daniel Gau, Career Paths in Today’s Pharma Industry


People more interesting than jobs

v Ask people
Ø Same job at same company can look very different
Ø Different job at other company can be the same

v Look at job profiles of former PhD students
Ø Get a feeling for what they like
Ø Why they moved
Ø What they dislike!





v Job hunting
Ø Networking
Ø CV writing



How to apply for postdoc positions

v Postdoc: only if you really want to
Ø Not as a default or trampoline (“easy to stay” or “better than nothing”)

v Set your goals and priorities

v Ask around in labs and on conferences

v Check labs that got big grants (EMBO, ERC etc)
Ø But only from the labs you like

v More info
Ø Guntram Bauer, A Fellowship Primer, HFSP www.hfsp.org
Ø Chakrabarty, A Guide to Academia, Wiley 2012


As a postdoc…

v You are more an employee than a trainee

v You communicate even more

v Your main priority is to publish
Ø Easy stuff first (collaborations, former projects)

v You remain aware of time and funding left
Ø There is no “hard goal” like the PhD degree
Ø Need to continuously evaluate goals, projects and progress

v You focus on RESEARCH
Ø minimum of administrative tasks, taking or teaching courses
Chakrabarty, A Guide to Academia, Wiley 2012

How do you apply for other jobs?

v Search jobs, portals v Interesting place

v CV/application v Spontaneous application

v Selection v …

v Interview

v Negotiations
v Notice time
v Hired!


Job search sites
Int. DE
v www.naturejobs.com •  www.stepstone.de
v http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org •  www.monster.de
v www.newscientistjobs.com •  www.jobvector.de
v www.chemjobs.net •  www.scitec-career.com
v www.jobsdb.com
•  www.gate2lifesciences.de
v http://jobsearch.monster.com
•  www.absolventa.de
v www.biotechjob.com
•  http://jobs.zeit.de
v http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess
•  www.berufsstart.de
v http://www.stepstone.com
•  www.drarbeit.de
v www.eurosciencejobs.com
•  www.jobware.de
v www.bcejobs.nl
•  www.pharmajobs.com
v www.labojobs.be


Learn to read job ads!

v Even if you don’t want to apply now, you get a
feeling for who is recruiting (=has money)

v “Translate” the ad: what is asked for ?

v Are skills Needed or Nice To Have?

v What is the time frame?

v For how long does the ad stay on?


Job hunting…

X 40

Richard Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute?


Networking!

v Start now! Look for INFORMATION

v Learn to present yourself

v Ask people about their work/life

v Make info dates for 10 minutes

v Send a personal „thank you“

v If people remember you...

v ...something can come up!


Life/work Planning L/W-P

It´s easier to act yourself
v France: Daniel Porot into a new way of thinking,
Ø www.porot.com
than it is to think yourself
Ø www.careergames.com
into a new way of acting.
v Germany: John Webb
Ø www.life-work-planning.de Richard Nelson Bolles
Ø www.lwp-seminare.de

v US: Richard N. Bolles
Ø www.jobhuntersbible.com

v DKFZ WORKSHOP
Ø Sat 07.07.2012 English (John Webb)


CV writing starts with... CV reading

Richard Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute?


How employers recruit

REGULAR TRACK ASAP - TRACK
Ø Inform Human Resources Ø Inform Human Resources
Ø HR posts job internally Ø Let‘s see…. Who do I know?
Ø HR posts job externally Ø Invite connections to apply
Ø Wait for application deadline
Ø Select CVs from 1253+
Ø HR finds date for interview
Ø Interviews one months later
Ø Second round
Ø Third round Ø Interview
Ø Negotiations Ø Negotiations
Ø Position filled Ø Position filled


CV writing starts with... CV reading

v Typical CV workshop

v You have 12 minutes to select one candidate

v Which criteria do you use?

v What attracts you in a cover letter?

v When do you spot what is important?

v -> YOUR list

v …THIS is the list of CV writing tips

CV examples

v http://jobsearch.about.com/library/cvsample

v Google

v Ask colleagues! E.g. postdoc in the lab: “how did

your CV look like that got you hired”?


When is a CV NOT selected?

v No cover letter
v No motivation
v Unclear
v Not interesting
v No extra skills
v Not matching job description
v Perfect but boring (standard without extra)
v The person behind this CV does not appeal
v …


Why is a CV selected?


Serial position effect: most important first!

Serial position effect

Drain needs
Recall

unblocking!!

Mustn’t forget
to do the shopping...
I’m hungry...

t
Primacy Recency
Deese and Kaufman, J. Exp. Psychol. 1957, 54, 180-187."
Murdock , J. Exp. Psychol. 1962, 64, 482-488."
27-Jun-12 Page 44 Barbara Janssens PhD Career Service © Andrew Moore

How often do you update your CV?





v Job hunting
Ø Networking
Ø CV writing

Ø Spend time efficiently
Ø Skills, Business, Society

No time to lose…

v … but think of the future NOW!

v Efficient thinking rather than procrastination

v Take time to
Ø Develop skills
Ø Take part in extracurricular activities
Ø Involve in Science&Society
Ø „Think“ of your future
Ø Make lists of contacts, possible career goals, actions,,...
Ø ….. is 30 minutes per week too much?...


30 minutes to…
v Read what INTERESTS you
Ø Nature news
Ø Science careers
Ø Laborjournal
Ø Magazines…

v Search the WEB
Ø Events
Ø Info, Offers

v NETWORK
Ø Facebook, LinkedIn, Research Gate,…

v TALK to people
Ø Friends, colleagues, alumni, visitors, …
Ø Use your coffee break to ask around!


Which skills do you need?

v Soft skills -> project management, communication,
management, professionalism, networking, self-
promotion, leadership, …
Ø http://www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday/asbmbtoday_article.aspx?id=16697

v Skills assessment
Ø Scientists often not aware of their experience or lack of
Ø Myers Briggs
Ø http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/publications/competencies

v Courses are good, DOING something 100x better
Ø FIND examples and stories in your life (e.g. L/WP method)
Ø Organise events, supervise students, take INITIATIVE
Ø Take a course or TEACH one


Get your profile!
National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) Core Competencies Self-Assessment Checklist
Rate your current level of development in each of the following, with 1 being "Needs attention" and 9 being "extremely competent."
For more information on these competencies, please visit www.nationalpostdoc.org/competencies.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 n/a
1 Discipline-Specific Conceptual Knowledge
Analytical Approach to Defining Scientific Questions
Design of Scientifically Testable Hypotheses
Broad-Based Knowledge Acquisition
Interpretation and Analysis of Data
2 Professional/Research Skill Development
Literature Search Strategies and Effective Interpretation
Experimental Design
Statistical Analysis
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Laboratory Techniques and Safety
Principles of the Peer Review Process
3 Communication Skills
Writing
Speaking
Teaching
Interpersonal
Special Situations
4 Professionalism
Workplace
Institutional
Collegial
Universal
5 Leadership & Management Skills
Leadership-Strategic Vision
Leadership-Motivating and Inspiring Others
Management-Project Management
Management-Data and Resource Management
Management-Research Staff Management
6 Responsible Conduct of Research
Conflicts of Interest
Data Ownership and Sharing
Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship
Identifying and Mitigating Research Misconduct
Research with Human Subjects (when applicable)
Research Involving Animals (when applicable)


Get active!

v In every day-life
Ø Identify points to improve
Ø Set short-time goals
Ø Ask friends, colleagues, PI, etc for feedback

v In associations
Ø http://bts-ev.de Biotechnologie Studenten initiative
Ø http://www.yebn.de Young European Biotechnology Network

v Write down achievements and stories

v A story tells more than a certificates


Get a certificate!?
European Business Competence Certificate
v www.ebcl.eu
v www.ebcl.info/international
v in 24 languages
v 40 to 60 hours preparation
Ø Books and e-learning
Ø Courses
v Level A: Business Basis
Ø Business objectives
Ø Accounting
Ø Costing and pricing
Ø Business law
v Level B: Business Planning


Level A Business Basis

v Business objectives
Ø Profitability, return on equity/investment
Ø Liquidity, cash ratio, cash flow
Ø Productivity, return on sales
v Accounting
Ø annual financial statement (balance sheet, P&L account)
Ø assets side: fixed/current assets
Ø liabilities side: equity/borrowed capital
Ø Profit and Loss Account (P&L)
v Costing and pricing
Ø fixed costs degression
Ø Shortterm and long-term break-even price
v Business law
Ø personal unlimited Liability, joint and several liability
Ø http://www.ebcl.eu/accounting-scandals/

Science & Society

v Why is Science & Society relevant?
Ø Think and discuss
§  YOUR role as a scientist
§  Science in a broader sense
§  Ethical issues
§  Talking to the public
§  Engaging in voluntary projects

v What does this have to do with your career?
a.  It should be a moral duty for every scientist
b.  The real plus on your CV is your
§  Interest – Engagement – Experience


Science & Society
Ø Dublin ESOF – European Science Open Forum
§ http://esof2012.org/
Ø Group
§ http://www.facebook.com/Phdcareers/scisoc
Ø Seminars in Heidelberg (EMBL, Uni, DKFZ)
§ http://www.embl.de/aboutus/science_society
Ø Mentors
§ https://www.life-science-lab.org
Ø Used equipment
§ http://adequationgermany.embl.de


Other Career Information
v www.researchgate.net/cc.phdkfz
Ø Ask dkfz PhD Council for access

v www.prospects.ac.uk/careers
Ø Free registration -> download; prints at our office
§ Career planning : decision time
§ Case studies- people's stories
§ CV - Tips for CVs and covering letters
§ Flexible working: (dis)advantages, options
§ Interview - Tests and exercises info and tips
§ Job hunting : how, when, where?
§ Job options and requirements by subject
§ ….

Books


More books

v See list




??


v Job hunting
Ø Networking
Ø CV writing



Thank you!

"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken."

- Oscar Wilde
v For questions:
Ø B.janssens@dkfz.de
Ø careers@dkfz.de
Ø Tel +49 6221 422146
Ø www.dkfz.de/phd/Careers.html


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