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Reflections Blog

NIH BEST Blog Rewind: Exploring a Variety of Career Paths

9/1/2020

1 Comment

 
Career Exploration, Personal Perspective
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In Fall 2018, I started writing a series of pieces for the NIH Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) Student/Postdoc Blog. As these pieces are no longer accessible online, I wanted to re-share them in a continuing series NIH BEST Blog Rewind. Here, I will add some additional thoughts to what was originally authored in 2018, denoted in bold (dark red) throughout the piece.

Original Publication Date: December 2018                           NEW Perspectives, Comments, & Insights
Part of a series revisiting my NIH BEST Blog pieces. ​
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A career journey is often like a winding road with unexpected turns.
In my last post, I mentioned I would talk about exploring available career paths that may interest you based on your personal skills and values. An important thing to mention up front is that I believe there isn’t one ideal, career fit for each of us. I think people can find many, relatively different careers interesting and fulfilling. I think this is a good thing as it puts less pressure on us to find that perfect career. You should rather, I believe, explore several career options and then narrow them down to the two or three that you think would fit your interests and preferences in terms of salary, work-life balance, location, etc…and then aggressively pursue them.

This brings to mind the Life Design work coming out of Stanford University. One of their main points in life design is that there are many potential "yous" out there...a variety of things you could do with your life that would be equally fulfilling. I talked a bit about the Designing Your Life book in an earlier post but you can also check out this excellent presentation from one of the book's co-authors, Bill Burnett, below.
Another key point from Life Design is to "try stuff"...which includes talking to people about their current career so you can visualize whether it might be a good fit for you (Informational Interviews). Better yet, try to intern (see also) or volunteer in an area you might be interested in moving into.
Thinking About Potential Careers
Over the past several months I have thought a lot about my career. I have considered roles in life science consulting, as a medical science liaison, in medical writing, and, most recently, in career & professional development services. In this blog post, I will focus on what I learned about these particular careers and my personal evaluation of their fit for my life. Hopefully walking through this process lets you learn a bit about these careers (which may be useful in your own exploration) as well as how I have weighed the pros and cons of each career path to narrow my options to my final two.
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Life Science Consulting
Life science consulting is a growing field that includes companies such as Clearview Healthcare Partners, Putnam Associates, L.E.K., Clarion, and Triangle Insights Group. You can read more about consulting as a career for Ph.D.s and about one Ph.D.’s journey to life science consulting here. Many of these companies hire MBA graduates, but they will often hire Ph.D.s with domain expertise. While the compensation for Ph.D. trained consultants in these companies is normally quite good ($80,000+ (in Dec 2018), now ~$90,000 according to Glassdoor), that comes with expectations of long hours and, often, a lot of traveling.
​Many Ph.D.s transition from consulting to work in the biotech or pharmaceutical industry as the hard life of a consultant is difficult to maintain for more than a few years. I think this type of career can be particularly straining on someone with a family and often is more appealing to single individuals. These impressions are my own and while the consulting life certainly can work for some people, I realized pretty early on that it wouldn’t for me. If you are interested in trying out the field, though, both Clearview & Putnam offer summer programs for Ph.D. students and postdocs to learn more about the consulting role and visit their offices.
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Medical Science Liaison
The medical science liaison (MSL) role is also a growing one for Ph.D.-trained scientists. The career involves establishing relationships with key opinion leaders (KOLs), typically clinicians, to learn more about their therapeutic needs. MSLs most often work for pharmaceutical companies and are tasked with educating KOLs on the advantages of their company’s products. While the position is not directly in “sales,” it is hard for me to disentangle the MSL role from selling a product (if only selling via education). MSLs often travel to meet with KOLs in their designated geographic area/territory and spend considerable time on the road, and the compensation is typically excellent ($90,000+).
MSL experience is highly desirable for potential employers, which brings up the Catch 22 problem of breaking into the MSL role if someone doesn’t have experience as an MSL. I think one’s first MSL job is often about therapeutic area fit. For example, if your Ph.D. and postdoctoral research have focused extensively on glioblastoma and Company X is about to launch a new drug to treat that particular type of cancer, they are more likely to hire you to be an MSL for that product.
​There are programs that will help train you in the language of the MSL field that may help you secure a position, but I can’t personally speak to their value. In the end, I found it difficult to find MSL positions that fit my research expertise in neuroscience (many pharmaceutical companies have moved out of this therapeutic area, though this appears to be changing) and also was a bit uncomfortable with the “selling” that went with the role. I know many MSLs, though, and they all seem very satisfied with the role. Check out the MSL Society’s website for more resources.
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Medical Writing
Medical writing is a diverse career field encompassing individuals focused on regulatory writing, manuscript services, and broad-based science communication. Regulatory writing for the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and other government bodies is a niche area in high demand.
Read more about Regulatory Affairs as a career in the excellent UNC TIBBS Career Blog.
The medical writing occupation is nice due to its flexibility—many writers work from home or remotely. The average compensation for a medical writer is ~$75,000 but note there is a large range of variability in the duties and salaries associated with these roles. In my personal experience, regulatory affairs writing roles are in particularly high demand.
If you are interested in this career path, consider joining the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), which provides a variety of useful resources, offers a very reasonably-priced student membership, and has local chapters across the country to facilitate networking.

Want to learn more about medical writing?
​AMWA's Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Medical Writer is an excellent place to start!
The key to finding a medical writing career that fits your interest is to be sure you understand how a company you are interested in views that role. For example, some companies are focused more on regulatory writing while others do more medical communications work. So, be sure to talk to medical writers who work at companies you are interested in about the duties associated with their role via informational interviews. 
​A great way to show competency as a medical writer is to get experience writing more than scientific papers. I have personally blogged for a local organization focused on advances in the healthcare industry. In addition, writing for a local newsletter on your campus or via an organization like the National Postdoctoral Association (The POSTDOCket) can give you experience preparing pieces for broader audiences and under a timeline. If you can’t work with an existing media outlet, you can publish your own articles on LinkedIn (see an example here), which is a great way to build a portfolio of expertise not just in writing but also in whatever scientific/medical area you focus on. For example, you could write about particular therapeutic areas that you want to work in as an MSL (dual-purpose activity!). After speaking with several people in the field, I have continued to pursue the medical writing career path. It sounds like a great mix of scientific rigor and work-life balance.
For another perspective on medical writing as a career, see this interview with Dee Rodeberg from the UNC TIBBS Career Blog. ​​
I am now actively involved in the Carolinas Chapter of AMWA. So, if you live in the Raleigh-Durham area and are interested in this career path, check out the events page of our website for upcoming information sessions & networking opportunities!  And find your local AMWA chapter here.
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Ph.D. Student & Postdoctoral Fellow Support & Professional Development
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Ph.D. Student & Postdoctoral Fellow Support & Professional Development is a career area that I have been pursuing of late. Individuals in this field work for universities (often in the Graduate School or Office of Postdoctoral Affairs) and assist trainees in their professional development and career exploration. A person in this role can be seen as a type of career coach and often leads workshops on using LinkedIn, resume writing, networking, and job negotiation. These roles are often multifaceted and can include liaising with faculty who have questions about the appointment process and trainee benefits as well as building connections outside the university for potential trainee internships or shadowing opportunities.
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The story of me pursuing the graduate student/postdoc career & professional development career path was born out of an email I received from someone in Vanderbilt’s BRET Office who thought a job like this would be a good fit for me. I have been very active in the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association and the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) but didn’t consider working in graduate student & postdoc affairs as a reasonable career path due to what I assumed to be a small number of available jobs. While the number of jobs is small, it is a growing career field. Having a network of individuals in this area (whom I met at the NPA annual meetings and often post job opportunities on LinkedIn) also helped me learn about job openings as they become available. In addition, the Graduate Career Consortium (GCC) maintains a member area where job opportunities in the career/professional development space are shared.

Note, the GCC now has a trainee membership for graduate students and postdocs interested in being better connected with professionals working in this space.

This is a career area that I am definitely passionate about and could see as a good fit for me in terms of being a rewarding career with excellent work-life balance.
Update: I did end up moving into the graduate/postdoc career & professional development career. Since January 2019, I manage the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at NC State University. Read more about my transition from postdoc to postdoc affairs professional in this POSTDOCket piece here.
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I have also taken on leadership positions with the NPA & GCC. Both organizations have bright futures ahead. The NPA recently announced the hire of a new Executive Director and GCC membership is rapidly growing (~15% increase in membership since 2018)...now with over 450 members. It is a great time to get involved in both organizations either as a postdoc (NPA) or budding career/development professional (GCC). 
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Final Thoughts
I will talk more about the challenges of navigating a multi-prong career search in the future.

What I will say in closing is that the keys to performing a comprehensive career exploration search are to:
  1. Start early
  2. Talk with people in the role you want via informational interviews (use LinkedIn to find these people—I love the alumni tool as you have an instant connection with alumni from your current or former school)
  3. Make use of national organizations that are focused on a career area of interest to you and go to their social events to network with and learn from professionals
  4. Stay in touch with people at companies or in careers you are interested in who may be able to let you know of job openings as they become available
  5. Keep an open mind

As mentioned earlier, there are many lives you can live and feel fulfilled. The key, then, is to realize that fact early, explore multiple career options, and find a few paths to pursue with intent. You may be surprised to discover where it all ultimately leads but by keeping a few options open, you will leave room to pursue exciting opportunities as they arise (Planned Happenstance). 
Further Reading
Career Exploration Series on PassioInventa

The Rewards of Life Sciences Consulting: A Conversation with Putnam’s Remco op den Kelder
Top 10 List Of Alternative Careers For PhD Science Graduates
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What Informational Interviews Can Do for You
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What do we know about Ph.D. scientists’ career paths?
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       Highlighting data from the Council of Graduate Schools' PhD Career Pathways Program
Association of American Universities (AAU) PhD Education Initiative 
       Activities & Reports

From the Reflections Blog
Start Here (using Design Thinking in career exploration)
Career Exploration 101
The Future of Work (and the transferable skills you build pursuing a PhD)
​NIH BEST Blog Rewind Series
Pondering the "next step" as a late-stage postdoctoral fellow
Is a postdoc worth it?

Resources
Designing Your Life worksheets ​
(Informational) Interviewing & Networking Tips from PhD+ (UVA)
Explore Careers via Vanderbilt's Beyond the Lab Video Series
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NIH BEST Blog Rewind: Is a Postdoc Worth It?

8/18/2020

0 Comments

 
Career Exploration, Personal Perspective
In Fall 2018, I started writing a series of pieces for the NIH Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) Student/Postdoc Blog. As these pieces are no longer accessible online, I wanted to re-share them in a continuing series NIH BEST Blog Rewind. Here, I will add some additional thoughts to what was originally authored in 2018, denoted in bold (dark red) throughout the piece.
Original Publication Date: November 2018                           NEW Perspectives, Comments, & Insights
Part of a series revisiting my NIH BEST Blog pieces. ​

Is a postdoc worth it? It can be, if you use it strategically.

Recently, I came across a passage in the book Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover that I think perfectly captures the nature of finding one’s place in the world. When talking about all the decisions that go into making a life, Westover makes the following analogy:

“Decided. Choices (that people make, together and on their own), numberless as grains of sand, had layered, compressed, coalescing into sediment, then into rock, until all was set in stone.”
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The Fundamental Post-Ph.D. Choice Point: To Postdoc or Not? 
Truly, the choices we make throughout our life ultimately shape and define us. Some choices may seem small and trivial (grains of sand) but they compound over time. The choice to pursue a postdoc is certainly not a trivial one but some of the experiences that accompany it can add up to have an impact on one’s career trajectory, often in unexpected ways.

The most pressing decision for the majority of late-stage graduate students is whether to pursue postdoctoral training. Long the default for those Ph.D.s interested in faculty careers in academia, the postdoctoral fellowship, especially in the sciences has become ubiquitous and a virtually expected next step after graduate school. According to NSF data, ~61% of US life science Ph.D.s with post graduation commitments are pursuing a postdoc and ~38% of all Ph.D. recipients surveyed pursue a postdoc. Even for graduate students interested in careers in industry, many are told that employers want to see postdoctoral experience before offering them a job. Nevertheless, graduate students should definitely consider the value of a postdoc to their own career goals before committing to a few (or often more) years of training.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unstable labor market (including in academia), now may be an excellent time for Ph.D.s to spend a few years in a postdoc to strengthen their skills as they wait for economic conditions to improve. Postdocs will, at least for the foreseeable future, be needed to help drive scientific research and innovation at US universities. In fact, data on postdoctoral hiring trends collected in May/June 2020 by the Professional Development and Career Office at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found 35% of responding institutions have not changed their postdoc hiring practices at all post-COVID-19 and only 3% have stopped hiring postdocs completely.
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Data collected from 31 postdoc offices across the US in May/June 2020 indicate postdoc hiring is still occurring, if primarily in a modified form (requiring additional levels of approval or verification of funding source for the positions).
Furthermore, having an advanced degree may insulate Ph.D. holders from the main shock to labor markets post-COVID-19. And one can imagine the demand for life science Ph.D.s working to assist companies developing COVID-19 therapies and vaccines could be high. Additionally, as companies and industries use this time to rethink their workforce, the skills you are developing in your Ph.D. and postdoc - critical thinking, information synthesis, hypothesis testing, and presentation skills - will have you prepared for the future of work.
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Why Pursue the Postdoc Path? Pluses & Minuses
If you love doing research, a postdoc can seem like a great thing as there are no longer pesky classes and dissertation committee meetings that go along with being a Ph.D. student. Rather, a research postdoc is all about the science. However, there are clear short-term financial costs to pursuing a postdoc as a well-publicized 2017 study found, estimating that 15 years into their careers, former postdoc researchers earned a total salary ~20% less than non-postdocs across a variety of sectors (non-tenure track academic research, government/nonprofit, industry). While this number is somewhat depressing, I am about to use a cliché but one I whole-heartedly believe in when it comes to the postdoctoral experience: it’s not all about the money.
Obviously, it is not about the money while you are in a postdoc and clearly one’s particular family situation may prompt you to look for a higher salary than that of a postdoc after you complete your Ph.D., which is completely understandable. However, the postdoc time can be useful to allow you to continue to explore your career options and diversify your skill set. 
Use Your Time as ​Postdoc to Build Skills & Expand Your Career Options
I realize my perspective as a mobile, single, relatively young man is different than many others. To summarize my personal experience on the matter, I have found my 4.5 years as a postdoc to be a great experience that helped me grow as a person. During this time I have done cool science that will hopefully have an impact on human health, learned a variety of new techniques and skills (both “hard/technical” and “soft/transferable”; including leadership skills in the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association), and discovered more about what I desire for my life.
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In addition, I used my time as a postdoc to explore a variety of career options via informational interviews and on-campus sessions as part of Vanderbilt’s BEST Program: ASPIRE. I also greatly expanded my professional network by attending a variety of local and national conferences on topics ranging from Healthcare to Data Science to Neuroscience. I honed my written and oral communication by volunteering to write/blog for a variety of outlets and never saying no to an invitation to talk about my research work, which I have done at conferences, universities, on Twitter, and at a local science club in Nashville. These varied experiences have shaped who I now am. I didn’t come to this postdoc thinking all of these experiences would happen to me but they did and I am a better person for experiencing them. From these experiences, I know I can write effectively, speak publicly, organize meetings, work as part of a team, and plan and execute a variety of projects, all skills that will be valuable in whatever career I pursue post postdoc.
A Postdoc Can Provide Life Flexibility 
Furthermore, and while it will vary from lab to lab, I have to say that my postdoctoral experience has also given me the ability to live a flexible life. I can take a few weeks off between Christmas and New Years to visit with my parents and sisters, take a week off in the summer to go to the beach with family and friends, or take a Friday off to get a jumpstart on a weekend trip. As long as one's work gets done, a good postdoc advisor won't micromanage your working hours. Thus, a postdoc can offer a good deal of autonomy and flexibility, albeit compensating you at a lower rate than the market might allow. Importantly, postdoc compensation is improving, as measured by NIH NRSA postdoc stipend levels.  
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There is a saying that life is often a tradeoff between time and money, you will often have too much of one but not enough of the other.
​While the above quote referencing the time/money trade-off is certainly not always true, I feel like my position as a postdoc, while not giving me the best monetary reward, gave and still gives me a lot of flexibility and a good work-life balance. It is hard to put a price on that. As my parents get older, I am keenly aware that I should take the time when I can to visit them and other family members. My choice to do a flexible postdoc (as opposed to working in the corporate, 9-5 always “on” world) has given me the ability to make time for family.
Given the COVID-19 pandemic, you may not be able to physically visit with family or friends even if you have flexibility in your postdoc. Travel will eventually become more available as we "flatten the curve" and, thankfully, video-conferencing technology allows one to visit with others from the safety of your home.
In these challenging times, you can still use your postdoc time to up-skill via the vast number of courses offered online via LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, EdX, Udemy, and more.  
Moving to Your Preferred Geographic Area for the Postdoc
One should consider taking a postdoc in a geographic area where you believe career opportunities in your desired field are plentiful. That might be the Bay Area, San Diego, Boston, New York, or lesser known but dynamically growing Southern metro areas such as Austin and Raleigh-Durham. CBRE, a world leader in real estate services, has some excellent data on leading US life science clusters and top tech talent markets in North America.
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Moving to any of these hubs will greatly increase your opportunity to find employment after your postdoc and by doing your postdoc in these metro areas, you will be able to actively network with individuals working in the life science and technology sectors. Obviously, COVID-19 will limit your ability to physically network with most anyone over the coming months but many regional groups such as MassBio and the NC Biotechnology Center are currently offering virtual networking opportunities. 
Finally, living in your desired geographic area as a postdoc will allow you to rapidly act on job market opportunities. If a position opens up and they want you to start in a few weeks, you will already have made the move and will be ready to hit the ground running in your new position. ​
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North America at night from space. Accessed from: https://epod.usra.edu/blog/2000/11/city-lights-of-north-america.html
Obviously, if you are considering a faculty career path, you will have to be more flexible with your geographic preferences. Luckily, the timeline for moving to begin a faculty position can often be stretched by several months (to as long as a year) and moving expenses are often covered by the hiring university. 
Even in academia, though, there are clearly geographic hubs for faculty positions: Boston, the Bay Area, Southern California, New York City, and Chicago come to mind. Here in the NC Research Triangle area, Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, & North Carolina State University employ over 12,500 faculty (including UNC & Duke Schools of Medicine) in a ~90 square-mile area. So, it is still possible to postdoc and purse a faculty position in the same geographic area, though your options will be limited. 
Where you live can greatly affect your happiness, including being close to family, cultural opportunities, and employment opportunities for your significant other. So, you should definitely consider geography when taking a postdoc and your next employment opportunity, including deciding how important geographic location is for your well-being.      ​​
Transitioning Out of the Postdoc​
Obviously, a postdoc should eventually come to an end and I think one shouldn’t stay too long in a postdoc. What "too long" is will vary by field but I would argue that if you don't feel like you are building new skills and growing as a researcher, you should start planning to transition out of the postdoc. It is easy to get complacent but the postdoc position should be a temporary “stepping stone” to bigger and better things. 
For me, the postdoc expanded my view of what my life could be. I was pretty convinced a faculty job was what I wanted and while that still could be a good career for me (see Tales from the Academic Job Market), I have come to learn there are so many more opportunities out there for Ph.D.s. Furthermore, I have found a few “alternative” (horrible wording) careers that I think I would not only be good fits for me but also would give purpose and meaning to my life. As I mentioned in my first BEST Blog post, everyone is looking for those two things in life: purpose and meaning. My postdoc has helped me to find what that might look like for me. While I haven’t completely gone down any of these available career paths (more on these in my next post) fully just yet, I think I could be happy and fulfilled taking any of them.
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Coda
Since January 2019, I work in postdoc affairs at NC State University (read some about that journey here). In this role, I help postdocs think strategically about the next step in their careers. In a way, I have come full circle from my postdoc perspective this post as I am able to reflect on my own experience as a postdoc to help others during this time in their lives.
In a perfect world, all of the above advice should be applied to graduate students. While a grad student has additional responsibilities with classes, teaching, and research projects, they can also use their time to build skills and explore their career options. Maybe then they can avoid doing a "default" postdoc (pursuing a postdoc because they don't know what else to do after receiving a Ph.D.) and more quickly transition to a career that best leverages their skills and interests and pays them appropriately for their work.
Hopefully, though, I have made the case that if you are a graduate student who still hasn't figured out what that next career step is for you, continuing to pursue a postdoc can be a strategic stepping stone. A postdoc can allow time for further self-reflection, skill building, networking, and research productivity, all of which will serve you well in your journey toward a meaningful and fulfilling career in academia, industry, or beyond. 
Further References & Readings:
Career Conversations for Researchers in the Age of COVID-19 from UCSF's Office of Career & Professional Development

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) has laid out 6 core competencies around effective postdoctoral training: 
​1. Discipline-specific conceptual knowledge
2. Research skill development
3. Communication skills
4. Professionalism
5. Leadership and management skills
6. Responsible conduct of research

NPA Postdoc Career Resources

Postdoc Academy Resources, including those around succeeding as a postdoc

More from the Reflections Blog:
NIH BEST Blog Rewind: Pondering the "next step" as a late-stage postdoctoral fellow
​​Career Exploration 101
​
Post Ph.D.-Career Plans: Consider the Possibilities 
The End of Work as We Know It: How an increasingly automated world will change everything
​Why you should get involved in things outside the lab/work
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NIH BEST Blog Rewind: Pondering the “next step” as a late-stage postdoctoral fellow

7/21/2020

0 Comments

 
Career Exploration, Personal Perspective
In Fall 2018, I started writing a series of pieces for the NIH Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) Student/Postdoc Blog. As these pieces are no longer accessible online, I wanted to re-share them in a continuing series NIH BEST Blog Rewind. Here, I will add some additional thoughts to what was originally authored in 2018, denoted in bold (dark red) throughout the piece.

​The first in the rewind series comes from when I was entering my last academic year of funding as a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University. At the time, I was considering a lot of career paths, as many Ph.D.-trained researchers do.

I hope sharing these thoughts and my perspectives nearly 2 years removed from that experience help graduate students and postdocs currently going through the career exploration process. 
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Original Publication Date: October 2018                             NEW Perspectives, Comments, & Insights
​As a postdoc entering my 5th year, it is time to make some difficult decisions about my next career step. This is a time when many postdocs begin to question how they want their lives to progress. 
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Soul Searching
Does one stay in academia or move into a (horrendously named) “
alternative career”? My goal over this and the next 5 BEST blog posts is to take you on my personal journey of finding a career that fits my interests, skills, and aspirations for my life, and, importantly, coming to peace with my decision.
I am not going to provide much detail on the mechanics of the job search or the importance of career exploration as those areas have been covered by others, and in other posts by yours truly (see also Start Here on this blog).

​See also these excellent resources from UCSF's Office of Career & Professional Development to help you in career exploration as well as planning for academic & nonacademic careers. 


Getting Personal
I want to make this series of posts personal, which will be challenging given my personality. I am going outside my comfort zone of sharing my feelings/desires/dreads so that maybe others on this journey realize that it is more than OK to do so. I think discovering and accepting your feelings in addition to taking a logical approach to the “pros” and “cons” of a position is critical to making a holistic choice that will be good for your soul.
The "Default Path" to Faculty Post Ph.D.
The “default path” of obtaining a Ph.D., doing a postdoc, and ultimately getting a faculty job is so ingrained into the culture of academic training that it often seems like considering other career options is going against the logical, natural flow. However, the
career landscape for available tenure-track faculty jobs has become extremely different from that of our mentors. 
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I think mentors and trainees are implicitly aware of this but when you personally go through the faculty search process, it becomes very apparent just how tough it is to obtain these positions.
Personal Experience on the Faculty Job Market + New Advice & Insights
I knew through following academic and higher education news sources that landing a tenure-track faculty position was going to be tough but my experience applying last fall (2017) really opened my eyes. I applied to 26 positions that I thought fit my research interests and expertise (neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience), mostly in psychology departments at R1 research universities. I had a total of 1 on-campus interview and it was for the job description I felt least fit my expertise.

I think this result reflects two things:
1) landing a tenure-track job at an R1 is VERY difficult and
2) trying to predict which departments you think would be interested in you is virtually impossible. As with landing any job, the academic job hunt is all about “fit” and if you aren’t the right fit at the right time, you can’t expect to land the job.


Read more about my personal experience on the faculty job market in Tales From the Academic Job Market.

How can you be more proactive in planning for the faculty job market?
Don't dismiss conducting informational interviews with assistant professors at a variety of institutions to learn what made them successful in their job search. In addition, you can use these info interviews to learn more about what it is like working at a liberal arts college, Masters comprehensive university, etc... You may find being faculty at a certain type of institution best fits your skills and interests. 

Also, read our
Survey-based Analysis of the Academic Job Market paper now published in eLife to learn more about metrics associated with successfully receiving a faculty job offer. 
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Predictors of receiving a faculty job offer for individuals on the market in 2018-2019. For more see our publication in eLife (image from Fig 5D): https://elifesciences.org/articles/54097
Next Steps - Searching for Purpose & Happiness in Life
So, where am I going from here? Will I persevere and win the tenure-track lottery? Do I even want the tenure-track
life (there are a lot of pros and cons)? If I move into a career outside academic research and teaching, was my postdoc a waste? Of course not (more on this point in my next NIH BEST post).

The concept of the Sunk Cost Fallacy looms large here. A sunk cost is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered and the fallacy involves allowing past costs to impact current and future decisions.

This manifests psychologically in the mental challenge we encounter when deciding on whether we should abandon a project or direction due to the amount of energy, time, or resources you have already invested into it INSTEAD OF whether the decision makes sense in the moment or with an eye to the future.

This lingering on sunk costs can also be problematic when considering a career change. Don't let your past investments in a particular career path dissuade you from pursuing what interests you now. Find your Ikigai ("reason for being" in Japanese). 
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Over the course of this blog series, I hope to share my experiences in finding a landing place after the postdoc. I am going to try to be fairly open about the struggles and doubts I experience and hopefully offer perspective on finding happiness and purpose in life. I think it is ingrained in American culture that your career defines you. New people you meet invariably ask, “What do you do?” to get a sense of who you are and what you value. This is unfortunate. You are so much more than a job or even a career (acknowledging the distinction that often gets drawn there). 
Think Beyond Lab/Work/School​
Through volunteering in something you deeply believe in, you can also find purpose, even if your job has no direct impact on the world. The key here is to know what you can and can’t sacrifice in a job or career and how you might be able to fill a particular void in your life through activities outside of work.
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I volunteered in my local postdoctoral association and it ultimately led to a career path I did not initially consider. 
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In retrospect, my involvement in the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association (VPA) allowed me to build confidence in my leadership experience (as treasurer & junior co-chair/vice president), learn more about the postdoctoral training & support landscape, and exposed me to the national postdoc affairs landscape by attending National Postdoctoral Association annual meetings. Now working as the Postdoc Affairs Program Manager at NC State University, I can see how all those past experiences led me to my current role.
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Without getting involved in the VPA, I might not have ended up in my current career.  


You never know how the various experiences in your life will ultimately influence you and your path. The key is to experience things beyond your current work/research/training to broaden your perspective, give back, and build new skills - they will benefit you now & in the future.  

Come Along On My Journey
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In closing, part of the search for a post-postdoc (or post-Ph.D.) career is a search for yourself. This sounds kind of intimidating and it is. Hopefully, though, by going on this journey with me you will see that people do come through to the other side and along the way they often discover what is most important to their well-being and happiness. Seems like a pretty nice outcome after navigating the hard, twisty road to a career. Ready for the ride?
Further Reading
Career Management: The Sunk-Cost Fallacy!

The Journey from Postdoc to Working in Postdoctoral Affairs

More from the Reflections Blog:
Career Exploration Series
Start Here

Career Exploration Series (PassioInventa)

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Learn more about BEST
BEST: Implementing Career Development Activities for Biomedical Research Trainees
This book ​provides an instructional guide for institutions wanting to create, supplement or improve their career and professional development offerings. Each chapter provides an exclusive perspective from an administrator from the 17 Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) institutions. The book can aid institutions who train graduate students in a variety of careers by teaching faculty and staff how to create and implement career development programming, how to highlight the effectiveness of offerings, how to demonstrate that creating a program from scratch is doable, and how to inform faculty and staff on getting institutional buy-in.
This is a must-have for graduate school deans and faculty and staff who want to implement and institutionalize career development programming at their institutions. It is also ideal for graduate students and postdocs.
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    A neuroscientist by training, I now work to improve the career readiness of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

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