Posted on April 29, 2006 by BioJobBlogger

The Top Ten Interview Questions That You Hate to Answer

  1. Where do you see yourself five years from now?
  2. What are your strengths?
  3. What are your weaknesses?
  4. Why this company and not our competitors?
  5. May I contact your current employer?
  6. Are you willing to relocate?
  7. Why are you looking for a new job?
  8. Tell me about your greatest achievements
  9. Tell me about your most disappointing experience
  10. Describe how you overcame adversity in your life
I compiled this list based on my own exzperiences as both a job seeker and professional recruiter. As silly as some of these questions may seem, I recommend that you craft well thought out and careful responses to them. I would be willing to bet a lot of money that many, if not all, of these questions will appear during one or more of your pharmaceutical or biotechnology job interviews. Until next time; good luck and good job hunting! --------
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Posted on April 22, 2006 by BioJobBlogger

The Art of Resume Writing

One of the many things that I was not taught in graduate school (or as a postdoctoral fellow for that matter), was how to prepare a resume. Despite opinions to the contrary, a resume is a very important document that must be well organized and carefully crafted. This is because the first thing that every hiring manager sees when looking for new employees is a job applicant's resume. As the old adage goes, first impressions are the most important and the ones that last the longest. That said, it is typically in a job candidate's best interest to have the first impression be a good one. To that end, resume should not be prepared hastily nor should theybe crafted without a substantial amount of thought and consideration. I do not want to get into the nuts and bolts of resume writing in this post. However, every resume should contain the following information:
  • Contact information including name, phone number and e-mail address (mailing addresses are optional)
  • A summary of qualifications that concisely represents your skill sets and talent that you want a prospective employer to know about
  • Chronological listing of your professional experiences to date and an accompanying description of your accomplishments at each position
  • Education including undergraduate, graduate or certificate credentials (dates obtained are optional)
  • Awards and honors
  • Membership in any societies or relevant organizations
  • Any special skills or talents you may possess, e.g. website design, underwater basket weaving, etc.
  • Publications (abstracts and presentations are optional)
  • In general, references should not be included on a resume (if an employer asks for them, send them under separate cover or simply place them on the resume sent to that employer)
As scientists, we are trained to believe that personal achievements will be recognized and that promoting or marketing oneself is a "no-no". However, in the real world, self promotion and aggressive, shameless self marketing is what enables most individuals to get jobs and embark on successful careers. With this in mind, a well organized and carefully crafted resume is one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal! As we say in the recruiting biz, a resume will get you in the door......after that, it is up to you to "sell" yourself. --------
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Posted on April 12, 2006 by BioJobBlogger

Interviewing Tips

One of the more popular talks that I gave at the Career Development Program at FASEB dealt with basic interviewing techniques. Since many of you were not at the meeting, I decided that it may be useful to review some of the interviewing techniques and skills that I shared with those students. Although these techniques and recommendations are mainly geared for industrial job interviews, they may also be useful for government or academic job interviews.
  1. Give yourself ample time to get to the interview; if you are going to be late (not a good thing) call ahead and let your host know that there was an "emergency" or a "traffic problem" that is responsible for your tardiness. In general, it is a good idea to arrive at an interview 5-10 min early or right on time.
  2. Bring extra copies of your resume with you. In my experience, many of the people who will be interviewing you will either have not looked at your resume or have misplaced it in the piles of other work that have accumulated on their desks. Having an extra copy of your resume indicates to a prospective employer that you are prepared and can be relied upon in a difficult situation.
  3. One question that is always asked is: "Tell me something about yourself". The response that you give should be prepared in advance (and memorized). A well prepared and rehearsed response signals to the interviewer that you have given the job some thought and that you are a well prepared and organized individual. Your response should include sufficient details about your career and skillsets so that the interviewer knows why you are qualified for the job at hand and what skillsets/talent you will bring to the company if hired.
  4. Answer questions as honestly and directly as possible. If you do not know the answer to a question, say so! However, it is a good idea to couch the "I don't know" response with some verbiage that goes something like this.......Pause.....Hmmm.....Pause.....That is a very good questions....Pause....I don't know the answer to that one! Or you can say "Gee I don't know the answer but perhaps you can give me you insights into the question you just asked me.
  5. Never interrupt the interviewer when he/she is talking.....regardless of how excited you are or how much you want to impress the interviewer with your knowledge of a subject! Always allow the interviewer to control the conversation....it signals to the interviewer that you are a professional, a team player and can be "managed" by your prospective supervisors.
  6. Do some research on the company/organization before the interview. Prospective employers love when you ask questions about the company or their roles in the organization.
  7. TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES, BLACKBERRY DEVICES and PAGERS
  8. Interview to get an offer! Anything less is unacceptable!
I hope that you find some of these tips useful. I will post another rant regarding interviewing techniques and behavior some time in the near future. Until then: HAPPY JOB HUNTING!!!!!!!!!!!!! --------
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Posted on April 5, 2006 by BioJobBlogger

So Many Ph.Ds; So Few Jobs!

I just returned from the 2006 FASEB meeting that was held in San Francisco on April 1-April 5, 2006. I gave several talks on career development opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the life sciences industry. I also spent a fair amount of time helping people construct and refine their resumes.

The meeting was great and I met a lot of enthusiastsic and dedicated scientists. I also meet a dedicated bunch of professionals who are committed to helping students. Here is what I learned:

  1. The is an obvious lack of career development training opportunites for graduate students and postdoctoral fellow at many academic institutions
  2. A majority of the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows that I encountered do not know how to conduct a thorough job search or even craft a resume
  3. There is little or no understanding of the types of jobs or alternate career paths available to junior scientists
  4. Most students have absolutely no understanding of the scientific concepts and regulations that guide industrial drug discovery and development
  5. Academicians have little or no understanding of the poor job prospects for their students

I was not really surprised at what I learned since I had been writing about many of these topics for the past five years. At this point, there really is not much that can be done to quickly fix the problems that I identified. That said, I have several recommendations, if implemented, can help to deal with many of the issues that I raised.

  1. Organizations like FASEB, who provide career development training and services to their members, ought to be commended for their efforts. That said, other professional societies (if they don't already offer these services) should take FASEB's lead!
  2. Graduate students and postdoctoral students should take advantage of biotechnology organizations and local biobusiness meetings to network with industry professionals to learn more about job opportunities
  3. Students in the life sciences ought to begin to consider alternative career paths including patent law, pharmaceutical business, medical writing, medical marketing or other jobs that will make use of their scientific training and give them a better shot at employment. Many business schools, continuing education departments, community colleges and private companies offer training in these areas.
  4. Academic institutions and professional societies should offer formal courses in industrial drug development, regulatory affairs, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing, and quality assurance and control
  5. Academicians must wake up and understand that the "tenure track" route is not a viable one for most of their graduate students and postdocs. To that end, they have moral and ethical obligations to help students who are not academically-inclined to find alternate career paths that permit them to use their scientific skills.

I do not think that things will change much until academicians and their institutions assume more responsibility for the careers of the students and postdoctoral fellows that they train. After all, "IT CAN"T ALWAYS BE ABOUT YOU GUYS"....Remember, it is the blood, sweat and tears of graduate students and postdocs who are primarily reponsible for your so-called sucessful academic career!!!!!!!!

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