Some Tips to Land Academic Research Jobs
In many cases, people looking for jobs in healthcare will pursue job search strategies no different from any other line of employment. These jobseekers browse career websites, like BioCrowd and BioJobCenter, attend job fairs, send emails to hiring managers, and check corporate websites for job listings. Also, they will talk to friends and network with colleagues to get the inside track on job opportunities. No matter what healthcare opportunity or laboratory position that you may be seeking, the approach taken will often be a relatively straightforward and predictable one.
But certain subsets of the healthcare industry including biotech and the pharmaceutical industries have their own unique features and considerations when it comes to the job search. For example, academic research positions – while not necessarily the most difficult to obtain – are certainly the kind of jobs where a slightly different search approach may be helpful. If you are currently looking for laboratory work, (especially in academic settings) and want to maximize your ability to find a job, here are a few tips to keep in mind.
Contact Professors/ Principal Investigators Directly
Rather than visiting job boards or directly applying to your institution for an academic research position, it is a much better idea to directly contact the professor whose laboratory you are interested in working in. Unlike CEOs and hiring managers in the private, professors and principal investors (PI) are usually easy to email and initiate a conversation with. Take advantage of this opportunity. Find academic institutions in your region and start sending emails to individual researchers. If you interest them, and they have funding, the likelihood of securing a position is much higher than those who take a more passive job search approach.
Grant Money Is a Limiting Factor
A major factor that that impacts the availability of many academic research jobs is insufficient grant monies. Obviously, if a lab that you may be interested in working in doesn’t have sufficient grant money then the chance of working in that laboratory is unlikely. However, graduate students or postdocs who are able to obtain their own funding will have little difficulty in landing positions in most laboratories. Sadly, this pathway to employment is not open to those who are not graduate students or possess a PhD degree in the sciences.
Develop A Plan And A Pitch
Landing a research job is not much different than those used to secure other types of employment. The key is developing a focused job search strategy that highlights your skills, unique talents and past work (laboratory) experiences. In addition, it is vitally important that you learn how to “sell” yourself to prospective employers. Unfortunately, many persons seeking research positions almost exclusively focus on putting together“killer” curriculum vitae (CV) or resume. It is important to remember that a CV is simply a vehicle to help procure a face-to-face interview. Once a job interview is secured, it is entirely up to a jobseeker to convince a prospective employer that he/she is the best and only person who is right for the job. To accomplish this, jobseekers must spend time developing a convincing pitch. While many scientists are not very good at this, it is essential to land jobs in economically-difficult times.
While this is not an exhaustive list, these tips may be helpful to those of you who may be seeking research jobs in academic laboratories. It is important to remember that looking for a job, especially in these trying economic times, take a lot of hard work, commitment and tenacity.
Until next time...
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!
Most aspiring young scientists tell me that they love doing bench work and that they want to do it for their entire career. I am never certain whether they actually feel that way or they are simply telling me what they think I want to hear. Nevertheless, I want to share my own feelings about bench work because I think it may be instructive for jobseekers who may not be entirely certain about their chosen career paths..jpg)
Merck of Germany 
For those of you interested in the Canadian biotechnology scene I want to mention a good resource that I came across recently. The Canadian BioTechnologist 2.0 Blog (
