This
post marks my two-month blog-iversary here at the ASBMB Careers Blog. I thought
this would be a good opportunity to compile some of my recent posts in one
place, along with other ASBMB-related articles that contain useful information
on science-career resources and opportunities, for your reading pleasure.
Here
are my first two months of posts broken down my job category. Each of these
posts features job-search strategies tailored for specific career interests.
Science-communication
careers
Academic-career track
Biomedical-career paths
Here
are some other recent ASBMB-related articles with career information that may
be of interest. In the coming weeks, I will be expanding upon many of these
topics, from finding careers in
science
art to science policy, so stay tuned.
And
while you’re catching up on some old posts, don’t forget that abstracts for the 2018
ASBMB Annual Meeting are due Dec. 7, with travel award and childcare grant applications due Dec.
14. You must submit an abstract as the first/presenting author by the abstract
deadline in order to be eligible for travel awards.
Please
note that ASBMB student members, ASBMB affiliate members and nonmembers must get
regular ASBMB members or regular members of other Experimental Biology host
societies to sponsor their abstracts. A list of host societies can be found on
this website. If you are in need of a
sponsor, you might check out the ASBMB member directory to find eligible members
at your institution or elsewhere. If you still can’t find an appropriate
sponsor, send a message to ASBMB here.
Overall,
I can’t emphasize enough the value in attending conferences for your
professional and career development. I can post job openings for you all day
long, but the truth is that most jobs are found through networking. The annual
meeting provides many opportunities to network (e.g., special events and
mixers) and attend professional-development workshops (e.g., how to write a
C.V.). In addition, it’s important to share your research to bolster your professional
profile, gain communication skills and get feedback from the scientific
community.
That
being said, conferences may be cost prohibitive or it may be difficult to
justify taking time off from the lab. In addition to ASBMB travel awards, there
are a number of other ways to defray travel costs. I have written about funding sources for
attending scientific meetings in an old blog post, which may give you some alternative
options. Additionally if you need to sell your supervisor on meeting attendance,
you may want to read a Lab Manager article I wrote on the topic for
ideas (e.g., bringing back information to the lab on a specific topic or lab
technique to share).
If
you need help brainstorming funding sources or ways to convince your PI to let
you go to a meeting, feel free to post a question in the comments below or reach
out on Twitter. I’m more than happy to help if I can.
Donna Kridelbaugh is the ASBMB careers blogger.
Connect with her on Twitter (@science_mentor)
or at her website (sciencementor.me).