PhDNet Blog – Your Online Graduate Student Community

When we think of social networking and job searching in the same context, LinkedIn immediately comes to mind. While LinkedIn is the number one professional networking site, there are several others that can be very useful for job seekers. In this blog, I would like to introduce you to two new networking sites for life scientists. Both of them were founded by Clifford Mintz, a life scientist himself, a former Professor (University Of Miami School Of Medicine) and industry Research Scientist.

The first site is BioJobBlog (http://www.biojobblog.com/), which focuses on training and career development issues that are facing scientists and other bioprofessionals. The blog offers career development ideas and advice for bioprofessionals and also provides insights into hot topics and debates taking place in the life sciences industry. Clifford started the blog because of the career difficulties he faced while making the transition from an academic scientist to freelance science writer. Cliff hopes that by sharing his experiences with others they may be able to more easily navigate their own career paths which is often difficult, frustrating and emotionally- draining!

Clifford created a second site, with co-founder Vincent Racaniello, called BioCrowd (http://www.biocrowd.com/), which is online networking site for scientists and other life sciences professionals. Built on a flexible and highly interactive social networking platform, BioCrowd was designed to foster scientific and business relationships between its members. While science is the main driver of our community, it takes a host of other bioprofessionals in addition to scientists to create successful life sciences ventures. To that end, BioCrowd provides its members with immediate access to world class academic researchers, industrial scientists, consultants, recruiters, venture capitalists and other life sciences professionals. The goal is BioCrows is to provide a socially-interactive “one-stop-shopping” solution for bioprofessionals who are interested in advancing their careers or seeking new business opportunities in the life sciences industry.

If you decide to try either one of these sites (or have tried them already), we would love to have your feedback. Simply click on the orange “Reply” button (must be logged on to see the button).

Wishing you the best,
Dora Farkas, PhD, Founder, PhDNet
Author: “The Smart Way To Your PhD:200 Secrets From 100 Graduates.”
www.phdnet.org
dora@phdnet.org

Good Morning!

A few weeks ago, I ran into one of my good friends at a cafe, and asked her how she was doing. “Great!,” she replied. “I love my job. I have been with this company for 2 years. That’s a real record for me!” We both laughed, because this was her fifth job job since she got her PhD eight years ago. She did not plan it this way, of course. Two of the companies she worked for had layoffs just months after she started. She left another job voluntarily as they overwhelmed her with work for a very small pay. She liked the fourth company, but after some clever networking she got a job at another company that offered more exciting work, higher pay and was in a better location. Hey, if you are smart, you can get what you really want even in a recession!

My friend certainly had an adventurous career path, with five PhD-level job offers in eight years. None of the job offers came through internet job applications. Please do not get me wrong. The Internet is a fantastic resource that will give you information about companies that are hiring, and the skill sets they are looking for (I did, in fact, have a blog about Internet job searching two weeks ago.) But networking (the right way) trumps Internet job applications any day.

I named this blog “Networking, For Real!”, to highlight one of the most important aspects of networking. Networking is a two-way street. Job seekers often make the mistake of “jumping” at industry professionals with job searching requests. Once in a while a nice person will forward their resume and the job seeker will the forget about this favor and move on. In real networking, you offer something in return. A thank you card is a good start, but once you are in more deeply networked professionally, you can invite them to join societies, online communities, and give them contact information of interesting people who might help them.

My friend from the above example is rarely idle at networking events. When she talks to someone in need, she immediately says, “Oh, I know who can help you!” She connects people, forwards resumes, and goes out to lunch with friends in need. No wonder other people are helping her, because she is the type of person they would like to have in their network. A busy businessman once told me: “Networking takes a lot of time, and it can cost a lot of money, but is is totally worth it. In fact, all of my major career moves happened through networking.”

When you network for real, you offer something in return. But how do you get started? Well, you need to show up. Especially if you are looking for a job, you need to go to all the networking events that you can, and meet as many people if possible. Follow up with interesting people soon after the event and start the correspondence. Keep in mind that people are busy, so you probably need to remind others politely to forward your resume or arrange an interview.

Here are a few other books that could help you become a better networker:

The Networking Survival Guide: Get the Success You Want By Tapping Into the People You Know by Diane Darling

Make Your Contacts Count: Networking Know-how for Business And Career Success by Anne Baberand Lynne Waymon

Smart Networking: Attract a Following in Person and Online by Liz Lynch

In such difficult economic times, students get inspiration by reading stories from other stories. If you would like to share your story (by name or anonymously), I would love to hear from you! All stories are special and unique, and our readers will be grateful. Please email me if you would like to share your story, or even if you would like to retell someone else’s. Also pass this message along to your friends and colleagues.

Wishing you the best,

Dora Farkas, PhD, Founder, PhDNet

Author:“The Smart Way To Your PhD:200 Secrets From 100 Graduates.”
www.phdnet.org

dora@phdnet.org