Walter Jessen

I ran across an interesting article last week before ScienceOnline2010 discussing the cultural stereotypes surrounding ‘scientist’ and/or ‘PhD’. Besides discussing the usual stereotypes about appearance, unrealistic or simple-minded attitudes about time and money, no sense of deadlines and uncompromising idealism, the section focusing on job skills talked about the limitations PhD scientists place upon themselves and framed it in the bigger picture :

Perhaps the most self-limiting stereotype about PhD scientists and what they are capable of comes from the scientists themselves. After spending so many years obtaining an advanced degree in a particular field of study, scientists understandably value their technical skills the most. And, having become so highly qualified in one field, they often feel totally unqualified to address issues that may exist in other fields or industries. When scientists look for employment they naturally frame every opportunity in terms of their field of study and their expertise: chemists look for jobs labelled chemist, biologists look for jobs labelled biologist. In truth, the training to become a scientist or an engineer comes with a long list of transferable skills that are of enormous value in the ‘outside world’. Communication skills, analytical skills, independence, problem-solving skills, learning ability — these are all valuable. But scientists and engineers tend to discount these things because they are basic requirements of their profession. They tend to think of themselves as subject-matter experts rather than as broadly adaptable problem solvers. Unfortunately, the world needs a lot more of the latter than the former.

via From geek to chic, Naturejobs.

I’ve presented and attended several job talks recently. By definition, an academic job talk is distinctly different from a seminar talk. An academic job talk is the place to market yourself — to show what you’ve done and what you are capable of accomplishing, and to clearly define a long-term research trajectory. Below are several resources I’ve found useful when preparing for academic job interviews.

Academic Job Talk Resources

• Academic Scientists at Work: The Job Talk
• Getting an academic job
• Advice on academic “job talk” visits
• The academic job search
• Preparing for your academic job interview

Phone Interview Resources for Scientists

• Tooling Up: The Dreaded Phone Interview
• Tooling Up: The Real Deal vs. Well-Oiled: Who Gets the Offer?
• Interviewing Skills: What To Do When They Say ‘Tell Me About Yourself’