I’m just back from the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) 2016 in Manchester where I participated as speaker in the career programme. This session on engaging supervisors in career development as well as another session on what does industry wants from you had been organized by the CARE group. This group is composed of Career Advisers supporting Researchers in Europe.
Insights from these sessions posted on Twitter had been compiled by my colleague Barbara Janssens (DKFZ, Heidelberg). Moreover, Elisabeth Pain wrote an article about the first session on ScienceMag.org.
These are some messages from participants of our sessions:
- It’s not easy for PIs to give feedback to PhD students or postdocs on their academic potential, if they believe it is rather low.
- Your mentor does not necessarily need to be your PI. Get an independent opinion on your career achievements and prospects.
- Look for a new PI, if you are not satisfied with your current one, especially if you are a postdoc.
- Companies are not compromising on personal and social competences, whereas they often do on other criteria like factual and expert knowledge.
- It’s important to provide evidence for your personal and social skills by giving examples.
- 70-90 percent of jobs are filled via individual networks, the rest via open job announcements.
- When applying, present yourself as the solution to the company’s problem.
If you would like to hear more about these messages and what was discussed in this regard, do not hesitate to contact me!
