2013/09/12
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Not Sure About Your Professional Future? Discover Your Strengths!

Are you unsure about staying in science? Or already sure you want to leave but without any idea what to do instead? Start by reflecting about your strengths! Are you not so sure about it? Ask others! What do your colleagues appreciate and consider you to be good at? How do your friends and family perceive you? Which 3 characteristics do they spontaneously attribute to you? Which professional or private side projects are you involved in and enjoy – maybe sometimes more than your core work?

Instead of working on some skills you consider yourself bad in, build on your strengths! The most convincing argument on this I read on Adam Grant’s blog in his article “A better way to discover your strengths”:

If you want to excel at anything, it’s not enough to fix your weaknesses. You also need to leverage your strengths. When Albert Einstein failed a French exam, if he had concentrated only on his language skills, he might never have transformed physics.

Still not sure what to do in your future professional life? Continue Reading →

2013/09/10
by Katrin Wodzicki
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How To Find Out About Job Opportunities? Undertake Informational Interviews!

I wrote about this advice before; However, because I think that is really a great chance to get insights into different job opportunities, I recommend it again: Undertake informational interviews!

What is that? You identify people who are already working in a position which might be interesting for you and ask them about their job: How do you like your job and why? What do you do in an ordinary week? Which skills help you to do your job? How do you get this job and what was helpful in this process? Ask things that help you to judge whether the job is something for you. Ask also things that help you to go for it in case of interest.

Do you wonder whom to ask? Continue Reading →

2013/09/05
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Don’t Miss The Horizons Career Fair On Monday, 9 September 2013!

The Horizons Career Fair is a great chance to learn about “a wide variety of career options one can plunge into after finishing their PhD phase.” Check out its schedule here.

Date: 9 September 2013, 9:00 o’clock

Place: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry

Registration is only needed for the workshops!

2013/09/03
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Mentoring: Its importance and how to effectively make use of it

In the last months, I read a lot about career success and I reflected about careers in my social network. Overall, I got the impression that a crucial factor is to have a mentor – that empowers you to achieve your self-set career goals, at best without personal interest in affecting your decisions and actions in a specific way. And it seems that I’m not the only one who believes this: For example, Sarah Blackford recently posted an article about mentoring. In this article, she reflects on the questions “what makes a good mentor?” and “how should a mentee choose their mentor?”. Also, the Science career magazine provides “Top 10 Tips to Maximize Your Mentoring“.

Here are my 3 key lessons from reading these articles:

1) Be clear about your goals

Before search for a mentor, become clear about your career goals! This is a crucial pre-condition for finding the right mentor – the one that can give you most relevant advice on how to achieve your goals. For example, if you aim at change your job, try to find someone working already in the field of work you are aiming at.

2) Clarify mutual expectations

Start your mentorship with clarifying your mutual expectations! Tell the mentor your goals and in which way you believe your mentor could support you achieving them. Discuss how frequently and where you will meet. Ask whether and how you can reach the mentor in urgent cases. Try to find the agreements which fit best for both of you.

3) Take the relationship to your mentor seriously

Respect that your mentor – a very experienced and likely busy person – invests time and well-intentioned input in you. Make the most of it by being prepared, listening attentively, and taking all feedback seriously! You don’t need to follow every advice; But you should tell how you make use of the advice and why you don’t follow in single cases. Being open and honest are the foundations of a constructive relationship.

Further tips and information you find in the cited articles. If you need more specific support, make an appointment with me!

2013/08/29
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Announcement of a Facebook-Page for Female Scientists

Today, I want to point to an initiative of PhD candidates of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. Here is their announcement:

Hey female scientists,

We (PhD candidates of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry) have launched in June 2013 the page “Women in Research” on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/WomenInResearch

This page is in particular for female scientists of all nationalities and disciplines at every career stage (PhD candidate, Postdoc, group leader, professor) and serves as a platform for information exchange and discussion.

You can find here lots of relevant and daily updated information on scholarships, events and symposia for women, interesting posts on the leading blogs, insightful articles, job positions, and more.

Please do not hesitate to “like” this page and contact us if you have any questions, comments and suggestions!

Best regards,

Ulrike

On behalf of the PhD / Postdoc Community at the MPIbpc

2013/08/27
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Daimler and Benz Foundation: Sponsorship of Postdocs and Junior Professors 2013

The Daimler and Benz Foundation is again offering sponsorship to young postdoctoral scientists of all disciplines and subjects within three years after their graduation. The postdoctoral scientist needs to have an own research project and an institutional affiliation to a scientific institution in Germany. “The funds [20, 000 Euros per fellowship and year, for a total of two years] can be used for tools, equipment, in particular, for computers, for the temporary employment of scientific assistants in the research project, for research travel, for participation in conferences, or for the organization of the applicant’s own conferences.” The English version of the call is available here.

Deadline for applications: 15 October 2013

2013/08/22
by Katrin Wodzicki
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BIOTECHNICA 2013 in Hannover, 8-10 October

I recently wrote about career fairs as an opportunity to find out about potential employers and jobs. A similar chance is a trade fair such as the BIOTECHNICA in Hannover. The next BIOTECHNICA takes place from 8 to 10 October 2013.

Take your chance now! The next BIOTECHNICA is in 2015.

BIOTECHNICA is “Europe’s leading trade fair for biotechnology and the life sciences […]. BIOTECHNICA aims at encouraging a dialogue between suppliers and users along the biotech value-adding chain. The exhibition attracts companies from the field of bioprocessing and laboratory technology, diagnostics and therapeutics, industrial biotechnology, food biotechnology and the service sector.”

Such a trade fair is about innovations and trends in research and development introduced to the branch of trade; And by the way, it is a good option to get to know about companies which are potential employer for you!

Visit the career day on 10 October 2013!

There, you will have the chance to talk to human resource managers. You will get to know about job profiles and career opportunities in the fields of science and technology. You will find the most current job ads on the jobvector-Jobwall and you can use the application portfolio checking service.

Prepare yourself!

I strongly recommend preparing yourself carefully before the event: You should already know which companies might be interesting for you and you should already know about company information available online. Of course, you can use the BIOTECHNICA to get to know about companies and their job opportunities. But if you really want to make a professional first impression, it needs some preparations. Moreover, you will only be able to collect relevant information systematically, if you are prepared.

Start by researching the exhibitors list! You can research the exhibitors list by different job categories as well as country or German federal state. Afterwards you can have a closer look on single companies to get information about the company profile, its scope of business, and its products.

Prepare some questions to ask! Therefore, it is important to know what you are looking for: What kind of jobs or task would you like to do? What is important for you in the work environment to stay motivated and engaged? Ask about aspects that are important for you!

And even more important, prepare your self-presentation! You will not have more than 1 to 2 minutes to introduce yourself. Which 3 key information should a potential employer remember about you? Discuss this with friends or family and train your self-presentation.

At least for the career day, you should also update your CV and prepare some copies to distribute in case of interest. In the best case, you find some interesting job postings beforehand and prepare respective application portfolios.

Finally, trade or career fairs are not only a good chance to get to know about potential companies and to make a first professional impression to them. It is also a good chance to build personal relationships! So note the names and functions of the people you speak to or, even better, ask for their business cards. Make some notes on its backside so that you remember who was who afterwards. Those people are a valuable resource to ask questions later during an application process.

Overall, it is a chance you really should not miss when you are considering leaving science!

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