How to prioritize a job search vs everything else
A 5th year PhD student asks—
I know about all the things I need to do for my job search but realistically I don’t know when I’m going to do it. I think I can handle each part when I think about it in a vacuum, but in addition to my ongoing research, I have to start writing my dissertation, plus I’m doing revisions on my paper, I’m going to a conference in the summer, and I have a vacation planned while I’m out there. How do I fit all this stuff in?
I need to find a job in two months. Help!
A postdoc asks—
I'm going to be finished at UCSF this summer (2 months from now), and I’m searching for an industry role. I know I probably should have started sooner, but I was busy with finishing my papers and some personal issues. What should I be doing with the time I have left? And how long does it usually take to find a non-academic job?
Where do I start?
A fifth-year PhD student writes—
I'm getting ready to job search, but I don’t really know where to start. I guess I'm just looking for some structure for the process.
How do I say, "I don't want to join your lab"?
A first-year PhD student asks—
I'm finishing my last lab rotation and have decided which lab I want to join. How do I tell the other PIs I rotated with that I won’t be joining their labs? I don’t want to burn any bridges.
It's great that you’ve found a lab that you want to join! The order of operations does matter a little bit here—first, get confirmation that there’s still a spot for you in the lab you do want to join, even if you’ve had conversations about it in the past. After that, you can tackle notifying the others of your decision.
Networking feels gross...
A late-stage PhD student asks—
In theory, I feel like the quality of my work should get me where I want to go. Networking has always felt gross, but I recognize that it is just valuable for people to know what I am capable of and to know I exist. How did you get over the gross feeling?
How do I know what level of job to apply to?
A postdoc asks—
I'm looking for an industry job and realize that my skills fall in between a lot of the job descriptions. How do I decide when to apply to the higher-level position, when I fit most of the higher-level requirements, but not all of them, but I feel overqualified for the lower-level role?
Where should I look for jobs other than LinkedIn?
A second-year master’s student asks—
I'm looking for jobs and, so far, have just been searching on LinkedIn. Where else should I be looking?
Do you still do informational interviews when you are currently applying for jobs?
A postdoc asks—
I've heard that informational interviews are helpful, but also that it is a bad idea to reach out to people after you applied to a job to ask them to recommend you. Should you still do informational interviews while you are actively job searching and applying? How does that fit in?
How do I get an employer to speed up their interview process?
A sixth-year PhD student asks—
I'm expecting a job offer from [company A] later this week, but I have an interview coming up at [company B] at the end of March. From looking around online, I assume that [company A] will want a response before I have a chance to interview with [company B]. How do I ask [company B] to speed up the process? Can I ask for an earlier interview?
How do you interview for industry jobs?
A postdoc asks—
What do you recommend in interviews for people who are moving from academia to industry?