A postdoc asks—

I've been searching for a job for almost a year without any luck. I know the job market is really bad, but I’m desperate to get out of my lab and get onto my real career. Do I just have to wait out the bad job market and hope to get lucky, or is there something else I should be doing?

While just hoping to get lucky is not a strategy we often recommend, sometimes it does just take time, and if the process feels bad it’s not necessarily a sign that you are doing anything wrong! These are the parts of your process to check in about:

• How are you finding out about positions? Are there other places you could be looking?
• Have you notified your networks about what kind of position you are looking for?
• Are you applying for jobs where you meet 80-100% of the requirements?
• Are you writing good cover letters?
• Have you gotten feedback on your resume and/or cover letter from us or someone in the job area you are applying to?
• Are you using the same language from the job descriptions in your resume and cover letter?
• Have you been talking to people who work at the company you applied to, or work in a similar job role to the one you applied to?
• Are you learning information specific to the roles you are applying to that you can use to tailor your resume and cover letter?
• Are you also sending your application materials to someone you’ve met at the company after you submit through the company’s application portal?
• Are you genuinely interested in doing the jobs you are finding?

If you answered “No” or “umm...” to any of these questions, that could be a great place to start taking a different approach. If you’re really feeling desperate, it may also be time to consider revisiting any flexibility in your values and priorities. And of course we are here to help you with any of that!

-Ray Care, Program Director, Career Development Team for Researchers