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?

It's helpful to have a clear sense of your timeline! It actually often takes 6-8 months to find a job that’s not a postdoc or a faculty role. Of course there are exceptions outside that range, but that's the amount of time that we generally see it take from the beginning of job searching in earnest for positions in a field you already know you are a strong candidate in (i.e. not still doing career exploration) to receiving an offer of some kind. There are ways you can speed up that process, like having a network that’s ready to support you. But keep in mind there are also elements that are out of your control, like how fast the employer can move (which can vary widely depending on things like HR staffing, for example).

So in your case, we’ll need to make some adjustments. What we like to take into consideration when working with a tighter timeline are your specific priorities and needs. For example—what happens once your contract ends this summer? Can you have a period of unemployment? How long, financially or otherwise, would you be able to be without a job? Are you able to relocate for a position? How much time can you commit to the process now? In tight timeline situations where you really need employment, you can open your search to positions that would be temporary and serve as a stepping-stone to buy you more time to engage in the longer job search process. This could be positions like a short postdoc, a contract research organization job, or any temporary position that uses some of your skillset.

On a tighter timeline, it can be tempting to react by sending your resume to as many different places as possible, but often it pays off to actually be more focused in your approach. Instead of spending your time looking for more jobs to apply to, consider renewing relationships that may be able to support your application (by recommending jobs that are a good fit for you, giving you information that helps you tailor your application materials, or providing a referral), finding jobs that are an excellent fit, and spending time tailoring your resume and cover letter to those specific roles. These approaches are more likely to get you to the top of a pile of applications than sending in less tailored and supported applications to more places.

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