In addition to each Alumni Career Paths panel discussion, we ask our panelists several fundamental questions about their fields so you don't have to! Use the answers they've provided below to get a quick take on whether you want to further investigate this career path, learn about the differences between roles and organizations in this field, and as a starting point for informational interviews if you want to learn more:
- What are the responsibilities of someone in your role?
- Is a postdoc required, recommended, useful, or unnecessary to enter or excel in this field?
- What types of experience are important to highlight in your resume and interview?
- What characteristics make someone good at this position?
- What do the typical application and interview processes entail?
- What possibilities do international folks have to work at your company/organization?
Science Policy questions answered in October 2021 by:
Clio Korn, PhD
Science and Technology Policy Fellow, California Council on Science and Technology (Postdoc Alumna - 2020)
Matthew Wilson, PhD
Senior Staff Associate, Office of the Director, National Science Foundation (Postdoc Alumnus - 2008)
Science Policy questions answered in October 2020 by:
Erica Solway, PhD
Senior Project Manager, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation
Sarah Carter, PhD
Principal, Science Policy Consulting, LLC
Shanni Silberberg, PhD
Program Scientist, Department of Defense Basic Research Office
What are the responsibilities of someone in your role?
Clio Korn
Broadly, science policy fellows usually work in government, either at the state level (such as in my program) or at the Federal level. This can range from working in the Legislature - on the personal staff of a representative, or as a committee consultant - to working for an Executive Branch agency. My fellowship placement falls into the latter category: I have spent this year working for the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which regulates air pollution and also leads California's climate policy. My duties include: - staffing the CARB Chair by preparing briefings, attending stakeholder meetings and coordinating follow-up, and drafting talking points and speeches - conducting interviews for a research project on one of CARB's climate programs - facilitating engagement in CARB's regulatory process by managing public comment submissions on workshops and draft regulations
Matthew Wilson
As a senior staff associate in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of the Director, I advise the NSF Director and senior leadership on science policy (science, technology, and education) issues. In this role, I research policy issues and provide background, analysis, and recommendations on how an issue affects our Agency and how we could/should respond. I also create talking points, advise on internal procedures, serve on interagency and White House task groups, and "other duties as assigned."
Erica Solway
- Current role at IHPI: In my current role at IHPI, I wear a few different hats. My main responsibilities include project management, serving as a liaison between our research team (~20 faculty & staff) and state staff/officials, developing poll questions, sharing research findings through manuscripts and reports and through interviews with the media, teaching undergraduate and graduate students, assisting faculty interested in new health policy related projects, and supervising staff.
- Former role in U.S. Senate: In my former role on Capitol Hill, my main responsibilities were planning congressional hearings, writing repots and talking points, working closely with other members’ offices on policy, drafting an negotiating legislation, and responding to constituent and stakeholder feedback.
Sarah Carter
I am an independent consultant, so my role varies a bit from contract to contract (I usually have 2-3 contracts ongoing at once, with each engagement lasting a few months to 2+ years). Most central to my business is the responsibility to look for new funding opportunities (contracts or grants, mostly from the federal government and policy non-profits) and keep up with new developments, including those relevant to the US government, the synthetic biology/advanced biotech industry, and biotech research. For my contracts or grants, I am often responsible for pulling together different perspectives on interesting topics (such as biosecurity implications of DNA synthesis, regulatory and societal hurdles for gene drive insects, broader regulatory challenges that arise from new lab techniques, the NIH Guidelines for biosafety and its overlaps with FDA oversight, etc.). For nearly every engagement, I spend quite a lot of time synthesizing information and writing. Because I work for myself, I also am responsible for the administrivia: contracts, billable rates, time planning and tracking, invoicing, taxes, etc.
Shanni Silberberg
I support the Director of Basic Research by providing expert knowledge that is mostly focused on international scientific workforce issues. In that capacity, I track policies and legislation related to our office's interests, provide perspective/expertise to the Director, and communicate with key stakeholders inside and outside of the government to advance DoD interests in basic research. As our office is pretty eclectic, I also work on a variety of disparate efforts that are related to my skill set such as coordinating a US/Japan Artificial Intelligence workshop and creating an evaluation framework for the office.
Is a postdoc required, recommended, useful, or unnecessary to enter or excel in this field?
Clio Korn
Useful. Postdoctoral experience is not necessary to do a science policy fellowship - in fact, I think most fellows come straight from finishing their graduate degrees. However, I've found that the additional research and management experience my postdoc gave me has been very valuable during my fellowship. I was better prepared to take on the responsibilities of my fellowship placement because of my postdoc. In addition, the science policy experience I gained while doing my postdoc has been invaluable as a fellow.
Matthew Wilson
Unnecessary. A postdoc is generally not necessary unless you intend to work on a specific policy area related to your postdoc. In that case, the extra experience could be beneficial. Also, postdoc experience counts as post-PhD employment, and that's important for qualifying for higher level jobs.
Erica Solway
No, a postdoc is not required recommended or necessarily useful for the positions I’ve held since graduation from UCSF.
Sarah Carter
Unnecessary.
Shanni Silberberg
People come to science policy with various levels of experience. A post-doc is not required, but experience outside of your PhD is necessary to show that you are interested in something beyond just your individual research project. It could be a larger collaborative project, teaching, science communication, getting involved in local politics etc.
What types of experience are important to highlight in your resume and interview?
Clio Korn
Any and all experiences that involve taking science out into the wider world beyond the lab. That can include science policy (e.g. writing a memo or whitepaper, participating in advocacy days), communication (e.g. writing about science for a lay audience), engagement (e.g. volunteering at a science museum), teaching or tutoring, etc. Also good to highlight experience interacting with different types of people - kids in a classroom, visitors at a museum, industry colleagues you're collaborating with - because policy involves interacting with many different stakeholders and partners.
Matthew Wilson
In general, you want to not only say what you did, but describe the challenges or opportunities you faced, how you addressed them, and in particular what the outcome was. Too often candidates focus on what they did, but not the outcome. Even if the outcome wasn't ground-breaking, you want to demonstrate that you are a proactive problem solver and strategic thinker. If you do have policy-related experience, that's important to highlight obviously. If you have experiences that require strong communication with different audiences, you should emphasize them.
Erica Solway
- Current role at IHPI: Research experience, teaching experience, publications, previous experience in the policy/advocacy arena
- Former role in U.S. Senate: Some level of content expertise on areas of interest to the member of Congress, previous experience in U.S. government, volunteer or clinical experiences that make you particularly knowledgeable about the experiences of everyday people related to the topics you focus on
Sarah Carter
- The ability to reach out beyond your comfort zone and make some impact
- The ability to recognize opportunities that might have been outside the box
- The ability to talk to or interact with non-scientific audiences or groups
Shanni Silberberg
What types of experience are important to highlight in your resume / interview? It is important to highlight experience working as part of a team and adhering to tight deadlines. You may also want to show evidence that you feel comfortable picking up knowledge quickly outside of your field and being able to make informed decisions with incomplete information. Skills to highlight are communication skills (writing and presenting), critical thinking, creative problem solving, and an ability to work with people whose views differ from yours.
What characteristics make someone good at this position?
Clio Korn
During interviews for my fellowship, they emphasized that it was important to be flexible and adaptable - and they were right! Politics and policy move fast and can change quickly (at least relative to academia). You might need to respond to something suddenly attracting a lot of media attention, to a political event, or to staffing changes in your office. Communication and organization skills are essential (and help in adapting to those types of changes). Pretty much everything I've done this year involves communication - both in writing and verbally. My job distills down to collecting, organizing, synthesizing, and then clearly communicating information - sometimes to my colleagues, sometimes to external audiences. Policy is also often a very social job (I spend a LOT of time in Zoom meetings), and cultivating relationships is very important to successfully working with the wide variety of people who need to collaborate to get things done, so people skills are important too.
Matthew Wilson
Strong communicator, team player, fast learner, emotional intelligence, policy/political savvy, objectivity.
Erica Solway
- Current role at IHPI: Strong organizational and communication skills, attention to detail, enthusiasm for improving the health care system, forward thinking, flexible, team oriented
- Former role in U.S. Senate: Passion for and knowledgeable about policy and politics, steadfast yet flexible, quick thinking, ability to work under pressure and to work long hours
Sarah Carter
- Being a good writer. Although I don't write scientific papers, I have found that my training in science writing helps a lot to identify and explicate fuzzy policy issues.
- Networking is a critical part of what I do -- it is both how I get funded and is part of how I provide value to my clients.
Shanni Silberberg
Quick study, effective relationship builder, humble, ability to operate with limited information, ability to pivot quickly on tasks.
What do the typical application and interview processes entail?
Clio Korn
For policy fellowships, the application typically includes a resume, a cover letter or essay on your interest in the program, and references. We had two interviews - an initial interview with the staff who run the program, then a finalist interview with the selection committee. We did a policy writing exercise in preparation for the second interview, and a short timed writing exercise during that interview. For post-fellowship jobs, the application and interview process varies widely. State service jobs (i.e. civil service jobs within government agencies) involve a very formalized process, including taking 'exams' (a self-evaluation of one's experience and qualifications) to qualify for certain types of positions. Jobs in the Legislature have a much less formalized hiring process. Jobs outside government can vary, but in some cases can involve a very quick/casual process if you find the job through a contact in your network.
Matthew Wilson
In my agency, when you apply for a job your application goes to an HR professional who sorts the applications into highly competitive, competitive, or not competitive. In this step, it is CRITICAL to highlight clearly that you meet all the requirements. A selection committee then reviews the competitive and highly competitive applications and selects several candidates with whom they'd like to schedule a 30 minute or so phone conversation. After that initial meeting, the list is culled down to a few candidates who are then brought in for a longer meeting/interview. Following that, the panel forwards the top names to the hiring official (e.g., office director) for a decision.
Erica Solway
- Current role at IHPI: My current role involved a typical application and interview process through the University of Michigan careers portal.
- Former role in U.S. Senate: I was a fellow before accepting a staff position with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, so my transition to a staff role involved a more informal application and interview process. Many people have connections to these types of jobs or make the transition internally through other roles within the office. That being said, many jobs on Capitol Hill are posted. Previous experience on Capitol Hill is typically preferred, so any relevant experience would be important to focus on in an application/interview.
Sarah Carter
N/A (self-employed)
Shanni Silberberg
Frankly, I am not sure. I did a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship which is a path towards a lot of different careers in science policy and science communication. At the end of my fellowship, I posted my resume on a job site and was contacted by a recruiter for the company I now work for. I had a quick phone interview with the contracting company and then was brought in to interview with the Basic Research Office at the Department of Defense. The Director of Basic Research has worked with AAAS S&T policy fellows for many years, so the questions were more about fit and whether my particular skills would be a value add to the office. The interview felt like a comfortable conversation about what the office does and what they need help with. I highlighted my experience as a fellow but also my work with the UC Student Health Insurance Plan as an example of working with multiple stakeholders. The office was also interested in my experience as an immigrant scientist as it related to their efforts on talent retention.
What possibilities do international folks have to work at your company/organization?
Clio Korn
It depends on the fellowship. Some are only open to U.S. citizens (specifically, the AAAS program, which places fellows in the Federal government). Other programs, including mine, are open to international applicants. I would recommend contacting the program to discuss their specific requirements.
Matthew Wilson
It is definitely possible at NSF.
