Grad School and Experience: A Scientist's Perspective

Published by billbrasky on February 7th, 2008 in Career Development, Employment, Work, Work/Life | 2 Comments

People decide to go to grad school for a variety of reasons, some good and some not so good. I went to grad school straight out of college because I had an interest in science and no career aspirations. After college the only job prospect I had from our career services involved moving home and taking a lab technician job that paid less than the stipend I received in grad school.

Looking back on it now, I really had no idea what I was going to do, even during grad school. And what ensued turned out to be one of the most educational experiences I have ever had.

Just because you have an advanced degree it does not guarantee you a job. In some situations, such as the one I am going to introduce, it can actually work against you.

Typically, after earning a PhD one embarks onto another period of time known as a post-doctoral position (post-doc). This is an intense period of anywhere from 1-5 years when you become the "workhorse" of the lab, not only performing your own experiments, but also advising graduate and undergraduate students (this is analogous to a residency, for all you Scrubs/ER/Grey's fans).

You work long hours and make virtually nothing (the NIH pay scale starts at roughly $37K with medical insurance and that is assuming that your institution actually pays using the NIH scale). When your contract is up you are expected to either have landed a professorship or find another post-doc (which can end up being an entire career for some people).

With a glut of scientists in a market where the science budget is the lowest ever, things were not looking good. Towards the end of my tenure I realized that the bureaucratic nonsense of academia quickly beat the enthusiasm for basic research out of me.

I was tired of being a slave, so I decided to try to change fields. Let me tell you, it's not easy trying to market science to anyone else but a scientist!

Here is where my ability to network saved me because even before defending my Ph.D. thesis, I had two solid job offers, Job A and Job B.

Job A was a scientist position for a healthcare company. It was a riskier jump into the real world because there was not a direct translation of my skill set. If it paid off, the dividends were huge. On the other hand, Job B was a nice ease into leaving the science world, like a warm bathtub. I was still doing science based work, but I was slowly transitioning out of research.

Guess which one I chose? Yep, Job A, because I figured I could make it work. After a week of orientation they decided I was not cut out for it and disbanded my position, and subsequently the entire department with it. The way I found out was awful. I had to drive out to the company headquarters, an hour away from my apartment. I was 1.5 hrs late for the meeting with my boss due to a traffic accident. Once I got there I had barely said "good morning" when he broke the news. I drove back to my apartment and sat there, still in shellshock.

So there I was, one month out of school in a strange city and unemployed for the first time. I had never been without a job, even as a kid I had always lined my jobs up early. "Now what," I thought. So I did what any other person would do in this case, I called every contact I knew of; friends, colleagues, head hunters, people I had just met. Then I searched for jobs outside of my network.

I ended up applying to a number of jobs in a multitude of fields, finance, medical writer, even some low research jobs that I was overqualified for. Luckily Job B was still available and I took that after a few stressful weeks. Here are 5 lessons I learned that can serve us all:

1. Just because you have a PhD, or any advanced degree, it doesn't guarantee you a job

This may sound like I'm beating a dead horse, but until your thrust into that situation you don't really worry about it. Grad school is what you make it! I received an education in life as much as science. I liked my research project and even branched out to find others, but I consider myself lucky. Some students I knew never found their niche and burned out quickly. I did things that are important to building future success like not getting straight A's, volunteering, playing sports, and networking everywhere I went. When I was panicking to find a job my advanced education actually worked against me because I was overeducated for entry-level positions in my field. The jobs that required a PhD wanted experience I didn't have. What the heck I thought, I went to grad school to avoid that whole mess. Nope, it actually makes it worse.

2. Experience trumps all

Companies always want experienced individuals. Period. I found out that 1 year of a post-doc translated to 2 years in other industries. Lots of good that information did me when I couldn't even land an entry level position.

3. Salesmanship is an art that only experience gives you

Being able to sell yourself becomes incrementally harder outside of your own field. Had I gone on to a post-doc I would have been fine. Moving out of science I had to market my talents in a manner that non-science employers could appreciate. It was only until I actually attempted it that I learned how. Had I developed my name and branded myself properly I would either still be at Job A, or have had an easier time finding a new job.

4. Don't lose the ability to hold a conversation

Even in this age of mass communication the important aspects of life are still carried out person to person (i.e. dating, interviews, networking etc.). With all the means of communications today teenagers are becoming more dependent on text messages and emails and less able to hold conversations in real life. You may have 900 friends on Facebook, but can you ace your next job interview or business presentation? Our generation is big on teamwork and corporations are realizing this fact and making amends to help facilitate communication amongst its workers to harness this energy. If you can't tell them why you will be a crucial member of their team, they will never know.

5. Like Verizon, it's all about the network

In an age that is based upon rapid dissemination of information it's still all about who you know. We are a generation who thrives on social networks and contacts with hundreds of people at the touch of our fingertips. It really is a great way to keep your options open when hunting for a job. I was told once that the majority of job listings found in the big science journals were only formalities, the candidates were already in mind. If you think about this, it makes perfect sense, as the job you are looking for will rarely be posted in an ad or database.