Sarah Blackford 
Career Planning for Research Bioscientists 

Career Planning for Research Bioscientists is an essential careers guide for bioscience doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers. It contains a wealth of information and resources specifically targeted at research bioscientists, with practical strategies to enhance career success in an increasingly competitive job market. Advice on how to write a winning CV together with examples adapted for different jobs is presented, as well as practical exercises to assist with skills analysis and decision making. Profiles of Ph D-qualified bioscienstists in a range of professions including academic research, industry, science communication, management and consultancy provide valuable insights into how others have managed their careers, and tactics such as networking and using social media demonstrate how new opportunities can be discovered. The content of this book is aimed primarily at research bioscientists, however much of the advice and information will be a useful reference for other students and researchers looking for an effective career planning strategy.

A companion website with additional resources is available at www.wiley.com/go/blackford/careerplanning and you can visit Sarah Blackford’s blog at www.biosciencecareers.org for more information.

Table of Content

Author ‘ s note ix

Acknowledgements xi

1. Introduction 1

Who is this book for? 1

The process of career planning 3

Helping you with your career planning 3

Content of the book 4

How to use this book 5

2. Planning your career 7

The importance of career planning 7

What is career planning? 8

Career planning in action 10

Conclusion 10

3. Self?]awareness 13

What is self-awareness? 13

Practical ways to analyse your ‘self’ and increase
self-awareness 15

Conclusion 29

4. The job market 31

Career sectors 32

Examples of job advertisements 34

Analysis of job advertisements 40

Self-employment 43

Where are the jobs? 44

Conclusion 51

5. Enhancing your employability 53

The changing nature of work 53

Taking responsibility 53

Taking a proactive approach 54

Planned happenstance 55

Personal and professional development 55

Conclusion 64

6. Making applications 67

Employer perspective 67

Presenting a professional image 68

Methods of application 69

Conclusion 82

7. Successful interview technique 83

Types of interviews 83

Interview content: what questions will you be asked? 87

Answering the questions 90

Thinking of questions to ask the interviewer 91

Preparation 91

If you are offered the job 92

If you are not offered the job 93

Conclusion 94

8. Decision making and action planning 95

Careers in research 95

Other career options 96

Decision making 97

Taking action 98

Turning decisions into action 99

Conclusion 102

Afterword 103

Appendix 1: Career narratives 105

Summaried list career narratives 105

1. Michel : professor, US university 106

2. Teresa : research fellow, Austrian university 109

3. John : lecturer, UK university 110

4. Andrew : lead scientist, protein design team, large
agribiotechnology company 113

5. John : scientific team leader, drug metabolism and
pharmacokinetics (DMPK), global contract research organisation
114

6. Joanna : product and R&D manager, small biotech company
116

7. Petra : scientific adviser, protein interaction services
company 117

8. Ann : president and chief executive officer, small
immunoreagent company 119

9. Yfke : senior medical writer, medical vii communications
agency 120

10. Carol : freelance science editor, writer and training
consultant 122

11. Mary : features editor, Teaching Tools in Plant Biology
(learned journal) 124

12. Linda : teacher training co-ordinator, public research
institute 126

13. Ruth : freelance science journalist 127

14. David : research associate, Committee on Science,
Engineering, and Public Policy, National Academy of Sciences;
Outreach Committee Co-chair, AAAS Science and Human Rights
Coalition 12915. Edward : clinical trial co-ordinator, university
cancer trial centre 131

16. Miguel : patent examiner, European Patent Office 133

17. Florent : scientific officer, Marie Curie Actions, European
Commission 135

18. John : healthcare analyst, self-employed partnership 136

19. Annie : technology consultant, international technology
consultancy 138

20. Ian : sound engineer, production services provider 140

Appendix 2: Social media 143

Appendix 3: Example CVs 151

Appendix 4: Support and resources 167

Index 175

About the author

Sarah Blackford is the Head of Education and Public Affairs of a large international bioscience learned society. With a Master’s degree in careers guidance in Higher Education and a background in bioscience research, scientific publishing and university careers advisory work, Sarah is uniquely qualified to support research bioscientists with their career planning and management. For over a decade, she has been delivering talks and career workshops in university departments and at international scientific meetings and career events, as well as providing individual career coaching to students and postdoctoral researchers.