I thought we should have a section on resources for new scientists and graduate students. It would involve tips on 1. Writing a resume or a curriculum vitae 2. Conducting a job search 3. Writing a cover letter 4. Preparing for an interview. Feel free to add your experiences and links, as well as common mistakes and what recruiters look for. Some how-to guides: Science Careers
You should be setting yourself up with a job before you graduate. Start talking to people from companies that do things relevant to your research at conferences, see if you can work on a collaborative project with their company, etc. Present some research at a conference on a topic that's very closely related to something that one or more large companies do, then cozy up to the people from those companies who come to hear your talk/look at your poster – ideally you will be presenting something that could actually make their product/process better. Make your own home-built version of a really expensive piece of equipment that some company makes and use it in your research. Make a point to mention that you made it yourself – that’s likely to attract people from the relevant companies regardless of what you are actually using it for. That’s assuming you want to go into industry. If you want to be a research professor, you simply need to: 1. Go to a prestigious grad school. 2. Do a postdoc somewhere prestigious working for someone famous. 3. Have lots of papers published OR have a few papers published in prestigious journals. Optional bonus points if you are working in an area that is currently trendy and/or bringing in lots of grant money.
