Archive for April, 2008

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Do the Interview Write

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

I had lunch with a colleague today, to catch up and talk about his career. During the course of our lunch, we talked about interviews and interviewing. He mentions that his company now gives a writing test as a standard part of the interview process for PhD scientists. He mentioned on candidate who gave a great seminar, but “blew off” the writing test – he didn’t take it seriously, and didn’t spend the time to craft a good answer. That decision ended up costing him the job.

Yesterday, I heard about an applicant who submitted a resume to a large company. After an initial screening interview, she had a timed intelligence test, video interview, then a problem solving test before being considered for an on-site interview.

I am seeing more and more of this – formal testing as part of the interview process. If the company is taking the time to do it, as an interviewee you had better take it seriously. Finding out what the company is trying to find out about you can also give you insight into the company culture, and help you decide if you want to work there.

Posted in Interviewing | No Comments »

Get Paid to Learn New Skills

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

I often tell people that a great way to try out a new career is to volunteer for tasks and projects that give you a taste of that field. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article that is a new twist on that idea The Latest Office Perk: Getting Paid to Volunteer. According to them, many companies are starting to “lend out” their employees to nonprofits and startups, while keeping them on the payroll. The employees get to use their business skills in a new environment, and come back to the company with a broader background, better leadership skills, and a better sense of how to work in different cultures – not to mention the personal satisfaction of making a difference to a worthy cause.

Does your company offer a program like this? If so, I hope you’re taking advantage of it. If not, perhaps you could suggest starting one on a small scale. You never know what you’ll be able to do, or who you’ll meet, if you don’t try.

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Networking | No Comments »

Oral Communication – More Resources

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

In response to my recent post on the importance of good oral communication skills, Andrew Dlugan pointe out that he maintains a list of public speaking and presentation skills blogs, which currently has over 90 entries.

He also pointed out his article that reviews the data presentation techniques of Hans Rosling. Dr. Rosling’s 20 minute talk is fascinating to watch, and presents data as complex as any chemist is likely to do. Andrew then points out the various techniques used to make the data understandable, and even exciting.

Posted in Interviewing, Resources | 2 Comments »

Maybe it really is a trend….

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had an article entitled New Career, Same Employer, in which Sarah Needleman talks about a wide variety of companies that offer resources for career changers – within the company. It may be that companies are “creating or expanding these programs to improve retention rates in a competitive job market, particularly as Baby Boomers begin to retire.”

Good news for everyone!

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Nontraditional Career Options, Resources | No Comments »

Companies Caring about Employees Careers Again?

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

I have been having a very interesting e-conversation lately with a representative from Genzyme Corporation. They recently realized that they needed to keep talented employees in the company and reduce turnover, and therefore needed to find creative ways to help people grow professionally within the company.

Employees are encouraged to work with their management, to identify opportunities for personal and professional growth that will also meet the business’ needs. In 2002, management started having quarterly or bi-annual Development Roundtable discussions among managers, where they discuss what they are doing to leverage people’s strengths, aspirations, and capabilities. By sharing information about company needs and employee desires among managers on a regular basis, the chances of being able to cover business needs with happy, motivated employees increases significantly.

Here’s one success story:

“After ten years of working in a particular therapeutic area, Patty was ready for a change. Her record of accomplishments spanned most of the history of the company, including marketing and planning for both U.S. and international markets, as well as working on products before and after they were approved. Patty spoke with her managers, and over a series of meetings they decided that a move to a different part of the corporation might not only be of interest to Patty, but also of value to the company. At the next development roundtable among senior management, Patty’s managers highlighted her credentials, and the president of another division saw an opportunity. The two of them began to get acquainted,
and today Patty is Vice President of International Marketing for (product).”

It’s nice to see a company that actually cares about the professional development of its employees. And the fact that it helps the company bottom line is a fringe benefit that other companies might do well to pay attention to! Maybe the pendulum is starting to swing back, and this will be the beginning of a trend.

We can only hope.

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Compensation, Job Searching, Nontraditional Career Options | No Comments »

A Career in Usability

Monday, April 21st, 2008

Way back in 1991, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I had finished a post-doc in computational chemistry, and moved across the country for a job that ended up not getting funded. Iin discussion my career options, I mentioned that I was interested in making software better and easier to use – maybe usability would be a good career path. I was told that “usability” was not even a word, and there was no such field. I moved in another direction, and have now been happy as a freelance technical writer for 15+ years. Still I can’t help but wonder where I would be now if I had not listened to that person, but instead had done my own investigation on career paths in software usability.

What reminded me of this was Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox article entitled 25 Years in Usability, in which he describes the history of this field, and his predictions for its future (bright!). If you’re interested in making products more user-friendly, check it out for yourself.

And don’t listen to those who tell you something doesn’t exist! Go out and find those who know, and find out what the real scoop is.

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Job Searching, Nontraditional Career Options | No Comments »

Oral Communication

Friday, April 18th, 2008

I came across a new blog today – The Art of Speaking Science. Lisa (great name!) has some interesting points on oral communication skills, as well as an interesting post on networking. I look forward to reading this one and seeing how it develops.

Posted in Interviewing | 1 Comment »

Retire to Teaching in California

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

A friend passed along an announcement from AARP. They have a program wherein retiring or retired math, science and engineering professionals can become a California public school teacher. It’s called the EnCorps Teachers Program, and is actively recruiting professionals from participating companies as math or science teachers in fall 2008.

The Final Application Deadline is May 9, 2008, so you’ll need to get moving if this interests you.

Visit www.encorpsteachers.org to see if your current or former corporation is participating.

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Education, Nontraditional Career Options, Resources | No Comments »

Recruiters Love Tools Like LinkedIn, and You Should Too

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

CareerSolvers has a great post entitled Recruiters Love LinkedIn. I agree with everything they say, and I’d even go further. Any professional who deals with other people should use tools like LinkedIn on a regular basis, to maintain and grow their personal network. And if you’re a professional who doesn’t need anyone else to get paid, I’d sure like to know what your job is. :-)

The final 2 sentences sum it all up as far as I’m concerned: “You can offer regular guidance and support to your network or you can ignore it and only reach out to people when you need a favor. Which person would you rather be?”

Posted in Networking | 1 Comment »

Walk around and Meet People, Learn Things

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

From Derek Lowe’s blog, In the Pipeline…..

“So that’s a piece of advice I can give to new chemistry hires in this business: get ready to learn everyone else’s business, too. ”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. The whole article is
Walk Around Some.

Posted in Career Fulfillment, Education, Job Searching, Networking | 1 Comment »

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