Nature Jobs - Making Science Work: topic
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Career Advice?
Simone Alves
Wednesday, 28 November 2007 10:47 UTC
I think scientists need more career advice on careers away from the bench… things like law, publishing, journalism where you can actually use your science background. Any ideas on what you’d like advice about?
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Replies
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Yes, I would like advice. I was happy to see this post. I am a post-doctoral fellow and have my PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. I love bench work and academia, but I love learning about science- all areas of biological sciences- and I love writing and editing. I have been wanting to move into scientific journalism/editing. Aside from applying to job postings, how does one move into that field? Do you have advice to you have on making that switch from academic research to journalism? Is it hard to get back to the bench once that switch is made?
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Hi Vanita,
I see you’ve already joined the Ask the Nature Editor group, where there’s a ton of good information about scientific editing as a career: what’s the job like, how do you get into it, etc, written by Nature editors themselves who transitioned from the lab to publishing. I would point you to this thread in particular.If you have questions about science journalism, please post your questions there. I can answer them and I can also get my journalist colleagues at Nature to respond as well.
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Hi Vanita,
Thanks for your reply (and you too Corie!) The ask the editor group is a great hub of info about careers in editing/journalism. Nature do Internships (which I’m doing at the moment) and though it’s quite business oriented, I’ve been able to contribute quite a lot to various publications which is great experience, so that’s something to think about. The positions are advertised in the summer.
Also, have a look at the alternative career advice on nature jobs.com. Let us know what else you’d like to see there!
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