New Alternative Careers Blog
Cath Ennis
Friday, 11 July 2008 19:05 UTC
Hi all
I just wanted to let you know about a new blog to which I contribute. The Alternative Scientist focuses on scientific careers that don’t follow the traditional tenure track. There are multiple authors, and so far we have posts on non-tenure track academic positions; adjunct teaching; scientific administration; industry (biotech and big pharma, no less); advice on negotiating salaries; and my own posts on marketing and grant writing.
Comments and feedback welcome!
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Paul, you always make me laugh (in the nicest way). “primal screaming or whatever works for you” being very useful – yes, you hit the nail on the head, whether or not you career is “alternative”.
Breath of fresh air, thanks!(And thanks, too, Ian, you are not far off the maestro! Are you sure there is no chance of us being graced with your presence in Aug?)
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I agree with the ‘anger is an energy’ idea. But like all things related to energy, it can be harnessed for good, or become too overpowering and consume.
I wish alternative careers weren’t seen as breaking the mould, then there wouldn’t be such a (dare I use the word) stigma attached to them. Take any postdoc – why shouldn’t they consider any career option available with equal merit? Why should the system be such that only certain career paths are worthy of approval, and other options that are greatly rewarding careers be frowned on? Ah, it just bothers me that a few of the brightest people I know are being herded into making some pretty lousy choices (2nd or 3rd postdocs/permadoc positions) just because the stereotype says so.
The postdoc bloggers out there who do vent/whinge are not (I hope!) like that in real life rather just using their blog as a forum to work through their issues. Anecdotes and advice from those who have survived and prospered post-postdoc or post-PhD can be the light at the end of the tunnel to some, as can knowing you’re not alone in a particular dilemma or choice. I think the blog is a great idea by the way Cath, and would probably have made use of it more last year!
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Yes, I agree with Katherine, the blog is a great idea. I hope I did not sound negative in my comments above. I agree that people need to vent, and I agree that there is a need for good resources for “science-related” career advice (perhaps a better term than “alternative”?) on this NN Nature Jobs forum and the new blog and elsewhere. I suggest that this new blog would gain a sense of identity by choosing which it is, to give it its own “stamp” (maybe with a “whinge Friday” feature or something like that? ;-)).
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I just found the alternative careers supplement, by the way. IT is pretty old, so may not be that relevant, these days.
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Naming contest
I agree that Alternative Careers" is a lame name. But for some reason it sticks—kinda like the annoying way any scandal these days automatically gets a “-gate” suffix" attached, or how even the most straight and sober publications and television hosts say they are “all about” this (I believe htat usage came from rap) I propose a contest for an alternate name for “alternative careers”. Please post your suggesstions. I’m not sure what prize I could offer—or what would be appropriate (a free tattoo or piercing of your choice?) Maybe an iTunes gift certificate, reedemable for your favorite “altenative” band (like the alt careers moniker, I’m not sure there really IS such a thing—I mean, some people have tagged COLDPLAY as alternative, fer cryin’ out loud! Maybe Death Klezmer (I don’t think this exists yet, but I’ll try to get Woody Allen to hook up with the guys from Slayer). Anyway, pardon my digression. New alt career names welcome. And in the following weeks I’ll try to round up people Naturejobs has interviewed about “off-the-bench”) jobs or who have spoken at career panels Njobs has hosted. It would be a great help for prioritization purpose if y’all could let me know what your top 3 “OtB” (I know, sounds like ODB from the Wu Tang Clan) careers of interest are. Then maybe we can spend a week or so on each. -
Paul – I’ve been thinking hard and can’t think of an alternative to alternative. Off the Bench seems OK if you can get past the sporting analogy images.
Don’t know if you’ve ever had people on NJobs from the following OtB careers:
– Science outreach/museum exhibit designers (such as people from the Glasgow Science Centre in Scotland)
– Government and Policy/civil service science related jobs
– Scientific instrument manufacturers (Bruker, Varian, Eppendorf)I think they might be interesting to hear about.
Now, I’m off to engage in some Primal Screaming…
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a free tattoo or piercing of your choice?
ears perk up
again
In which case, I’m yer man! My back-piece is only just started so any and all freebies gratefully accepted :)
How about we attack at source by adding “Traditional” to anything academic/bench related? With 80% or so of postdocs (that percentage does change frequently though…) not getting academic PI postions even if they want them, why are non-academic/bench jobs “alternative”?
I grew up in a small town outside London. When I was a kid we had the dubious honour of being the Goth-capital of the UK. Not that we had an overly massive number of vanilla smeared, lipstick wearing, hairspray…spraying kids, but at goths per head (GPH – a new SI unit?) we beat out all major cities. So, how the hell do you get to be alternative in that environment? Like Paul says, some
moronsmusic criticspeople label Coldplay as alternative. Alternative to what?The appelation of the label “alternative” merely designates something as “different” in the eyes of a supposed majority. But, they’re not the majority. We need to reclaim our honour; we’re not failed scientists because we choose to forge other paths. No! My Brothers & Sisters!! We’re all scientists and we all make a valuable contribution back to the societies’ that gave us the opportunity to
skive offavoid getting a real jobfollow ourmentalintellectual dreams!CAN I GET AN AMEN?!
I AM NOT AN ALTERNATIVE SCIENTIST! I AM MAINSTREAM!
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Ian, I nearly reported that comment above until I realized it was you ;-)
I think “science related” is fine (instead of “alternative”).
John Maddox, when Editor of Nature, referred to himself and colleagues as “camp-followers of science” (must not forget the hyphen as I did last time I wrote this and Richard Grant swooped in). I doubt that many people or professions would be relaxed enough to describe themselves thus, so “science-related” seems good to me, and not to have the “kooky science” air of “alternative”. (When I read “alternative” science I often think of dowsing, ESP, alchemy, etc.) Boring but accurate.
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I’ve read in other places that ‘non traditional careers’ is widely accepted. The problem with ‘off the bench’ is some non traditional careers are stil at the bench.
A lot of postdocs I speak to are unaware of industry roles or how to get them and particularly CRO’s.
When people talk about alternative or non traditional I’ve found that they also lump industry into that even though most of those jobs are at the bench just not in an academic setting.
When we ask focus groups here (naturejobs) about the namings/classifications for these not so new roles they always complain that alternative careers has negative connotations. I’m not sure why but that’s the perception.
If anyone does solve this dilemma then let us know.
Incidentally I’ve just got back from a conference where we ran a session on this topic. We had a range of speakers and the session was really well attended. Thankfully the majority were positive but there were the few whingers (good work smaggers!) in attendance. Maxine you’ll be pleased to here that quite a few wanted information on scientific publishing and I’ve pushed them to view the ask the editors section. A few have already got on nature networks since Saturday.
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I hope this doesn’t sound condescending, but here goes…
There is still the “failed scientist” stigma about researchers who enter so-called alternative careers. Don’t forget, however, that there is a long tradition of scholars in the humanities and social sciences who never have the opportunity to enjoy careers in academia. (Granted, most PhDs in these fields don’t suffer through the extra years of a postdoc.) If you are a humanities or social sciences scholar, you have to assume the likelihood of a career outside of academia when you enter your PhD program.
Whether you are a scientist, philosopher, literary scholar, or sociologist, you can make very significant contributions to society by applying your well-earned knowledge in other professions. Scientists play a special role here, because there is a great need for applying scientific thinking to solve problems in developing businesses, shaping public policy, etc. With a little creativity, you can make great contributions while ascending in a new profession. It will also make you a more interesting, well-rounded person.
By the way, I hold a “useless” PhD and, like many others, have enjoyed many work opportunities outside of my field of study. You can too.
Let’s do what we can to shatter the myth and stigma of “failed scientist,” which brings along with it the baggage of “alternative career.”
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