It is a difficult time to compete for a few jobs in academic science and industry. The number one piece of advice is to use all tools to differentiate yourself from the rest of the outstanding applicants. Simple steps can help you emphasize service and efforts beyond the call of duty.
REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA E CIÊNCIAS DA TERRA ISSN 1519-5228 - Artigo_Bioterra_V24_...
Notes to Emerging Science Professionals
1. Notes to Emerging
Science Professionals
Ideas to raise your professional brand
Kevin M. Folta, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. USA
2. A Challenging Time
Universities are in a buyer’s market
Startup packages are scary low
Lower funding rates
Higher bar for publication
Multiple postdoc appointments are the norm
Low-hanging fruits are few and far between
Increasingly difficult to find your niche
3. Your Survival
You have to do extremely well at the expectations
Publications
Development of a research program
Teaching (if part of a TA)
You need to go above and beyond
Voluntary teaching
Service
Other areas of distinction.
4. Grants and Publications
These are your currency
Grants
Identify opportunities on your own, even small ones
Publications – Be Proactive!
Every effort should end in a figure
Target your work to a certain journal, get there
Do not underestimate impact
Do not publish a good idea prematurely
Reviews, chapters, etc.
5. Develop Your Program
Sow Seeds of National and International Distinction
How do you separate yourself from others?
You need to go above and beyond
Voluntary teaching – guest lectures
Service – departmental service, seminar committees, etc.
Other areas of distinction.
6. Develop Your Program
Ideas for Distinction
Organize a seminar or workshop
Develop a journal colloquium
Organize a club
Organize a regular science café
Organize a postdoctoral mentoring class- invite faculty/deans
Develop relationships with area schools
Science fairs
Classroom presentations
Develop online teaching modules in your areas
Publish them on YouTube
7. Develop Your Program
Use of social media
Develop a science blog, a science website
Build an online following for your brand- Twitter, etc.
Make journal colloquia amenable for YouTube
Science podcasts with local experts
Publish them on YouTube
Hold workshops for farmers, others to use and connect on
social media.
8. Pushback
“It is not why you are being paid”
If you are PDA or GS, you are being funded to do research.
You are not technically allowed to work on tangential efforts
Build your brand, but you need to do it on your own time.
9. You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get
You need to learn to be pro-active, anticipatory and assertive
Others may neglect your needs because they are personally
overburdened
Nobody will or should share your urgency
Your department chair, deans want to support your ideas
How do you do something that is good for them?
Colleagues have connections- make sure you use them
Connections for federal panels
Connections for editorial/review duties
Collaborative opportunities
Service lite
10. My Ten Commandments
or my strongly advisable recommendations
If it’s stupid, and it works, it’s not stupid
Write everyday
If you don’t ask, you don’t get
Measure twice, cut once
It is better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it
You are the captain of your own ship
Second place is the first loser
Don’t sacrifice good enough for better
It takes money to make money
Crisis and opportunity are intertwined
Luck is the residue of proper design and hard work
Surround yourself with people that like you and know CPR
Consistently over deliver.