The job search

There comes a time when every young (or not so young!) scientist needs to find a job. It doesn’t matter whether you’re searching for a post-doc position, a professorship or a job in the biotech industry, there is a multitude of job-search and career resources on the web. The first stop in your job search should be the online versions of Science, Nature and Cell. Although these sites carry the same jobs that are advertised in the print journals, the use of search engines makes looking a whole lot easier. The jobs in the databases can be conveniently sorted by discipline, geographic location, position and organization, and access is free of charge. The Science Professional Network site runs advertisements from the current and previous issues of Science, and a new feature allows immediate online application. The site also has an interactive career workshop. At International Science Jobs on the Nature web site, classified adverts remain online for the week following the print publication date. The Cell Recruitment Database contains the positions available from the past two issues of Cell, Immunity and Neuron. A nice feature of this site is that employers may enter a job directly into the database, and pay online. There are several exclusively online job sites on the web. The BioMedNet Job Exchange has the most extensive job listing for bioscientists. The BioMedNet site features a continuously updated database of jobs available and positions wanted in biology and medicine. A handy world map provides quick access to positions in your region. You can also sort jobs by speciality, location, job type and sector. Applicants can respond to job offers by e-mail or via a BioMedNet Job Mailbox. Employers are provided with a Job Mailbox page that is used to check the current status of their postings, edit job descriptions and remove or resubmit postings. Membership of BioMedNet is free, and the Job Exchange is free to members. Another online job database is HUM-MOLGEN Positions in Bioscience and Medicine. Run from the University of Rostock, Germany, this international site lists biomedical and clinical positions available. The site contains a large number of post-doc positions and can be searched by position, subject and continent. E-mail links provide a quick means of reponding to the adverts. Access to this service is also free of charge. If you’re looking for work in the biotechnology industry, the Bio Online Career Center site provides current job postings from 400 participating biotech companies that are located worldwide. You can search by keyword for positions and submit a resumé electronically. A Career Guides section provides essays about job hunting and career planning and the Career Forum discusses how to manage your career. The Biospace Career Center lists positions available at more than 300 profiled biotech and pharmaceutical companies, located predominately in the US. The job database can be searched by company, region and category. The Biospace site features an extensive industry news section that is particularly useful for researching specific companies. A fun place to look for up-to-theminute information about a particular biotech company is The Biotech Rumor Mill, run by Martin Leach at Boston University School of Medicine. Check out these discussions before your interview! If it’s career advice you want, Science’s Next Wave has articles about alternative careers, and forums for discussion of science career topics. One handy section of this site is a collection of links to career resources with short reviews of each. At the Career Planning Center for Beginning Scientists and Engineers, a joint effort of the NAS, NAE, NIM and NRC, you can request a career mentor. This site also maintains an online library of relevant publications and studies on jobs and careers. Registration is free at both of these sites. By using the internet, you won’t cut out the time and effort it takes to find a job in the biomedical sciences, but you should find tools to make your search easier, and career advice that may even cause you to move in a new direction.