New Science Careers Guide Focuses on Personal Job Chemistry

Scientists are more likely to build successful careers when they find a workplace that suits their personality, according to a new guide from Science Careers.

Researchers tend to focus on their technical skills and the “nuts and bolts of finding a job,” said Allison Pritchard, the guide’s editor, but the new booklet urges them to consider the personal elements that make a workplace a good fit.

The booklet “is a little bit different than some of the others we’ve published in that it encourages people to think about their passions, rather than how to fit into an existing situation,” said Pritchard, a global recruitment marketing manager atScience Careers.

“Finding Your Personal Job Chemistry” (free with site registration) was compiled from articles published previously on the Science Careers site. Topics include the reasons to build a career map; the role of caring in the sciences; the search for jobs outside of traditional science employers; and the importance of learning more about the culture of a company or university. The guide also contains related online resources and books on job chemistry and successful job searches.

Pritchard said the new guide, released in early November, was developed in part from feedback received at Science Careers’ campus outreach events. The participants wanted to know more about the basics of job searching, she noted, but they were also concerned about work-life balance and their sense of well-being.

One question, she said, came up repeatedly: “‘How do I know if I would be a good fit for this job?’”

Science Careers is the online employment, career development, and funding portal of the journal Science, which is published by AAAS.

Becky Ham

5 December 2011