Now that you’ve done your self assessment (see Natural Selections’ December 2004/January 2005 issue on this topic), you know your strengths and weaknesses, what skills you have, and most importantly, have some idea of what will make getting out of bed in the morning worthwhile (or at least a more pleasant prospect). The next logical step is to discover what options are out there and learn as much as you can about them to help you make the most informed career choice possible.

There are a number of resources published in books or on the Web that can expose you to the various career options that are available. If you’d like to learn more about a career in academia, there are books on this topic such as A Ph.D. Is Not Enough: A Guide to Survival in Science by Peter J. Feibelman, Advice to a Young Investigator by Santiago Ramon y Cajal, At the Bench: A Laboratory Navigator and At the Helm: A Laboratory Navigator both written by Kathy Barker, and Academic Scientists at Work: Navigating the Biomedical Research Career by Jeremy M. Boss and Susan H. Eckert. For learning about other careers, Non-traditional Careers in Science by Karen Young Kreeger and Alternative Careers in Science: Leaving the Ivory Tower by Cynthia Robbins-Roth are good launching points for this exploration. The journal Science also has a website called Science NextWave that is educational and helpful. You will find various anecdotes from people who are in different professions and can learn quite a bit from their experience and advice.

You should also keep your eyes and ears open for career development seminars that may be offered from time to time, especially those with panels or several different speakers. The New York Academy of Sciences, The New York Biotechnology Association, local academic institutions, and other organizations often hold such seminars or symposia that are highly informative and a good opportunity to meet people with interesting careers. When you meet such people, you can try to set up a one-to-one meeting, phone call, or e-mail correspondence with them to conduct an informational interview.

An informational interview is not a request for employment; it is a powerful way for you to gather information about a potentially interesting profession. What better way to find out about the realities of a career than to interview someone who is already in that job? You are also in a position to evaluate the advice these professionals share and you are free to ask questions that you may not be able to ask in a formal job interview. Ideally, you should ask questions pertaining to the job tasks, qualifications, work environment, and future prospects. You should also have a résumé prepared so that the person you are meeting with will be able to get a good idea of your background and your interest. At the very least, it will provide more topics for conversation!

Informational interviewing will enable you to expand the number of career options you can explore, your network of contacts, and opportunities to compare aspects of that particular job with your own interests, skills, personality, and experience. In addition, it is helpful to become acquainted with people in your field of interest when you are ready to plan your job search.

While you are in career exploration mode, it is a good idea to speak to as many people as possible who are doing things that look interesting. You can tap into your alumni network by contacting your alma mater’s alumni office. Your fellow alumni are some of the easiest people to contact out of the blue because you already have something in common. Ask your friends if they know anybody; in this scenario, you’ll have a mutual friend in common and expand your social circle at the same time. You can start building your own network by ensuring that with each person you talk to, you get at least one more person that they would introduce you to or recommend that you speak to next.

Here are some questions that are appropriate for informational interview and networking. There are obviously more, but these are good starting points:

• How did you get from college/graduate school to your current job?
• Why did you pick your profession?
• What is your typical day like?
• What skills are essential to your job?
• What do you like about your job?
• What don’t you like about your job?
• Based on your experience, how would you recommend I start getting into this profession?
• How does one advance in your profession?
• What other jobs can I pursue from this profession?

After you have gathered all this information, you need to evaluate it in the context of who you are as an individual. This means revisiting the self-assessment process that you did in the first place, so that you can match the results of your self-assessment with the various career options you have just learned about. This time around, you’ll need to ask yourself the following questions: What are you good at? What do you enjoy? Will a job in profession X allow you to excel and enjoy yourself?

Related Articles:

• Career Planning & Development Part III: The Job Hunt
• Preparing Women and Minorities for the Private Sector
• No Ph.D. Left Behind
• SRC News: Put Your Two Cents In
• Leaving the Ivory Tower
• Postdoc Perspective: Taking the “Alternative” out of Alternative Careers in Science