Skill Building

Kate
Sleeth

Learning about the Disease you Study from a Different Angle

For the past 11 years I have studied cancer in one way or another.  I performed my Ph.D. research on the DNA repair mechanism Base Excision Repair.  I then performed research on Homologous Recombination, targeted radiopharmaceuticals and metastatic breast cancer (all were separate projects...


Thomas Patrick
Chuna

The biggest myth of job search

Hello everyone!There is one piece of conventional job search wisdom that I hear constantly that drives me crazy, especially when it comes from “job search professionals” who should know better.Specifically, I am talking about the conventional wisdom that says: in job search, “you gotta sell yo...


Thomas Patrick
Chuna

Actors do it, so should you

This week I would like to talk about some very effective things that will help you do better when talking to people during your job search: Preparation and RehearsalPreparation is simply thinking ahead….thinking of how you can answer questions such as “why have you been looking for work thi...


Kate
Sleeth

Being a Supervisor

Over my career as a scientist I had the opportunity to mentor a number of students; both as a graduate student and then as a postdoc.  Most summers I had one summer student who I dedicated time and effort to;  both in teaching my research to, as well as teaching the skills necessary to ass...


Marielena
Mata

Tooting Your Own Horn: Bragging or Communicating?

Nobody would describe me as humble.  I’m very comfortable announcing to the world the talents that God has given me, but when it comes to bragging about my own accomplishments, those things that I have done with my hard work and effort, I get tongue-tied.  After all, I was raised a good ...


Kate
Sleeth

Scientific Media: Gift from the Gods or poisoned chalice?

When I was doing my graduate studies I was concerned about publishing papers and my thesis.  Then once I moved to my first postdoc position I learned that if you have a particularly good finding you are expected to do press releases which may lead to you appearing on TV or the radio!  As s...


Marielena
Mata

Who’s the Boss?

This blog is dedicated to that most influential person in the life of any professional; one’s direct supervisor.   Let me start by saying that my boss, who I will call the “Big Boss,” is absolutely the most wonderful boss EVER! (Hey, you never know when Big Boss will decide to G...


Ex Lab
Junkie

How Constructive Is Your Criticism? (Simon, Paula or Ellen)*

(I am interrupting my "how did I get here" posts, to discuss something that happened at work this week.) We have all heard the term "constructive criticism" and most of us have been on the receiving end of it, thinking unprintable thoughts about the person offering their assessment. But if you ...


Liang
Zhang

Is Toastmasters a good way to help with public speaking

Toastmasters is indeed a great way to improve your public speaking skills, and presentations skills are definitely an  important part of grad school and life beyond.  You’ll be in a room filled with other people who are there to improve their communication skills, with everyone acting bo...


Kate
Sleeth

Being Reliable

I often wonder why people flake out on doing things.  Why do they agree to do something and then not follow through?  Is it because they don’t want to offend during an in person encounter so they agree while fully intending to slip under the radar immediately afterwards? What does this t...