Friday, December 18, 2009

Career as a Postdoctoral Scholar

Postdoctoral research is carried out after the completion of doctoral studies. It makes sure that the person has extensive expertise in the area of study and required methods. Postdoctoral research furthers the goal of the host institution and research reports that are published.

Postdoctoral positions are meant for individuals who want to attain knowledge and explore it further. Eminent scholars get recognition throughout the world and their work is appreciated by federal agencies, educational institutions and larger multinational corporations. There are a lot of research institutes that sponsor the education of their faculties or staff members to enhance prospects of having scholars work with them in future.

Becoming a postdoctoral scholar is no cakewalk, but you can be assured of success and fame courting you on completion of the program. With the help of this achievement you can become a vital part of multinational companies, federal agencies or educational institutions.

Postdoctoral scholars can study through a scholarship along with enrolling for a training program. There are a lot of areas that one can specialize in depending on the subject or field of expertise. The training requirements of postdoctoral studies cannot easily be defined as there are certain issues unique to the assigned tasks. The scholar should be clear about the guidelines assigned to them along with work responsibilities. They should focus on evaluative analysis along with statistical reports for preventing misunderstandings and conflicts.

The entire scholarly period should be a productive experience focused on evaluations of weaknesses and strengths. Suggestions for improving in the weaker areas, along with excelling further in the improvement areas or aspects of your thesis should be emphasized. The postdoctoral scholar should provide analytical reports about assigned projects. The scholar should be an independent investigator and choose faculty mentors apart from having their primary guide. They should also provide professional guidance to students of higher studies, along with proposals for manuscripts, journals and grants.

The postdoctoral scholar should discuss the results of their research thesis and examine them in comparison with other similar studies. The prospects for future jobs and research strategies should be analyzed on the basis of their financial and educational qualifications. The focus of the postdoc scholar should not be toward educational details alone, but they are required to have a larger overview of the programs or studies that are conducted.

The greatest skill required by in any postdoctoral scholar profession is to have an aptitude for researching. You should have patience for dealing with failures as not many people can attain a postdoctoral fellowship at one go. Planning and organizational skills are vital to preserve and maintain records of your previous researches and scholarly programs.

To become a postdoctoral scholar, you should excel in your area of expertise and have a master's degree. This should be followed by a doctorate in your given area of discipline. You should publish your work or thesis for applying for a post doctorate program.

The salaries of successful scholars can range from $66,000 to $85,000 a year along with other compensations. Through your postdoctoral scholarship you can work on fundable programs or even apply for a grant. The scope of working with multinational companies or esteemed educational institutions across the world is one of the prospects you can look forward to after attaining the status of a scholar.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Looking for Postdoctoral Scientist Jobs after you Graduate

Once you have graduated, you will find that there are a number of different options open to you. Whether you are looking for a science postdoctoral fellowship, or you are looking at other fellow science jobs, you will soon realize that the competition is high and that you may have to tailor what you are looking for to your needs. On the other hand, if you are competitive in this field, then you could have a good chance at a science postdoctoral fellowship or another position you are interested in.

The first thing that you need to think about when you are considering postdoctoral science fellowship jobs is what you want to do. Do you want to stay in the academic sector, or do you feel like taking a leap into industry? Where do you want to go, and what do you want to be doing in five or even ten years? You should learn to do when thinking about postdoctoral scientist jobs is to plan ahead. When you are looking for good postdoctoral scientist jobs, you are going to need to excel at communication. Can you talk easily with people and can you follow up quickly when things are required? This is something that can make a lot of difference when it comes to figuring out what your options are going to be, and at the end of the day, you will be in much better shape if the people who are looking to employ you have a good idea of what you can do and what you are looking to do. It is important when taking a fellowship, or any job, to have your employer outline your responsibilities and to get it in writing. You need to constantly think about your future and how you can improve your career. Make sure you know what your goals are and that you can present them to the people around you. How is your work relevant to what they are looking to do down the road, and what can you do to ensure that others see that?

You should keep in mind is that the places you are applying to will likely use some fairly up-to-date background checks. While you should always be truthful on your applications and during the interviews, make sure that you improve your chances by keeping a good, clean reputation when it comes to online networking and social networking. A company wants to make sure its employees reflect well on them at all times. This can be a very difficult time in your life, especially if you are familiar with working in a fairly specialized field and job opportunities are already scarce. Making the right choices at this juncture can make all the difference, and if you want to make sure that you are going to be able to move forward and get the right kind of work in the future, you will soon discover that you are now at a good place to really take stock of what your needs are. Consider where you want to go and what you need to do in order to get there.

Consider what you need to do to excel in any position in your field and always make sure that you are moving toward your goals. Do not settle for less and always make sure that you take stock of what you want and how to get it.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Find PhD Jobs in Local Areas

When you think of someone with a PhD, chances are you might just think of that old economics professor of yours. However, PhD jobs can be had locally within a variety of industries, and include economics PhD jobs, PhD computer science jobs, PhD finance jobs, math PhD jobs, and history PhD jobs. Excluding the typical college professor incarnations, let's have a look at some careers these types of degrees can get you.

One thing to note is that even though there are a lot of PhD candidates, there are very few academically-oriented PhD positions available. In some cases, of course, PhD finance degree holders will do well in other industries, such as the banking industry. Similarly, for PhD computer science jobs and for economics PhD jobs, you can find a lot of work outside of the academic field.

History PhD Jobs

One notable former PhD in history got herself a job as an acquisitions editor at a publishing company. Think you can't use your love of history in publishing, or in just about any other field for that matter? Think again. Just about anything with any sort of historical bent can use someone with a PhD in history for it. With a little tweaking and some focus on work you really love, your post-PhD job history can be even more rewarding than your academic career was.

For example, you may find yourself good at writing detailed descriptions, such as for products, services, or even real estate. Because those working on history PhDs necessarily write a lot, you have probably become a master of writing and research, and can spit facts in such a way that most people can understand them. These types of writing skills are in high demand at a time when a lot of people don't have them anymore. Once, writing was a skill a lot of people possessed; today, the talents we all used in school to write history papers, for example, have been largely forgotten by those in the corporate world and in other sectors of the job market.

Math PhD Jobs

If you have a PhD in math, a lot of financially-based jobs are open to you in the non-academic venue. For example, as an applied mathematician, you can use mathematical modeling to help solve problems in engineering, government, business, or even the social sciences. If you are an applied mathematician, for example, you may analyze what the most efficient route is for flight between cities, or help construct automobiles with the best aerodynamic characteristics. You can do applied mathematics in some surprising ways, too.

PhD Computer Science Jobs

You can approach the computer science field in a number of ways with your PhD. Regardless of the job you actually have, you'll need to be innovative and to have theoretical expertise as you apply new technology to solve difficult problems. You may utilize skills in discerning theory, designing hardware, or even designing and programming languages. If you are a computer science researcher at an academic institution, you may be able to focus purely on theory to a greater extent than someone in the business world, who has to deal with ongoing problem resolution. You may also want to work as a database administrator, developing database management system software and finding new ways to organize and store data safely. In some cases, those in database administration may oversee others working directly on databases, depending on the size of the organization they work for.

Network architects design and then test and evaluate systems like local area networks, the Internet, and other communication systems of this new Internet age. Because the Internet is so far-reaching, connections have to be specified to their particular need, such as email systems within a company or intercommunication between two global corporations on opposite sides of the globe.

Economics PhD Jobs

Economics PhD jobs in the private sector are readily available, and in fact a PhD may be required for advancement to higher-level positions. Many organizations require that one hold a PhD, for example, to be a top economist with them. Even government and corporate executives need strong backgrounds in economics, and a PhD there is a plus.

Finding PhD Jobs Locally

Whatever your area, getting online and searching job sites with your particular area of expertise, along with the keyword "PhD," will help you find work suitable for your level of education. Again, a percentage of these PhD job listings will be in academia, and if that is your desired area by all means that is what you should go for. However, competition is very fierce in academic arenas and many PhDs have left the academic world for non-academic work, such as in those positions described above. In addition, these jobs often times pay better than academic positions, especially ones that are non-tenured.

Finding local PhD jobs can be a challenge and especially it’s true if you are limiting yourself to only PhD work in the academic arena. However, if you choose to look in the private sector for jobs that require candidates with PhD degrees, your number of available choices should be much greater.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Career Options to Explore after Graduating with a PhD

One of the best career options to explore after you've graduated with your Ph.D. is with postdoctoral fellow positions, depending on your area of specialization. If the degree you've gotten suits itself to academia, being a post doctorate fellow may be your next step.

Postdoctoral fellowship opportunities are quite rare, but they do exist and they have some distinct advantages over traditional postdoctoral work, depending on the direction you want to take your career in. However, there are some disadvantages too, and you should know about these before you decide whether or not a postdoctoral fellowship position is for you.

Looking for postdoctoral fellowship opportunities

One of the best places to begin to look for postdoctoral fellowship opportunities is actually right where you're pursuing your doctorate itself. You can begin to research the possibility of doctoral fellowships while you're still working on your degree. That's not to say that you're likely to get a job right where you're going to school, but you can begin to network with advisors and other colleagues to find opportunities elsewhere. This gives you an edge over someone who doesn't have this type of resource available to them. One of the reasons for this is that your advisor can certainly recommend you as someone who is certainly good in your field, and they may be able to put your name in for PhD job openings that haven't even gone public yet.


If this resource is not available to you, take heart; you can still look for postdoctoral fellow positions on the Internet. In addition, job sites list positions in just about every area, so you should be able to find a Post Graduate position in the location you want to be in as well as your particular area of specialization. Keep in mind, though, that even though these positions are quite plentiful, they're also highly competed for. Therefore, it's not a given that you'll get a position simply because you apply for it, but you do have many opportunities available to you.

One thing to remember is that even if you do take a postdoctoral fellowship position and find that it is lacking, remember that it won't last forever. The position will last anywhere from six months to five years, so it's temporary. If you find it constricting, remember that you will be able to move on from it eventually and sometimes quite quickly.

In addition, especially if your area of expertise focuses a lot on research, you're going to have almost unlimited time to do research on your own when you would otherwise not have been able to if you took a postdoctoral fellowship position. Therefore, you may want to consider taking such a position if you're going to find this research time valuable.

Finally, this is one time in your career when your time is really going to be your own for the most part. You'll usually have much less responsibility and greater freedom than you will at any other time in your career. For this reason alone, it's worth considering a postdoctoral fellowship position, although of course the final choice is yours.