WHAT IS SO FAIR AS A DAY IN OCTOBER?
The
2005 Research Festival Job Fair got a good review from both prospective
employers and fellows, the latter of whom
attended in record numbers—992. Exhibitors registered their
highest overall satisfaction level since the Job Fair's inception in the
year 2000 —4.49 on a scale of 1 to 5—on the evaluation forms
(33 of 43 responded), and nearly all expressed an interest in returning
next year.
The
exhibitors were more satisfied with the quality and quantity of fellows
who visited their booths than with the level of preparedness of these
job seekers to discuss employment options. (In preparation for the fair,
the NIH Fellows Committee [FelCom]
offers workshops on résumé preparation and on interviewing
skills; career development activities added this year included a seminar—by
a representative from ScienceCareers.org and Science magazine's Next Wave—on how to make a good impression
in just two minutes.)
At
this year's fair, FASEB offered an individual résumé review
service, which was deemed the most valuable aspect of the fair by the
fellows. But the heavy demand for the service overwhelmed it, and FelCom
is currently discussing how to manage it better next year. Fellows also
noted that too few representatives of academia were in the mix of prospective
employers, which included biotech and pharmaceutical companies, hospitals,
foundations, and government agencies (including NIH).
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Job
Fair coordinator Shirley
Forehand at her post directing attendees to tables of interest |
A
light at the top of the Job fair tunnel
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Heidi
Erickson, NCI, talking shop with a prospective employer
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Science
magazine representative giving fellows interview tips
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Susan
Olivo-Marston, NICI cancer prevention fellow, provides career development information
at the NIH Fellows Committee booth
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Milling
around at the Johnson & Johnson table
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Statistics compiled by Shirley Forehand Photos by Cherie Butts |
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The
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology provided
much-in-demand résumé-critiquing services . . . .
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. . .
for which the lines were |