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August 21, 2019
Practicing Leadership as an Introvert
In higher ed, the weight of the word “leadership” has ballooned over the years, with growing pressure for undergraduate as well as graduate students to somehow demonstrate the quality. Given the challenge of breaking into the workforce after graduation, it does wonders to have a strong quality like leadership help boost a resume. Now, some people are born with leadership qualities, some get unexpectedly thrown into the position, while some people …
August 7, 2019
The Benefits of Attending Conferences
Although young researchers might feel intimidated by conferences and presenting research for the first time, conferences provide a significant amount of professional and personal development, which makes them an extremely valuable experience. Communicating research in a concise and engaging way can be challenging, especially for less experienced researchers. Presenting at a conference allows young researchers to refine their communication skills. Researchers can practice presenting to an audience and receive immediate feedback …
August 1, 2019
Announcing a New AGU Scholarship Program: Paros Scholarships in Geophysical Instrumentation
Beginning in 2020, AGU’s Seismology, Atmospheric Sciences, and Ocean Sciences Sections are proud to offer Paros Scholarships in Geophysical Instrumentation in the amount of $5,000 to recognize outstanding graduate students demonstrating interest in geophysical instrumentation and precision field measurements. AGU is incredibly grateful for the establishment of this scholarship program, which has been made possible through a generous donation by Jerome M. Paros. “Good science comes from good observers running …
May 13, 2019
Finding Jobs in the Government
Useful Resources for Finding Jobs in the Federal Government While most geoscientists are employed in academia or industry, there are a significant number employed by the federal government. Employment with the federal government is in-between industry and academia in many ways – salary, benefits, academic freedom, and so on. Many people don’t know what the federal government does, and have no idea what employment opportunities there are. If you’re …
April 15, 2019
Polishing Your Profile
These days, your LinkedIn profile is your professional public face. Often, potential employers will look through your online profile to learn as much as they can about your background and interests, before they contact you. If you don’t have an excellent profile with a compelling story, they may never call you – and you may never know why. If it’s been awhile since you updated your profile, now is a …
March 11, 2019
Soft Skills
Getting Hard Data on Your Soft Skills When planning your career, one of the biggest parts is your skill set. What do you have to sell to a potential employer? What kinds of things are you able to do? Do you have specific examples of times you used those skills, and had a positive outcome? In school, you learned many technical skills, including things like cartography, remote sensing, demography, data …
February 11, 2019
Survey Says…
For the last five years, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has collected data from graduates of geosciences programs about their education and career activities. Some of the most interesting results from the 2016-2017 academic year survey are summarized below. This year, 513 students (419 bachelor, 58 masters, and 36 doctoral) from 147 schools participated. The demographics have not changed significantly, with 40% or more females at all degree levels, and …
January 14, 2019
What do you value?
What do you value? When you start thinking about making a change in your career, whether to a new job or a whole new field, most scientists immediately focus on their technical skills. Some may think about their non-technical (also called soft or transferable) skills – communication, negotiation, leadership, and so on. Your skill set is crucial to your career success, and it is your expertise in these areas that …
December 28, 2018
Scientists who leave academia aren’t dropouts. They’re scientists.
I’m a researcher turned policy wonk turned scicommer turned communications trainer and storyteller. Even though I’ve changed trajectories many times throughout my (so far) short career, one thing has remained constant: I am a scientist. However, this hasn’t always been how I felt. It’s taken me a long time to accept that I made the right decision. But sometimes, something happens to make me feel guilt, uncertainty, other-ness… Recently, this …
December 20, 2018
Internships in the U.S. Capital
Washington, DC (Internship) Universe: Policy Positions and Beyond in the U.S. Capital I’ve heard that you can be an intern in Washington, DC, on a virtually indefinite basis. After 6 months working in the U.S. capital city, my preliminary findings so far confirm the idea. In my time in Washington, I’ve held two internships. My first internship was at the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) working in geoscience policy, and my …
On the Job is an AGU blog, that provides career advice and workforce guidance to geoscience students, early-career and established professionals who are interested in pursuing professional enrichment.