Skill Development

Hone and polish the skills necessary to make you the most competitive candidate on the job market.

Skill Development

• The NPA Postdoctoral Core Competencies Toolkit by the National Postdoctoral Association
• Understanding Emotional Intelligence: perhaps a secret to success? for the NIH Office of Intramural Training Education OITE Careers Blog
• gradLEAF from the Peabody Office of Professional and Graduate Education
• NIH Strategic Plan for Biomedical and Behavioral Training 

Writing Skills

• Tips for writing your first scientific literature review article by Emily Crawford for ASBMB Today
• For tips on grant writing, visit our Grant Writing resource page
• Check out this interesting article onScienceCareers that discusses the challenges and changing roles of science journal editors aligning with social media.

Teaching

• Designing and Delivering Effective Lectures by Rick Reis
• Local teaching opportunities Looking for undergraduate teaching opportunities?  If you are looking for undergraduate teaching experience, below is a list of colleges and universities in the Middle Tennessee area. You may want to contact department chairpersons, school deans, or human resources departments to see if they have teaching opportunities available. Sometimes departments welcome guests to teach single lectures or sections, or sometimes they need adjunct faculty or lecturers to teach for a single semester.
  • Aquinas College
  • Austin Peay State University
  • Belmont University
  • Columbia State Community College
  • Cumberland University
  • Fisk University
  • Lipscomb University
  • Middle Tennessee State University
  • Nashville State Community College
  • Tennessee State University
  • Tennessee Tech University
  • Trevecca Nazarene University
  • The University of the South at Sewanee
  • Volunteer State Community College
  • Western Kentucky University

The Elevator Pitch

• Adapting Your Elevator Pitch to the Occasion by Andrew Klappholz for The Ladders
• How not to embarrass yourself doing the elevator pitch from Marc Cenedella for The Ladders
• 15 Tips from Keith Ferrazzi: Conference Commando by Keith Ferrazzi

Soft Skills

We’d like to think that our science sells itself. In reality, it’s often your “soft skills” that make or break your job candidacy. What kind of “soft skills” are we talking about? Read on…

• What are soft skills? Thanks, Wikipedia, for this overview.
• Mutation or Extinction by Dave Jensen for ScienceCareers.org (advice for transitioning to industry from academia)
• Strategies for the Shy by Vivian Siegel for ASCB
• Time Management Skills from the Gradhacker blog
• Ten Ways to Shake One’s Hand by Bob McIntosh on the BioSpace Careers site
• 5 Steps to Becoming a More Active Listener from BioSpace