Where to Find a Job After a PhD or a PostDoc?

You have studied science for a long time and now you are trying to seek a position. Unfortunately, job offers are not centralized in one unique place. So you will need to dig in to find these position openings.

Where to start? Where to find a position?

As Adam Douglas would say: Don’t Panic. There are many ways to find a researcher position. In this article, we unveil some options you possibly forgot to consider.

Call up your network

Starting with the obvious. Your network matters, take the most of it.

The research community is made of strong interpersonal connections. That is why conferences and events are still so popular even in the digital world. It is the occasion to meet people, to get introduced to future recruiters. While you are in your Ph.D. or PostDoc position, you should grab each occasion to meet people.

Events are not the only way to get your network bigger. You could join associations: learned societies or young researcher associations. Check out the list of Ph.D. associations in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Besides, some association websites publish position opening on a regular basis.

As you start to look for a position, do not hesitate to contact all your contact book. Who knows? It would be great to benefit from an opportunity.

Search a job online

Information flows over the web, including job opportunity. The challenge is to look at the right place at the right time.

Social networks can inform you when a new position is available. The difficulty is to get the information on time. The LinkedIn search engine offers the possibility to filter results and get only the job offers. ResearchGate also publishes job opportunity on a regular basis. You can even get notified: check your settings.

Some websites collect job offers related to R&D positions. They are often dedicated to specific research areas: biotech, pharmaceuticals, energy, materials, and so on.

For example, Jobs In Pharma is an online platform where you can look for a position in the pharmaceuticals and biotech fields. Offers are published by biotech companies, clinical research organizations, medical writing services, data management department, pharma companies, drug safety agencies, and more. Jobs offers are available all over Europe and beyond, including China, Japan, Egypt and more. It covers all kinds of positions from technician to manager, from support activity to scientific positions.

Get hired by recruitment agencies

Contacting recruitment agencies after your Ph.D. defense may not be a reflex. But think about it: this option can lead to job opportunities. In any case, you can send them your resume to be saved in their database.

Some agencies are specialized in working for R&D organizations. The agencies work with all kinds of companies and institutions. Depending on the recruitment agency, they can contact you for either a short mission or year-long contract.

The example of Talent International

Talent is a recruitment agency specialized in IT. Talent provides contractor work. For a specific and punctual need, they hire contractors to work for their customers.

Talent can potentially cover many fields of expertise. IT&T is still a strong specialization in this company. For instance, their clients include software and app industry, or infrastructures and communication organizations.

Originally from Australia, Talent expanded to Europe in 2012. Since then several offices in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands have opened.

Talent publishes jobs listings. A search engine and filters are available on the website to browse the position openings.

The example of Real Staffing

Real provides a recruitment servicefor both companies that hire and people who seek a new position. It claims that “4 600 pharma specialists found jobs with Real” in 2016. There are 3 distinct divisions in the company: pharmaceuticals & biotechnology, medical devices, and chemicals & FMCG.

Talent places its experts in-house for a specific project. They also offertraditional recruitment services. Concretely, it provides a short list of candidate to fulfill a position.

The company has several offices all over the globe: in Europe, in Asia, in the US, and even in Australia.

Real provides a full variety of service for job seekers. They published free career guides. They can alert you via email when job offers are published. And they maintain a resume database to match vacancies for their clients. You can submit your resume here: http://www.realstaffing.com/submit-cv

To summarize, there is no unique way to search for a job for PhDs and PostDocs. You should investigate several options at the same time waiting for the right position offer. Some of these options are described above and there are many more to explore: create your own company, offer your expertise as freelance or get grants to build your own research group. In any case, career opportunities are many for young researchers.