{"id":14812,"date":"2019-01-17T18:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T18:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2019\/01\/17\/10-tips-for-landing-a-job-in-the-sciences\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T09:52:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:52:20","slug":"10-tips-for-landing-a-job-in-the-sciences","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2019\/01\/17\/10-tips-for-landing-a-job-in-the-sciences\/","title":{"rendered":"10 tips for landing a job in the sciences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

Clark course gives students insight into STEM careers<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n Kshama Worth ’03, a product sales specialist with GE Healthcare who obtained a doctorate in biomedical science from UMass Medical School, speaks tells students in the LEEPing into a Science Career class about her career path. In the background is Liz Nelson ’16, M.S.’17, of Commonwealth Sciences Inc.\n

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There’s no doubt that careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields are booming, and especially in Massachusetts, a leader in biotechnology. But if you’re a college student majoring in the sciences, it’s not always easy to know how to land your first job.<\/p>\n

Donald Spratt<\/a>, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry<\/a> at Clark University, designed a new course to help his students do just that. Called LEEPing into a Science Career — the title is a nod to Clark’s undergraduate curriculum, Liberal Arts and Effective Practice (LEEP) — the class provides students majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology<\/a>, biology<\/a>, and chemistry<\/a>, with ways to successfully navigate the job market.<\/p>\n

“I saw a lot of students concerned about finding jobs after leaving Clark, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get everybody in the same room, inviting guest speakers, some of them former Clarkies, to talk about how they found their jobs,” says Spratt.<\/p>\n

The guest speakers in the weekly class range from the president of a technology company to a pharmaceutical sales representative to a headhunter identifying job candidates for STEM employers. Among their topics: networking, setting up informational interviews, writing cover letters and résumés, identifying potential jobs, selling yourself in job interviews, and negotiating salaries and benefits.<\/p>\n

\"Donald
Donald Spratt, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spratt also weighs in with advice on “life issues” that not all 20-somethings have experienced, like building credit, negotiating the best deal for a car, saving for retirement, buying life insurance, balancing career and family, and creating a five-year life and career plan.<\/p>\n

“One of the major goals of my course,” Spratt says, “is that I want students leaving Clark to be confident and recognize that all the skills, trials, and tribulations they’ve gone through will help them be stronger and more employable.”<\/p>\n

In a recent class, two Clark alumni — Liz Nelson ’16, M.S.’17, a scientific recruiter at Commonwealth Sciences Inc., and Kshama Worth ’03, a product sales specialist with GE Healthcare, who obtained a doctorate in biomedical science from UMass Medical School — shared these tips for landing a job in the sciences:\n<\/p>\n