This past month, Rutgers once again hosted Dr. Randall Ribaudo and Larry Petcovic, the co-founders of SciPhD. SciPhD is a 36-hour training for scientists who are interested in the transition from academic careers to non-academic careers. The course typically takes place over two weekends during the month of February. During this workshop, attendees go through different workshops, team/business building experiences, networking experiences, and much more! If you are interested in a more detailed breakdown of the four days, read about it in a past iJOBS article here. Other articles on SciPhD can be found here and here. Taking a different turn this time, I want to give you the experiences of individuals who have attended SciPhD themselves. I attended SciPhD in February 2017 after a recommendation from a past lab mate and Rutgers iJOBS blogger, Myka Ababon. I was a little skeptical when signing up, it was a huge time commitment and I typically don’t enjoy being at school on the weekends. However, I decided to bite the bullet and registered for the program… and I’m truly glad I did! I learned a lot about how skills I am currently gaining during my PhD, communicating, working in a “team” aka lab, mentoring, etc., could translate to a career in industry. Randall and Larry went through the process of reading a job advertisement and creating a targeted resume. This might sound naïve, but before attending SciPhD, I would never have thought it necessary to tailor a different resume for every job posting. SciPhD wasn’t only about transitioning from academia to industry. There were activities in which we learned how to manage a small business. Participants were split into groups and had to decide which research endeavors to fund, and what would be the most lucrative and beneficial for the business. Over the course of several hours we were taught team building, and had a mock experience on what it might be like to work as a small factor in a business. Overall, I enjoyed the SciPhD workshop and found it very beneficial in terms of how to apply for future jobs. Luckily, participants were given a comprehensive handbook on everything discussed which can serve as a reference for years to come. Two of our iJOBS bloggers, Maryam Alapa and Fatu Badiane Markey, attended SciPhD 2018 and were willing to share their experiences. I was interested in knowing what both women found to be the most beneficial part of the SciPhD program. Fatu found that charting and mapping a job application to help with putting together a resume and cover letter were the most beneficial. She also mentioned that completing a self-assessment helped her in evaluating how to best interact with colleagues who have different personalities. On the other hand, Maryam mentions the interview questions were an eye opener for her. She states, “the questions forces you to dig deep and answer based on the profession of the interviewer; so the same question may be answered in different ways based on who’s interviewing you.” Both women found beneficial aspects of SciPhD in helping with finding a future career. As I mentioned previously, the goal of SciPhD is to help scientists transition from academia to industry, so I also wanted to know if participants believed attending SciPhD would set them apart from other interviewees. Fatu said, “I feel very confident about putting together an excellent resume and cover letter for my future job applications. I now know the right words to use and how to use them.” I felt the same way. I had attended prior resume-building workshops, but SciPhD delved deeper than any other. Randall and Larry were focused on how to build the best resume each time based on what the job posting was looking for. They went into great detail on how to dissect each posting, looking for key terms on what would be important to include in ones’ resume. What we really want to know is: is this 36-hour workshop really worth it? Myself, Maryam and Fatu all agree that yes it is. Maryam explained that she would definitely recommend SciPhD to other students, as it will help them think outside of the box of academia and learn how companies function and what they are looking for in a candidate. Overall, Maryam believes that “It seems like a long commitment but it is definitely worth it. I can imagine drawing from some of my SciPhD experience to answer questions in an interview. You learn so much, from resume writing to team exercises to learning how to run a company.” Fatu had similar positive feelings. She states she would “100% recommend this workshop to other students; SciPhD gives you all the skills you need to transition into the real world from a life that was spent in the lab.” She further adds, “Randy Ribaudo and Larry Petcovic from Human Workflows, LLC come from an academic background and this adds strength and credibility to what they are teaching in the workshop.” These testimonials show how strongly participants of SciPhD are in support of the program. In addition to Fatu and Maryam, other participants, such as Anna Giarratana (SciPhD ’17), have shown me the same positive outlook on the program. It might be a large time commitment over two full weekends, but it is very beneficial! It is a worthwhile experience if you are able to attend. It is important to mention that the program is free for Rutgers students!! If you want to read even more testimonials, or are interested in general information please visit the SciPhD website. 
SciPhD 2018, images provided by Janet Alder Edited by: Emily C. Kelly (Jr editor) & Maryam Alapa (Sr. editor)
iJOBS Blog