TITLE: Guide for Supporting Diverse Career Exploration of Trainees
AUTHORS: Lenny Teytelman, Liz Silva, Joanne Kamens, Lex Flagel

[DESCRIPTION]
<div class = "text-blocks"><div class = "text-block"><span style = "font-weight:bold;">[Please use the commenting functionality to suggest edits and additional resources. Also, please feel free to use the “copy/fork” button to make a different version of this for your field/institute/students.]</span><span></span></div><div class = "text-block"><span>In the 1960s, </span><a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/uncategorized/are-we-training-too-many-scientists-47238" style = "text-decoration:underline;color:blue;cursor:pointer;"><span style = ":;">60%</span></a><span> of biomedical PhDs went on to tenure track faculty positions. Today, that fraction is estimated to be </span><a href="https://www.ascb.org/careers/where-will-a-biology-phd-take-you/" style = "text-decoration:underline;color:blue;cursor:pointer;"><span style = ":;">10%-15%</span></a><span> of graduate students. Similar trends exist across the biological sciences. This shift means that over the years, many of the students and postdocs in your lab will also explore different career options, and as a good mentor, being able to support them is important, no matter which career track they choose.</span></div><div class = "text-block">One of the challenges for professors is that they are deeply familiar with the academic track, but are often at a loss in recommending resources and steps for the trainees who are not 100% certain that they will become faculty as well.</div><div class = "text-block">This guide is meant to be a starting point. It can be easily shared with the trainees and offers simple tips for career exploration. The goal is not to steer trainees away from academia, but to help them figure out whether academia is the right fit, and if not, how they can explore the many different options that are available to them to find a rewarding and satisfying path.</div><div class = "text-block"><span>(Image: </span><a href="http://www.flazingo.com/" style = "text-decoration:underline;color:blue;cursor:pointer;"><span style = ":;">Flazingo Photos</span></a><span>, "Newspaper - Careers", CC BY-SA 2.0)</span></div></div>

[STEPS]
?. [Encouragement]
Let the trainee know that you support them and are glad they are proactively thinking about their career and how to find the best fit for them.
?. [Encouragement]
Acknowledge that while you personally may not have experience in non-academic careers, you do know that there are many and that professional satisfaction is very much attainable both in and out of academia.
?. [Encouragement]
Tell the trainee that society pays for their training because as scientists they are valuable across a wide range of jobs and industries. They are valuable because they are trained as scientists, not because they are deep experts in a specific gene or molecule or technique. Many trainees start with narrow view of possible careers (e.g. academia, journal editor, industry). Help them appreciate the broad range of careers available. [For example, law firms and venture capital firms hire scientists at high salaries to work in questions around intellectual property and due diligence.]
?. [Exploration]
Ask if the trainee has filled out the individual development plan IDP (https://myidp.sciencecareers.org). If they have but long ago, suggest refreshing it as this is supposed to be done once every year or so. Institutional recommendations for mentoring best practices can be found at Mentoring Future Scientists spearheaded by the Future of Research. Best practices for mentors and mentees can be found in this Addgene blog - "What makes a good mentor and 6 other faqs about science mentoring"
?. [Exploration]
Informational Interviews are very powerful in exploring what other scientists with a similar background are doing. The goal of such 15- or 30-minute meetings is to learn what scientists in different settings like and dislike about their jobs (industry, small teaching college, startup, NGO, publishing, funders in government and philanthropic foundations, etc.). It may be surprising how many people will respond and volunteer their time to share their experience and perspectives when someone reaches out to them. (LinkedIn is a fantastic tool for this.) [Guide on informational interviews from Joanne Kamens ]
?. [Exploration]
Think of alumni from your lab or department with whom you can connect the trainee for an informational interview. If the trainee is a postdoc, suggest that they look up their PhD classmates on LinkedIn to see where they are now and to connect with them.
?. [Exploration]
Many universities and conferences have professional development and diverse career panels; consider that as a factor when sending your trainee to a conference.  In addition many universities offer mentorship programs, where trainees can be paired with alumni who have diverse careers and connections.
?. [Resources]
The Diverse Careers Workshop from the Society for the Study of Evolution has recorded many of the talks and made them and other resources openly available. This is fairly broad training that should be helpful for any scientists thinking about careers.Conferences/Societies with strong career training components: ASCB, SfN, Evolution, AAAS, SACNAS [need links]Does your college/university have support for diverse careers? If so, they often have great resources (examples from UCSF https://career.ucsf.edu/phds)The National Postdoctoral Association career resources page: https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/page/CareerPlanning