Staying Happy in Your Job; Instrumental Learning; Shortage of Biodefense Scientists Called Critical

TIP TROVE | Staying Happy in Your Job Courtesy of Arlene Hirsch To stay motivated in your current job, you need to focus on professional development and appreciate the accomplishments and progress you are making in developing an expanded and/or deeper knowledge base, working on different kinds of projects and grants, and becoming a better scientist. If you feel that you are learning and growing, this should help sustain you while you search out new opportunities. To stay motivated in the job search, create a "back-door strategy" by using informational interviews to identify companies or organizations where you can add value, and then lobby for a chance to do the work gratis. If you can bring in grant money, help an R&D department make better use of its existing research, or develop better products and services, many organizations will look for ways to fund that expertise. --Arlene Hirsch (ashirsch@arlenehirsch.com), author of Love Your Work and Success Will Follow and The Wall Street Journal Premier Guide to Interviewing, is a Chicago-based career counselor. TRAINING @ | Instrumental Learning WHAT: Applying Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) to Pharmaceutical Analysis WHERE: San Francisco and Boston WHY: Employers seek highly skilled lab staff for pharma jobs ADVANTAGES: Provides specialized drug-discovery instrumentation skills to people in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies WHEN: San Francisco: Oct. 20-21; Boston: Nov. 3-4 DEADLINE: None COST: $1,995 (US); discounts for groups CONTACT: Joe McConnell, (800) 345-8016, ext. 3091 URL: www.pti-international.com/LC-MS/index.cfm/Link=13 POLICY PLACE | Shortage of Biodefense Scientists Called Critical The federal government faces a critical shortage of scientists and microbiologists trained in biodefense-related fields, such as genetics, infectious disease medicine, and epidemiology. This workforce shortage is occurring just as experts say the threat of a US bioterrorist attack is increasing. A year-long study by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service revealed serious shortages of skilled medical and science personnel at five federal agencies, including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration. Industry and academia are luring scientists and biodefense experts from government with 30%-40% higher salaries. Of those who are staying, nearly half will reach retirement age within the next five years. Making matters worse, "The federal government retains a Byzantine hiring process that is more likely to deter than attract top-flight candidates," the report concludes.1 "We need a Manhattan Project-like commitment to our biodefense, seeking out and cultivating the best minds in science and medicine," says Max Stier, chief executive of the Partnership. Legislators caught a glimpse of the staffing problem in June when they learned that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the sprawling federal agency charged with protecting the nation from terrorist threats, employed only one microbiology intelligence analyst and planned to add only a few more to its Office of Information Analysis by year's end, says Tara O'Toole, director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies, who worked on the report. Rep. Jim Turner (D-Texas) and others in congress called the situation "dysfunctional" and "unacceptable." An amendment to the Project BioShield Act of 2003 (HR 2122), which passed the House in July, would give DHS an additional $5 million (US) to hire more bioterror science experts. Officials have not yet decided whether to hire analysts having backgrounds in microbiology, or microbiologists experienced in intelligence analysis, says DHS spokesman Brian Roehrkasse. The Senate has not yet acted on BioShield legislation. --Ted Agres 1. "Homeland Insecurity: Building the Expertise to Defend America from Bioterrorism," The Partnership for Public Service, Washington, DC, July 2003. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[1].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[2].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[3].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[4].checked) result = true; if (!result) alert("Please select") return result; } .myradio{background-color : #94bee5} Please indicate on a 1 - 5 scale how strongly you would recommend this article to your colleagues? Not recommended 1 2 3 4 5 Highly recommended Please register your vote

Staying Happy in Your Job; Instrumental Learning; Shortage of Biodefense Scientists Called Critical

Sep 21, 2003

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