HNC-1

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How to Get a Job in a Government Lab
11th National Graduate Research Polymer
Conference
The key is not the will to wineverybody has
that. It is the will to prepare to win that is
important (Bobby Knight)

• H. N. Cheng
• June 2, 2014

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Outline

• What does the future hold for us?
• Preparation for the future job market
• Skills and knowledge
• Planning and strategy
• Understand the jobs in question
• Methods to get a government job
• Summary

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Trends and Challenges

• Fewer chemistry jobs in the United States
• Large corporations decrease emphasis on research
• Chemistry enterprise globalized
• Job loss, Out-sourcing
• Chemical product commoditization
• Persistent negative public perception towards
  chemicals and the chemical industry
• Disciplinary boundaries blurred -
  Multidisciplinarity
• Budget deficits and demands on government
  finances, which constrain investment in science
  and engineering
• Polymer science is still OK. Industrial base is
  still healthy

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Employment in the chemical industry (BLS data)
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Changing Size of EmployersEmployment of
Chemistry Grads in Industry, by Size of Company
1990-2003
Small CompaniesLess than 500 employees
Source ACS Starting Salaries Surveys
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Job Trends in the U.S.

• Small businesses are increasingly hiring more
  people.
• Small businesses (those with less than 500
  employees) hired almost as many new grads as the
  large companies.
• Biotech and Pharma are popular until recently
• Among the manufacturing-related jobs, 50 of the
  ACS members younger than 40 are currently working
  in biotech or pharma
• Scientific and engineering services sector is
  growing
• Economic activity and growth in Asia Pacific
• Rapid increase in RD and personnel with advanced
  degrees
• Rapid growth in Asian economy

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Breakdown of ACS members by categories
Degree Level Bachelors Masters PhD Total
By Gender By Gender By Gender By Gender By Gender
Men 63.6 64.2 73.3 70.2
Women 36.4 35.8 26.7 29.8
By Employer By Employer By Employer By Employer By Employer
Industry 82.9 68.4 44.1 54.3
Government 7.7 7.6 7.6 7.6
Academia 8.2 21.8 46.8 36.5
Self-employed 1.2 2.1 1.5 1.6
By Race By Race By Race By Race By Race
American Indian 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2
Asian 4.0 8.4 12.0 10.1
Black 3.5 2.2 2.3 2.5
White 89.6 86.8 83.8 85.3
Other 2.7 2.3 1.7 1.9
By Ethnicity By Ethnicity By Ethnicity By Ethnicity By Ethnicity
Hispanic 4.2 3.3 3.7 3.7
Data taken from 2013 ACS Employment and Salary
Survey
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Steps towards getting a successful job
1. Acquisition of skills and knowledge
2. Planning and strategy
3. Get the Job
- Talent and ability - Training - Social skills -
Work attitude

• Scope nature of government jobs
• Job openings
• - Interview skills
• - Resume writing
• - ACS resources

- Self assessment - Focus on target - Grow and
change - Excel in your field
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1. Skills and knowledge

• Talent and ability
• Memory, speed and retention of learning, problem
  solving skills, creativity
• Training
• Education, knowledge, experience
• Social skills
• Communication, networking, street-smartness
• Work Attitude

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2. Planning and Strategy

• Do a self-assessment (Know thyself)
• Focus on your target
• Pick technology area
• Pick job function
• Grow and change
• Be flexible. Be aware of environmental changes
• Keep learning
• Find an area where you can excel

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2a. Self-Assessment

• 1. Your gift or lack thereof - creativity -
  leadership - salesmanship - technical
  expertise - level of energy - manual dexterity
• 2. Your philosophy of life - workaholic or laid
  back - overachieving or underachieving -
  independence or teamwork - adventure or security
• 3. Your personality - intuitor, thinker,
  feeler, senser - people-oriented or
  task-oriented
• Your handicaps - Handicaps and possible remedies

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2b. Pick the job type

• Basic Research
• National Labs
• Applied Research
• ARPA-E, FDA, USDA, EPA, etc.
• Defense related research
• Lab support (support scientist, technician)
• Non-laboratory jobs
• Administrative, policy, patent, human resources,
  regulatory, international.

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2b. Pick the technology area
Computer Simulation
Energy
Food Nutrition
Materials
Polymer Engineering
Medicine
Polymer Chemistry
Biology
Biotechnology
Electronics
Environment
Polymer Physics
Nanotechnology
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2c. Grow and Change

• Be aware of environmental changes
• Is my field getting mature?
• Am I tired of doing the same thing?
• Are there new things I can get into?
• Be adaptable
• Always learn new things
• Examples are energy, environment, nanotech,
  biotech, pharma
• Be open-minded to new opportunities
• Perhaps move to new assignments? New
  responsibilities?
• Use networking to find out new opportunities

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2d. Excel in your area

• Pick your target area carefully
• Pick a technology (or specialty) area
• Pick the agency
• Be the best in your chosen area, e.g.,
• Best in your agency
• Best in your discipline, sub-discipline, or a
  sub-field
• Respected among your professional peers.
• Work hard and produce results
• Discreetly let others know of your expertise

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Steps towards getting a successful job
1. Acquisition of skills and knowledge
2. Planning and strategy
3. Get the Job
- Talent and ability - Training - Social skills -
Work attitude

• Scope nature of government jobs
• Job openings
• - Interview skills
• - Resume writing
• - ACS resources

- Self assessment - Focus on target - Grow and
change - Excel in your field
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Government Jobs good or bad?

• Advantages
• For government employees, you get pension and
  reasonably good medical insurance
• Job security is better than industry
• Increasingly researchers are working in teams
• Learn from one another. Collaborate
• Government jobs can be a good transition to
  academia and industrial jobs
• Disadvantages
• Government pay is usually less than industry
• Comparable or slightly better than academia
• Advancement is limited
• Mobility is also limited
• Impact on chain of command and field of research
• Limited manpower (in most cases)

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Diversity of Government Jobs

• Different types Federal, State, Local
• Different job status employees, contractors,
  postdocs, and/or temporary workers
• Salaries and benefits can vary depending on the
  contracting firms, the terms of contracts, and
  the nature of work
• Usually U.S. citizenship is required for
  employees
• Location varies
• Some are consolidated, others are spread out
• Rules and culture can vary a lot
• Some labs are research intensive, some are more
  service-oriented
• The culture can differ at different locations in
  the same agency
• Different views on participating in professional
  societies

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Where are the Government jobs?

• Two Federal Labs are well known NIH and NIST
• A list of 39 Federally Funded Research and
  Development Centers (FFRDCs) is available at the
  following link http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_
  of_federally_funded_research_and_development_cente
  rs
• Examples are Department of Energy national
  laboratories (e.g., Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence
  Livermore, Sandia, Los Alamos, Brookhaven,
  Argonne, and Oak Ridge
• Numerous government agencies operate their own
  research laboratories.
• Examples are DOD, NASA, Department of Homeland
  Security, Department of Agriculture (USDA),
  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and
  Drug Administration (FDA), and intelligence
  agencies.
• There are many non-laboratory jobs for science
  majors
• A good example is the U.S. Patent and Trademarks
  Office (USPTO)
• Other government jobs may involve policy,
  administration, human resources, regulation, etc.

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Finding a Government Job

• Watch for public announcements
• Qualified Federal jobs must be posted
  www.usajobs.gov
• State and local governments have different
  websites and can be searched separately
• Go through the temporary route
• Many labs hire postdocs or contractors. Many of
  them got hired.
• Establish a track record
• Occasionally there is a need for a specific
  skill. If you have the skill and are successful
  in academia or industry, you have a better chance
  of getting it.
• Network
• Very important! You need to be known!

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This is a screen capture of www.usajobs.gov. A
prospective job seeker can enter specific job
parameters (degree level, discipline,
grade/salary level, citizenship requirement) and
search for available job openings.
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Finding a Government Job

• Watch for public announcements
• Qualified Federal jobs must be posted
  www.usajobs.gov
• State and local governments have different
  websites and can be searched separately
• Go through the temporary route
• Many labs hire postdocs or contractors. Later
  on, some of them may get hired as permanent
  employees.
• Establish a track record
• Occasionally there is a need for specific skills.
  If you have the skills and are successful in
  academia or industry, you have a better chance of
  getting the job.
• Network
• Very important! You need to be known!

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Other Methods for Job Search

• Here are some better methods
• Be the very best in a field
• Work for a right professor in a right field
• Work in governmental high priority area
• Collaborate with government labs
• Networking with the right people
• Here are some traditional methods
• Looking at Want Ads
• E.g., back pages of Chem Eng News
• Sending out resumes (1/500)
• Filling out an application form

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Resources at the ACS

• Website acs.org/careers
• Employment services
• Career Fair, Virtual Career Fair
• Personalized career assistance
• Career consultants, mock interviews, resume
  review
• Workshops and presentations
• Preparing a Resume, interview Strategies
• Charting a Career Path
• Career related publications
• Webinars
• Salary and Surveys
• Salary Comparator
• Networking
• ACS Network, social media, meetings, socials

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The ACS Polymer Chemistry Division (POLY) website
has a special webpage dedicated to
Jobs http//www.polyacs.org/14.html The screen
capture is shown above. (You need to be an ACS
member to access the page.)
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Finding a job is like shooting ducks

• Your need to have good shooting skills
• Acquisition of skills and knowledge
• You need to pick a duck (or a group of ducks)
• Choose a lab, but be flexible to change if needed
• The duck is moving. You need to aim the gun at
  where the duck is going
• Follow the trends in your chosen field or lab
• If you miss, try again
• Few people get all the jobs that they apply for

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Summary

• The job market is changing and will continue to
  change
• Chemistry is increasingly globalized and
  multidisciplinary
• Polymer Science is still a good field, with good
  industrial support
• To prepare for the future job market, you need
• To acquire suitable skills and knowledge
• To plan and strategize
• To understand the scope and the nature of the
  jobs in question
• Several routes to a government job
• Watch for open posting
• Consider the temporary route
• Establish a track record
• Network
• Above all, dont be complacent. Keep working and
  learning.