| NPA SmartSkills |
 SmartSkills is a free, virtual course for postdocs who are members of the NPA. Monthly classes are taught by experts and focus on building skills critical to career and personal success.  The Powerful ResumeJanuary 25, 2022Learn how to put together a powerful resume that will get you interviews. To really market yourself and the value you bring, you need to be able to make yourself stand out from the crowd, translate and highlight your skills, and align your strengths to the target job. This course will help you understand the difference between CVs and resumes, help you start thinking about your own personal brand, and then proceed step-by-step to review each part of the resume. Speaker: Diane A. Safer, Ph.D., director, career and professional development for graduate students & postdocs; assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine Register Now Building Negotiation SkillsFebruary 22, 2022There are many types of negotiation (building consensus, resolving problems within workplace, managing conflicts constrictively, job offers, etc.) This workshop:
Speaker: Stephanie K. Eberle, M.Ed., assistant dean and executive director, BioSci Careers community, Stanford University; chair, NPA Board of Directors Register Now How to Find, Utilize and Be a Great MentorMarch 22, 2022We all hear the buzzword of “mentoring” in relation to career success but most of us don’t know how to get the most out of these relationships. This presentation will give practical advice about finding, utilizing and being a mentor in a fun, interactive format. Speaker: Joanne Kamens, Ph.D., senior consultant, The Impact Seat Register Now How to be Your Own Advocate in Your Career and in LifeApril 26, 2022Self-advocacy goes beyond speaking up for ourselves. It is an important life skill that can help us navigate our career and life journey with confidence. Through story telling and practical advice, attendees will learn to get comfortable with the idea of advocating for themselves. Speaker: Roshni Rao, Ph.D., director, PHutures, Johns Hopkins University Register Now Finding Funding, and Writing a Successful GrantMay 24, 2022This will be a question and answer based discussion centered around strategies for finding funding opportunities, and for how to write an effective grant to a federal agency. Be ready with questions. Speaker: Manju Hingorani, Ph.D., program director, National Science Foundation; Daniel R. Marenda, Ph.D., program director, National Science Foundation Register Now Connecting for Career SuccessJune 28, 2022Networking: the word alone can sometimes feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. In this interactive workshop we will discuss how you can reframe your approach to make networking productive and maybe even fun! Learn how to evaluate the support provided by your personal and professional connections and explore opportunities for strategically reaching out to new contacts to meet your current and future goals. Join us to understand how you can harness the power of connection to build and maintain a supportive professional network that will help you achieve success at all stages of your career! Speaker: Heather Dillon, M.Sc., postdoc career and professional development program manager, University of California, San Diego Register Now Conflict ManagementJuly 26, 2022This workshop provides an accessible framework to navigate conflict and approach difficult conversations. We will focus on conflict within research groups, such as leadership struggles, peer-interactions, and interactions with your supervisor. Speaker: Lori Conlan, Ph.D., National Institutes of Health Register Now Thriving as an International Postdoc in the United StatesAugust 23, 2022Thriving as a postdoc in today’s competitive climate is tenuous. International postdocs in the United States may face additional challenges due to a lack of clarity of expectations (hidden curriculum) and disadvantages due to marginalization posed by intersectional factors (immigration, socio-economic factors, etc.). In this workshop, we will introduce a framework for thriving as international postdocs. This framework will provide approaches for seeking information, resources, mentorship, and communities of support to identify and achieve professional and personal goals. After this workshop, international postdocs will be able to:
Speakers: Natalie Chernets, Ph.D., director of postdoctoral affairs & professional development, associate director, MD/Ph.D. program, assistant professor, College of Medicine, Drexel University, Drexel University; Olga Koutseridi, M.A., senior advanced degree coordinator for global mobility, University of Texas at Austin; and, Sonali Majumdar, Ph.D., assistant dean for professional development, Graduate School, Princeton University Register Now Applying a Research Framework to Career ExplorationSeptember 27, 2022For many postdocs, career exploration can feel like an indefinite, never-ending challenge; how do you explore the unknown, learn about the vast number of career options available, and feel confident that you’ve identified a career that fits your needs and preferences? By reframing career exploration as a research project, postdocs can apply their well-developed skill set in designing a research question, collecting and analyzing data, and forming conclusions to the process of identifying careers of interest. In this workshop, you will dive into how to perform each part of the career research process, gain tips on how to collect career data, and develop a plan to manage your career research. Speaker: Tina Solvik, Ph.D., Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Register Now Public SpeakingOctober 25, 2022Public speaking is an important way for scientists to contribute to the scholarly conversations in their field. Whether presenting research at a research conference, giving a job talk, or even leading a discussion at a lab meeting, all scientists engage in public speaking periodically. This workshop will prepare postdocs to become better public speakers by addressing: 1) the contexts in which scientists typically engage in public speaking, 2) verbal and non-verbal communication strategies such as pacing, gesture, enunciation, and visual aids 3) strategies for preparing a public talk and practicing its delivery, 4) the benefits of engaging an audience, and 5) speaking publicly in a virtual environment. The presentation will provide ample time to answer questions from the attendees. Speaker: Rob Pearson, Ph.D., Southern Methodist University Register Now Constructive CommunicationNovember 29, 2022This webinar is sponsored by NPA Gold sponsor, Proteintech. Navigating workplace communication can be challenging, especially when entering a new workplace. This session is designed to teach effective communication and interaction strategies for working with colleagues and teams. We will cover various modes of communication, and attendees will learn how to address some of the most common workplace communication challenges, including understanding email etiquette, giving and receiving feedback, and conducting difficult conversations. Speaker: Natalie Lundsteen, Ph.D., assistant dean for student affairs, Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine, Texas Christian University Register Now AdvocacyDecember 13, 2022Interested in working to improve the policy and legislative landscape affecting the research community? During this session, attendees will learn key skills to successfully engage in advocacy. Participants will learn about advocacy tactics, effective communication, and the application of scientific research skills to advocacy activities. Participants will also learn about ways that they can participate in policy and advocacy initiatives during their postdoctoral training and paths to pursuing a full-time career in government relations. Speakers: Yvette Seger, Ph.D., director of science policy; Jennifer Zeitzer, Ph.D., director, Office of Public Affairs, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Register Now |