Hiya! I've been following you for some years and I have to say I love your science-dedicated Tumblr! I'm a biochemistry bachelor student in my last semester, and I don't know what to do next with my life. I hope you don't mind I came here for advice. I'm now on the nice period of life that I have to apply for Master's degrees, and I do not know how to format my CV for that 😑 any ideas or personal advice? Thanks a lot, keep on rocking science!
hello!!
oh aahhhh thank you!
firstly, congrats on your final stretch of undergrad!
secondly, come come, sit down next to me and have your beverage of choice (i’m feeling very.. ice-tea today). let’s just chat for a bit. it’s ok to feel nervous about what to do next, because it really is a big step!
so for CVs, what you put in it is literally in the name: curriculum vitae = “the course of my life”. In the US, Canada, and some other countries, that means you put literally everyyyyything that has to do with your education and work (from college-onwards degrees, publications, posters, students mentored, memberships of societies, grants, awards, etc). I’ve seen CVs of super old and super accomplished professors that are like 50 pages long (and they have their own table of contents). However! In the UK, I think it’s limited to 2 pages. I live in the US, and am familiar with US CV’s. If you’d like to get a UK or international perspective, let me know, and I can signal boost.
I have 2 posts talking about CVs here.
(Just for clarification purposes, a resume is not the same thing as a CV. A resume is a 1-page tl;dr of your CV and summarizes the important aspects that are specially tailored towards whatever/whoever you’re sending it to. Here’s a nice article talking about the difference between a CV and a resume, and also has some awesome tips too.)
As for your first part about what to do with your life… you are still in the “early life” of your wikipedia page. You have time to poke around and figure things out. Get to know yourself! Do you like lab research? Or working with patients? Or science writing? Or perhaps you’re passionate about science policy and changing things in the government regarding science? Degrees in science are quite versatile; you don’t have to be stuck in a lab if you don’t want to. Here’s a (not complete at all of course) list I made of different types of jobs you can hold with a bachelors, masters, or PhD in life sciences.
In general, I like to tell people that the best way to see if a career path is for you is to experience “a day in the life”, be it from an entry-level job, internship, volunteering, shadowing, or even in-detail conversations with an employee willing to share their experience. Sometimes careers that sound good on paper won’t necessarily mesh well with your personality/career goals in person, and vice versa. (Exhibit A: I thought I wanted to be a medical doctor my entire life, and then I volunteered at a hospital and realized I wasn’t too fond of interacting with patients. There goes that track!)
Most (if not all) universities will have some sort of Career Service/Development Program for current students and alumni. You can use it to network, get advice (eg. meeting with an alumnus in a career path you’re interested in and talking to them, or getting feedback on your CVs), and maybe even find jobs (alumni love to help other alumni). I highly recommend seeing if your university has something like that.
Related, talking to your academic advisor/counselor is a good idea too. They can point you in the right directions, and give feedback more tailored towards your goals. They’ll also have more information on what kinds of career help your university offers.
I was at a loss on what to do after I graduated college with my degree in microbiology too. After 5 months of searching for jobs, figuring life out, and being bummed out in general, I ended up working as a lab tech in a cancer research lab at my alma mater, and it was absolutely life-changing. It allowed me to a) figure out that I loved research and wanted to pursue a PhD, b) have the time to then study for my GREs and work on applications, c) form networks with other PIs and grad students, d) catch up on sleep/life, and e) meet my future husband lol. In short, taking a gap year (or 2.5 years in my case) between college and then grad school was just the best decision ever. I have a post where I talk about things to do during a gap year here if you’re interested.
Hope that helped a bit! If there’s something specific you’re interested in, let me know! I’m also available on chat, so feel free to hit me up there if you’d like.
Congrats and best of luck <3
