Sue Mentors: Jobs, Careers, Lifework...

A young professional just starting out after finishing her MPH asked me a very interesting question. She said she took a lot of research courses during her MPH program. But she felt pretty unprepared in school for the key tools that are needed in the workplace. She was now interning and was applying her research skills in an interesting intern position. But she also realized that the work involved much more than just applying research skills.   She asked, “What kinds of tools are important to have?”   Here are the things I expect and hope your professionals to have these days – or to be ready to learn as soon as they come to work:   Budgeting: you should be able to construct a basic budget in Excel, using straightforward formulas (add, subtract, multiply, divide a column of numbers). This will help you get more facile with a key aspect of project planning and implementation – matching resources to activities.   Charting and Figures: you should be able to use Excel to creat

As you know, if you’ve been reading my blog, I get resumes frequently. I have watched styles of resumes change - and I have even changed how I do my resume, the biggest change being that I now include a summary of my experience and skills at the top of the first page.   Many resumes, especially from younger professionals, now come with an objective statement. It tells me much of what they may also include in their cover letter (although I realized a few months ago that these are no longer coming to me now that SSS’ HR department uses an online application system). The objective statement tells me what they want to do in their career.   But oftentimes, these seem superfluous to me, at their best, and occasionally arrogant, at their worst.   When I review your CV, I assume you’re applying for a job with me or contacting me because you want a job and/or advice about work in research, evaluation, or public health.   What I need and what I look for is a summary of you. I try to glea

Ask the Mentor: Dr. Jill Posner, Senior Research & Evaluation Advisor, AIDSTAR-One   Jill's whole professional life has included a focus on mentoring - students, new graduates, and junior colleagues. Here's her responses to the Mentor Questions I posed: What are mentees looking for?     Guidance that is scaffolded--(ask for the mentee's input; review; suggest)     What 1 piece of advice do you give every mentee you work with?     Please ask me when you don't understand why we are doing something and don't be afraid to tell me what you think if you disagree.  I may not take your suggestion, but I will take it seriously and I usually am open to other ways of doing things.  Learning is a two-way street when there is mutual respect.     Why are you interested in mentoring?     It is a way of making sure that years of experience and learning gets passed on efficiently and it is important for good relations in the workplace if both people are invested.

You have worked hard at your job search and it’s starting to pay off. You are getting contacted to have a telephone interview. And then another. And then another. You start to imagine yourself in these different jobs and they begin to seem real. You are anxious to get to work.   But have you asked yourself which job might be the best one for you? It may not be obvious. The one with the position title you think best reflects what you want to do may not be the one that’s best. Here are some questions that may help you better identify this.   Is the agency offering the job one I want to work for?   If you have targeted a specific agency and they offer you a job, that’s great. You may think it’s even better when they have jobs available in 2 different locations and you’ve had interviews for both. But don’t forget to consider that the agency may differ greatly by its location. For example, jobs at CDC in Atlanta are quite different from CDC jobs in different states or overseas.