The Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association is an organization run by and for about 1000 postdocs and early career scientists working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. We organize many activities to strengthen our ties to the Lab, to each other and to the (Berkeley) Bay Area. Our goal is to facilitate social interactions, scientific exchanges, seminars and general orientation.
 
Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association

Career Development

Now that you are a postdoc at one of the most prestigious laboratories worldwide, what’s next? Here are some suggestions (not in any particular order) for advancing your career while working at the Lab.

  1. Enrich your skills by attending career development workshops and career events offered both onsite and offsite (UC Berkeley, for example Beyond Academia, BPEP, SkyDeck, QB3) to prepare for a successful career in academia and beyond. 
  2. Keep an eye out for special events organized by specific divisions or areas for postdocs and early-career scientists.
  3. Continuously update and polish your CV or Resumé. Tailor them for specific job openings. Keeping your LinkedIn profile up-to-date is quite important as well.
  4. Have your business card ready to facilitate efficient communication and networking. The lab offers a  business card printing service. You need to provide a project/task account to acquire business cards. Talk to your PI for this information. At times, a few special events do offer business card free of charge for postdocs who attend those.
  5. Network!! It is often a good idea to get to know fellow postdocs, technical and staff scientists, as well as administrative staff across divisions. Begin creating relationships with individuals at other institutions or companies by joining BLPA social events, divisional networking events, career fairs at UCB campus or local/online communities.
  6. If interested, work on acquiring Legal Permanent Residence (Green Card, self sponsorship or employer-based) or an O1-visa (employer-based, only if you plan to pursue a career in the US and are not a US citizen. The process is time-consuming and it may take some time to get one, so plan accordingly. You can check out this talk from a fellow Postdoc on tips for the Green Card Application Process.
  7. Be open about career options. Chances are you might have more job opportunities at small and specialized companies (under 1000 employees) that explicitly need your PhD skills.
  8. Conduct informational interviews with individuals at places you might be interested in working at – it allows you to get a sense of the company culture.
  9. Work on understanding your personal values and interests to figure out which career path might be the best for you. For example, ask yourself about the kind of work-life balance you want. Do you mind long working hours if the work is exciting? Other important questions worth considering: How much money do you want to make? Where do you want to live? Do you want to go back to the country you came from?

Berkeley Lab’s Career Pathways Office, which manages the Postdoc Program, offers postdocs many career development opportunities. The opportunities offered include career development workshops, one-on-one career counseling, seminars, and membership to online resources (e.g., National Postdoc Association membership). In addition, they offer a Postdoc Training grant available to LBNL-employee postdocs, who may have a $500 career development fund that can be used to attend a general career development (not specific to their discipline) workshop or training outside the Lab. Note that the availability of the funding is not guaranteed. Please get in touch with the Career Pathways Office at pd-training@lbl.gov to inquire about the availability of the fund and the types of workshops it can be used for. Contact pathways@lbl.gov with any other general inquiries about the career development offerings.