Informational interviews are one of the most useful resources for career planning. They are one-on-one conversations arranged with someone who works in a professional setting that interests you. They are not job interviews and are not typically planned around a specific job opening. Instead, they are conversations designed to help you explore your career options and to understand whether a specific career area, lab environment, or institution is the right fit for you. Additionally, they contribute to expand your network. This career planning tool is usually considered for career exploration beyond academia, but it is also useful for those interested in pursuing a postdoc or faculty job.

Online presence and social media can help you connect with people and be found by others. We highly recommend assessing whether a personal website and/or social media presence would be a valuable time investment for you.

Personal websites

Many academics use a personal website to increase their visibility in the scientific community. This can be helpful for those applying to the academic job market or who want to be reached with potential opportunities e.g. for reviewing papers. You can get some inspiration with these resources:

• Build-your-own website for scientists, Nature 2020
• Creating websites using git, Bio-IT course

X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky or similar social media platforms

There are a number of social media networks that allow you to find and interact informally with scientists who have similar interests. This is particularly useful for academics. Twitter (now called X) was a major hub for scientists, but in recent years, some communities have relocated to Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads and other social media platforms.

• Twitter for scientists ebook, Daniel S. Quintana (free online version)
• Ten Simple Rules of Live Tweeting at Scientific Conferences
• Could Bluesky be the replacement for Academic Twitter?, LSE Blog article
• Coates, J. (2024). Getting started on BlueSky; a guide for scientists. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14496847

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great resource for keeping track of your professional connections and identifying professionals to reach out to for informational interviews – particularly for non-academic careers. LinkedIn can also help you to:

• join discussion groups for specific career areas
• research the career paths of people doing a specific type of job
• get inspiration by finding scientists with a similar background or skills set
• establish or reinforce a personal brand
• be visible to recruiters
• manage your online CV

Conferences and scientific events are usually the main networking activity for academic careers, offering you the opportunity to build a scientific network in your field. For those exploring non-academic careers, the exhibition hall at conferences can be a good place to meet scientists in different roles (e.g. from industry researchers, scientists in sales/applications/business development roles, journal editors). Additionally, there are many other scientific seminars and events at most universities and institutes.

Attending every conference and scientific event is of course not necessary – be strategic and consider your aims. When attending an event,– check out the participant list (if available) and reach out to people in advance, asking them for a timeslot to meet with you;. Make the most of networking opportunities like poster sessions; and create potential interactions after the event (e.g. following them on social media to make future interactions easier).

• 10 simple rules for attending your first conference – Leininger, et al 2021, Plos Computational Biology
• 10 Tips for Easier Networking at Scientific Conferences (Samantha Yammine, Medium.com Article)
• Articles with tips from the EMBL Course and Conference office

Scientific societies organize conferences and other events, and they also offer additional opportunities  for you to interact with professionals who share your interests: you can volunteer to help organise activities and apply for funding to attend meetings (e.g. travel grants). Some scientific societies also provide mentoring programmes. Similarly, there are many scientific networks that you might have access to through your lab, collaborations or funding. For other career areas, there are also professional societies . Where relevant, we include links to these associations in our career exploration resources.

Peer networks – both in-person and online – can be a very valuable way to connect with peers and exchange on common interests. For example, there is a very active Slack-based peer network for aspiring group leaders (Future PI slack | @FuturePI_Slack). The members share advice and, in some cases, even their job application materials. For non-academic careers, there are many LinkedIn groups with a focus on different career areas (e.g. PhD to Consulting) – those we are aware of are linked for each career area in our Career information and exploration page.

Alumni networks exist at many institutions and some funders provide a platform and events for current staff and alumni to connect for networking purposes.

Career events can be very effective for:

• career exploration, particularly when you have started the process of working out what you want from your career and need inspiration for careers that might match that and to hear how different people have more navigated career transitions.
• job search preparation i.e. to identify employers currently hiring.
• expanding your network of professionals working in the companies and career areas that you are interested in.
• gain practice in articulating your expertise and career aspirations directly to potential employers, enhancing your networking/interviewing skills.