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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
12
AUGUST
2017
Molly Cule
Dear Molly Cule,
I am a new assistant professor, and I need to hire
people for my lab. But I have seen and heard
horror stories of surly techs who don’t play well
with others, graduate students who do all their
scientific reading on Facebook, and postdocs who
don’t actually have the skills they said they did.
How can I recruit and interview to select the best
people for my lab?
Sincerely,
Now Hiring
Dear Now Hiring,
First, congratulations on your new job!
While it’s exciting to start a lab, it’s also daunting
and your question reflects the fact that scientific
training does not usually include human resources
skills.
Although advertisements are sometimes useful, in
general the best recruits come by word-of-mouth.
As a new PI, you probably won’t get many refer-
rals by chance, so you will need to actively recruit
people. You can put the word out to all your
colleagues from your previous institutions that
you are looking to staff your new lab. You should
also directly court potential trainees at meetings
and seminars, at your institution and elsewhere.
You need to be friendly and accessible, of course,
starting by asking potential candidates about their
work (and listening carefully to form an initial
impression of their capabilities). You also need to
have a sales pitch ready that emphasizes to poten-
tial applicants the benefits of your lab: As a new
PI you have exciting new directions and there are
low-hanging, high-impact projects just waiting for
the founding members of your lab! You can also
talk-up the benefits of a small lab and a young PI,
such as one-on-one training and lots of feedback,
compared to a big established lab, where trainees
are often left to sink-or-swim on their own and
can flounder for years for lack of guidance.
Interviewing is also critical. In a small lab, one
bad apple can really slow progress and decimate
morale. It’s also really hard emotionally and
sometimes logistically to have to terminate people,
so it’s important to screen them carefully up front.
There are two important components to evaluat-
ing a candidate: how they present themselves and
how others describe them. An in-person interview
lasting at least a half day is essential to get some
idea of the candidates’ personality and fit, in addi-
tion to their technical and scientific competence.
It’s important to articulate to yourself in advance
what skills are critical for people to successfully
conduct the experimental plan you’ve outlined
so that you can assess candidates. Don’t be shy
— ask some direct questions and look for clear
answers. Sometimes an outright test can even be
a good option. For example, if you need your new
technicians to be able to calculate solution com-
positions accurately and in a reasonable time, then
give them ten minutes and a calculator during the
interview to find out if they really can.
To get the most honest recommendations about a
potential candidate, it is best to talk by phone to
previous employers. Written recommendation let-
ters can be misleading. Ask the previous employer
direct questions, like whether they would hire the
person again and whether they think the person
has the specific skills to accomplish the work you
need them to do.
Good luck!
—
Molly Cule
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