Have you considered leaving academia because this career is just not a good fit for you?

Do you still want to use your scientific knowledge and skills?

Have you thought of becoming a science communicator or writer instead?

Being a science writer is an amazing job that allows you to be connected to the scientific community. As two microbiology-turned science writers, for us science communication and writing careers were definitely the right choice!

But at the beginning of the transition process, one important question remains:

How do you get into science communication and writing?

At the beginning, it seems pretty confusing and overwhelming. Academics don’t like to talk about careers outside of academia because, whether they realize it or not, they tend to mentor their students to follow in their steps. It makes sense. The career they have is what they know.

But maybe you need to hear about other options, and you’ve got an interest in science communication.

So, let us, two science communicators and writers, tell you about the awesome job opportunities outside of academia.

We created this webinar to share with you how we got into science communication and writing. We’ll share with you what steps you can take to make the transition easier and prepare you for a new career before you apply for a job or look for clients.

Hey there! We’re Justine & Sarah, the founders of SciComm Society!

In case we haven’t met yet: We’re Justine Dees & Sarah Wettstadt! We both have PhDs in microbiology, completed postdocs in microbiology, and transitioned into science communication & writing careers working for ourselves! We work with life science companies and professional organizations, as well as scientists, to create their content. We also each founded our own blogs. Justine is the founder of Joyful Microbe, and Sarah is the founder of Bacterial World. Most recently, we co-founded SciComm Society to train scientists to become excellent communicators and help them fulfill their dreams of pursuing a career in science communication.

This webinar will help you learn how you can work toward starting a career as a science communicator and writer and leverage your expertise and writing abilities to do so.

In the webinar, we’ll be covering the following topics:

• Types of science writing jobs
• Freelance (contract work) vs. in-house positions
• Initial steps to take to move toward a career in science communication
• Tips on how to get experience and build a science communication portfolio
• How to create your own opportunities
• Selecting a niche to specialize in
• Challenges we faced transitioning from a PhD to science communication
• Having the right mindset for this transition

As a result of this webinar, you’ll be able to begin immediately preparing for a future as a science communicator and writer and figure out what your dream SciComm job is.

What to expect

After your webinar purchase, you will be sent a link to a page with the pre-recorded presentation. You can bookmark the page or download the webinar to watch it as often as you want.

With this webinar, we aim to help you feel less intimidated and stressed by the process of breaking into science communication and writing. After watching the webinar, you won’t have to spend hours sifting through blog posts, articles, and resources to find useful information on this career transition. Plus, consider this your informational interview where you can hear about science communication and writing from two people who successfully broke into the field.

Who’s this for?

• you’re in the beginning stages of exploring science communication careers
• you’re still working on your PhD or postdoc, or you’re working in a scientific field in another career and want to make a change
• you feel like you don’t have enough communication and writing experience to transition yet
• you’re unsure how to set yourself up for a successful career transition

Who’s this not for?

• you’re ready to start a business and want to understand the logistics of getting started (we'll have more webinars touching on these topics in the future!)
• you already have a science communication or writing job
• you’ve already landed a few science communication or writing clients
• you want to grow your current science communication or writing business

Here’s what’s included:

1-hour webinar

Video recording

Audio recording

Transcript of recording

Notes

Helpful links

Do you want to break into science communication and writing?