How to showcase your full potential when searching for your first/next career step
As you probably already know, I’m quite active on LinkedIn.
(That’s probably the reason you found your way to this newsletter 😅)
When I say “active”, I mean posting content regularly that speaks to early-career researchers, but also scrolling through my feed to get some updates about my professional network.
During certain periods of the year, especially reaching towards the end of the academic year, I see many posts from fresh or soon-to-be Master’s and PhD graduates, posting job seeking messages, often with the “open-to-work” banner.
I really like the fact that Master’s and PhD graduates use LinkedIn actively to find a job – that’s also why this platform exists!
But what I also notice when I scroll through my feed is that the posts often look like that:
“Just graduated from [program] and now looking for a position in a company. I love [research field] and have experience in [technical skills].”
Great that people are putting themselves out there, but the problem with such post is that it is:
💡Incomplete, and
💡Not using the full power of the platform.
Why incomplete?
Because we miss the following information:
🎯 Which roles are you interested in?
🎯 Which transferable skills can you bring to the company?
🎯 Which aspects of your personality are relevant to your future employer?
In this newsletter, I’m sharing some strategies to help you write job-seeking posts that truly showcase your value and catch recruiters’ attention. Whether you’re fresh out of your Master program or finishing with your PhD, these tips will help you stand out from the crowd of generic “looking for work” posts.
How to write job posts that get you noticed on LinkedIn
Job role | Be specific about the roles you want
Instead of saying “looking for a position in a company,” get specific. Are you interested in becoming a research scientist, lab analyst, medical science liaison, or business developer? Each role requires different strengths, and showing you understand these distinctions demonstrates career awareness.
For example, instead of: “Looking for opportunities in biotech”
Try: “Seeking roles as a Research Scientist or R&D Analyst in biotech, particularly in drug discovery or diagnostics”
This specificity helps recruiters and your network immediately understand if you’re a fit for their open positions.
Skills | Highlight your transferable skills, not just technical ones
Here’s where most graduates miss the mark entirely. They list their technical skills (which is important!) but forget about the transferable skills that make them valuable employees beyond their expertise.
This is especially important (read: CRUCIAL) if you want a job in industry!
You may think that as a Master’s or PhD graduate, you don’t have any of those skills. You may think that you “just” have research skills.
No. Not true.
You do have a lot of transferrable skills.
But you haven’t been trained to see them.
To understand better your own professional skills, think about your life holistically – you also build skills that are useful in a professional environment:
🎯 Do you play sports? You likely have discipline, goal-setting abilities, and stress management skills
🎯 Were you involved in student organizations? You probably developed leadership, communication, and organizational abilities
🎯 Do you have hobbies that require patience and precision (playing music, drawing, etc.)? You’re demonstrating attention to detail and perseverance
These skills matter tremendously to employers because they show you can adapt, collaborate, and contribute in ways that extend far beyond your technical knowledge.
Personality | Share relevant personality traits
Companies don’t just hire skills – they hire people. What aspects of your personality would make you a great team member? Are you naturally curious, methodical, creative, or particularly good at explaining complex concepts to others?
A simple addition like “I thrive in collaborative environments and enjoy translating complex research findings into actionable insights” tells employers so much more about how you’d fit into their culture and contribute to their goals.
If you’re unsure how to translate some of your personality traits into information relevant to industry, don’t hesitate to use large language models/generative AI to help you formulate your ideas!
📢 The Take-Home
💡 Your job-seeking posts should answer three key questions: What specific roles do you want? What transferable skills do you bring? What kind of team member would you be?
💡 You have more skills than you realize – look beyond your academic experience to your entire life for examples of valuable traits and abilities.
💡 Specificity beats generality every time. Recruiters want to know exactly how you could fit into their organization, not just that you’re “looking for opportunities.”
You’re not just a recent graduate who likes research – you’re a professional with unique experiences, skills, and perspectives. Make sure your job posts reflect that full picture.
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