Grad school dropout cover letter

Graduate School
1

<p>I started attended grad school in June 2010 for a Ph.D. in biology. I withdrew in September 2011 because I didn’t join a lab. I got accepted into a lab but the PI ended up not getting his grant funded so I couldn’t join. Other labs weren’t a good fit. I am currently about to apply for jobs as a research technician. My career goal is basically doing research, even if I have to be a technician. I did want to attend grad school and I didn’t actually want to drop out.</p>

<p>I need to explain why I left grad school on my cover letter. My main concern is putting a positive spin on dropped out of grad school in my cover letter so employers won’t be concerned that I won’t do well as a technician and so my cover letter won’t raise any red flags.</p>

<p>Here is what I have so far:</p>

<p>Dear Hiring Manager:</p>

<p>I am writing to you regarding your job posting for a Research Technician II on the University X website.</p>

<p>My strong background in research and lab skills are an effective match for your position. I have done research in different fields, including microbiology, immunology and nephrology. I have also been exposed to a wide variety of experimental techniques and have extensive experience in mammalian cell culture and mouse handling. I work well alone and as part of a team, efficiently multitask, and I have an exceptional attention to detail.</p>

<p>I graduated from University Y with a Bachelor of Science in microbiology in December 2009, where I worked for six months as an undergraduate research assistant during my senior year and gained valuable lab and research skills. </p>

<p>I began attending graduate school at University Z in June 2010. I did not join a lab because either financial problems in a lab prevented me from joining the lab or because a lab was not a good fit for me. However, since doing research is my passion and something that I do well, and a number of PIs who I worked with believed that I would do well in a science career, I decided to continue to pursue a career in research. During the time I spent in graduate school, I was exposed to a wide variety of techniques and research topics and developed even stronger lab and research skills.</p>

<p>I have enclosed a copy of my resume to give you a better idea of my qualifications, and I am available for an interview at your convenience. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your time and consideration.</p>

<p>-</p>

<p>So far, the feedback has been positive on everything except for the grad school paragraph. I’m having a lot of trouble putting a positive spin on the fact that I left grad school and not raising red flags to potential employers.</p>

<p>Is it fine the way it is? Do you have any advice on what to change? How do I change it so that it will put a positive spin on the situation and not concern employers? Should I take out the fact that some labs weren’t a good fit for me and just leave the financial problem part? Is it good to mention that PIs believed that I would do well in a science career, or should I leave that out?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Unless the faculty was really small, really poorly organized, and you had absolutely no other professors to study with, I don’t know why you dropped out of grad school. Mind if I ask you what school you went to? Many robust programs usually have at least 3-4 faculty members studying the same thing. But maybe it’s not the school’s fault. Maybe you’re very narrow minded. Maybe you didn’t do enough research on the school before you enrolled. For now that’s what it seems like. I don’t know you, so I know that’s not fair to say, but the point of first year lab rotations (if your school had them) is so that never happens. Since you mention that you “withdrew,” not that they kicked you out, this one’s on you. </p>

<p>Next, what makes you think you can find research in industry that matches your exact interests and that are any better than your options during grad school? What makes you think you’ll enjoy the work you do as a research technician? I’m an Associate Scientist in industry right now (so I’m a little biased about industry since I’m trying to get INTO grad school) and from my experience I can tell you that in industry, it’s even harder to find research that you’re interested in because it’s not really your research, it’s the company’s. </p>

<p>Based on that, it sounds like you don’t know what you’re doing career-wise. If you wanted to be an independent high-level thinker, part of the scientist club, you should’ve stuck to grad school. Most people gunning for a PhD wouldn’t settle to be a research tech. If you wanted to work in industry, however, then why did you ever go to grad school? Changing jobs or dropping out of things won’t help you find the research you want. It just means you’re changing jobs and dropping out of things, lol. </p>

<p>What I would do is try to apply to grad school again. This time to a bigger program with more faculty, so that if any funding gets cut you have plenty of other options at that school. </p>

<p>I’m sorry if that sounds harsh but it’s my honest assessment. Now maybe you can process what I’ve said and turn it into something for your cover letter, but I wouldn’t put too much thought in it (because HR usually doesn’t). </p>

<p>I think your letter is fine. Employers will love you. You sound willing to do their dirty work. But the question is, what’s best for you? What do you want to do? I definitely don’t know, do you? </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

3

<p>I agree - if research is what you want to do, then you should consider applying to other programs and making a fresh start of things. Maybe even some of your courses from the prior program would transfer. I hate to see people settle because something didn’t quite turn out right. </p>

<p>However, if you would like some work experience first or are not interested in reapplying, then I will offer some advice for your paragraph. It’s good that you mentioned financial reasons for not joining a lab, but mentioning that other labs aren’t a good fit might work against you. How do you know that this tech job is a good fit? They might think you may not stick around if you aren’t thrilled by the topics you are working on. Do you /have/ to mention why you did not finish grad school? Is it necessary to include that you went at all (such as being a requirement to have some advanced training to get the job)? </p>

<p>I’m having trouble myself coming up with a positive spin that can’t be held against you in some way. If it is not necessary to mention that you withdrew from grad school, then don’t. You could still mention the experience you had there, such as, “Since graduating from School X I have taken graduate level courses in Y and Z…” You don’t need to state (unless they are already aware and are asking you to) that you applied to a doc. program and withdrew. Just mention you took some graduate level courses and what experiences you had with them.</p>

4

<p>I took out the good fit part. I agree; it makes me seem very picky. Based on Denizen’s response, it seems like I should incorporate my future goals into the cover letter. I do want to get a Ph.D. in the future, but I first want some more work experience, and I want to communicate that in my cover letter.</p>

<p>If it matters, I was primarily focused on immunology in grad school, but the last rotation that I did (which I did not get accepted into because it wasn’t the best fit, but the PI was still impressed with my performance) turned out to be more interesting than the other rotations. The PI also recommended that I get some more work experience before reapplying.</p>

<p>Here is the revised version:</p>

<h2>I began attending graduate school at University X, in June 2010. I did not join a lab because financial problems in a lab prevented me from joining the lab. However, since doing research is my passion and something I do well, I decided to continue to pursue a career in research. When I first entered graduate school, I was not sure about the exact area of research I wanted to study for my Ph.D. Before I decide to apply to graduate school again, I want to build my research experience before finding out exactly what it is I want to pursue a Ph.D. in. During the time I spent in graduate school, I was exposed to a wide variety of techniques and developed even stronger lab and research skills.</h2>

<p>Does it still raise red flags or make it seem like I’m picky? Or is it better than the previous version? Do industry labs or academic labs not like hearing those things? If it seems like I am too picky, how should I spin it so that it doesn’t make me seem picky? Is it bad that I currently don’t have a specific area of interest? Would they at least look at my resume or disregard me based on the cover letter alone?</p>

5

<p>Is this a job that expects high turnover, or do you sense that they’re looking for someone who will stay a bit longer? I’m not too familiar with your area of interest, but typically if you tell an employer that you’re using them for some experience and plan to move on, they may pass over you for someone who might stay a little longer. That is why I was asking whether you needed to include that you left grad school or not. </p>

<p>I think the paragraph sounds better. The second sentence could be worded a little different, perhaps, “I was unable to take part in a lab due to financial limitations of the lab at that time.” I just feel like you had the word “lab” in too many places. But back to your original question. I think you should definitely make concrete examples of your experience and knowledge in research and play down the fact that you dropped out of school. I don’t know if the hiring manager will really care to know what your hopes and dreams are, just what qualifies you for the position to which you are applying. </p>

<p>However, you of course are more familiar with the job to which you are applying, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. If it is a place that is known for helping students build their CVs and go off to grad school, then you might very well want to include all of that.</p>

6

<p>Try this:</p>

<p>In June 2010 I took courses in XX, XX, and XX at YY. Performing research in these areas made me realize it was my passion and something I did well in. While academic research was enjoyable, I have decided to join research in the industry to expand my knowledge and interests, carrying the lab skills I learned in school. </p>

<p>Less is more. Dang I’m good.</p>

7

<p>The reason why I want to mention that I dropped out of grad school is because I need to explain why I have grad school research experience on my resume.</p>

<p>Here is the experience section of the resume:</p>

<p>RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Graduate Research Assistant/Rotation Student, June 2010 – Sep 2011, University X
-Assisted with mouse colony maintenance and genotyping of mice.
-Knocked down the expression of specific microRNAs in kidney cells to investigate the role of microRNAs in kidney development and pathogenesis of kidney disease by measuring the expression of specific genes through qrt-pcr.
-Transfected cells with a plasmid encoding DC-HIL, a receptor involved in suppression of the immune response, in order to investigate the association of downstream signaling adapters with DC-HIL by performing co-immunoprecipitation.
-Induced a regulatory phenotype in macrophages in cell culture and injected them into mice to see if they could suppress experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
-Used knockout mice to determine how toll-like receptors influence B cell immune responses by measuring their antibody secretion and differentiation in response to toll-like receptor stimulation by performing ELISAs.
-Stimulated naïve B cells in cell culture with IFNa and measured IgE antibody secretion through ELISA to see if class-switching to the IgE antibody isotype could be prevented.
-Infected mice with Francisella tularensis, and measured their immune response by measuring their bacterial load in organs and survival rates to investigate their mechanisms of host resistance. </p>

<p>Undergraduate Research Assistant, June – Dec 2009, University Y
-Discovered autophosphorylation sites, and measured phosphorylation activity and substrate binding and inhibition activity of a virulent protein kinase by using a mammalian cell culture model and performing transfections, kinase assays and western blots.</p>

<p>LAB SKILLS </p>

<h2>Mammalian cell culture, Transfection of mammalian cells, qrt-PCR, Mouse handling, PCR, Cloning, DNA gel electrophoresis, Western blot, SDS-PAGE, ELISA, DNA/RNA/Protein extraction, Immunoprecipitation, Site directed mutagenesis, Kinase assay</h2>

<p>Does that look good? Any advice on what to add or take out? Should I cut down the amount of projects listed?</p>

8

<p>As for your cover letter, for that graduate school section, I like denizen’s paragraph. To explain that you had GRA experience you only need to add a few sentences to that:</p>

<p>“In June 2010 I took courses in XX, XX, and XX at YY. I also served as a graduate research assistant for Professor T; I worked on such and such research projects, performing tasks such as blah blah blah. I developed skills in G. Performing research in these areas made me realize it was my passion and something I did well in. While academic research was enjoyable, I have decided to join research in the industry to expand my knowledge and interests, carrying the lab skills I learned in school.”</p>

<p>The only other thing I have to say is that your cover letter is quite vague. They are supposed to be specific, so elaborate on what you mean by “lab and research skills.” Did you write literature reviews? Write computer programs in C++? Clean mouse cages? Do surgery on mouse brains? Perform statistical analyses? Be specific!</p>

9

<p>People here mentioned that I need to appear as someone who wants to be a technician, so I reworded it so I would sound like I didn’t want to go to graduate school anymore.</p>

<p>Does this sound good:</p>

<p>I attended graduate school at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, from June 2010 to September 2011. In graduate school, I realized that earning a Ph.D. would eventually lead me down a career path involving supervisory positions instead of working at the bench. The reason I wanted to pursue a career in research was because I enjoy doing experiments. Since doing research is my passion and something that I do well, I decided to continue to pursue a career in research that is focused on bench work instead of reapplying to graduate school in the future. During the time I spent in graduate school, I was exposed to a wide variety of techniques and research topics and developed even stronger lab and research skills.</p>

<p>Should I revise anything? Does “supervisory positions” sound okay? What about “working at the bench” and “bench work”?</p>