Navigating the Job Market: Insights from SBM Students and Trainees

Heather Orom, PhD; Jackelyn B. Payne, PhD, MPH; Carlos A. Silvera, BA - Health Decision Making & Student SIGS

In mid-August 2025, we asked current SBM students and trainees who had been on the job market in the past 6 months about their job search strategies. We aimed to crowdsource advice and ideas for where and how to search for jobs in a challenging employment environment. Among 26 respondents, our summary focuses on responses from 25 individuals who are current or recent PhD students or postdoctoral trainees.

Nine had found positions in the previous 6 months and 16 were still looking. For those who had found jobs, it had taken them on average 7 months and those still looking had been on the job market anywhere from one month to a year.

Because it can take a long time to find a job, one respondent advised, “Try being in a financial state where you can afford to possibly be unemployed for a few months until some position comes along.”

What kinds of positions are people applying for and landing?

Those looking for a position were primarily applying for roles involving research, including postdocs, tenure-track jobs that mix teaching and research, or research-only academic jobs. Only three reported applying for teaching-only positions. Nearly a third were also applying for industry jobs, primarily involving research. The roles that respondents applied for included: research director or associate, research coordinator, research support staff, project manager, data analyst, epidemiologist, data scientist, medical science liaison, research scientist in hospital, and positions in state government, finance departments, UX design, and health technology.

The 9 respondents who had found positions were employed as postdocs, tenure-track professors, a clinical health psychologist, and an industry research scientist.

How are people looking for positions?

Respondents told us that networking (e.g., contacting mentors, colleagues, referrals from mentors, talking to people at conferences, cold emailing potential employers/postdoc mentors, etc.) was the most effective way to find a promising job opportunity.

People also looked for positions on job boards such as HigherEdJobs.com, the Chronicle of Higher Education, professional society job boards (e.g., APA, SBM, APPIC), LinkedIn, Indeed, Epi Monitor, university HR websites, and listservs.

Only two respondents had applied outside of the US, in this case in Europe. Only two preferred remote-only jobs.

“Most of my interview invitations were for positions that someone referred me to; networking is difficult, but it was the most fruitful method for my job search.”

“Utilize your network and keep them updated!”

Respondents Also Shared Words of Encouragement

“Actively shift your thinking, if negative/spiraling thoughts appear—which is not easy—, and remind yourself of reality… Embrace the wins, no matter how "small" or "big" they are. Your application made it past HR? GREAT! You got a Zoom interview! AWESOME! Celebrate your wins and deal with the rejections when they come, not before.”

 “It's a challenging time for job applicants, and it's important to remind yourself that the difficulties don't mean you're un-hirable or a bad candidate.”

“Although there is no guaranteed path to find a job, involvement in any SIG that best aligns your with interest can be the first step toward your dream position.”