Identifying Opportunities Through Listservs

One of the unique aspects of serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH is the breadth of opportunities available. However, since there are so many events and leadership positions hosted by different centers, institutes, and offices, it could be difficult to hear about all of them unless they are distributed through a central location. In order to avoid this issue, fellows can use email subscriptions called listservs to learn and distribute information to everyone in that group. For NICHD fellows, there are listservs for both NICHD-only information and for all NIH fellows.

The NICHD Fellows listserv is used for NICHD-specific information. This includes receiving new copies of The NICHD Connection (our institute’s newsletter that you are now reading), hearing about upcoming institute-specific events and workshops, and new leadership opportunities (such as joining the NICHD Fellows’ Retreat Planning Committee or attending the NICHD Advisory Council). Fellows should be automatically signed up for this listserv (email distribution list) when they begin at NICHD. However, if for any reason you, or a friend, think that you might not be getting these emails, please contact Dr. Yvette Pittman at yvette.pittman@nih.gov to join.

To learn about NIH-wide events and opportunities, the FELLOW-L listserv is a fantastic resource. Updates sent over this listserv include upcoming career development workshops (such as the NHLBI Career Development Seminar Series), social networking events (from FelCom as well as the Visiting Fellows Committee), volunteering opportunities, and open positions on FelCom. In order to join the listserv, please either send an email to listserv@list.nih.gov with “Subscribe FELLOW-L” (omitting the quotation marks) in the message or subscribe to FELLOW-L at http://list.nih.gov.

The Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE) also has a listserv that they use for distributing information to fellows. Announcements sent through this resource include upcoming career development and exploration workshops hosted by OITE, opportunities to judge posters at the graduate student and postbac symposiums, and information on training programs and details (short-term rotations in other NIH scientific areas or offices). In order to sign up, please create an OITE account at https://www.training.nih.gov/register. This account allows you to RSVP to events and set up appointments with the career counselors for assistance with your CV/resume and interviewing tips.

While it might sound inconvenient to sign up for multiple listservs and receive even more emails, it can be a great way to learn about a multitude of opportunities. The knowledge and transferable skills that you can gain from these areas can be very helpful when trying to navigate a competitive job market. Likewise, networking socials sent through these listservs can provide a great chance to make useful connections and find a greater sense of community in your time as a fellow at NIH.