An alternative career of interest to those with an engineering or science education may be a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

What is a patent examiner?

A patent examiner is a federal employee who examines patent applications to determine whether or not a patent can be granted for various new inventions – many of which are on the cutting edge of tomorrow’s technological breakthroughs. Examiners research the subject matter in applications and then communicate the findings on the patentability to inventors or patent practitioners.

What education is required to become an examiner?

There are career opportunities for examiners with various education levels from a BS, Masters, or PhD in engineering, life sciences, physical sciences, or computer science. The difference in graduate level education is your entry-level position and salary. A scientist with a BS will enter at a GS-5 entry-level position, whereas a candidate with a PhD will start at a GS-11 level.

What is the career progression of a patent examiner?

Patent Examiners may receive a one-time accelerated promotion after six months, from GS-5 to GS-7; GS-7 to GS-9; or GS-9 to GS-11. The full-performance level is GS-13; However, after completion of the partial/full signatory program, Patent Examiners may be promoted to GS-14. All promotions are submitted by a supervisor and will be based on the productive and timely processing of patent applications.

What benefits does a patent examiner receive?

All examiners receive a comprehensive federal benefits package, as well as enhanced federal government salary rates. While it is required to relocate to Washington DC, patent examiners have some flexibility in their work schedules, which may be a nice option for your life style. Examiners have flextime hours with morning arrival as early as 5:30 am and as late at 11:30 am; a 4/10 plan, where you work 10 hours four days each week, with two days off each pay period; and a 5/4/9 plan, that lets you work eight nine-hour days, plus one eight-hour day, with one day off during each pay period. Another enticing option that is available is the hoteling program, which enables employees to work from home.

What training is available for examiners?

It is mandatory for new examiners to attend an eight-month training at the U.S. Patent Training Academy. The program provides training for new examiners in Legal, Procedural, Automation, Life Skills, Technical, and Professional Development. Additional on-the-job training from an experienced Supervisory Patent Examiner (SPE) is then provided after you start your first position.

Where is there more information?

Visit the USPTO website at http://usptocareers.gov/Pages/PEPositions/Default.aspx to learn more about patent examiners, to find job openings, and to apply.

Additionally, they offer a “Patent Examiner Informational Session“, which is a video with slides, and “A Day in the Life of a Patent Examiner” video series, which can be accessed through the list below.

A Day in the Life of a Patent Examiner Video Series:

Source: All information from the USPTO website.

Technorati Tags: Alternative Career, engineer, Government, job, patent examiner, scientist, USPTO

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Most people have at least taken a stab at writing a regular resume, but writing a government resume is somewhat different. You can’t just follow the rules of writing a standard resume and assume that it will land you that government job. These days, writing the resume on the Federal resume form is the recognized protocol; it is also called the OF-612 form. Here are some dos and don’ts when it comes to writing a federal resume

Include personal information as requested: Be certain to include your complete contact information, such as your name, address and email, reinstatement eligibility if applicable and job series and dates of previous positions as applicable.

Write school history in chronological order: Unlike standard resumes, you are going to provide your background info and skills in chronological rather than reverse chronological order. So, for education, you’ll want to start with your high school education, and move on up from there.

List any major studied, and include the total credits earned: It might be appealing to use bullet points for these paragraphs, but be careful; while bullet points are great for civilian resumes, they’re less applicable in government job applications.

Be as detailed as possible: Again, while civilian resumes focus on being brief and to the point, federal employers are going to want to know precisely what you’ve done, specifically as it relates to education and experience.

List equivalent experience: There may be times when your education doesn’t exactly fit the qualifications needed for the position, but if you’ve had experience that will qualify you nonetheless, make sure you list it.

There are a few don’ts when it comes to writing your government resume, as well.

Don’t fail to include precise information as it pertains to the job you’re applying to: you can fill in the gaps if you don’t have the necessary education for a specific job by detailing experience, but if specific information is asked for, be sure to include it.

Don’t skimp: write everything to the fullest detail possible.

Don’t make the KSA’s a copy of the resume: Write the KSA as precisely and succinctly as possible.

Federal-Resume.org provides free information about Federal government jobs.

Technorati Tags: Business, Career, careers, education, employment, federal, federal resume, Government, government resume, job, Job Openings, resume, resume writing

If you are interested in this field, you might try to attend the annual meetings of Society of Toxicology (SOT) and/or the American College of Toxicology (ACT).  FDA Toxicologists often attend and speak at those meetings, so that would be an opportunity to interact with them. Pharm/Tox Reviewers in specific Divisions will be the best source of information.

Technorati Tags: Alternative Career, FDA job, Toxicology Reviewer

Interview with Dr. Ramesh Nayak

Dr. Ramesh Nayak has served as a scientific review administrator for almost 30 years. He has received numerous awards including two NIH Directors Awards for such activities as administering 8 study sections, arranging symposia, and contributing to the development of young minority scientists. He has also received the NIH Award of Merit.

How did you decide to take the career path of a scientific review administrator?

I was out of the country teaching at Kuwait University after my postdoc and research associate positions. I enjoyed teaching and mentoring students in their research projects but the job was intense and needed a lot of preparation for the lectures. I needed a change in my career and a colleague recommended me to apply for the Scientific Review Administrator (SRA) position at the National Institutes of Health. I was called for an interview at NIH and offered a position in the Special Study section where we had the responsibility to review a broad area of grant proposals. Within six months, I was offered the SRA position of either Molecular Cytology or Physiological Chemistry study section. I accepted the SRA position of the Molecular Cytology Study section in 1978 and managed this and other panels during my almost 30 years career at NIH. I was also appointed as Chief of the Cell Biology Integrated Review group managing eight different panels and also served as the Referral Officer 15 years. I have had an outstanding administrative career and was awarded several awards including two NIH Directors award, NIH merit award and special award by the Chairs of our study section for providing outstanding leadership in managing the study section.

What is the typical career path in this field?

The career path is excellent. A junior faculty can start at GS-12 and move up the ladder to GS-15 and even to a Senior Executive position.

What does a typical day look like and what are your main responsibilities?

The typical day starts at about 9 am to 5 pm and the responsibilities included recruiting reviewers to the panel, assigning grant proposals to the reviewers, and conducting an efficient study section meeting three times a year. The responsibilities included preparation for premeeting, meeting and postmeeting activities. In addition, we had to preparation nomination slate for our panel and this involved selecting top notch reviewers including women and minority scientists. Attending two scientific meetings a year was very useful for this job.

What do you find to be the most enjoyable part of your job? The least enjoyable? The most challenging?

The most satisfying is interacting with so many applicants, NIH community and the scientific community. I also enjoyed attending the scientific annual society meetings where we had to interact with the applicant and also consultant community. The least enjoyable was some of the procedures in the nomination of the slates for the study section and sometimes the help of the technical support staff. The job can be very satisfying if one is assigned a super technical support staff and I have had always the support of an excellent support staff to manage the panel. The most challenging is always meeting the deadline in the preparation of the summary statements for the institute. The summary statement is the most important document which covers the review of the proposal.

What particular skills and talents are most essential to be effective as a scientific review administrator?

It is important to have the knowledge of the science covered by the committee and also have the best interpersonal skills to interact with so many members of the scientific community. To be effective in this job, one should have an excellent knowledge of the NIH peer review policy and procedures including the software IMPAC II and Internet Assisted Review.

How can students obtain necessary experience needed to get into the field?

It will be difficult for students to obtain necessary experience unless they apply for an intern position at NIH to get the necessary training. These positions are offered mostly to faculty level staff from an university with some administrative experience.

Where can students find out about job opportunities/openings?

The NIH web site is the best place to find job opportunities (www.jobs.nih.gov/life@nih.htm or www.csr.nih.gov or www.nsf.gov or www.cdc.gov).

What advice do you have for those interested in this field?

These are excellent positions only if someone is interested in health science administration.

Where can someone find out more information about scientific review administrators?

I recommend the above websites and also the Science magazine.

Technorati Tags: Alternative Career, career opportunity, review administrator