Friday, July 20, 2012

On hiring and supervising

Notes from Phil Bourne's (Ten Simple Rules) ISMB 2012 talk ...

- Beware of bureaucracy. When you're hiring someone, their start date depends on when they finish (usually as a function of their supervisor). There's also some lag about getting visa's etc.
- Getting the right people is everything. He recommends doing a thorough background check on the person by contacting their references and asking questions like where they rank in their lab, ask for criticisms about the person, etc.
- Try to get someone who's got funding already. Because you're expected to be self-sustaining once your starting package money runs out.
- Pick someone who stands out.
- Be nice. Always try to respond to e-mails even if the answer is no. You might depend on them in the future.

As for supervising:
- Treat everyone equally but also supervise individualy because everyone is different.
- An article he suggested, "Good to Great" by Jim Collins

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