Hi Reader, in the last few weeks, we talked a lot about your personal psychology.

Therefore, let’s mix things up and move into a more objective area.

I thought about how to evaluate positions and started to reflect on my own career — the result was a post on the rarest career path in science.

​Check it out! I hope it provides some inspiration for you (and gives you a glimpse of the other side of my work).

Moreover, I wanted to give you something to “objectively” categorize a position given that job searches can be emotionally overwhelming.

Therefore, I put together a concise outline you can copy-paste:

Analyzing Job Descriptions

Deciding between positions is complex as you have to pay attention to several factors.

Importantly, not all information will be available to you at all times. This can be limiting, but we will use it to your advantage by structuring our analysis into phases to avoid overwhelm.

In essence, you might analyze:

• The written description (job opening)
• What you can deduce from the company and field
• What you learn during the interview process

Let’s go through them one by one so you get a feel for what to look at.

You can use it to analyze your current position and find out what you might be secretly missing — or what you should be looking for in your next search.

1. Gross Key Factors

These are described in every position description and form the cornerstones of your assessment.

If available, you should be able to find them in the job listing:

• Salary
• Location of the office (consider housing prices and availability, including cost of living)
• Bonuses (insurances, etc; especially when applying abroad)

More details are in the checklist I put together for you.

2. Estimated Factors

These can only be estimated from experience or relative to other industries. Often, you will be able to corroborate your assumptions as you go through the interview process.

Key variables to estimate include A) area (e.g., legal, R&D, operations), B) company size (start-up, mid-size, large), and C) brand culture (perceived as innovative, hustle culture, family company).

Specific factors to look at:

• Level of regulation (corporate design in a large company vs. start-up freedom)
• Responsibilities (based on your tasks — how much will fall on you vs. the team; are you supporting, or executing?)
• Competitiveness

3. Internal Factors

These are often impossible to evaluate until you’ve entered the interview process:

• Culture
  > Psychology of your colleagues — competitive or familiar
  > Processes — creative vs. outcome-focused vs. leader-driven
• Opportunities to climb the ranks (e.g., how many superior positions exist)
• Funding situation / equipment quality

Additional Requirements

• Language skills
• Certificates (Felasa, GxP, permits [clinical work, radiation, etc.])
• Software / platforms (LIMS, regulatory platforms, publishing systems)

Find more details in the checklist I put together for you.

Let’s Be Realistic

Of course, it would take countless hours to take detailed notes on every single position you come across.

If you’ve already identified your top 3–5 choices, you can use the checklist more thoroughly for those. Otherwise, you do it in your head.

If you’re still early in your search, it’s better to use the list as a filter — a way to think about potential applications in light of your priorities.

> It can also be helpful to go through the list for each category (such as sector, company size, etc.) to better understand the advantages and drawbacks of different options.

How We Feel Today
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