Sorting out your career is nobody else's job

People have started asking my opinion on job searching recently: Here's what I had to say to King's Graduate School on their blog...

I’m sorry to break it to you, guys, (and this is something I only really realised recently) but there is no-one out there that will be able to tell you exactly what job you should be doing and how to get it: that includes careers consultants. (Clearly they can help with your thinking and the processes of applying and so on but read on….)

About a year ago I started to realise that maybe the career in industrial research that I’d planned for the last 10 years wasn’t what I wanted. I confess it was partly initiated by the difficulty in getting a job but the more and more I thought about it, the more I realised I probably didn’t want the jobs I’d been applying for anyway.


Phew. Bullet dodged. Now what?

Well, first I started to complain. "My supervisors have never talked to me about what other careers are available", "No-one wants to talk about jobs outside of research", "I haven’t been given the opportunity to do anything else", I whined to the very nice careers consultant at KCL. I was quite whiny at this point, looking back on all the missed opportunities during my PhD and PostDoc and basically blaming other people.

Then I went to the Nature Careers Expo last September and realised things had to change. Every presentation I went to seemed to start with, "So I created this forum..,", or "I started this blog" and I sat there thinking "I can barely use my phone for email, how the hell am I going to blog?". It was at this point that the penny dropped: if I wasn’t going to take responsibility for getting myself a new career path, why should anyone else?

So I started a blog on my career search. I write down what I found out and shared it with other people. Almost every link and image I uploaded for the first month was broken and I’m still convinced that only my mother reads this but it gave me a start that lead to a free place at a SciComm conference, new contacts (yes, networking), a new understanding of the field around research and the jobs therein, a chance to blog on Speakers of Science, involvement in ScienceGrrl, the opportunity to do some public engagement with schools, joining twitter…but not necessarily in that order. Fundamentally, if you don’t know what you want to do, that’s fine: but you’re the only one who can find out.

During your PhD you can easily feel like you don’t have time for extra things but you will never get less busy, I promise you. The wonderful thing about your PhD studies is that there are lots of things you can try for free and if you don’t like doing them, you can stop. Here are some examples of things you can try…

1. Offer to write your PI’s research paper or review, even if it’s not on your specific area of work. This will help you decide if you want to do medical writing, where you have to summarise other people’s work, clinical trials and even the inserts that go in medication. I’ve written (and published) two papers this year and have two more underway. This is helping me get the most out of my PostDoc and making me practise my scientific writing.

2. Enter writing competitions to see if you like writing about science for a mainstream audience. I entered Access to Understanding with an article on arthritis (not my area) and got lots of feedback from friends and family.

3. Write news articles about cutting-edge science and submit them to the university paper/a blog/your boyfriend to see if they’re any good, to see if you like doing this and to see how long it takes you. I wrote something on antibody-drug-conjugates (sort of my area) in application for an internship at The Economist.

4. GO ON COURSES They’re free for many students, you probably have to go on some and you’ll definitely never have access to so many experts. I did a public speaking masterclass, public engagement course with King’s, science journalism at The Guardian and science writing at OBR. I paid £50 for the Guardian course, but the rest were free and it was a great way to meet like minded people for advice and support.

5. Talk to new people at every conference, meeting and seminar. If you’re absolutely awful at this then a job that requires networking is probably not for you. If you’re good at this then you will have made new contacts that could be invaluable. I ended up at a ScienceGrrl brainstorm, teaching kids about oxidation and sitting in on meetings about Science Museum lates all because of ‘someone’ I met ‘somewhere’ – not through my supervisor.

6. Read some patents. Properly. Is this something you find interesting? Patent law is a popular and competitive choice for graduates. It’s not easy so you should know what you’re getting yourself into. (I worked for a patent company as a chemistry consultant for a bit as part of my PhD – I’m pretty certain I find this dull)

7. Seriously think about how much money you’d like to earn and how little you will settle for: this will have a massive impact on what jobs you will apply for. My current job (which I love) is less than half my PostDoc wage and less than my PhD stipend.

8. Start a Twitter account or blog for yourself or your research group This is a great way to see what’s going on outside your research institution. If you do this for your research group you MUST ask permission from your superiors/head of department.

9. Plan something complicated from start to finish. A work party, a conference, a hen-do, a football tournament. The organisation this requires will tell you if you’re cut out for planning or project management and if you like doing it. I got married during my work search. I’m pretty sure I can now organise the hell out of most things. (Disclaimer: I’m not suggesting you get married purely for the project management experience, maybe just an engagement party…)

10. Apply for some jobs.  Even if you don’t know what you want to do. At least browse the job boards to see what’s out there. Some applications that I made steered me towards positions that I was better suited to. If you want a wake-up call, check out the picture below. It’s a screen shot of my ‘Applications’ folder. It doesn’t include those applications that were speculative or required only an online form…there are over 60 individual applications in less than a year. Don’t moan, just do something.

Any of the extra things on your CV will make you seem more well-rounded and not just another fed-up researcher. I was told on a forum that I was just another ‘desperate PostDoc that couldn’t make it in academia’ – you need to make sure your CV shows that that’s not the case and that you have other skills! And remember, if you try something new and you don’t like it or you’re rubbish at it, that’s fine, just stop and try something else. Then you can also add ‘perseverance’ to your CV.

I was ridiculously busy during all of this but I’m now at a job I love. I work for Sense About Science, a charity supporting projects that equip the public to make sense (get it?) of science. We create guides for the public, run events for researchers to train them in the best way to talk about their work, address bad journalism and put writers in touch with scientific experts whenever we can to make sure that science is clear, well-represented and useful for the public and policy-makers alike. It’s fast-paced, responsive, dead-line driven and no-one has cried for the whole eight weeks I’ve been here. So far, it’s wildly different to academia.

A version of this post was first hosted on the King's College London Graduate School blog. If you're affiliated with King's I strongly urge you to check them out as they are really helpful.

How to have two jobs...

So...I've been a little 'under-the-radar' for a few weeks. I've been quite busy trying to get two jobs under control and I decided to throw flat-buying into the arena as well.

I was never naive enough to believe that co-ordinating two jobs would be easy but I don't think I thought it would be so 'consuming'. In order to keep tabs on both jobs (one new), I often have to plan for one, whilst doing the other. This has to be done carefully to minimise the impact on whichever role I'm doing, whilst planning for the time when I'll be at the 'other' job. If you're lost by this description of my problem, then you should try doing it!

Right now, I need the money that my second job gives me and I'm really grateful to the 'first' job for agreeing to the arrangement, so I'm doing my best to do both jobs well. I'm fairly confident that I'm managing to keep my end of the bargain (two ends of a four-sided bargain) but that's not to say that things have gone completely smoothly. For example, there was one evening where I had to leave a bar at 11.30 pm because boss number two hadn't read an email properly and I needed to quickly respond. Of course, I didn't really need to respond to an e-mail at that time but I am afflicted with a pathological need to please and therefore couldn't just say no (I probably should have thought about this before I tried to please two bosses).

Whilst a lot has been said of having multiple freelance jobs on Twitter recently (under #Scicomm14freelance), here are some of my tips to make life a bit easier if your juggling two jobs, particularly if they are in different places and you can't work on either from home.

1. Plan
I'm quite organised and like to think that I always plan ahead but with two jobs you really need to make sure that you know what you're going to be doing, when and where. Once you've decided where you plan to be, make sure that you tell the people who need to know at both locations. Then tell them again. Other people are busy sorting out their own jobs so a passing mention that you plan to be away a week next Friday won't stick. Remind them in writing and, if possible, get them to confirm that they have understood. I've had several occasions over the last few months where I've told boss two my plans only to be emailed with a list of things to do on a day that I've said I won't be working.

2. Be realistic
There are going to be weeks when you are busy at both jobs, juggling completely different deadlines, plans and objectives. If you're asked to take on something new, judge whether you're going to be able to actually manage it before saying yes. If you're doing a four day week, don't try and cram five days worth of work into four days. If you manage this, can you let me know how you did it?

3. Ask for help
I haven't found this easy an easy one, but juggling two roles is only made harder if you try to do absolutely everything yourself. If there are things that could best be done between your visits, ask someone else if they can help. They may so no but, quite often, shared goals will mean that they want to help and they may even just help out of kindness!

4. Be flexible
After all these tips about planning and organising, I would also try to allow some 'flex' in your plans. There will be times when you will need to e-mail someone about job one when you should be doing job two, or take a call for job two on your lunch break at job one. Sometimes dealing with the two jobs simultaneously is tiring but it's really the only way I've found to keep both posts moving.

5. Switch off
This is something I've really struggled with. It's so tempting to work longer hours, check your emails earlier and later, do unpaid work at the weekend to take the pressure off. I'm guilty of all of these things and not sleeping because I've forgotten to order printer toner, emailed the wrong person at the wrong time or not managed to fit in that paper redraft. I do, however, (hypocritically) recommend that you don't do any of these things and make sure that you allow yourself time to not be at work. Either of them.

I wanted to take a picture that showed the tricky nature of trying to be in two places at once so I chopped a lime in half (the only fruit I always have). Unfortunately it made me want to mix a gin and tonic (the only drinks I always have in). I had water - After all, I need to keep my head clear in case I need to reply to a work email!

Does anyone have two jobs in two locations, or more? Am I just not doing it right or does it get easier? What is your advice?

Negotiating a job contract.

I've recently got a new job and, in doing so, I had to negotiate the contract. This was not something I'd ever experienced before so I thought I'd share what happened and some hopefully helpful tips.

The job is an internship that results in a large pay-cut for me (something I'll write about later) so I thought about what I could do to make the situation a bit better for me. The original job advert stated:
      "We can be a little bit flexible with hours, if the person is finishing writing up their thesis for example."
I also knew that my current boss wanted me to continue working for him in some capacity (even if that meant collating data and papers for free) so I went about approaching both parties with some ideas. After a week of back and forth e-mails I negotiated a contract that kept one day a week at my old job (which pays more per day) whilst keeping my full salary at the new job for four days as week.


It wasn't something I felt particularly comfortable doing at the start but it worked out really well in the end and here are some guidelines on how I managed it:

Be realistic. There are always going to be things that you want in a job contract: more pay, a larger bonus, better benefits, etc., but focus on what can realistically be done within the terms of your employment. For example, I knew that the salary for my new internship would be a financial struggle and I also understood from my interview that there would be no further funds in the charity's budget to increase my pay. Faced with this, I didn't ask for more money but, instead, asked if I could work for somebody else for one day a week and boost my pay. My new bosses were very understanding of my situation and have been very helpful in allowing me to arrange having two different jobs.

Be honest. My negotiations involved two other parties so there was no point or benefit to over-complicating the situation by not being completely honest. There's always the temptation to push your luck to get extra but I found it paid off to be completely open. I found this particularly important as I was discussing money.

Be focussed. I wouldn't recommend asking for more than one or two changes to your contract. If you're asking for more money, different hours, extra pension, every second Thursday off and a company car then I think you start to look a bit 'grabby'. Stick with what you really want and you'll usually be taken more seriously.

Time off. I wrote my PhD thesis in 6 weeks (pretty much from start to finish) in order to start my Post-Doc on time. I worked out that I could work on 5 hours sleep, didn't need to shower and my then-boyfriend-now-husband would bring me meals when I didn't have time to leave my desk. I submitted on a Friday in mid-November, started work the following Monday and took two days off to prepare for, and attend, my viva just two weeks later. In retrospect, this was a mistake. The PI had wanted me to start in September and I was so keen to get a job straightaway (I'd never not been enrolled or employed) that I gave myself very tight deadlines and started my Post-Doc exhausted. In the long-run, an extra week would've made absolutely no difference and I should have gone back to them and asked for a week later start date.This time, although I knew that my new employers could take me on as soon as possible, I made sure that there was a week in between my jobs. I still ended up replying to a few e-mails and had to dodge a thinly-veiled request to work for free for a few days (old boss, not new!) but it made a huge difference to me to start my new job fresh and ready to go.

Ask for advice. In deciding how best to approach this situation I approached the career's service at my institute for some guidance. I'm very lucky to have this resource and I know not everyone is so fortunate. Try not to 'straw-poll' your friends and family on if and how you should ask for something. Their likely to be on your side (you'd hope) and won't be the most objective. If you do ask someone you know personally, make it a manager or an employee that has had to deal with similar situations before. Advice like 'Don't ask, don't get' is fine when being dished out by a friend but being reasonable in a professional environment is a different situation altogether.

Keep in mind, you haven't signed anything yet. This goes both ways. Your new employers will learn a lot about you from this negotiation and, whilst it's unlikely that your requests will make them completely change their mind about employing you, it could affect how they think of you in the future. Going the other way, if a company reacts unreasonably to a fair request or a 'deal-breaker' for you, think about whether you're learning something vital about their practices and if you still want to work for them.

I'm aware I've been very lucky in finding two employers amenable to this situation but I was told recently by a friend I shouldn't feel too 'grateful'. I'm bringing something to both employers and simply trying to make the situation work for me, too. What I required from them was understanding of the situation and to have accepted less from them without a fair reason would have been selling myself short.

In short. In these situations, be prepared to fight your corner but just choose your fight carefully.

I got a JOB! AKA a positive control for CV writing...

It finally happened. I applied for something great, I went through two interviews and, after a bit of contractual bartering, I'm starting next Wednesday! In the job application and job-finishing frenzy I haven't kept anybody up to date on what's been going on but here's what happened.

On the 19th February I applied for a volunteer role at the Natural History Museum only to find out that I'd mistakenly got the date wrong and applied one day too late! I was understandably miffed so I went into my flagged e-mail list to make sure I didn't miss any more deadlines.

I noticed that I still had one day to apply for two great internship roles at Sense About Science. Their name has come up a number of times when people were recommending employers to me so I wasn't going to let this one slip away. They make it their mission to help people understand the science they are bombarded with every day. This could be clearing up something confusing (or wrong) in the media, training scientists on how to best describe their own work or encouraging people to simply ask for evidence when given a piece of information.

Look! Dara O'Briain thinks their Ask For Evidence campaign is great!

I applied for two roles that were different in practice but similar in the skill-set required. They were Campaign Support Officer and Project Support Officer. Honestly, I put the applications together in half an hour and sent them. I did tailor each CV and cover letter to the roles but I didn't have to do too much work as this organisation (charity, actually) seemed to fit exactly what I wanted. I was really busy the next day at a TV masterclass (more on that in the future) but just two days later they asked me to come in for my interview the following week.

I had to submit a form and a written exercise beforehand and the interview itself only lasted 45 minutes. Nonetheless, I felt really pleased with the way it went. I didn't 'fake' anything or pretend to be anything I'm not and we all got on really well. There was even an awkward, but nice, moment where I had to namedrop that I'd been on Newsnight a few weeks before.

The follow-up interview with the managing director was the next week, where we discussed the role and the company in a bit more detail. Again, I felt very honest, I felt that they were being honest with me and there was no pretence. I was very excited. I still am.

Today, I wanted to pass on the great feeling that comes when you get a job you want, a job you know you can do well and (although I was sick of people saying it to me) when it's the right job for you, you WILL get it. Also, my 'positive control' CV was tinkered with in 10 minutes and sent out with a cover letter in just 30, but I've spent 18 months writing dozens of applications so I think I must've got pretty good at it! When it comes to the interview process, I've learnt that if you feel under a whole amount of pressure to 'perform' and be someone you're not, then the job is probably not for you. If you get the job under the pretence of a skill you don't really have or a type of personality that isn't really you, then the job is going to be very very stressful trying to keep that up!

Anyway, it's been a couple of weeks now but my contract is signed and I'm due to start next week, just a month after I applied. The whole process has raised quite a few issue of job-seeking including contract negotiations, juggling two jobs (I'll be at King's one day a week sometimes) and starting at the bottom, not to mention taking a huge (-60%) pay-cut. I'm hoping to share how this is all going over the next few weeks, with honest advice and tips for such a big life change.

I've also got some research to share on (science) writing and journalism. Just because I've found my niche (I hope), it won't stop me sharing my science careers stuff with you!

Oh yeah, If you're interested in the science communication side of the posts I've written, I'm writing on another blog called Experiments in Communication on the Speakers of Science network. That's more about what I'm learning about scientific communication from courses and as I go through my new career (job?)- Feel free to take a look. The other posts on the network are pretty cool too - one has a see-through egg!

Consultancy: Principles and Profits

As a PhD student and Post-Doc there has often been someone mentioning going into consultancy. Usually in the guise of 'why should I take THAT job when I could get 30+K doing consultancy' or ' I know a friend of a friend who's earning double what I earn doing consultancy for <insert name of company here>. So it seems to be the generally held consensus that it’s a job you can go into with a PhD and earn a lot of money. Naturally, my interest was piqued. I recently attended a number of presentations on different forms of consultancy and I thought I'd share what I found out. 

Fundamentally, consultancy firms give advice to big companies or sometimes the government in order to fix a particular problem. My initial question was 'Why would a pharmaceutical company employ an outsider to help them rebrand after a merger?' or ' Why would HSBC seek the opinion of non-bankers on how to streamline their online banking?’

The perfect situation for these big companies would be if they had a group of people poised and waiting to answer important questions whenever they occurred. But, what would those people do when there are no big mergers to rebrand, no new products to launch? It’s simply not affordable to keep people on the payroll just in case someone in the organisation has a problem. That's when the consultants come in.

They ARE waiting for the next big question to arise. And, when one company is done with them they fill their time by answering the questions from another company, and so on and so forth. In this way consultancies gain expertise in particular areas such as green initiatives, mergers, stock handling etc. and they can use their experiences gained from one company when working for the next. Professional research firms are somewhat similar to traditional consultancies. They are paid to research a particular problem or sector.

So, that’s consultancy. Now, how does it work in practice?

The first thing you should be aware of is that there are broadly two types of consultancy. The first are those firms that advise on matters of principle and what you might call Worthy Causes. These consultants might advise on environmentally sound practices, sustainability or social initiatives. Sometimes these firms are inline with a political party and can be called 'Think Tanks'.  The second type of consultancy gives advice on matters of profit and efficiency. It probably won't shock you to learn that it's the latter guys that tend to make more money and it is this career that people are referring to when they lament their wages compared to what they could be earning in 'consultancy'.

There are hundreds of think tanks and NGOs, dozens of large corporate consultancy forms and a few guys in between and I'm not about to list them all here. What I will do is highlight some of the glaring differences that I noticed from the seminars I attended. I'm going to refer to the two sectors as the 'principles' and the 'profits' camp. I'm not saying this to suggest that the principles camp are never interested in the bottom line (although they are often not-for-profit), nor am I suggesting the latter have no principles. I just need a word to divide and describe these two type of practices.

First things first, all of the seminars I attended were after work, during the week and all who attended were very grateful to the presenters for giving up their time to speak to us. I've often lamented the lack of alternative career advice for those in academia and the current programme at KCL is very welcome. More information can be found on the KCL Graduate School blog, look for posts by the Careers Consultant, Kate Murray. 

Ethos and atmosphere.
The seminars followed one another, week after week, so it was very easy to compare them. The very first thing I noticed was the atmosphere and general feel of the room. The difference was quite striking:

-The ‘principles’ consultancy was always presented by women who were confident but laid-back and approachable. The presenters all spoke of their embedded interest in societal change, sustainability or politics (the areas their consultancies/research companies worked in). They had all worked or researched these areas before they got the job and they spoke with great passion about why they felt their work was important. 

The ‘profit’ guys, and they were guys, were completely different. Upon arrival, the presenters greeted most attendees in person, they seemed to be on first name terms with most of the room. They did their PhDs at KCL so they probably did know a lot of people there, but they were super-confident, giving away freebies and arriving with leaflets. They weren't imposing or scary but they were completely self-assured and supremely comfortable speaking in this room. You really got the impression that they could chat to strangers all day long. They were very passionate about their company and how well they were looked after.

From what I could gather, the way consultancies get business is largely the same. Sometimes companies approach them, other times they approach the company, but it is always to solve a problem that the company does not have the in-house resources for, be that people, research capabilities or sector knowledge. 

What kinds of questions do the companies answer?

This is very different depending on the type of firm and will often have nothing to do with you degree. 

‘Principles’

How can we ensure the growing tea industry remains sustainable?

Can we approach the shipping sector as a whole to bring it inline with international guidelines?

Can smaller institutions like the women's institute or the local church help in changing communities’ attitudes to energy consumption?

Can small countries be used as a model for ours?

What is science telling us now about what we need to be looking towards in the future? 

Would our society benefit from a shorter working week?

‘Profits’

What's the best way for a newly merged bank to carry out it's internet banking?

How can a big pharmaceutical company keep track of its international stock?

What's the best way to demonstrate to a GP that drug 'X' is better than drug 'Y'?

What does the current market for arthritis drugs look like - who's leading the field? 

Entry level

Whilst all companies were keen to point out that skills gained during a degree, such as research, communication and problem solving, were key to success in this field, there was a major difference in the backgrounds of the people that presented. All of the people that worked in ‘principles’ consultancy had prior experience in their field. They had worked in 3^rd world development, NGOs and government schemes whilst the ‘profits’ men had next to no business background. In fact, one of them stated that working for a big consultancy firm was like a cheap way to get an MA. You learn a lot about business and you’re paid to do so.

Transferable skills
There are a number of transferable skills that you can take from your degree and/or PhD but there are some differences in how you'll apply them.

What else do I need on my CV

For 'principles' companies it was apparent that it would be best if you could demonstrate an interest in their sector. I got the impression that of you haven't belonged to a society or relevant organisation before you apply, you are unlikely to be considered in this competitive market. A lot of people simply have done these extra things and you need to demonstrate your passion to get yourself to the top of the list. Think about doing some volunteering or getting involved in societies if you haven't already. The 'profit' companies want drive, ambition and intelligence. If you can get past the tough selection process you're doing well!

What is expected at interview.

Demonstrate motivation, passion and commitment to the specific sector that each company consults on.

For the big 'profits' companies, the interview process is arduous and usually comprised of several different sections and online tests. Check out the website of the bigger companies: they usually describe their interview processes in detail. Expect online tests (which you can practice on-line beforehand), 'stress-days' - where they check how well you can prioritise by bombarding you with emails, face-to-face interviews with partners and high competition. 

If I get the job, what will I actually do?

This depends on the company and it's budget but most of time is spent researching, with some time spent talking to clients. The wealthy companies will tend to send you overseas, the small companies will tend to video conference! You will work quite independantly on your part of a project but usually as part of a larger team.

Key points to think about when deciding if this is the career for you

- From the beginning you will probably be expected to be customer facing, as well as doing research, are you ready for this?

- Some companies come up with the ideas but don't hang around to implement them, think about what you want before you apply to a company. For example, are you interested in the research and advice or in seeing a project through to its outcomes?

- The ‘profits’ companies invest a lot of time and money in your training with intensive courses and defined progression and development over the first few years. The ‘principles’ consultancies tend to let you learn on the job and training is much more ad hoc - Think about which is best for you.

If you want to look into consultancy then there are online lists you can look at but there are literally hundreds of firms out there. Use LinkedIn to see if you know someone (who knows someone) who is at a consultancy firm and see if you can get some advice on the inner workings of the company.

The consultancies and research firms that were discussed at KCL and formed the basis of this post were Deloitte, McKinsey, The New Economics Foundation, Social Pharma, Forum for the Future, Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (CESI). I'm sure you can work out which camp each belongs to...

Updated 24-02-14:You can also get unpaid consultancy experience as a PhD student/graduate by working with Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable. They provide opportunities to get some work on your CV but the assignments are sometimes quite time-consuming and they aren't paid. I replied to a job advert for 10-15 hours a week that, in reality, was as much as 20-30 hours in weeks with big deadlines. Nonetheless, I think it's worth checking out if you can commit the time and want to get some experience. 

Dealing with rejection

We've all been there. You're sure it can work but you are getting mixed signals from them. You wait for them to get in touch and then, it happens. 

        

"We regret to inform you that we will not be progressing your application further. We have received applications from other candidates who more closely match the requirements of the position"

Balls.

It’s genuinely a coincidence that I’ve gotten around to writing a post on rejection on Valentine’s day but it seems fitting and I hope that this will be more useful than the shit you’ll find today in Grazia, Closer and <insert-name-of-magazine-that-promotes-self-loathing-here>.

I’ve been pretty open about the number of jobs I’ve applied for (nearing 50 now, if you’re wondering) and my success rates (two interviews, one spectacular job offer that I turned down). A few people have told me that I should keep it to myself, but I feel compelled to tell people the reality of my situation. It’s a bit like when someone compliments me on a particular piece of clothing and I am compelled to tell them how old, cheap or ‘from TK Maxx it is’.*

Anyway, this is not going to be a tale of woe and gnashing of teeth. Yes, it’s crappy when companies don’t reply. Yes, it’s a bit worse when you actually get a rejection. Job applications are not easy. Two or three in a week is exhausting and I have no ‘positive-control’ so I’m working in the dark most of the time.

What I wanted to write about this week was an answer to a question I get asked a lot: How do you deal with all the rejection? I’ll be honest, there are days when I’m really tired of it all. When I feel that if I had more time to write the bloody applications then maybe I’d get one of the jobs, but I’m so busy doing extra things to bolster my CV, maybe I’m spread too thin. Then, sometimes, I have a little cry. I’m quite fond of a good cry so this is not necessarily a bad thing. Anyway, we’re heading down the ‘tale of woe’ route but I just wanted to say that I’m not impervious to feeling crappy about it all. However, what I’ve done recently has really helped.

I have simply decided to do ‘new stuff’.

I guess it started by writing this blog, something I never thought I’d be able to do. It turns out, it wasn’t that hard and I’ve found out that I like doing it. You might think blogging is a complete exercise in narcissism and it is a bit, but it’s been a tremendous boost to my confidence to actually DO something. Something I thought I couldn’t do before.

Then, just before Christmas, bolstered by a bit of jealousy of my sister-in-law’s skills, I learnt to knit. I’m not great (the curled edges below probably show my tension is too tight) but it’s been really rewarding to learn the lingo, the patterns and to create something. I used to paint, draw and sketch a lot but, as messy hobbies, my one bedroom flat sort of vetoed them in fairness to my long suffering husband. It’s been very therapeutic to do but it also really made me proud. I could do something by the end of a week that I couldn’t do before. It didn’t cost much and I’ve found it really helpful to remind myself that I can do things.

Can you guess what I'm making? 

I also made a truly inedible pizza. Honestly, I’ve NEVER thrown something that I’ve cooked in the bin. I even froze an under-whipped tiramisu rather than chuck it out, once. This time, I thought to myself, I’d like to try and make a pizza. Yes, it was bloody awful. It was good to try though.

You can see where I tried to cut the dough in half
with a scissors to see if it was cooked. It wasn't

On the plus-side, the scraped off topping made
quite a nice pasta dish 

Last week, I got on a pair of skis for the first time in nearly 20 years. I’m not one of those Northern European ex-skiers who learnt in the womb either. I was hardly drawing on years of latent experience! In the end, I wasn’t half bad!  I was convinced I’d be appalling but, after just a couple of days, I was fine.

Look at me! Doing sport!

I decided the best way to combat the cold was to ensure
NONE of my skin was exposed.

This might seem like a completely pointless list of achievements but it’s important to remember that when you’re getting lots of rejections, you also did lots of other things too. 

Try a new hobby, start that book you’ve been meaning to read, dig out your old running shoes/bike/chess-set. I’ve found that by filling my meagre spare time with a couple of new things, the forefront of my mind isn’t dominated with ‘I got a rejection again this week’ but ‘how do I do a kfb purl stitch again?’** Remember that applying for jobs is just one of the things that your doing. Fill the rest of you time with things that will keep you positive and try and keep those in mind, too.

Maybe you got your son to finally eat with a spoon or trained the dog to sit. Maybe you worked out just how to make the perfect lasagne but, most of the time, if you have a little think, there’s usually something that worked. And, if not, try making a pizza. Apparently, it’s really easy. ***

*FYI: All my clothes are from TK Maxx or made by my Nan and most of them are over 5 years old. Some, over 15. I never grew.

** That’s for the knitters. God, I’m so cool.

***During the proof-reading of this blogpost, I got another rejection. I wonder if I could learn bridge?

In the next few weeks I'll be summarising seminars that I've been to on consultancy, patent law, science writing and think-tank research. I told you I've been busy, didn't I?

How to secure a job after your PhD

The lovely people at jobs.ac.uk recently staged a live Google hangout entitled 'How to secure a job after your PhD'.

For those who haven't taken part in a Google hangout, it's effectively like eavesdropping on someone else's Skype chat. 

In this hangout, five careers experts chatted about what they think are key recommendations and obstacles for jobseekers. If you were signed in you could ask them questions or use the Twitter hashtag #jobsq (worth a look) to interact and steer their conversation. I, for one, found it really useful and thought that a lot of their points were transferable to anyone who's looking for a new job, not just those who are doing, or have done, a PhD. 

The hangout was chaired by Aimee Bateman, who is a commercial recruiter running a careers organisation called Careercake, helping jobseekers through advice, training and interactive events like the Google hangout. 

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Sharing their thoughts were: 

Dr Chris Humphrey who runs jobs on toast - a site/blog dedicated to helping people get fulfilling careers after their degree, PhDs etc.. Chris has done the PhD, PostDoc route and has ended up in non-academic project management - he wants to show the full range of career options open to qualified people and help them to identify their 'transferable skills'. 

Claire Jones, a Careers Professional at Nottingham University who works with researchers. She opened with 'PhDs are talented people with a range of attributes' - She's generally surprised at their lack of confidence.

Dr Ioanna Iordanou, a teaching fellow at Warwick Business School. She left academia but went back and now loves it - she has seen both sides of the story. 

Dr Nadine Muller, a lecturer in English Literature at Liverpool John Moores who got her academic post straight after her PhD

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The hangout kicked straight off by answering questions submitted before the event. Here is a summary of what was discussed:

How do you show an industry that you're interested if you've spent the last x years in academia?

This question is relevant for anyone looking to make a career move in to a new sector.

Advice followed the lines of thinking of yourself as a broad professional rather than your specific area of expertise. For example, you are a professional scientist, rather than a virologist. You are an expert in communication with a broad range of individuals, rather than a teacher. The pace and deadlines in different sectors will be different and you need to make sure that the employer knows you are aware of this and can manage the difference. 

Ultimately, you need to show awareness of the sector you want to work in. You can gain this through following key performers in any given market on Twitter or via contacting people on LinkedIn. Get this awareness into your cover letter and that should make you stand out.

Another key recommendation was 'Don't be defined by your qualifications'. The discussion focussed on the fact that people are more than the letters after their name. Build on (professional) relationships on-line and in person and this will help make the job search easier. One suggestion was to surround yourself with people who are doing what you want to do and see how they work. By taking time to establish relationships with people in a given sector you show your enthusiasm and drive, whilst learning a lot and getting new contacts

What are employers looking for?

This came from a number of people trying to work out what to prioritise in their work. In most jobs, including the PhD, there are opportunities to do 'extra' things. The problem is deciding which are worth making time and sacrifices for.

Try to understand what are key activities in the discipline, institution or sector you want to work in. For example, in the humanities and subjects like politics, books and chapters of books can carry a lot of prestige, but in research science, journal articles are usually favoured. Ultimately, they are both publications that required project management and communication skills. If what you've done doesn't perfectly fit what they require, sell the skills you gained by doing the project, rather than the project itself.

If you can't fulfil some of the criteria that an employer wants yet, you can also show how you plan to meet those targets in the future. Again, this shows planning, ambition and drive. 

Specifically for academia, Claire Jones recommended publishing regularly and in increasingly 'better' journals, whilst Nadine Muller suggested that it's worth keeping some work 'in the bank', especially if you can increase it's impact with more research. This is also something you can include on your plan.

If you know in advance that you will be looking for a job soon, look at the requirements for roles beforehand and see of you can tick off any of them, with a little bit of extra work, between now and when you have to apply.

This brought the conversation onto the always popular topic of...

Transferable skills

Employers are 'buying' the person, not your CV, so make sure that you show them how valuable you are! This can be difficult after a rejection (or ten) but as Aimee Bateman said 'You're value doesn't decrease just because someone failed to see it. (If anyone manages to stay positive immediately following a rejection, let me know how you did it!)

To identify your value, Chris Humphrey recommended doing a 'Skills Audit' with a friend or colleauge. You will have varying levels of around 20 skills from practically every job and qualification you have. Work out what these are by asking others if you are not sure. This can be awkward, so try asking for specifics. Don't just ask 'What am I good at? but, instead 'What kind of problem would you come to me to help you fix', 'When have I helped you in the past?' You can then add these comments to LinkedIn or even directly to your CV.

Examples of transferrable skills you may have:

Project management - delivering your thesis, research project (or wedding) to strict deadlines, with good planning

Management of people - student supervision, getting people to work in a team etc., childcare

Computer skills - manipulation of text and images for reports, as well as the use of more niche programmes specific to your role

Organising events - conferences, presentations, meetings.  

Various types of communication - influence, negotiation and clear explanations 

Ultimately, employers will be interested in HOW you did the things on your CV and not just what you did. You should always value the breadth of your experience. In research, you have the opportunity to learn new things, so try not to focus on the end target, the degree, the research, or the articles, but on the skills you developed in the process. This can help you focus on the things you actually liked doing and sell your skills to the employer.

How do you balance the job search and the job?

Fundamentally don't get 'lost' in your job (the PhD) and understand your priorities. If your priority is an academic post then you need to plan your papers. If your priority is a job in industry then it's worth networking BEFORE you leave. 

Try not to think 'I have to find a job' as this is a bit daunting, think 'I need to build a relationship with someone who could help me understand the job better'. This will make you a much better candidate when it comes to applying and can actually be enjoyable!

One great bit of advice was, with all business relationships, give something to the other person three times before you ask for anything from them. This might seem a bit contrived, but if you send someone a paper, a recommendation or a job advert they might be interested in then, by the time you ask for advice on applying to their company, you're more likely to be thought on favourably. Nobody wants to be the guy who got in touch just to ask for a favour the first time.

Alternatively, if you're not ready to apply for a job yet, try practicing your application. Get a feel for how long it takes to just prepare your CV each time!

How do you convince an employer you are not over qualified?

If you have a degree or PhD and you want to move field, then you will often have to go for a junior role. However, how do you show an employer that you are not over-qualified and just using the post as a stepping-stone. Remember that the fear of being over-qualified can be in your own head and you need to show them that, in fact, you are perfectly qualified. Show that your other skills demonstrate you are an ideal fit for that role. 

In your cover letter, talk about why you are applying and why you want to work for them. Don't make it sound like you've filled in five applications and this just happens to be one of them. Fundamentally, they want to give the job to the person who wants it the most - make sure it sounds like that is you!

Don't make it sound like you don't care about the company, either - You will have to fit into the wider organisation as well as just the immediate team.

Don't start your cover letter with why they should pick you, start with why you picked them. Use something personal, not something you found on the website mission statement because anybody could use that. Find an article on-line or a blogpost that shows you've gone the extra mile.

How do you stay positive and motivated when filling out job applications?

If you apply for a lot of different jobs, your enthusiasm for each application can start to drain. Learn to value yourself during your PhD, degree or job and when you value yourself you can see that it's worth the time and effort to find a job you will enjoy! Take time to remind yourself what you're good at. Remind other people you work with that they are good at certain things (if they are) and this positivity should come back to you. 

Employers of all kinds rarely tell their people how valuable they are - try to remember your personal value, rejection doesn't mean you're rubbish - The right job will be the one you actually get! 

Should you take things off your CV?

Whether you take your PhD off your CV for a temp job, or take temping work off your CV for an executive job, the general response from the experts was a resounding 'No!'

Think of your time at university as a 3-4 year job. Talk about running a research project to deliver x number of papers or a patent. Employers may not realise that the time spent in your PhD is much like a (long hours and poorly paid) job. Repackage it and include it in your employment history.

When it comes to temporary jobs or low-skilled work, these positions show that you are willing to do something that is not perfect in order to reach goals and targets. This can simply be working in a bar in order to pay the rent while you look for your perfect job. It is a rare employer that would prefer to someone who sat on the sofa eating biscuits to someone who took a temporary job.

Ultimately, don't EVER devalue yourself. 

Final thoughts on embarking on a new career

Don't think of yourself as inferior because your early in any career path. Just because you haven't reached a certain target, you could sell that you plan to reach this target whilst working for them. 

You shouldn't feel you are begging for something your not entitled to! 

A PhD is a wonderful asset and you managed it on your own - Communicate and understand the value of your PhD, or any experience, to yourself and then you'll be able to communicate it to others.

Use any resources you can, such as libraries, careers advisers or any other colleagues that could give you advice and suggestions. 

Have a story that explains why your entering this new field - You're not 'chopping and changing', you've fulfilled one challenge and now you're now ready for the next opportunity. 

When looking for a new job, remember that all jobseekers are in the same boat - try not to behave as competitors or enemies, use each other as a network.  

Start building quality relationships as soon as possible and the whole process should be much easier!

You can go to #jobsq on Twitter, as well as jobs.ac.uk, for any further discussion of these topics but  (CHEESE ALERT) don't give up, keep at it and value yourself!

The kindness of strangers

I wanted to write this post as a kick up the bum to anyone who is stuck in a rut and a thank-you to all the lovely people* who helped me try something completely different last week.

A few weeks before Christmas I tweeted that I was applying for lots of public facing science-based stuff…

@Science_Grrl @gemgemloulou I'm currently 'application-bombing' all things science/public-engagement/communication/internships/jobs!
— lauren tedaldi (@LaurenTedaldi) November 29, 2013

Out of the blue, @Science_Grrl got in touch and said they’d happily put me in touch with someone in London who might be able to give me some careers advice/tips. I’ve never had anything to do with Science_Grrl. They’re an organisation that is fundamentally focused on fairness in society and this is manifested around the encouragement and promotion of girls and women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) sectors. Of course, my situation fits the bill but I didn’t expect help from complete strangers in this way.

After work, on a Tuesday in the new year, I met up with their contact. Again, this person* had no obligation to help me out and yet they were spending extra hours after their working day to listen to me and give really helpful advice and words of support. It turned out that I’d met this person at a conference and that helped break the ice (I’d inadvertently stolen her friend's phone and she helped me give it back). She was really knowledgable about the area and very friendly. Apart from encouraging some of my ideas, she also suggested that I get in touch with all the departments at my institution that deal with public engagement. Her recommendation was that whilst internships and jobs are competitive, a good way to get some insight into new careers is to simply go and see what people do for a day.

The next morning I had a meeting with the Head of Department about setting up a blog and Twitter account for the department (something I’d not had the courage to bring up before) and sent out emails to Outreach, Public Engagment, Widening Participation and our Marketting department. I basically set out my interests, who I was and asked if I could perhaps spend a day shadowing them. Most got back to me pretty quickly with suggestions of who else I should speak to or explanations that watching them work would not be that exciting. However, our (lovely) public engagement department informed me that although watching them read and send hundreds of emails would be quite dull, I could potentially sit in on their following day of meetings with the Francis Crick Institute (aka 'The Crick') the next day. The Crick is a consortium of research organisations that will investigate cutting edge medical research as a partnership. Eventually they'll be based in King's Cross, London, but before they've built the institute itself they are running the Science Museum Lates in February and, as one of the Crick’s partners, some KCL research groups are presenting their work to the public. After checking with all the involved participants, I was allowed to ‘lurk’ at these meetings. This was quite exciting for me as the Science Museum has featured rather heavily in some recent life choices! I won’t spoil the surprises but there’s going to be some really exciting and entertaining work demonstrated at the event and I’d urge you all to go. It will be focussed on the future of biomedical discovery and will therefore be relevant to everyone as new advances and developments in medicine will effect us all, scientist or not.

During my public-engagement-sponsored loitering, not only did I get an insight into some of the varied work going on at my institution, something that is often surprisingly rare, but I also got to understand more about the logistics of such big public engagement projects.

The KCL public engagement department representative* wasn’t just there as a mediator but asked insightful questions to ensure that the real scientific messages weren’t lost in attention grabbing (but scientifically dubious) titles and experiments. Fundamentally, their experience lies in these events and they made sure that the researchers kept ‘on-message’ for the event and didn’t just present their research how they wanted to. This is a key point: If we want to discuss our reseach with the public, which I think we should, then we need to come at it from their point of view – What do they want to know about it? What are the key messages for them? This will probably not be them same as the key messages you want to get across for a journal but more general, although more concise and more about, dare I use the word, the impact of your research – i.e. Who cares?

A lot of question at the meetings focussed on logistics – Will I be on a stage looking down towards an audience or on one level? What equipment do you need? How many electrical sockets can I have? These questions were all tied up in how they could best present their ideas tailored to the event. It’s all very well to have an elaborate set-up but, if you have 45 minutes to prepare and it all needs to come home with you on the tube, you might rethink your plan to erect an intricate version of the large hadron collider made entirely out of cheese…. (BTW:I would fund this and would recommend halloumi - sculptable yet with some 'give')

With less than 90 minutes between meetings, the representatives from the Crick hotfooted it back to their offices in Euston on the bus and then all the way back to Waterloo. I got the impression that they’re really busy and commited to pouring their efforts into making this a very exciting event (see previous comment about 'You should definitely go').

In one meeting, I finally met a member of staff* who is heavily involved in all things public engagement/outreach-y in my wider department. She was exhausted from her involvement in getting an experiment sent into space the night before but was full of energy and enthusiasm for her next project. Before I’d left, she’d offered to let me get involved in another outreach event in March – timed to ensure that I could still be involved if my contract doesn’t get extended. Yet again, someone was going out of their way to help me and give me some advice. I was really touched.

I spent my lunch break meeting a Twitter-friend* (in person!) who gave up their lunch break to talk about our similar situations. Eye-opening and  helpful for both of us, I had planned to not be in the lab but everyone I spoke to that day had not expected to have me drop in unannounced and uninvited and yet had still made time for me.

Throughout the day I did my best to interfere as little as possible. It was difficult not to ask questions and comment and I did give in and interject here and there, when I thought it was appropriate.  I was really pleased to see the enthusiasm from some corners regarding public engagement within the university and it’s great to see that King’s is doing it’s bit to make sure that people know who we are and what we do. It was quite obvious that there are some people who do an awful lot of public engagement activities. And then there are the others. That seems to be a recurrent issue and there’s no point in making people do public facing activities that aren’t interested in doing it. This attitude will come across when they speak to people and won’t help anyone. However, what I’d like to see, in my department and university, and at others, is more awareness internally of what is going on. I had no idea that we were involved in experiments in space or that we’d been at Pint of Science. Our public engagement team do a great job in connecting those who can do public engagement with the event organisers but they’ve said themselves that they have to use their contacts in departments to get things done. This means that the same people end up doing the events time and time again. If students and staff realised what was going on both department and university wide, and supervisors realised the power of public engagement as a way of re-energising and training their students/staff (and not as a favour for ‘letting them out of the lab’) I think this would benefit everyone. The usual suspects would be able to turn things down and get some sleep, the rest of us could pick up the slack and learn something new, and even the university benefits from getting its ‘face’ out there. I’d also hope that some of us might remember why we started in these careers - We actually like science!

My 'take home message' today is that if your interested in doing some work with the public, be that at schools, museums or festivals, tell your public engagment department, tell your Head of Department and pretty soon you'll probably find an exhausted (but fulfilled) member of staff who's more than happy to let you help.

Anyway, I've got to go, I've got an event to plan...


N.B. If you're already doing something with the public, make sure your institution knows about it as well, a big problem for co-ordinating this sort of work is that we tend to keep things 'extra-curricular' under our hats. By doing this, you make it seem like it's unusual and not worthy of promotion.


*I haven't named the kindly folk who helped me out this week as I don't want them to be inundated with requests for help that they will be too nice to turn down. Also, they're my friendly strangers - get your own!

Robots made me do it...

I turned down a job last month. 

Those of you who've followed this blog or (God forbid) know me personally, will know that I've been actively looking for a new job for well over a year, with absolutely no luck, so this was a big deal for me and may come as a bit of a surprise for you.

It was great job that would pay well, working for someone I really respect, so I think I should probably explain myself. I'll get to the robots in a bit...

The job was a research post with great opportunities to develop my career in a dynamic group keen to make big steps quickly - potentially with the resources and enthusiasm to actually meet these goals. In academia, things can move very slowly, one reason why I've always wanted to work in 'industry' - a catch all term that researchers use to describe jobs that makes a commercial product, rather than academia, where the research is usually more driven by the desire to learn (this is changing, but that's for another time...). This post would put me in a great position to go into industry in 2 years, maybe a little longer.

The cherry on the employment-cake was that I'd also get to work for an ex-boss that I liked, knew our work styles were compatible and I was confident we could do good research together. All of these positives were why I applied, why I was pleased when I went for my interview and why I left the enjoyable interview with a spring in my step.

I was told that it might be a while before I heard back about the job and that they'd let me know when they'd be able to 'let me know'. However, in the end, they got back to me quickly with an offer of a role. Looking back,  I think I probably knew straight away that something wasn't right. I felt really weird about the offer. Sad that I'd 'have' to take this job, that it was too good an opportunity to turn down, that all my investigations and inroads, however meagre, into life away from research was for nothing and that the decision had more or less been made for me by the offer of this great job.

Then, I realised something. If I was sad about taking the job, if I was sad to stay in research, I probably shouldn't do it! This sounds really daft, I'm sure. Of course this sounds like an obvious conclusion but it wasn't an easy decision to come to and I thought it might be helpful to others to explain how I got there...

I asked for a week to think about the offer. I don't think they were thrilled to wait but they'd been happy to tell me that I should expect a long wait and I think, as an interviewee, you should never forget that you are also interviewing them!

Over that week, I spoke to friends, family, current and past colleagues about my dilemma. If reading this, you are one of those people, then 'Cheers' - by getting things off my chest I started to come to some sort of decision about what I wanted to do, but I was still of the splintery-bum-brigade, not quite getting off the fence. For a number of complex reasons that I can't Athena Swan my way out of, the role would also involve a change of my personal plans for the next few years and I wasn't willing to commit to the job, or to turn it down, unless I was sure the role was worth making certain sacrifices for.

That week, I also went to a Science Museum Lates event. The theme was Robots. Pretty jazzy, I'm sure you can imagine. There were tiny cheetah robots, creepy salamander robots, robot hands and robot fish that could be controlled via a video game. In a word, it was excellent.

I sat on the floor and made a robot wasp. The wasp, on the other hand, was pretty poor (and I ruined a mascara trying to put stripes on it, oh the sacrifice!). Anyway, my point was, as I trundled around the museum, agog at the technology that others had designed, truly fascinated by the work and throughly engrossed in the best way to get my robot to beat my husband's in a race, I didn't feel inspired to run back to the lab to produce my own imagination-capturing-inspiring research. What I thought was, 'Wouldn't it be great to work here' (and the occasional 'I could've explained that better'). To talk about science to people who just want to learn about it, or who didn't realise they liked it and only came for the speed-dating, but stayed for the circuitry. The idea of that really grabbed me. I know one night on a special event, at one of the most well-known museums in a city known for it's museums, is hardly representative of the normal life of your public engagement/scientific communication/museum curating employee, but I was far, far more excited by the idea, the challenge and the opportunity to at least try to do something like this than I was of a certain job, well-paid, with the aforementioned great boss.

Fundamentally, I don't deserve the job. Somebody else will do that job well, somebody who will throw themselves into a research career, somebody who is hungry for this position - and that 'someone' is not me.

So, I guess, what I'm trying to say is I've come to a realisation:

When you're 19 and you're sure you want to do a job, when you spend years studying, learning and occasionally crying en route to that job, sometimes, ten years later, it might be OK to change your mind.

When I finish my twice-extended contract in less than three months, with no job prospects, I may live to regret this possible act of folly. Until then, anyone want to buy my robot wasp (the wings fell off in the race that I didn't win. I hope it's not a sign)?