One year after leaving research and there are a few things I miss

Well, it's been a year since I left the lab. I survived. And, no, I don't miss research.

I miss the students
During my PhD and PostDoc, I personally supervised around 30 students and I really enjoyed working with such an enthusiastic group of people. The constant flow of new faces, new ideas and new stories was a great part of academia. Not to mention the multi-cultural nature of every lab that I worked in meant that we'd have long, hilarious discussions with new students about the weird etiquette of Britain and the UK, and how that was different in China, Russia, Germany, Austria, Mexico, India, Portugal, Estonia...

I miss being someone that knows things other people don't know
This makes me sound like a bit of a tool but when you're the long standing PostDoc, you're time is taken up with people who need you. You fast become the go-to person for all the labs needs, scientific and pastoral.

Can't get your culture to grow? Ask the PostDoc, they'll know what to do. Jim is crying in the lab because his culture won't grow - Ask the PostDoc, they'll know what to do. I'm thinking of quitting the lab and becoming a sheep farmer in New Zealand - Ask the PostDoc, they'll know what to do.

I'm starting from the bottom again and it's not easy, but I hope that I'm building up my skills and reputation so that I can be someone knowledgable enough that people will one day turn to me for advice.

I miss the confidence
I could just write 'see above', but I'll elaborate. The pressure that comes with being responsible for so many decisions in the lab means that you also have the confidence to make those decisions, defend them and know when you need to change your mind.

As a newcomer, I think I'm sometimes a bit cautious, but I need to be. I often have no idea if what I'm about to say is completely wrong. It usually pans out and it bolsters my confidence for the future, but it's not the same as the confidence that comes from being in the same job for a while.

I miss the money
I'd love to say that changing your career is easy and doesn't have any repercussions. Maybe for some people, it doesn't. I've lost a large portion of my income and after a year, I still feel like I've taken a 25% paycut, rather than feeling proud that I've worked my way up in a year from what amounted to a 60% paycut.

Money doesn't matter when you have it. The rest of the time, it matters. I'm very aware that my decision to leave research meant that my husband and I had to change our plans for our first flat and that I probably wouldn't have been able to get by if it wasn't for his help. I'm very grateful.

I don't miss the crying*
In my last 3 to 6 months in research, someone cried every day. Every day. It was pretty grim and it was often me. And I'm not a crier.

My first Comms job out of research, I think I made it until 3 months of rose-tinted glasses before I was sobbing in a park on my lunch break. I couldn't take the demands of the job coupled with the pay. At the time, it was costing me money to work. My wages simply didn't cover my bills even though I walked several miles to work and back to save £5 a day. There are a lot of highly-qualified people doing similar low-paid jobs and internships because the job market is fierce and, like me, they don't have enough non-research experience.

[For the record, I'm nearly 9 months in to my new job and I've only had to hide in the loos to compose myself once. When I found out Terry Pratchett died.]

I don't miss lab-etiquette
Perhaps because of the high pressure nature of the lab and the crushing defeat that is ever-looming, the lab can be a bit of an etiquette minefield.

There are things that you MUST put back in their place, because Jo the PostDoc from the lab next door NEEDS the solvents to be arranged by strength and not alphabetical order, even though they're not his. Don't ask Lisa from upstairs for a favour on a Tuesday. I can't believe someone has dared to use the incubator that we haven't used in over a year - the cheek! Someone just asked Stores for something and it's early (pre 10 am)/nearly lunchtime (after 10.30 am)/lunchtime (12-2pm) just after lunch(after 2.30pm)/late (after 4pm).

Of course there are politics and difficult characters everywhere but academia seemed to almost encourage this sort of behaviour, as long as the research gets done.

I don't miss the research
Perhaps this is the most surprising of all - I don't miss the research itself. I was a good scientist. I was thorough and careful, and kept a very up-to-date lab book. But I just didn't like doing it in the end. Not enough, anyway.

Now, I get to read about all the successful research. I speak to scientists when they are at their most chipper - when they've just had something published or they've presented at a conference. I twist their arms and beg for their time to help promote their research or host a lab visit. I really enjoy the interaction with research and researchers, and I hope that my time in that environment gives me a real insight into the demands they have on their time. But I never think 'I wish it was me'.

I get to explain successful research to the public, the press, members of staff and the real people that these breakthroughs could help. So I'm getting the bit of research and science that I always loved - the learning - without the heartache. I leave that to our dedicated researchers.

I'm not sure if I'm done with this blog, it's more difficult to write about your job when you want to keep it, but I might pop back with some posts from time to time.

Good luck to anyone who decides to leave the lab, it's not easy and plenty of people won't understand why you're 'wasting your education' [Thanks, Uncle, for that one].

I won't say you should do something that makes you happy because, the reality is, there are plenty of dull jobs that simply get done to pay the mortgage, and that's fine. But you shouldn't do a job that makes you miserable.

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*I wrote this before the #TimHunt fiasco. Lots of people cried in my lab - men and women. And I thought it worth adding these from 8 years of life in academia:

I don't miss:
-being in a departmental meeting with around 60 people and being told by the Head of Dep that a colleague only worked with me because they must want to sleep with me.
-being told by a colleague that women with PhDs were not 'proper' women because you couldn't have the attributes of a woman and succeed to PhD level.
-being asked to use my 'charm' to get someone to lend a piece of kit to my group as my boss was sure I'd be able to 'persuade' them.
-explaining to my colleague that my husband did not 'mind' that I had a PhD.

'To do' list of a fledging scientific communicator...

As you may be aware from some of my earlier posts, I'm really interested in different ways of scientific communication - From museum events to blogging and twitter. After speaking to lots of different people I thought the only way I could see if I was even capable of writing on a regular basis was to try some writing, so I started this blog.

I've only been doing it a few months and ended up on a panel about blogging (much to the chagrin/confusion of true blog aficionados) so whilst I'm not exactly a 'big deal' (Ron Burgundy quote #1 of this blog, I hope not the last) I am trying to learn as much as possible. In order to see just how far I can push this idea in a short period of time I thought I'd turn my hand to a few other things to see just how I can best communicate my science, the science of others and the science of well, science. After discussing this amongst my colleagues, the general consensus was 'Hey, can we have that list too?' So, here it is:

1. Keep writing the blog...

Sometimes this is easier said than done, although I do enjoy it - I'd recommend starting one if it's something you think you might enjoy, you can write about anything you like - people read all sorts of rubbish when they're avoiding their tax returns, their kids and their actual jobs!

2. Practice communicating science to a 'lay' audience. 

Urgh, is there a more patronising word than 'lay'? Anyway, you know what I mean, talking about science to those who aren't scientists or don't work in that area of science. This could encompass journalism, blogging, teaching, museum work, comedy and all sorts, as I've recently learnt.

 

Competitions

I'm going to enter a couple of science writing competitions, one on 'translating' hard-core papers into 800 words of accessible text, and another more vague competition (also 800 words) that requires the writer to discuss the topic of Openness in Science - I'm not even sure I like the word 'opennes' but I'll give it a try.

Plain English Summaries

I want to add a few entries to Science Gist, a site where you can add simplified summaries of any papers you may have read. An additional bonus behind this is that a lot of people make summaries already in their own note-taking, so why not share it and see if what you write makes sense? 

Not-so-plain English Summaries

If you want to take plain English summaries a step further you can give UpGoer Five a try - this is a project where you describe anything you like (your job, your pet, Schrodinger's uncertainty principle) using just the top one thousand (or ten hundred to be 'in the rules') words. It's an extreme look at the use of jargon but it is surprisingly difficult and suprisingly entertaining to try and describe spaghetti bolognese without 'meat', 'beef' or 'cow'. It gets it name from the original project where a rocket scientist described his rocket (or UpGoer) using these rules in a popular comic (xkcd).

3. Get Political. 

Ok, not exactly, but I want to enter the poster competition that will be exhibited in the House of Commons. I think this will be a little different to the standard poster sessions scientists get involved in as it will involve communicating your work to a non-expert audience, not something you get chance to do often, is it? Or maybe you go to the House of Commons all the time. I doubt it, But maybe...

4. Get marks for attendance 

I'd like to get more of an idea of how science is communicated to the general public that's not via the written word so I've been taking advantage of living in central London and going to as many science events/seminars as I can fit in. Apart from Science ShowOff (science-based comedy, performance and juggling), I attended Science Uncovered at the Natural History Museum (and blogged about it here), Science Museum Lates at the Science Museum, attended a seminar on Science Gallery (and it's planned expansion to London) and also watched a heat for FameLab. I'm thinking of sending in a video entry. I may very well bottle it. 

At the Science Museum Lates, I bumped into a friend of a friend of a... you get the idea,  and we got to talking about the speed dating event that was happening at the museum. He commented 'Well, at least you know that the person you are going to meet will be of above-average intelligence.' I thought that was a bit sad (and not necessarily true) - I hope the (free) museums and their events in London are for everyone and not just those that deem themselves 'better than the rest'. To be honest, given the location of many of the museums in London, the only possible stereotype you could throw about is that the attendess might be richer than most. Or more likely to be called 'Cosmo' or 'Jacinta'. Both good names, by the way, but you get what I mean, I hope. (Funnily enough, I am planning to write a post on the people that actually go to the museums, but that's not for here and now).

5. Media Fellowships.

This is something I think I may have 'missed the boat' with, but I'd have loved to have heard about them during my PhD. There are lots of different media training opportunities available (listed on the BSA site here - British Science Association, not Bovine Serum Albumen, anyway...) but I've heard really good things from people who went on the Media Fellowship available from the BSA. you need to be still IN research, and contracted until the end of Dec 2014 to even apply for the 2014 places, something that's not an option for me, but I'd definitely give it a try if I could. It involves 3-6 weeks away from your research so your boss has to consent AND submit a letter of recommendation (i.e. you can't do it if they don't agree, it seems). For more information on working with/in/for the media, check out this page, again from the BSA.

5. Applying, applying

Basically I've upgraded from not getting well-paid positions that I'm not sure I want, to not getting lower-paid internships that I definitely want. I'd say to anyone else considering a similar move to mine (i.e. out of something where you've proven your experience, into something new) you're probably going to have to take a pay cut. This may seem like a pain to begin with, especially if, also like me, you're thinking of trying to buy your first house. In London. However, you are giving yourself a chance to try something new, internships are rarely very long and, if you can prove yourself, companies will usually keep people who've shown they are pro-active and keen enough to do an internship in the first place - so chin up, it's a bit of a cliche but I'd rather be doing something I actually liked!

I've recently found a new jobs board on the British Science Association (BSA), as well as a lot of pointers from Twitter and the PSCI-COM JISCMail. Actually, the BSA (again) has information on everything from  public engagement to graphic design on their Science in Society section - worth checking out. 

In other news

This week I applied for 3 jobs, 2 internships and turned down a well-paid, great opportunity job that I won't actually like doing (more on that later). 

Don't tell, will you?