The inner ramblings of a distracted (and transitioning) scientist
I'll start with a disclaimer, as the subheading suggests, this blog consists of my inner ramblings and the things I have experienced or am experiencing as a professional level scientist navigating into my dream position.
If you're anything like me, you seldom make a move without a well laid plan. As a scientist, and an extremely over analytical person, I map out every aspect of my life. I'm not even kidding, you can ask my mother... it absolutely drives her insane. There are pros and cons to this way of doing things, which is why I find myself seeking spiritual counsel to help me cope with things that are completely out of my control.
It's very common for things not to go as planned in science. Your hypothesis could be wrong, your data could be funky, you forgot to add RIPA buffer when you were extracting protein and you didn't realize until after you're already on your final centrifugation step... yea... it can be frustrating! But those happenings are things that you can rectify by stepping back and reevaluating (Breath deeply... wooosah! I said woosah!!!!). It doesn't require other people's opinion of you as a person.
For a lack of better words, I am what you call a professional academic. I left high school went straight to college, straight to grad school and I was very successful. I do the school thing well. But when it comes down to it, we aren't in school just for the heck of it, we're in school for a specific purpose... or at least we should be, and as I said before, I had it all lined up and planned to perfection. But along the way I learned that like in science, life's plans don't always pan out the way we expect. You get exposed to different career paths, you get discouraged from the abysmal statistics of job placement for people with your degree, and you keep receiving the automated "We thank you for your interest in *insert company name* we have opted to pursue candidates who more closely-" blah blah blah. But hey, that's life right?
Yes, yes it is life, and there's always a lesson in each set back if you're willing to learn it.
Chance the rapper turned all his 'L's' into lessons, so why can't I?
Lesson number one: I can't depend solely on my own ambitions. Human interactions are vital to our successes and well being, and our ability to navigate socially is what will propel us where we're trying to go in life. That being said, establishing genuine connections with people who are where you're trying to be is vital. Easier said than done right? Kinda sorta not really.
You see the worse thing someone can do is say no.
So I've learned to take the risk and ask for help. I randomly reached out to people I respected to help me with my CV, asked for letters of support and even requested verbal recommendations from people I knew and from people I had never met. In fact, the reason why I have the position I have now is due to the kindness of strangers (I harrassed an investigator at the NIH and he linked me with several of his colleagues and he allowed me to use his name. This recommendation led to several interviews and the acquiring of my current post-doc opportunity). Even with this opportunity in hand, I'm still communicating with networks I established with guest speakers at my university, from summer programs, conferences and email correspondences from people in my field. Having good people skills is paramount no matter what career you're in. So, if you suck, practice until you're less uncomfortable with talking to people. Fortunately, I've done well with building this skill.
Lesson number two: Blindly applying for job postings does not work. I had to learn this the hard way. I wasted many hours in my last year of grad school applying to jobs that didn't even open my application. It wasn't until I started going to job fairs (even the ones that had nothing to do with my line of work) that I had a bit of success. One fair was looking for sales agents, I gave my card and the VP of the company contacted me saying they were on the market for a medical applications scientist. This job was not being advertised, but being in the wrong place at the right time worked out.... this time. While I ended up going elsewhere, I developed a good relationship with the VP of sales and marketing of this company and I'm sure if I reached out to him in the future, an opportunity may arise for myself or a colleague.
Lesson number three: Closed mouths don't get fed. Pretending that you have it all together seldom gets you anywhere. If you need something, make it known. I had to set my pride aside and reveal my weaknesses. I had to speak up and tell people what I was looking for and what I wanted. This spring, I worked in production for a month, and even at this job I discovered that there are opportunities that otherwise would've been unknown to me had I not told HR my credentials and what I was trying to do. (They have labs that help develop products).
Lesson number four: The waiting game is part of the process. Things aren't always going to work out exactly when you want them to. But eventually, if you're pushing forward, something will pan out. This is where faith becomes an important part of your journey. I started applying for jobs in May of 2017. I was only halfway through my dissertation, but I had 'faith' that I'd get it done. I did not get my first call back for an interview until December, and I didn't get my first job offer until April. I graduated in April... talk about sweating bullets! lol
Lesson number five: It's okay not to have it ALL together. You may not always know exactly how you're going to get where you're going, but it's okay. You'll figure it out along the way, and who knows, God's plan may differ drastically from the one you envisioned for yourself due to your limited thinking. :)