Everything is changing for the better!

Hi friends,

A while ago, I wrote about not knowing what my future holds in terms of my career. Well, I am happy to say that life took upon itself to give me a boost in the right direction and make that decision much easier.

Even though I loved academic research, I began to understand that I was becoming what my dad would call a ‘stagnant postdoc’ – a post-doctoral researcher with no prospects for the future apart from being just that… a post-doc that will always have an uncertain future, having to secure funding to have a salary.

In this crazy world, only the best of the best are able, with perseverance and a bit of luck, to get to a position like professorship. I did not have any luck, my experiments – even though they worked – made absolutely no sense and I knew that it was a matter of time before I had to make the hard decision of what to do.

My natural contract cessation was in April with a possibility of three more months due to taking time off for maternity leave, and so I knew that I would have to decide what to do after Christmas.

Just before Christmas, however, I got contacted on LinkedIn by a recruiter who asked for my CV to put on their file and also, she asked if she could throw in an application to a company for a position that closely matched my skill set. I said of course without even asking what it was for; it was a busy time and I figured that if I didn’t have to do additional work then all the better.

Christmas season was lovely, and spending time with my boys was so precious. Then, I was back at work on the 8th of January and got a call from the recruiter saying that my application was successful and that I have an interview with a well-known biopharmaceutical company next week.

I had previously interviewed in this company, so I knew that it was a different kind of interview from what academics are used to. So I had a meeting with the recruiter to ask for her advice on how to properly answer interview questions, and what to say and what not. She was so so helpful. I had my interview and loved the company. Within the next two weeks, I had an offer.

So I had to tell my academic supervisor that I would be leaving in a month and she was lovely about it. As she put it, she was happy for me but sad for herself, but understood that you need progression and academia just doesn’t supply that any more.

And so, as of 25th of February, I started a new career in the biopharmaceutical industry. Is it easy? No… it’s a whole new world and language, but I know that I can rise to this challenge and be happy and proud of what I have achieved.

I hope you have a lovely day.

This story was published on March 13, 2019, on Babybluerascals (available here), and has been republished here with permission.