I completed my Ph.D. biochemistry in August 2011. After 4 years of hard work it felt great to be finished, in fact it feels a bit like this. I had of years of laboratory based research experience supplemented by extensive undergraduate teaching duties. I considered myself skilled and experienced in experimental design, data management/analysis, managing work flow, direct supervision of undergraduate projects, and teaching, in addition to the use of modern molecular biology techniques, and biochemistry used in the expression, purification, and characterisation of proteins. In short, I was educated, and experienced. I wanted to stay in Ireland, but I had to acknowledge most of the work for post-doctoral research was overseas.
TRANSITIONING TO POST-DOC RESEARCH
My initial job applications were focused on post-doctoral research opportunities in my field and focused mainly in the UK. While there was a constant stream of relevant positions coming online it quickly became apparent that without a firm experimental background in structural biology my current skill-set was not enough to secure a position. So I changed tactics, and began applying for research assistant positions. These positions can require less experience and expertise and are an excellent way to transition between two specialities. You become skilled in new techniques while maintaining your competency in general laboratory skills, and your employer gets an experienced scientist at low cost that will become proficient very quickly, it’s a win-win situation. However, on the few occasions where applications resulted in interviews I was dismissed as either not being skilled in what they wanted, or not being taken seriously because why would a Ph.D. apply for such a position, clearly, I was going to leave at the first opportunity contracts, responsibility and professionalism be damned!
PLAN B - INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS
So, without the right set of skills for academia, I decided to change tactics again. Clearly academia was flooded with skilled and experienced scientists, so I focused on industry applications. The major barrier for job applications in this area turned out to be recruitment agents which many companies insist on using. Through a mixture of incompetence, and simple refusal to consider any application without GMP written on it I made almost no progress while “working” with recruitment agents. The best success I’ve had with industry applications has been direct applications to the company itself, even when they are not advertising positions. I’ve received emails from the owners of smaller companies thanking me for my interest, I’ve made new contacts which may lead to work years down the line, and importantly they now know I exist, and I have skills that are useful to them.
After nine months of applications without any success I decided to take advantage of the new government sponsored upskilling programmes run for science graduates to allow employment in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector. Despite the government parading the term “knowledge based economy” at every opportunity, this is not backed up by private or public investment in research facilities here. Instead Ireland is used as a manufacturing hub requiring specific skills which can only be obtained through years of industry experience. In the hope of acquiring some of these skills I joined, and subsequently left a state sponsored course designed to ease the transition between academia and industry. Overall, things were beginning to feel a bit like this.
After attending the first lecture I realised I could teach the material, so I offered my services for free. I would get good lecturing experience, reduce their work load at the same time, as well as possibly leave myself in a good position for getting paid work down the line. This looked like it might go somewhere, but it turns out there are bureaucratic difficulties in turning up somewhere to work for free. Everyone involved wanted it to happen, but it couldn’t be done. Least helpful of all were the department of social welfare. Since I was on social welfare payments it would be illegal for me to volunteer for anything that was not on their list. University lecturing was not on their list, neither was laboratory work.
JOBS-BRIDGE
While attending a second state sponsored course I was called for interview for an internship I had applied for months previously. It was out of my field of expertise, but since the idea of jobs-bridge was to allow inexperienced graduates to upskill I was hopeful something would come of it, and amazingly it did. I was offered the position, a nine month contract performing research in analytical chemistry, where I would gain hands on experience with relevant techniques. I was happy to accept accept the position, 18 months after I first started applying for jobs.
My current situation is that I’m employed full time on a 5 year contract. I’m gaining relevant experience in a regulated industry setting while performing research that I find fascinating, and challenging in equal measure. For me, the jobs-bridge programme was critical to my getting a foot in the door. It allowed my employer to take a chance on me, set up an experimental research project at low cost until such time as they were in a position to hire me.
MY ADVICE
From December 2010, to September 2012 I applied for over 100 jobs mostly within Ireland and the UK, and was called for interview on 10 occasions. As a newly graduated Ph.D. I found it impossible to get my foot in the door, and for anyone to take me seriously. The tide is beginning to change now as experienced people are being snapped up, and companies are becoming more flexible on their requirements. But I don’t envy anyone looking for work over the next few years.
The best piece of advice I can give here is where at all possible bypass the recruitment agents completely. For the most part they are not scientifically literate, and they will have almost no understanding of what the job entails. Secondly, persist! Keep applying, and where possible get in touch with the company directly. Finally, join LinkedIn, and use it. Posting answers to questions on its forums is a great way to make new contacts and establish a name for yourself as someone who knows their subject matter, but also as someone that cares about their work, and act collaboratively to solve problems. Finally, get that first few months experience if you can. It might mean working for free, but it won’t be forever.
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