• Question: what troubles have you faced during your career

    Asked by anon-352650 on 7 Mar 2023.
    • Photo: Graeme Dykes

      Graeme Dykes answered on 7 Mar 2023:

      Deciding on what path to follow. What sort of science and what sort of subset of that science to chose. There is a huge selection.

      Choosing where to study. I made my choice because it included an industrial placement scheme.

      Deciding whether to study for a Ph.D. In Chemistry it is very valuable but perhaps not the same for other sciences. Generally it is easier to go straight to post-graduate studies. It can be done later, while working but that is a lot of time and effort.

      Applying for jobs. The competition can be strong so you have to really show why you need to be accepted.

    • Photo: Nathalie Oguntona

      Nathalie Oguntona answered on 7 Mar 2023:

      Aside of the job itself occasionally, my main challenge has been around finding a job that matched my interests at the time and the application processes vs doing further study

    • Photo: Sarah Lyons

      Sarah Lyons answered on 8 Mar 2023:

      Day-to-day: chemistry not working, equipment breakdown delays, work politics
      More general: jobs can be very competitive and the interview processes can be stressful/lengthy, career progression can be challenging if you want to stay in the lab, though some companies are better than others.

    • Photo: Rebecca Walker

      Rebecca Walker answered on 8 Mar 2023:

      Finding and getting exactly the job you want is often challenging – there is a lot of competition for a limited number of jobs in academia (university-based teaching and research). Sometimes you might have to take a temporary job in a role that isn’t 100 % exactly what you want to do in the end, but often these jobs end up giving you skills you can use in your future jobs, opening doors in other areas or inspiring you to change direction in your career goals.

    • Photo: Martin McCoustra

      Martin McCoustra answered on 8 Mar 2023:

      An interesting question… The worst time in my career was a few years ago when I caught flu… Not a cold but real influenza. It took me out for 8 weeks and I couldn’t do anything but lie in bed for most of that time while it got over it. The COVID lock-down was a bit like that in that it was impossible to get into the office and laboratory so I turned to doing simulations to help me understand some of the problems we were working on.

    • Photo: Graeme Barker

      Graeme Barker answered on 9 Mar 2023:

      Lockdown in 2020 was very tough – my research group couldn’t access the lab, so our research had to be put on hold. Teaching undergraduate students also had to be completely reorganised to be done remotely, and lecturers spent a huge amount of time supporting students struggling with mental health or living situations. We got thought it eventually, but not a fun couple of years!

    • Photo: Grace Roper

      Grace Roper answered on 9 Mar 2023:

      My supervisor changed universities during my PhD, and I had to work out whether/when to move from Oxford to Newcastle. This was tricky as my husband was committed to Oxford until the end of his own PhD. I decided to move to Newcastle slightly later than my colleagues, about 6 months before my husband could join me in Newcastle, which worked out fine.

      The covid-19 lockdown was also extremely challenging, as labs were closed and I needed them!

    • Photo: Jo Ellis

      Jo Ellis answered on 15 Mar 2023:

      Career choices can be difficult, i have been unemployed and getting a job you enjoy can be a challenge but that is part of living, you just stick with it and carry on

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