• Is the information useful, and at the right level for you? Do you leave feeling excited or miserable? These can be signs it’s working or it’s not. • If it’s not, it’s super important you leave on good terms. The science world is small – and today’s bad advice could be useful tomorrow. Meet with peers Talk over your current problems with people you work with, or on your level. • This mutual support can make today easier – failing experiments, how to deal with that difficult person. • It doesn’t have to be ‘formal’, coffee and doughnuts help, but try and avoid ‘pub talk’, venting can quickly lead to accidental character assassination. • Sometimes your peers get parachuted into positions far afield, they could become a mentor, or be key to landing your dream job! You might not want them to remember the day you threw ‘Frank’ under the bus. Give back • Most people don’t know they need a mentor – students, people you meet at conferences, outreach programs. • Being liberal with your (work!) email, or LinkedIn profile, could spark something. • Doing that career talk may feel like a waste of time, but think back to why you became a scientist… Did you just decide without influence? • By teaching, we cement a lot of our own learning. Being questioned is a good thing, it usually means you have something valuable to contribute. Never forget that. Step three: find out who you are – and keep finding out! Job hunting can take you from ‘looking for the dream job’ to ‘hoping that anyone will give you an interview’ pretty quickly. These decisions don’t define you. What you ‘have to do’ today may just lead you to what you ‘want to do’ tomorrow. There a couple of ways to investigate who you are; take a look at these three options, and choose the one that best suits you: Read a book! • Most people like to talk about themselves, and hearing about them can give you an idea of what resonates with you, and what makes you violently unwell. • As a starting point I’d recommend ‘Shoe Dog’ by Phil Knight, back to back with ‘Elon Musk’ by Ashlee Vance. • The content of these books are opposed, from the humble to the egotistical. Keep reading!
Start a triangle! • Find two friends you trust to open up to and google Johari Window.
• Perform this workshop as a group.
• The Johari Window gets rid of some bias, focusing on how you see yourself relative to how others see you.
Go to the core! • There is a lot of literature around core values.
• I would recommend a simple exercise like the one offered by Peak Fleet. You can do it online, and you get a PDF out of it. • At the very least, as you make decisions and they make you feel happy or uncomfortable – check in on your core values. Are you doing something that is in conflict with what you value in life? The end It’s key to remember that these are guidelines, and not rules. So often we read things like this, take a look at how much spare time we have, and feel down about it. Don’t use this as a stick to beat yourself, but if it can be empowering and helpful – then I’d love to hear about it. Careers, what we are doing right now, and life in general – it’s a marathon and not a sprint. How we deal with our worst days is more of a testament to how we are doing than what it looks like when all our stars align! Make time for the things that give you the energy to stay in the race; that could be pushing your kid on a swing, or playing Playstation in your pants (not mutually exclusive…). Biography Oliver is the Head of R&D at Singer Instruments, where he manages software development, robotics creation, and microbial research. With an academic background that includes an undergraduate degree from Lancaster University and a doctorate from the Synthetic Biology Research Center in Nottingham, he serves on the advisory board of Singer Instruments and the Microbiology Society Impact and Influence committee.
Oliver Severn Head of Research & Development Singer Instruments oliver@singerinstruments.com oliversevern
23 Microbiology Today May 2023 | microbiologysociety.org
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