This year we had a slot at the KBC days (whole program here) for the first time.
We started with “Umeå Postdoc Society: What the heck is that”. Here, we presented us as a new society, who we are, how we work and what ideas we have. We were really happy that people used the chat function of the online event and asked questions about future events and the possibility to take active part in the future. We are also happy that we could announce the winner of our logo competition – Atin Sharma. Atin wins a voucher of 500 SEK for shopping in the Umeå city center. Congratulations to Atin and to all the other participants – we had several very good submissions. The rest of our slot was used for a round table discussion with former UmU postdocs moderated by Andreu. The 4 alumni Lindon, Raquel, Stefan and Valerie shared their experience of transitioning from a postdoc to other positions inside and outside of academia. The discussion covered topics like the search for positions but also the decision process how to find out, what one wants and what different aspects different people took into account (below you will discover the highlights of that round table.). Thanks again to the participants. We hope you all enjoyed the program and we are already looking forward to the KBC days 2021. [showhide type=”pressrelease” more_text=” Click to read the highlights of this event” less_text=” Click to hide details” hidden=”yes”]
Participants:
Lindon Moodie (L. M.), senior lecturer at Uppsala University (Sweden)
Raquel Rodrigues (R. R.), project manager at Coimbra University (Portugal)
Stefan Frost (S. F.), group leader at Roche pharmaceuticals, Munich (Germany)
Valerie Valeriano (V. V.), research engineer at Karolinska Institute (Sweden)
Q1: Job search and transition from postdoc at Umeå to the next step:
“I did not search job through job portals because I felt the number of participants would be higher and the chances to get a position lower. I looked for a professor position directly into the employment section on different universities websites” – L. M.
“My priorities were geographical rather than professional, so I looked for jobs in a very specific part of Portugal and Spain. I took into consideration what was available and what skills were needed.” – R. R.
“My goals were clear, I always wanted to do research in pharma industry, so I looked for those opportunities in job portals and job fairs” – S. F.
“I found that the research environment in Sweden gave me more opportunities than those I would have going back to my home country. I applied for a position which I was overqualified, but I was clear during the job interview and requested more leadership responsibilities and my employers were very supportive with that.” – V. V.
Q2: Motivation and decision making:
“I wanted to move forward my career and try to become a professor in academia, but I was also prepared to move to industry. I was looking for positions around Europe and my home country, New Zealand, but aiming mainly within Scandinavia. My partner was supportive moving with me since she was a postdoc as well at that moment, so we also considered locations with opportunities for her as well.” – L. M.
“As I said, I wanted to find a job in the south of either Portugal or Spain. But I was not sure what to do after my postdoc at Umeå, I did not feel like continue with academia or research immediately, so I took some time for myself to do non-scientific things of my interest, such as farming and sewing. When I felt ready, I started looking for scientific jobs, and I found the project manager position at Coimbra, which was suiting my priorities and at the same time I felt that my skills were fitting the job description.” – R. R.
“In my case, I never changed my mind, and I was specifically seeking for a career in pharma industry in Germany. I was actively looking, but since good opportunities don’t come up every day, I seized my time in Umeå with all the opportunities that were presented, like participating in a start-up project in the Incubator unit of UmU.” – S. F.
“My motivation to stay in Sweden is driven by my wish of pursuing a research career in academia and the opportunities were much higher here than in my home country. And I also liked the working conditions in Sweden, and I preferred to stay here than move to a new country.” – V. V.
Q3: Skills and networking:
“For the first year of my postdoc in Umeå I did the mistake of just focusing on research in the lab and try to advance, with the pressure of publish or perish, without paying attention to non-scientific skills. Later I realised the importance of collaborations to push forward research, and there are employers that value quality over quantity.” – L. M.
“I learned management in the lab by experience, since we did not have technicians taking care of the lab during my PhD. So, when I started my postdoc at Umeå University, I already have a good background on that. At KBC I realised how frequent interactions and collaborations were within different departments, and that helped with my communication skills. Both abilities are very useful for my current position.” – R. R.
“During my time at both KBC and Biotech Incubator, I had the chance to take a leadership role of a small group of people, which is an important skill as a group leader in industry. One of the things that helped me to deal with a group of people is that the environment at KBC was diverse and multicultural, making it more challenging but enriching at the same time to understand and deal with behaviour and cultural differences.” – S. F.
“In my case, I felt very important to have a supportive supervisor and not just someone that hires you to do research. I started to my supervisor which were my goals and I’ve got plenty of advice on what should focus to reach them, besides research.” – V. V.
Q4: Work/life balance:
“Sometimes is very difficult to keep a healthy work/life balance when you are a researcher in academia, especially if you feel the pressure to publish as much as possible. Over the years I have learnt to spend more time for myself and with my partner outside the lab and doing things I like such as cross-country ski. I would say the good thing about Umeå is that you decide if you want to work 8 hours or if you want to work overnight and weekends too. I always felt free to choose here, unlike it might happen in other countries.” – L. M.
“My work/life balance definitely improved as a postdoc in Umeå. I did my PhD in another country and one needed to work more time and harder to achieve the same results, mainly due to less resources available. Now that I am not in research, I have a better life quality, working within a regular fix schedule and spending free time on what I like.” – R. R.
“As pointed out, life as a researcher is complicated to coordinate with personal activities. I also agree that in Umeå there was not such a pressure and it was coming more from myself. Now that I have a position with several responsibilities in pharma industry, it gets more complicated sometimes, due to strict deadlines inherent to the sector. But in my case, it works fine because is what I was looking for.” – S. F.
“I also started my PhD with a more work-focused mentality, but at some point, I realised I was not happy and I needed to reconsider what I wanted to do and how I wanted it. Not just in my career, but also with my personal life. I find now, and I feel more efficient in my career and more satisfied with my life.” – V. V.
Q5: A tip for postodcs:
“One must not forget that the harshest criticism comes often from oneself. So, my tip is don’t look down on yourself and seek for an honest constructive opinion from someone else (a supervisor, a colleague…), and find out your true strengths and weaknesses.” – L. M.
“In addition to what Lindon said, and if you want to leave research as I did, find out what are you good are, which useful skills do you have, and what do you want to do. For example, those things could be managing budgets, coordinating people, etc.” – R. R.
“My recommendation is to expand your frontiers when looking for a job. The job market for postdocs is huge, but sometimes we limit ourselves to what we know. Attend to different scientific work fairs and exhibitions, there are often representatives from different industrial sectors looking for skilled talent and they might offer job opportunities that you are not aware of.” – S. F.
“My advice is to think on what you want to do and what makes you happy, both in your career and in your life. And then pursue it. If you are unhappy with any aspect of your life it might affect other parts, so is important that you find that balance.” – V. V. [/showhide]
