Case study quotes

To change to a career away from research, or even if you stay, the most valuable thing you can get is contacts. Networking is crucial - I have got all my employed jobs through contacts, none through answering an advertisement, and the same is true of much of my freelance work. Some amazing opportunities have arisen through someone recommending my name, and I have never been able to predict where these opportunities would arise. So if you are good at something and some people know it, get out there and get to know more people and ask them to recommend you. Network continuously, online and in person, and you never know where the rewards will come. And networking can also tell you about options you hadn’t thought about. Anna Sharman, publishing consultancy. Vitae Career Stories

In parallel [with applying for advertised jobs], however, I was in contact with some colleagues from my professional network, simply inquiring about new openings at their companies. As a result I got to know one particular contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) in Northern Ireland. Having been alerted that there would be some job openings coming up in the field of biocatalysis, I kept refreshing their career website, and when the job advert went live I applied. This was the only application that went well and I was eventually considered for an onsite interview.

Without help from my professional network I would not have gotten that job in Northern Ireland. Unless you’re brilliant in your field and a proud author of Nature publications, without proper guidance and friends in the right positions, transition from academia to industry is difficult. Bartlomiej Tomaszewski, Vitae Career Stories