Question: Who would recommend your job to and why???

Alex Agrotis answered on 23 Apr 2020:

Most importantly I would recommend the job to someone who likes to study, because to have my job you need to have been studying as a university student for at least 7 years (3-4 years undergraduate and 3-4 years postgraduate/PhD). Hopefully that shouldn’t sound off-putting because it’s part of the journey, and during that time there is a gradual shift from being taught, to training in lab skills, to working as a scientist in a lab. You will also shift to more independent learning throughout – instead of being taught you will be going out of your way to teach yourself through reading papers, going to seminars and speaking to others.

The job is great for someone who likes to a mixture of practical work, thinking/problem-solving and learning. So if the idea of an office job sounds daunting, then research might be a good option. You get to use your hands a lot to do experiments, whilst also having time to use a computer for reading and data analysis.

Probably something that doesn’t seem so obvious is that science is great for people who like to talk to others! It really helps your work to meet lots of people, attend conferences, share ideas and feel part of the community. Even if you are shy at first, this is something that will come with experience.

I would recommend my job to anyone who has a really strong interest in how life works and wants to become an expert. But that doesn’t have to be an interest that you have right away. I never set out to do the job I’m doing, I just knew at first that I wanted to study science at university, and got some research experience part way through the degree. There was never a commitment to becoming a researcher, because at each step you pick up skills that are valuable for many different jobs within and outside science. Overall my advice would be to follow your interest, do what you enjoy, and see where that takes you!