Industry - Medior researcher / consultant

During my PhD I found it difficult to really pinpoint what I wanted to do after. I knew what I liked doing, I knew what I was good at, and I knew what I did not want: a career in academic research. However, I was not fully aware of all the possibilities, just as many PhD students I believe. Research and development, biotech; those directions were the first that crossed my mind, and although I am working there now, I am doing something completely different than what I envisioned during my PhD.

If you are looking for R&D vacancies, or jobs in biotech, you often see that they require either a postdoc or a couple of years experience in biotech. Many PhD students will first do a postdoc just to fit those vacancies. I did not want to do a postdoc, so I was uncertain how I would get into biotech. Still; my current position required a postdoc, so I believe it can also really depend on how you convince your potential employer of your qualities.

I talked with a lot of people about their jobs: friends who work in science but not in academia, ex-colleagues, acquaintances of friends and colleagues, even their acquaintances! My primary goal of these network talks was not to land a new job, but just to create an image of the career possibilities after academia. Even when I initially thought that someone’s position was really not what I would like to do, I still talked with them: at times I was pleasantly surprised and at times I knew a certain career was not for me.

Through networking I got a job at Sanquin Reagents, the “biotech” branch of Sanquin, where reagents and diagnostic tests are developed and sold worldwide. I started as a project leader in which I was responsible for one diagnostic test, and its renewal of the CE-certification.

I did not know beforehand if this would really fit me, but in the first year I rediscovered my qualities and strengths. I knew what I was good at during my PhD, but during this first year I learned how these qualities helped me also during other aspects of work.

For example, during my PhD I had good presenting skills and could easily convey a (research) message. I learned now that this quality also helped me in leading meetings, in creating support amongst colleagues and helped with the communication with external parties. Likewise, I realized that problem-solving and optimization of processes were not only strengths, but also things that I truly enjoyed. So, 1,5 years later I continued my career as a process engineer, still at Sanquin Reagents. In this position I am responsible for the optimization of production processes, solving production problems or bringing new products from our R&D department to production. I still use my research skills on a regular basis. I design experiments and tests, dive into literature to find answers or new ideas, write research reports and study proposals and conduct desk research.

If there is a problem in a production process, I need to assess the problem, I need to find the cause of it, and I need to think of ways to solve it. I therefore still need the scientist mindset: the biomedical and immunological (laboratory) knowledge, the analytical and critical thinking, and also a bit of creativity to come up with solutions and new ideas. I enjoy this immensely. I like the need for fast decision making and my involvement in the whole production process, and sometimes even in the whole organization.

• Talk to a lot of people. Not only for job hunting, but also to peek behind the scenes of other careers. Even talk to people whose jobs you think you won’t like, they may surprise you. If you are hesitant to approach people, remember, most people like to talk about themselves and their work!
• Do not try to find the perfect job after your PhD. Start something that you think you might like, but give yourself time to figure out if it indeed fits you or not.
• Apply for a job even if you don’t match the full demands, you never know what it will bring you.