The Deanery of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Biological Sciences recently hosted two online events where current students had the fantastic opportunity to hear from alumni about the varied and interesting career paths they have taken after leaving university. Our first panel of speakers entered employment following or shortly after their first degree. Our second panel of speakers entered employment following the completion of further study. Read on to hear top tips, advice and reflections from our speakers on what has helped them to progress their careers since graduating.
Top tips
· Get involved in student life including societies and other extra-curricular activities. Take the time to reflect on these experiences and what you have learnt about yourself and your interests through them.
· Being part of a committee and carrying out tasks such as organising meetings and taking minutes to name a few, can provide you with valuable transferable skills.
· Applying for opportunities, even if we are unsure we will get them, is beneficial experience. We can often try to predict the outcome before it is known and take ourselves out of the running by this thought process.
· Graduates entering roles in the life sciences sector often change direction within the same organisation, e.g. from lab work to regulatory affairs or quality assurance. You never know where you will end up, so apply for anything that interests you.
· Utilise the time between employment and or further study as a blank canvas to pursue long-held interests and adopt a mindset of curiosity about potential career paths through connecting with others as well as carrying out individual research.
· If you are thinking about taking an academic route, it can be useful to view the PhD as an immersive learning experience. If results don’t work out as you’d hoped they would, this experience strengthens your ability to cope with rejection and adversity as well as develop excellent problem-solving skills.
· The experience you gain through your degree, including internships and summer research projects, will help you when deciding what to do next.
· Consider completing an Edinburgh Award or SLICC (Student- Led Individually Created Course)
· Take opportunities to talk to people about their jobs. The UoE alumni tool on LinkedIn is great for career networking and can help you get a good insight into the types of work which interest you.
Next steps
· View recordings of our alumni speakers on the Careers Service Life Sciences Playlist
· Explore more of our graduate’s stories in Life Sciences Graduate Profiles
· Carry out a skills audit to help you to affirm what you already have and to identify any gaps or areas you might want to develop while still at university. Think about your experience in the widest sense for this – part-time jobs, volunteering, societies, internships, caring responsibilities, personal projects and more. They all count!
· Follow employers in your area of interest on LinkedIn to be kept up to date with current news and opportunities
· Consider joining a professional body or membership organisation, these can help to expand your network of connections as well as support access to sector resources and webinars.
