In a career workshop, we discuss two principles of salary negotiation. In a negotiation, we need an anchor point. In salary negotiations, this is the market value, i.e. the salary that is usual for the position you are aiming for.
The first principle is to set your salary expectations at the upper end of this market value so that you have some buffer for the negotiation. The second principle is called BATNA, short for Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. Think about it: What could happen if the negotiation does not lead to a satisfactory outcome? Of all possible scenarios, BATNA is the best outcome, i.e. your fallback option.
I want to know from the participants whether their private situation influences their salary expectations: "Imagine you or your partner were wealthy. Does that change your salary expectations?"
"If I'm already rich, I don't really need the money and don't have to ask for much," replies Ina. "Or the other way round," interjects Miroslav. "You don't want to lag behind your partner that much, do you?"
Your financial situation can influence your salary expectations - but it shouldn't. If you ask for less than the market value, you are giving a poor work sample. After all, if you can't stand up for yourself, how will you be able to negotiate on behalf of the employer and adequately represent their interests in the future? If, on the other hand, you demand more than the market value, this makes you unattractive.
"Does your personal situation influence your BATNA?", I ask my second question. The participants quickly realise what I'm getting at. "Unemployment with money is more pleasant than unemployment without money," Miranda states the obvious. And she's right: if you're doing well financially, you're in the comfortable position of being able to turn down a mediocre offer.
Second earners in particular often sell themselves short. And because many people find salary negotiations unpleasant, they try to end them quickly with defensive tactics.
Stating your salary expectations is a fairly mechanical affair. See it as a work sample: show the employer that you can research your market value and present yourself confidently.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
My first attempt as a scientist to connect with a lay audience was a surprisingly big challenge. During my postdoc, I took part in the Edinburgh Science Festival and stood on stage in front of 150 schoolchildren. I prepared much more intensively than I usually do for presentations: a particularly detailed preliminary discussion with the presenter, a three-dimensional model as visualisation material and lots of practice runs. At the end of the event, the moderator asked the audience which of us six scientists had made the best impression. None of the 300 hands went up in the air for me. Where was my mistake?
All my energy was focussed on the question: How can I explain my science specifically to this audience in a way that is understandable? With all my efforts and considerations, I had probably not completely failed to be at least somewhat understandable. What I hadn't realised, however, was that what I was saying was simply not relevant to the audience. For them, it was the unworldly ravings of a foreign nerd who stirs transparent liquids for days on end and occasionally shouts "Eureka" at the sight of cryptic lines in the computer.
I'm in good company here. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel once had a moment when the physicist in her burnt out: Small amounts of radioactive material escaped during a Castor transport - at a time when there were particularly intense protests against these transports. Merkel stepped in front of the Tagesschau microphones and explained the accident. Something had just gone wrong during decanting. You can imagine it like when children in a sandpit use a shovel to pour sand from one bucket into another.
If the aim had been to make the process comprehensible even to viewers who have nothing at all to do with technology, then the explanation would have been appropriate. However, the viewers' concern was different: they wanted certainty that something like this would not happen again in the future.
It's good that science is becoming more and more accessible to the public and that the actors are expressing themselves more and more clearly. For most situations as communicating scientists, however, this first developmental step is not enough: we need to empathise even more deeply with our audience and add relevance to comprehensibility.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
"A horse only jumps as high as it needs to," I say, nodding to John, one of the participants in my workshop on writing funding applications. He looks thoughtful. He has just asked me whether it would make sense to apply for a small travel grant. After all, his professor has enough third-party funding to finance a last-minute trip to Mars - should NASA ever come knocking.
Most of the doctoral students in my workshops have never applied for funding. They seem to think that submitting a funding application is like preparing for an event that is as distant - and perhaps unpleasant - as the end of the world.
Writing such proposals is a valuable skill that can benefit your career. Whether you want to stay in academia, work for a non-governmental organisation or enter the private sector: This experience brings significant benefits.
Proposals in science are about more than just funding. It's about paving the way for your own future. According to studies, people who receive small amounts of funding early on find it easier to get larger sums later on. These early successes signal that funders recognise your research and that you are able to manage projects and resources. They also show that you can make a convincing case for why your work is important.
Skills you learn in grant proposal writing are also beneficial for non-academic careers - even if you never apply for a grant again. They show that you can clearly articulate how your project aligns with and advances an organisation's strategic mission. For example, you may be presenting a new idea to senior management or developing a project for a socially relevant cause. So it's not just about securing funding - it's about changing your mindset. You learn to work out where your interests overlap with those of the other side. These are sought-after skills, whether you end up in academia or swap your lab coat for a blazer or jacket. It pays to jump a little higher than you need to from time to time. So write your first applications as early as possible.
Karin Bodewits, k.bodewits@naturalscience.careers
"Poster presentations are relevant," is how I begin a workshop on the topic of the same name. This introduction is deliberately flat to encourage people to think. If something wasn't important, it wouldn't be a workshop topic. When it comes to posters, however, this is not a trivial message: we often perceive the poster as a compulsory exercise. In order to be allowed to participate in conferences, we usually have to make a contribution - the poster is seen as the low-threshold version of the prestigious presentation.
I am showing a survey that appeared in the Nachrichten aus der Chemie [Nachr. Chem. 2016, 64(11), 1097]. In it, chemists from industry reveal which skills they would like to see in graduates. Poster design is in third place with 46 per cent and poster presentation in fifth place with 41 per cent. Proud figures for this simple compulsory exercise.
I look round: "As an industrial chemist, will you be presenting posters? Probably not. Then why does the industry attach such importance to it?" After some thought, Olga speaks up. "Scientists are said not to get to the point. And if we try to squeeze a full paper onto a poster, then we spend the poster session alone."
She's right: a good poster provides concise information in a nutshell. The title - which shows visitors whether the poster is of interest to them - and an eye-catching graphic are central to a good poster design. Add a few clearly explained illustrations and clearly visible conclusions and the work is finished.
What applies to the design should also be applied to the poster presentation. "How do you feel when you go to a poster and are immediately overwhelmed by a long monologue on a tiny detail?" The nodding in the round shows me that this is a recurring phenomenon. A good presentation is a dialogue that is geared towards the interests of your visitors.
These are exactly the reasons why the industry is interested in whether you can design and present posters. In the private sector, you need to communicate with a wider range of colleagues and partners than at university. Ideally, you should have a poster award that shows with a simple line in your CV that you can communicate with a specific target group and not get lost in the details.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a workshop on job applications, Hans tells us about a frustrating experience. "I applied for an advertised postdoc position. I wasn't invited. When I visited the research group's homepage a few months later, I saw that no one had been hired!"
It happens surprisingly often that a position is advertised that doesn't even exist - or that there is someone who will definitely get the job."How can you recognise that there is an insider, so you have no chance from the outset and could save yourself the time?" I want to know from the panel.
I myself have experienced such a situation - from the other side. My own postdoc position was originally for 18 months. When I applied for a six-month extension, we had to officially advertise it. Needless to say, there was no interest in ousting me from my position.
"How do you think we worded this job posting to save us and the applicants time?" I rephrase my question.
"I would word it so specifically that only you would fit it," Josh replies. That's exactly how it went: In the job advert, we asked for experience in the subject area of my PhD, which had nothing to do with the postdoc thematically, plus fluent German. The university administration was satisfied: Target of zero applications achieved due to overly specific job description.
"How should I deal with it if I don't get any response from employers?" asks Urzula. 'Not getting upset' is easy to say here. However, if we realise why we sometimes don't get a reply, then some of our anger disappears of its own accord. Of course, sloppiness or even disrespect can lead to us not receiving a reply. However, the most common reason is a legal one: if the employer gives a reason for rejecting you, this always harbours a risk. This is because you could try to read a form of discrimination into the arguments for the rejection.
The application process can demand a lot of patience. If you understand the employer's motives, you can avoid frustration or at least categorise it in such a way that it doesn't drag you down.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a counselling session, postdoc Daniel tells me about his boss: "She's great as a scientist, manager and person. But she seems to have a few blind spots when it comes to cultural differences, which often leads to frustration." As an example, he cites how the professor questioned a Chinese doctoral student about her project for half an hour in front of the entire team. The boss presumably wanted to show interest and find solutions to the scientific problems together. The tone was matter-of-fact, but the doctoral student felt that the persistent questioning in front of the group was a loss of face: "Later, she stood trembling at her desk with tears in her eyes." Daniel offered to talk to her about it, but to no avail. "Am I obliged to support my colleague more, do I perhaps even need to speak to our boss?"
I like how much he thinks on an interpersonal level alongside science. However, people with such a multi-layered consciousness often feel overwhelmed by their sense of duty. How far does our responsibility as a boss, colleague or employee go?
"What would be in your job description," I want to know, "if it was really conscientiously formulated and not just filled out as a bureaucratic compulsory exercise?" It would say that you should behave constructively towards your colleagues and superiors. It would not include acting as a coach or counsellor for your boss. This realisation can make this difficult decision easier for you: you can, but don't have to, point out your boss's weak points. If you do, it is honourable and commendable, and you can be proud of yourself. On the other hand, you should be lenient with yourself if you don't always overfulfil your obligations: Above all, you are committed to your core tasks and your mental health.
You can apply this knowledge not only to questions relating to your duties, but also to your rights. For example, when you are considering whether it is okay for you to commit to your professional development and a varied range of tasks. The answer will now be easy for you: Yes, of course it's okay. You are not a robot, but a highly qualified specialist who should keep fit through lifelong learning - a clear core task of your job profile.Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
Clara is over the moon: a top law firm offers her a job as a patent attorney candidate. However, the salary in the draft contract is below the standard market rate - Clara is surprised. Nevertheless, two days later she writes to the HR manager to say that she would be happy to accept the position. Who knows if such an opportunity will arise again? The HR manager's reply blows Clara away: "We don't want to offer you a job. The document we sent was just a draft contract for you to look at, without our signature." When asked why she was suddenly no longer wanted, Clara was told: "If you work for us, you have to charge clients at least 350 euros per hour. That requires a certain business mindset. If you don't even ask for a competitive salary for yourself, then you probably won't do it on behalf of the law firm either."
With something as important as an employment contract, you should always make sure it's in writing. That was Clara's technical error. She also disregarded a principle that applies to the entire application process - every step is a work sample. Standing up for a salary in line with the market is not greed, but shows your future employer that you will confidently represent their interests.
We know the classic hidden work test from films: the cranky doorman is the first test of whether your manners are polite. I myself was put to the test when I was invited to an interview after an open application. When I wanted to know what kind of job we were actually talking about, I was told that this would only be discussed towards the end of the interview - a test of how I would deal with this uncertainty. Such tests occur at many different moments. Because of all types of interview questions, work samples provide the employer with the most information.Does the employer call you without prior notice to clarify a few key points of your application? Just ask yourself how you should react in a similar situation in your new job. This will reduce stress and make it clear which tactic would be the right one. A good strategy: apologise for your indisposition and arrange a time when you can talk without being disturbed.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
"Chemists do a doctorate! If you don't like it, drop out!" First-semester students are still greeted with words like this. Is this still in keeping with the times? 25 years after the Bologna reform was signed, have bachelor's and master's degrees still not been established as qualifications that qualify students for a career in chemistry?
The doctorate rate in chemistry in Germany in 2023 was 85 per cent. Anyone looking to start their career with a Bachelor's or Master's degree is therefore still swimming against the tide. Employers usually equate bachelor's graduates with chemical-technical assistants - despite the stronger theoretical foundation.
The only jobs in the private sector for which a doctorate is almost indispensable are responsible positions in research. Nevertheless, a doctorate in chemistry - in contrast to almost all other disciplines - is often accepted as a God-given constant. However, with a Master's degree and four years of experience in industry, they are at least as well qualified for most positions as someone with a doctorate.So how do you get a foot in the door without a doctorate? A classic chicken-and-egg situation, you might think. However, the labour market is currently shifting: the shortage of skilled workers, which has been lamented across the country for some time, is only now being felt in the chemical industry due to high student numbers. Companies that are prepared to break with the traditions surrounding doctorates are expected to compete more strongly with doctoral candidates for Master's graduates. First-year students are then likely to be told more and more: "We hope that you will stay with us for a doctorate after your studies."
If you want to start your career straight after your bachelor's degree, let your supervisor know that you would like to take on tasks beyond the day-to-day lab work and that you are willing to train for this.
For starting your career directly after your Master's degree, you should be aware that employers in Germany traditionally like to present themselves as elitist in job adverts. So don't take everything literally. If you emphasise why you already have the necessary qualifications, you are showing that you are a good candidate: I have understood which attributes and qualities count in everyday professional life. This is a good working sample of your ability to research information.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersWhen I was still working in the lab, one morning I found a note above a colleague's lab bench: "If you touch my glassware, I will break your fingers. Sincerely, Czeslaw."
I like to use this example to introduce the topic of "direct and indirect communication". Direct communication is understandable, but can be perceived as harsh. Indirect communication, on the other hand, hides the actual message behind pleasantries and is therefore difficult to understand.
In one workshop, we discussed a particularly difficult case: How do you tell a colleague that they have a distinct body odour? Sascha approaches the challenge. "Maybe you haven't noticed it yet, but there's a slight odour in your office. Maybe it's coming from the ventilation system?" Renata starts to laugh: "Are you saying you smell like the dead rat that was found in the ventilation shaft the other day?"Sasha's back door was intended to help the recipient save face. However, he unintentionally made the problem bigger than it is - a good example of the complexity of indirect communication.
Daniel speaks up. "My professor only wanted to give a tip the other day, but it went really wrong: 'Perhaps the use of deodorant is unusual in your culture. Unsurprisingly, many people saw that as racist."
"Do you know how I came across the topic of body odour?" I ask the group. "The smelly person was me. I had to take strong medication for a fortnight, but I was still able to work." I tell them how a colleague took me aside and asked me sympathetically if everything was okay with me, as he had never noticed my body odour before. "I was aware of the problem, but not the extent of it. I was infinitely grateful to my colleague for taking on the unpleasant task of giving me this well-intentioned tip."
There is no right or wrong way to choose between direct and indirect communication. The idea that direct communication necessarily goes hand in hand with rudeness is not true. My colleague was direct. He chose the right context, the confidential one-to-one conversation. He gave me the feeling that his aim was to prevent harm to me, not to put me down.
The intention counts more than the packaging of our words.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a counselling session, Laura reveals her problem with her current employer to me: "My company is currently receiving a lot of negative press. And there is at least a grain of truth to the accusations." She talks about adventurous constructions in tax havens, raw materials from sensitive natural areas and marketing full of greenwashing.
Her working conditions are good: her colleagues form a functional, friendly team; her tasks are pleasantly challenging. Her line manager actively supports her employees and their needs and development. At the same time, the company works with controversial means and partners as long as legal and regulatory requirements are met. This creates an inner conflict for the employees: the company's development is at odds with their own convictions. And Laura asks herself: "Can I still stay with this company, or will it break me?" There is no general answer to this question. There are also practical consequences if the employer behaves contrary to their own morals. If the work is perceived as lacking in content or even destructive, this can lead to burnout in the worst case - without any overwork at all.
Even if your own ideals match those of your employer, but the rest of society thinks differently, you are constantly exposed to nagging questions. It can be nice to stand up for your beliefs, but it is often perceived as tiring.
Moral conflicts can make it difficult for employers to find suitable employees. This could either force salaries to rise or destabilise the employer with such a long-term problem. You can make similar considerations in the academic environment. Almost a fifth of third-party funding comes from industry, which can impose conditions as a funder. Scientific independence is crucial for researchers. In addition, it is easier to recruit doctoral students and postdocs if your own research is perceived as beneficial.
Moral considerations are always deeply personal. Don't push them to one side, but ask yourself: is this employer a good fit not only in terms of development prospects, but also in terms of moral values?
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a career workshop, Malaika talks about her move to Germany. "I was really scared to move to a small town like Neuburg. But I was pleasantly surprised: the city is very young, actually like a big university campus. The population is very international, I was able to settle in quickly."
Sometimes the demographics of a place are helpful to get a feel for whether you might fit in: Age structure, average level of education, where the population comes from and even voting behaviour can provide insight.
"Can we make similar considerations for future employers?" I ask the group. "Well, I wouldn't go to the Betzler working group," says Tim. "He's never had any international doctoral students, most of them even come from our city. I think it's a bit provincial." "Can it be a warning sign if the group is very international?" I want to know. Stefan replies: "Hardly anyone who has studied here applies to Professor Schulke. She has a reputation as an extreme grinder, which only the locals know."
In industry, how long employees stay also plays a role. If the throughput is high, this indicates an unpleasant working environment. The lack of continuity also means that little knowledge is built up. In such a company, you learn less than with employers where employees stay longer. If employees stay with an employer for a long time, there are three different cases:
Employee loyalty, which the employer earns through good management and work culture. Does this make it a rigid environment? - Only if employees hardly change jobs within the organisation.
Cul-de-sac. A few jobs have no logical connection point to other areas if you want or need to reorient yourself. This is not the case in industry, but there are jobs in government offices or as a teacher that are difficult to move away from.
Golden cage. Some jobs are so well paid that changing jobs almost always means a significantly lower salary. Once your life is set up for higher ongoing costs, the transition can be painful. Patent and corporate management jobs fall into this category.
Both internationality and length of service do not in themselves allow a judgement to be made. However, if you notice a swing to the extremes, take this as a warning signal. You can get these clues quite easily by looking at profiles in professional social media such as Linkedin.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersKarl is at the end of his doctorate - and has applied for a position advertised for Master's graduates with no professional experience. "Why do you think this is a suitable position for you?" I want to know. "With such a top employer, I thought that I would have more chances with a position for less qualified applicants."
About half of the participants in our workshop think that Karl could be successful with his tactics. Nevertheless, there are objections: "Won't they still have to pay you the doctorate salary?" asks Maurice. "And would you even be an attractive candidate?" enquires Julia.
Being overqualified reduces Karl's attractiveness for the employer instead of increasing it.
The question will arise: Will Karl get bored after a few months and leave the company? If so, the entire recruitment and familiarisation process might be a waste of time. The employer will certainly also consider whether the candidate is an anxious character.
The shortage of skilled labour has now reached the chemical industry. For most applicants, there is therefore no reason to sell themselves short. Only in a few exceptions can an application at a lower level make sense: in the event of a career break, a move from abroad or if - apart from the level of qualification - the position suits you exceptionally well.Applications as an overqualified person are very difficult to write. How do you take away the employer's fear that you will quickly leave, but at the same time be perceived as appropriately ambitious? Show what appeals to you about the position, what you can learn despite being overqualified. How does this fit in with your previous career decisions? Can you paint a picture of an employee who is okay with performing simpler tasks instead of making decisions and taking initiative, and still - or precisely because of this - providing valuable services to the team? Outline a growth perspective for your professional future that matches your past and shows the employer that you will enjoy the job for at least some time.
By the way: Whether the employer has to pay you according to your qualifications depends on whether it is subject to the collective labour agreement. This is therefore usually only the case with larger companies, with smaller ones it is a matter of negotiation.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersIn a counselling interview with a doctoral student in the application phase, we discuss questions that might come up in the interview: "With your profile, I can well imagine that you will be asked whether you can imagine working in another field." In her usual straightforward manner, she replies: "I would like to work on the simulation of catalytic converters, ideally at the interface between a university and a small company." I pause and we both have to laugh. "Okay, I guess that gives me extra points for 'not flexible'," she summarises with a grin.
With questions like this, employers want to see that your idea of your own professional future is not too rigid - but also that you know what you want. If you indicate that you're really up for anything just to get your foot in the door with this employer, they will perceive you as desperate.My interviewer concentrates and makes a second attempt. "At the beginning of my doctorate, I worked in the lab, which I enjoyed. I think it's very important to keep in touch with my colleagues who work experimentally. After all, we simulate their experiments." Recently, she dropped by the lab again to talk to a colleague, she says. "He showed me a transition metal alloy that was shining gold. I had expected a silvery colour and found out in conversation that the colour could be explained by relativistic effects." Crucial information for her: "This was important for my simulations - if these effects are omitted, then my models are no longer correct. I could well imagine moving closer to the lab again in the future."
I am flabbergasted. This answer is in many ways better than the first: the doctoral student explains her interest in simulation and in the same breath indicates in which directions her interest could plausibly develop in the future. She does this using a real and easy-to-understand example that portrays her as an interested and self-critical scientist.If you want to explain something, it is easier for the audience to understand if you start with a concrete example. You can then draw general conclusions based on this.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
"How long can I put off deciding between industry and a career in academia?" asks PhD student Iryna at a career workshop. She is refreshingly direct in expressing what quite a few others in the room are also thinking. "I think academic research is great, but I'm also very curious about how things work in industry."
There are some positions where you have a foot in both worlds at the same time. For example, you can do a doctorate or a postdoc in industry. You should clarify in advance whether you are allowed to publish, which is not always the case. At higher career levels, there are the real stars who wear several hats at the same time. Think of the professor who sits on supervisory boards and raises funds through industry collaborations. Their counterparts are the industrial science stars for whom an endowed professorship is set up.
A few decades ago, universities and colleges were even further apart than they are today. This was and is less pronounced in chemistry than in other disciplines. Today, both sides are increasingly endeavouring to work together. Both sides maintain staff units whose main task is to act as a mouthpiece to the outside world and build connections.Industry is endeavouring to find new products and technologies (technology scouting) and supports academic projects, for example by funding them.
At universities, it is not only the professors who are involved in these collaborations. Many science management tasks have now been professionalised to support such interactions: Think of patent exploitation centres or start-up consultations, for example.
Technology parks are important catalysts for cooperation between universities and industry. This is where spin-offs from the university often find their first home. "Where would you locate the Fraunhofer Institutes?" I conclude the topic. Not an easy question: Fraunhofer Institutes are public institutions, but they are largely financed by industry funds for their contract research.
It's easier for you if you know early on where your career is based. But you may not even have to say goodbye to one side. There are exciting jobs for chemists at the interface between academia and industry.Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a workshop, we analyse how we can take a lay audience on a journey through our research. "I understand that we shouldn't throw technical terms around," Max begins, "but I don't feel comfortable replacing technical terms with metaphors. This isn't the Bild newspaper." Sam adds: "The God Particle instead of Higgs boson - that's just sensationalist, with no added value."
Terms like God Particle help to attract attention. But that's all the positive things that can be said.
With bad metaphors, you get a lot of bycatch: exaggeration, confusion or fraying of the discussion into philosophical debates. If the Higgs boson is the particle of the gods, does the proton come from the holy ghost?
"What about Blueprint of Life for deoxyribonucleic acid?", interjects Shixin. That fits better. We understand how the proteins are encoded on the blueprint of DNA. Newer findings such as epigenetic levels of information are not captured with Blueprint of Life, but that is beyond the reach of a simple picture.
Don't be afraid to use figurative language. Some linguistic images are so powerful that they become part of common parlance. The term cell was introduced as a metaphor by Robert Hooke at the end of the 17th century when he recognised structures under the microscope that reminded him of small rooms, Latin "cella". The optical wave has followed a similar path. Or think of the ecological footprint, invasive species, food chains or the greenhouse effect - all terms that have moved from metaphor to common parlance over time.
If you want to develop your own images or comparisons and assess whether it is a good or bad metaphor you should ask yourself: Does a term just roll off the tongue then it is a bad metaphor. If, on the other hand, a linguistic image helps to make an issue more accessible to your audience, then it is a good metaphor.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a workshop on "Your path into industry", we discuss the pros and cons of future employers. "More money, more jobs, more opportunities," says Bertrand, summarising the arguments in favour of big industry. "That's a great starting point for our discussion," I thank him. He looks at me as if he has already sealed the deal on all discussions with his statement. More money is usually right. Large-scale industry pays according to the chemical industry pay scale, which is generous after decades of negotiations and a constructive relationship between the unions and the employers: PhD graduates receive around 80,000 euros, and those with a Master's degree around 69,000 euros. Smaller companies pay at least 15 to 20 per cent less.
"More jobs?" I ask the group. "Certainly per company, but I doubt it for the economy as a whole," Inge interjects. In fact, start-ups and, in Germany in particular, SMEs are a driving force for the labour market. When it comes to opportunities, it depends on the sector. Bertrand reports from a summer school run by a pharmaceutical giant that there are "trainee programmes, an in-house training academy, internal career mentors: I don't know if you can top that". He is right about that.
However, there are a few things in favour of smaller employers: they are less visible and therefore have to make an effort to find and retain employees. Many of them are making up for their lag behind big industry with flexibility, ingenuity and external training programmes.
However, it is not so easy to find the right employer due to the large number of SMEs. Specialist and lobby organisations or technology parks help with the search. Companies that have just raised public funding or venture capital will soon be interested in new employees - this is the time for an unsolicited application. Using information about small companies from patents, publications or newspaper articles, you can personalise an application there.
In big industry, you get a higher salary and a well-known name on your CV. Apart from that, it's a matter of taste whether you prefer a large or a smaller company.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
"Let's talk about small talk." The participants in the workshop on self-presentation make faces. "Could you turn your facial expressions into words?" I ask the group. "Well, I'm not thrilled that I have to deal with shallow babbling even at scientific conferences, which also seems to be crucial for my professional success," Jens complains. "Sorry, it's up to you whether you stick to empty phrases or take the conversation further," replies Jenny, "I love interacting freely with people I don't know." Irina, on the other hand, is afraid she'll just talk nonsense all the time.
We can dispel a few preconceptions here. Firstly, not everything a scientist says has to be super clever. "What brings you to this conference?" means nothing more than: "We're happy to talk, but we don't have to." Think of your efforts to start a conversation as a service for those who don't dare to do so. Secondly, the disproportionate weight of networking in our professional lives neither undermines meritocracy nor devalues the long years of study. Your core academic qualification is the foundation for your career. However, you need a broader range of skills to score points.The basic rules of small talk are very simple. Don't start off negatively. Nobody is interested in the fact that you don't like the weather, conference coffee or the late regional train. Don't go into the conversation with pre-formed assumptions either. "This must be your first time at this conference series, I've never seen you before" is particularly embarrassing if it turns out that your counterpart is one of the conference organisers.Take a playful approach and set yourself a random target. For example, try to find out whether the other person is a biochemist, analyst or synthetic chemist. It doesn't matter whether you succeed or not. The game forces them to take the first step. If you enter the conversation with open questions, you let the other side talk and give them the chance to help shape the conversation.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers"I already have the jitters during presentations," admits Simon. "At job interviews, I'm even more on the edge of my seat. I find the small talk at the beginning the worst," he summarises his fears.
In fact, some people find the supposedly relaxed parts of a job interview frightening. Fortunately, we can counteract this stage fright. "Well, let's try the easier situation first, the presentation," I suggest. "Please come to the front of the group and show us the beginning of your last presentation." Simon starts speaking as soon as he gets up from his chair: "Thanks for inviting me to this conference. My talk is about ..."
Most people feel the same way as Simon in situations that make them nervous. Speakers want to get it over with quickly and therefore start speaking too early. This creates a hectic start to a presentation - for themselves and for the audience. The presenters are out of breath when they start and have to manage several things at the same time: finding a good speaking position, getting to grips with the technology and making contact with the audience. Such a start confuses the audience: is this already part of the presentation?
In the workshop, we practise these first few seconds of a presentation. Entering the stage, finding a seat, looking around the room. At this point, we pause for a moment, take a breath, enjoy the friendly faces and only start speaking when we and the audience are ready. Stage fright often disappears once the start of the speech has been well practised.
When making small talk before a job interview, we also feel a certain rush, want to say something relevant quickly and slip up. Of course, you don't have to stand in front of your interviewer for seconds without saying a word, as in our exercise, but you should take a breath.
"Please don't think that you have to share groundbreaking insights right away during small talk," I conclude the discussion. Small talk is a warm-up exercise for both sides. A: "Thank you very much, it was a pleasant journey" with a relaxed smile is enough. If you can then think of something nice to say, all the better.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a workshop for prospective group leaders, we deal with the topic of third-party funding. Collaborations with industry have a long history in chemistry and are hardly considered disreputable in Germany. If freedom of research is not restricted too much, most selection committees treat industry funding in the same way as other third-party funding.
"I'm currently negotiating a collaboration with a company," reports Jeff, "but I'm not at all sure whether it's ethically clean," he shares his concerns. "What kind of research would you like to do with industry?" I ask. "It's about the further development of a detector that the company installs in its devices," he explains. After a few questions from the floor, we draw a reassuring conclusion: we found no ethical problems in Jeff's co-operation. If successful, a company will offer devices with a higher resolution, which will make users happy.
Together we think ahead. Are there research collaborations that are morally more complex than a purely technical development? "Smoking," Rachel interjects. Her comment has a kernel of truth. In the past, researchers were bought off to sow doubts about the harmfulness of tobacco smoke, certain drugs, sugar, DDT, alcohol or opiates. This still happens today: the topics are new, the tactics are the same. The scientific consensus is presented as dubious, unnecessary studies delay regulations or bans, the problems of switching to clean alternatives are exaggerated.
A line is emerging in our discussion: Most see purely technical developments as ethically unproblematic. The academic scientist as an evaluator, on the other hand, raises questions.
Potential problems must therefore be addressed before the collaboration begins. Scientists can review cooperation and non-disclosure agreements with the support of increasingly professionalised departments at universities: Is a desired result already predetermined by the study design? Are the results used selectively, depending on the answer? And most importantly: Is the scientist muzzled? If you answer these questions in advance, industry collaborations are an interesting instrument for diversifying third-party funding.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersDuring a coffee break at a workshop on networking, two doctoral students are amused by an email. "Dear Prof. Kohlenforschung, I would like to pursue a PhD at the institute of Schüth." As the workshop continues, I refer to this email: "If you write to someone you don't know yet, how do you do it so that you are heard?" Tim, who has spent the rest of the coffee break showing the email around, points to his phone: "Definitely not like this."
Every email starts with the most important, because most visible part, the subject line. The conventional wisdom is that the reason for contacting you should be stated at this point. This is indeed important, but imagine that the subject line reads: "Postdoc in your research group." You may well be one of many and end up in the "read when I have time" pile. If you can establish a personal connection, then you should mention this in the subject line, for example: "Recommendation from Dr Gisdakis." If the recipient knows Dr Gisdakis, they will read the email promptly.
In some cases it will be appropriate to include a contact person in CC, in others not. This makes your message more personal and creates transparency. However, if you have several enquiries from the same contact person, you should make sure that their inbox does not fill up.
Next, a polite salutation. That sounds obvious. But there are plenty of examples to the contrary: Emails with the wrong or misspelled name of the recipient. The first sentence of your email should finally contain the "why" in one or two short sentences. In the next sentence, mention your preliminary work. See the brevity of your introduction and the entire email as a work sample: will it be a time waster to deal with you or a well-prepared, efficient interaction? Wafflers usually waffle in both written and spoken form.
Close the email, which only needs five sentences in total, with your specific request. This point also seems trivial, but scientists in particular often think that their readers can draw this conclusion for themselves.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a career workshop, we discuss how personal values influence career choices. The question of whether idealism can or even has to be a selection criterion raises eyebrows. "I wouldn't want to work on marginal improvements to lifestyle products for any money in the world," Rodrigo proclaims. "Well, if you work for an NGO, you'll just have to stay in your flat share," Karsten replies mockingly. "Is that really the case?" Frederieke enquires, "The more idealistic a job is, the worse it pays?"
As is so often the case, the answer is yes and no. The best-paid jobs are where a lot of money is made, for example in large organisations. These organisations have the goal of earning as much money as possible, and in the case of stock corporations this is even an obligation. Does that make these jobs less idealistic? Certainly not always. If work there helps to make processes more effective and therefore usually more sustainable, that can very well be a positive contribution.
Sometimes chemists can influence the topic they are working on. One lever is the shortage of skilled labour that is slowly arriving in life sciences and chemistry. Their labour closes a gap. It's up to you to decide which employer you choose: improve shampoos at X or switch to sustainable raw material sources at Y.
Non-governmental organisations generally have less money than corporations and are bound by their statutes not to pay exorbitant salaries. However, this does not mean that all activities in the non-profit sector are poorly paid. Salaries in international organisations can certainly keep pace with those in industry.
"With a degree in chemistry, you are in a luxury situation," is how I summarise the discussion. Even moderate salaries allow you to move out of your flat share and start a family. You can decide where and how you want to work without financial hardship. You can make a difference on socially relevant issues with your career choice and your commitment at work.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers"Of course science communication is important," says participant Wolfgang in a career workshop. "But as a chemist, I'm paid to solve problems. Communication - at least in a large corporation - is handled by the PR department."
Are we paid for doing or for talking, or do we have to be able to do both? Is science communication a separate profession for people who do this work for the problem solvers? Or is it something that is part of everyday life for all scientists?
In all professions, we need to be able to communicate, always adapted to the situation at hand. This also applies to those for whom this is not explicitly stated in their job title.
Communicating with academics in your own specialism at the university is only part of the story: You need to present a good image at specialised conferences. Your publications are assessed by a small circle of your specialist niche. When applying for third-party funding, your readership is already broader: you need to appear understandable and relevant to colleagues from other disciplines. If you start collaborations, it is usually outside your core expertise. Very courageous scientists face up to the source of their funds, the taxpayers, and communicate with laypeople.
Outside academia, the step out of our highly specialised environment is usually abrupt. The ability to justify your work to a boss who has a degree in finance or law doesn't fall from the sky, you have to work for it. Similarly, the backgrounds of your colleagues and external contacts such as customers or suppliers are often more diverse than at university.
We all have to talk about our work in our professional lives, whether we want to or not. No PR department does this work for us. The good news is that most people enjoy it as soon as they get involved. It's not about clumsily simplifying something, but about making the importance of our topic understandable to a specific target group. Achieving this brings satisfaction.
In your job, you are paid for doing and talking. So try to master both.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a workshop, we discuss the different ways of applying for jobs. Most applicants choose the traditional route, responding to a job advert. Gabrielle opens the discussion: "I've heard that I can also send an unsolicited application." "And I've heard that's rubbish," Theo replies, not very diplomatically, "didn't you hear Dr Neubauer at the panel discussion at the Careers Day? She said that you shouldn't waste your own time and that of the company." "What company does Dr Neubauer work for?" I ask. "At a huge pharmaceutical company, they should know that."
Open applications can be difficult for large companies to handle: Where should the HR department send them? If this remains unclear, open applications are usually a waste of time. The situation is different for SMEs and start-ups: These are less visible than the big ones and therefore have to handle far fewer applications.
Writing an open application is more difficult than responding to a job advert. It lacks the framework with which you can structure the application. You should therefore consider what a plausible job advert might look like. You construct its content from adverts for similar positions at the same company or a competitor. Write your application for this hypothetical scenario and mention at the end of the cover letter what types of positions you would be open to. You should imply a plausible range of positions: you don't want to be perceived as inflexible or desperate.
I can see from Theo's forehead that he is looking for arguments to defend his statement. "In many cases, there is no chance of getting a job, otherwise it would be advertised," he interjects. It happened to me personally twice that I got a tip-off: Company X wants to fill a position in the near future. In both cases, I applied without the jobs being advertised and - surprise - received an offer.
"Without a network and the tips from it, open applications are indeed a tough job," I reconcile Gabrielle and Theo's statements. It can be difficult to stand out when applying for jobs. With unsolicited applications, you have to find out who might be interested in you in the first place.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
We discuss cover letters in a career workshop. Georg has brought along his application documents, which we analyse together.
"I am an enthusiastic and broadly interested chemist ...", I read out. "I would like to work for your company, which is known to be a leader in the field of responsive polymers." Georg immediately jumps into the rhetorical pause that I leave after the two sentences. "I find it very difficult to praise myself, to praise employers. I feel like I'm just writing generalities."
Georg is right, and he's not alone. Most cover letters contain a section that many applicants perceive as obligatory, mutual belly brushing. That doesn't have to be the case.
Self-praise is not necessary, as explained in the column "Show, don't tell" (Nachr. Chem. 2019, 67(3), 23). Think more along the lines of: What is the connection between me and the employer? What do I have that no one else has? And: What does this employer offer that others hardly offer? If you can't answer these questions, you should spend some time analysing and researching yourself. Otherwise, in the worst case scenario, you may receive an offer from an employer that doesn't suit you.
"But how can I know," replies Georg, "that I sound like a person with an authentic interest in exactly that employer?"
To find out, first take a close look at the main statements you use to describe yourself and do a thought experiment: could your lab neighbour write exactly the same sentence? This is the case with sentences like: "I have great organisational skills". Here, you are only naming a lifeless attribute, but giving the reader no reason to believe you. But if you write: "During my involvement in the organisation team for the online conference XYZ, I learned what pitfalls need to be overcome when participants from different time zones and cultures come together." Few others can boast such an experience.
Then do the same test for your employer statements. For example, if several companies describe themselves as "leaders in responsive polymers", then you need to investigate further what makes this employer unique.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
I'm doing interview training with a group of postdocs who are looking for a career outside the university. "What is your research about?" I ask Afsheen. After five minutes, I interrupt her answer. "You're letting details overshadow your message," I say. "As I understand it, your research is helping us to be able to 3D print cars in the future?" Afsheen raises her eyebrows. "Er, roughly. But..." I interrupt her again: "Approximately fits, unless it's really not true. Then you'll have to adjust the sentence." "It's very simplified," she mumbles.
"Simple is good," I reply. "Instead of going into detail, you'd better add a sentence about why it makes sense to print cars. Production speed? Cost? Something like that." Afsheen remains sceptical. "My research isn't about the whole car, just the bodywork." "You can always zoom further into your research if someone is interested. But no recruiter wants you to really go into detail."
For scientists, it's often difficult to make something simpler than it is. They work every day on a tiny piece of the puzzle in a larger whole. On top of that, their results are often very nuanced - due to exceptions and framework conditions - and their stories about them are therefore complicated. Scientists have learnt for years to show others the last decimal place in order to be considered competent. And when communicating with other scientists, it is important to present the details carefully.
But when speaking to laypeople, it's your job to get to the point quickly and formulate a main message in a way that is understandable and relevant to the audience. Of course, there are risks involved. Some listeners love to grumble when something isn't one hundred per cent right. But grumbling can be avoided if you add, for example, "on the whole, that means ..." or "to put it simply, I'm working on ..." This will reassure the critical listener and give you a better chance of having a good conversation.
Karin Bodewits, k.bodewits@naturalscience.careersI'm working with a group of doctoral students to prepare their presentations for a congress. "Who exactly did you give this presentation for?" I ask Mathieu, who has just finished his presentation. He blasted through 38 PowerPoint slides in 14 minutes. "For you," he replies. "Unfortunately, it didn't reach me," I say. The presentation reminded me of someone who recently told me that he plays audiobooks at 1.5 times the speed so that he can listen to more books in less time. My comment on this was: it's not about the amount of books you read, but what you take away from them. Mathieu was far too fast and far too detailed. "Besides, the audience will be annoyed that you've exceeded your speaking time," I conclude. "What should I do?" he asks.
My answer: "Increase the signal-to-noise ratio." In a short ten-minute speech, you can emphasise just one main point, no more. So identify what you want your audience to take away. You then reinforce this message with three or four slides. Only include aspects that support this main message. You can discuss the details in the Q&A session if necessary - if anyone is interested.
"But it's important that I show all the data. Maybe I can quickly show a few slides without explaining them," Mathieu suggests. "Like a picture book without text, but with boring pictures?" I ask. Mathieu sighs. "What if I shorten the introductory story?"
If the audience doesn't understand the question and the relevance of your research, they'll drop out within the first minute. They don't need to listen to you. You need to convince your audience. You do this by finding a catchy beginning to your story: What does your research contribute to this world? "If you take away this introduction, then you might as well give your talk in front of your bathroom mirror."
Mathieu wants to impress with his presentation, but ignores the wishes of the audience. But it is precisely the audience that is at the centre of these ten minutes. "Think about them and not about yourself," I conclude. "Then both sides will get more out of it."
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers"Do I actually write my application documents chronologically or counter-chronologically?" asks Valeria in an application workshop. "As little as possible," I reply, which clearly doesn't satisfy the desire for a simple answer. I add: "For the parts where it has to be, i.e. professional experience and training: counter-chronologically, i.e. from the current parts to the older ones." It seems logical to organise the entire application documents counter-chronologically. However, this desire for chronological order has disadvantages.
In the cover letter, applicants often recount the highlights of the CV in essay form, a soporific exercise in diligence for the reader. The cover letter is the text that can be formulated most freely. You can therefore focus on what connects you to the employer: "I learned from Dr Sanchez three years ago at Analytica that your company ..." This sentence fragment shows a long-term, demonstrable interest in an employer, a personal connection and good documentation skills. Weaknesses can also be addressed here: "Although I do not yet have the required fluency in German, I have already self-taught two foreign languages at B2 level: ..." This will prevent you from being prematurely screened out because of a missing criterion.
You can also partially break away from chronology in your CV. Let's assume that you acquired an additional qualification five years ago that fits the employer like a glove. This is easily lost in chronological sections. You can make a highlight visible at the beginning of the CV in a bullet point list with three to five indents.
In the main section of the CV, you can do your readers and yourself another favour: Summarise your skills in one section. This makes the descriptions in the chronological section more concise and eliminates redundancies. You can condense boring lists such as poster presentations or workshops attended into descriptions of skills. Advantage: You can arrange the skills in any order you like, emphasising aspects that are of most interest to the applicant. They will thank you for it - hopefully with an invitation.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
Where is the diversity of your colleagues higher: at a university or in a typical industrial company?" I ask the group at a career workshop. I can see from the faces that everyone thinks the question is too simple. After a pause, Xavier takes pity on me: "In my project, I work with Igor, Pranoti and Ah Lam. My girlfriend works in the industry with Max, Klara and Christian in a team. That's the raw data; I don't know where it's more diverse." If we leave it at geographical origin, Xavier is right: apart from start-ups from the university and a few large corporations whose teams are actually as international as the marketing promises us, the university offers a more international environment. I follow up: "But diversity is a broader term. What about the other aspects?" There is also interdisciplinarity, educational background and age.
If you describe your research project at university as interdisciplinary, then as a chemist you are working together with a biologist or a physicist, for example. In industry, this becomes much broader. Imagine the intellectual challenge if you discuss your results with a boss who has a degree in law or business administration.
In terms of educational background, university is probably the least diverse work environment. Most of the people you work with during your doctorate and postdoc have a doctorate or will have one in the foreseeable future. In industry, you will have contact with people with different levels of education. This also challenges your ability to communicate.
Finally, age: apart from your supervisor, you will mainly be dealing with people in their thirties at university. Here, too, the industry covers a broader spectrum. The classic: the university graduate who has to manage employees who have 30 years of professional experience.
Finally, I come back to Xavier's statement: "It sounded as if you saw the international environment as an advantage of university." If you want to switch to industry but don't want to lose the international environment of university, then you should look for a job in a company that works internationally. If you are generally interested in a diverse working environment with intellectual challenges, then there could be a treasure trove waiting for you in industry.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
"Wow Benjamin, you've given us some hard work," groans Sven as he skims over his colleague's application documents. Benjamin has stuck to the rule that a CV for the non-academic sector should not exceed two pages, but he needed a few tricks in the layout to achieve this: font size 10, no line spacing and narrow margins. "How did you go about writing it?" I ask. "I created a CV years ago, which I keep adding to as soon as something changes in my professional life. Then I shorten it to the desired length." We can see from Benjamin's pained expression that this is not a pleasant process.
Eileen jumps to his side: "I find it difficult too. I didn't have enough space to mention my research internship in Professor Gilg's group." "Is that bad?" I enquire. "Of course it is. If you go to him, you can fight your way through," she explains almost defiantly.
Why do we find it so difficult to leave out details? Do we really think the whole world knows what goes on in Professor Gilg's lab? Hardly. The behavioural and thought patterns from scientific studies and research work are deeply ingrained. That's a good thing for conducting research. But an application is different from a publication. Your readership does not have unlimited time and receptivity for your application. You have no proof. So don't think "How can I fit in as many points as possible?", but "How can I optimise the signal-to-noise ratio?" The two or maximum three main aspects that you can get across are your signal. Your target group is unlikely to absorb more. Anything that supports this signal, such as an experience that makes this positive attribute more tangible, can be included in your CV. Everything else is noise in the perception of your readership and can be safely omitted.
"One more little psychological trick to make this process more palatable for you," I conclude this part of the workshop. It hurts to cut away favourite parts of our life (course). Reverse the process: Start with a blank document and add up the most important points. That feels better than subtracting.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
We have been invited to talks between the Ministry of Agriculture and lobby organisations. Because a year ago, we founded an NGO with the aim of reducing the use of peat in the Netherlands. Now we have co-authored a parliamentary motion, one MP has tabled it and it has been adopted. There is a lot involved in this topic, which we are familiarising ourselves with and consulting on: Soil science, climate balancing, horticulture, to name but a few. And now Gerrit, who advises us on all matters relating to political processes, says emphatically: "You have to make sure that no scientists are sitting at the table during the talks." That sits. What does he mean by that?
He adds: "Scientific and economic facts are the basis for such discussions. But if scientists are sitting directly at the table, it won't work. They don't get to the point."
Scientists are only welcome in indirect roles and rarely strive for a more active role on their own initiative. The result: although there are plenty of scientists in the Netherlands working on peatlands and peat replacement, the topic was not communicated to the public for years. "I'm a scientist and not an activist" or "I can't include enough quotes in this newspaper" are typical justifications.
We see such patterns again and again among the majority of scientists. Try it yourself - visit a conference and ask at a poster: "Can you explain the content to me?" In most cases, you will be showered with a monologue without your interlocutor asking about your background and interest. Characterised by years of intellectually demanding work in a competitive environment, many of us establish a culture of wanting to be clever: we don't realise that there are people for whom none of this comes naturally.Communicating clearly about your work is not a luxury, it's essential. The higher you get on the career ladder, the more you have to talk to people who don't understand your work. If you want to influence the world outside your direct work, you should communicate in a way that makes people want to have you at the table.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersI start a career seminar with the parallels between teamwork and team sports. "Please think a few years into the future. You are working in a position and for an employer of your choice. Please use the functions in a sports club as an analogy: What position do you hold?" "Midfielder," Ingrid starts. "I like to bring people together and then look for the connections between work areas." Oleg says defender because "I like to analyse a situation to develop a strategy." Anke comes up with centre forward because she "would like to work with the customers" and compares scoring a goal to a sales success.
"Interesting, thank you very much," I conclude, "I said sports club, not sports team. Doesn't anyone want to be a coach or even president of the club?" "I think you just become a manager at some point in your career," says Manfred. I can see from the looks on the others' faces that they don't quite share his opinion. "In fact, leadership responsibility often comes gradually," I say. However, it is a conscious choice whether you develop into a manager or an expert, for example in research.
Whether as a team member or as a leader, you should be clear about what role you currently have and what you want. If your wishes and reality are too far apart, working together will be difficult. We all know the crown princes who try to seize the reins without a leadership position. I ask the group: "Is there also a counterpart to the crown prince?" "So a leader who doesn't want to be one?" asks Ingrid. I nod. "I sometimes get that feeling with my doctoral supervisor - a micromanager who would prefer to initiate every reaction himself." She describes how demotivating this is and how much he neglects his actual tasks as a result. "It feels like he doesn't trust us."Reflect on your own experiences and observations. What role would you like to take on, where do you think your strengths are best utilised? Then, if you're not sure whether a certain amount of managerial responsibility suits you, that's not a problem. Except at university, it is possible to switch between management and expert roles.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersIn a career workshop, we look at job adverts from the industry. "This advert really isn't written for female career starters," says Sam, sharing her screen. She points to a line that particularly offends her: experience in matrix project management is a prerequisite. "How could I have gained such typical industry experience during my time at university?" I would like to take a closer look at the terms at this point. Perhaps it is the industry jargon that is causing the uncertainty.
"Which of you could draw an organisational chart of your own department?" I ask the group. Partly horrified, partly amused looks. In a typical university department, only a few of the responsibilities are visible in a hierarchical structure. The rest results from the interactions between members of different groups and individuals. And that is the definition of the matrix structure: projects are handled by temporary teams from different branches of the structure. "So you all already have experience of working in a matrix, you just call it something else."
I show a graphic by Nick Reddiford, www.researching.io/blog/researching-skills. It is based on thousands of questionnaires and interviews with doctoral students and scientists from industry. "On the left, you can see the top 10 skills that academic scientists use to describe themselves. On the right are the skills that industry would like to see. Project management is in second place on the right." I expand the table on the left, academic side. Project management can also be found here, but only in 35th place.
Whoever is writing a scientific master's thesis or a doctorate is working on a complex project. This includes project management, whether it comes from your gut feeling or a professional infrastructure. Recent graduates are reluctant to describe their skills using terms such as project management, as they associate them with the world of industry. It is more helpful to look at the substance of what you have done in the last few years; then describe this in terms that are familiar to the other side. This is not boasting, but translation work.Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersIn a workshop, we look at job interviews. Isolde speaks up: "How do I respond to questions about children?" "Or questions about health?" asks Pavel, who had previously spoken openly about his diabetes.
A rule of thumb: questions are permissible if they enable the employer to assess whether you can normally fulfil the duties of the job. In this sense, a future bus driver may be asked about her eyesight. Scientists often work in laboratories or offices, which is why most health restrictions are not an exclusion criterion. What about people who are able to do their job but have an increased risk of absence - for example due to a chronic illness such as Pavel, who has diabetes, or the parents of young children? This is considered a "general life risk" and is therefore a normal part of life. As a rule, these applicants are able to fulfil their position; questions about this are not permitted. "What do I do if such questions are asked anyway?" asks Elisa.
In a job interview, your private life is protected from prying questions. However, these questions are usually not asked as such. Rather, ambiguous statements are made: "I hope you are aware that such a demanding position can hardly be reconciled with extensive private commitments." In this case, the simplest answer is to confirm the statement without revealing anything about yourself: "Yes, I am aware of that." If such questions are formulated as questions, the employer is committing a breach of the law. You may remain silent, lie or take legal action. Unfortunately, all three options have weaknesses. Employers would interpret what they want into silence. Lying is also difficult: can you manage it in a stressful situation, and would a positive working relationship even be possible afterwards? And who wants to take their future employer to court?
There is at least one reasonably practicable solution. You can fire a warning shot and steer the conversation back to the essentials: "If you can explain to me what my family plans have to do with my work in this position, I'll be happy to answer the question." This shows that you know what's going on, but don't immediately make threats.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers"I would like to discuss two questions with you," I say to the group at a career seminar. "What does it take to become a good quality manager? And what does it take to become an excellent quality manager?" Paul's face contorts before he answers: "That's obviously a trick question, but I can't think of anything better: firstly, a love of nitpicking. Secondly, great love of nitpicking." "Gotcha," I admit with mock offence. "That was a trick question. I agree with the first part." To become a halfway decent quality manager, it would be enough to enjoy working accurately and with attention to detail. But what makes an excellent quality manager? Where does the wheat separate from the chaff?
The day-to-day life of quality managers is somewhat different than many people think. Audits are the core of their work. In hour-long meetings, they work together with those responsible from the respective departments to analyse whether there are weaknesses in the documentation and work infrastructure and how these can be eliminated. Such audits are classic examples of "important, not urgent": those responsible are usually sitting on pins and needles so that they can get back to their day-to-day business.
"You need a thick skin for an audit like this," interjects Geraldine. This puts the discussion on the right track. The core skills needed to develop from good to excellent in quality management are Negotiation skills, friendliness, an understanding yet emphatic demeanour, the ability to develop pragmatic yet compliant solutions with specialists. To do this, quality managers must be able to familiarise themselves with different areas of work. The requirements for merely functioning in this professional field differ from those for becoming really good at it.You should analyse the success criteria with a range of job profiles before deciding which direction you would like to develop in. This will give you a much better idea of whether you could fit into this environment. And when you apply, you won't just present yourself with platitudes or copied phrases from the job advert. You can then paint the picture of a successful employee who knows what she is getting into.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersIn a career workshop, I want to shed light on the traces we leave behind on the internet. I'm sharing an article about an applicant whose application phase was overshadowed by his dazzling Facebook profile: Drugs, corona parties and rapidly changing non-platonic acquaintances. Sabine takes a breath after a fit of laughter: "It's always funny to read something like that, but nobody's that stupid, are they?" "I know enough cases of educated people who have acted similarly naively," I reply. For example, a former colleague called in sick, went to a music festival and posted it on Instagram. This breach of trust was acknowledged with immediate dismissal.
The virtual world influences our real lives. "What less obvious pitfalls are there, even for thoughtful internet users?" I ask the group. It takes a while, but then Eduardo remembers a former colleague who really wanted to go into science journalism. In the second year of her doctoral thesis, she attended a conference for which she only had to submit a pro forma abstract. As she didn't have much time, she frantically copied a few sentences together. At her first interview, she was shocked to see a printout of this very abstract on the table. An abstract like this can serve as a work sample for a whole range of professions.Matured profiles on social media or job seeker databases not only look bad, they can also lead to you being perceived as inconsistent. Statements in the cover letter such as: "I would like nothing more than to start my training as a patent attorney with you" do not match the "love of field research" that the same applicant had expressed a year earlier.
It can be just as unfavourable if you cannot be found on the Internet at all - for example, if you are applying for jobs in PR or marketing departments. Your "high intrinsic interest in modern forms of communication" loses credibility as a result.
Modern communication and self-promotion channels are neither good nor bad, they should just be used wisely.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersAfter a workshop, a participant comes to talk to me. "I have the feeling I'm a loser," she confides. Is this exaggerated understatement or the impostor syndrome that is particularly prevalent in higher education? In any case, she seemed to me to be the brightest participant on the whole course. "What makes you think that?" I enquire. "Well, all my friends of the same age have permanent jobs and are getting loans to buy a house, while I'm treading water with my project work," she explains. She has already taught herself six languages, but only speaks English and her mother tongue fluently. She is constantly coming up with ideas, but as we all know, there are only 24 hours in a day, which is why she suffers from the nagging feeling of being overwhelmed.
"You're not a loser, you're a starter," I reassure her. Starters are impulsive, creative people who are constantly thinking up ideas but have little interest in finalising something. "Boring, nothing new" is what an inner tormentor seems to shout at them. Starters are by no means losers, they just need the right environment in which to operate - or which they often create for themselves due to their personality. It is important for starters to interact with their counterparts, the finishers. They like nothing more than to see the send button when a work package is completed. They are people who get things done and work in a structured way. Starters can't do without finishers and vice versa.
What does this mean in individual cases? Only apply for jobs where you can fulfil your potential as a starter or finisher. You can still learn a technical skill later on in your career, but you can hardly change your personality, so you need to bear this in mind when selecting jobs.
Are you selecting applicants or putting together a team? Then pay attention to the balance between different types, which will always look a little different depending on the task. You need different qualities for a start-up than for a quality management department.
In some situations, we have to do what the task requires, such as when the starter has to finalise her thesis. As far as possible, you should find your way into roles that suit your personality type.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
"Jana has real guts," I hear Bartosz say during a coffee break at a career seminar. Curious, I join the conversation. "She did her doctorate in our working group two years ago and immediately got a job in industry. Now she's quit - without having a new position." "Is she brave!" "Or stupid?" "Wow," murmurs the group.
After the break, I use the case for a spontaneous digression: "Is Jana stupid or brave?" I ask the group. "Raffael from our group could wallpaper his room with his Angewandte papers, and yet it took him more than half a year to find a job. I vote for stupid," Hedwig states.
The GDCh statistics show us every year that even highly qualified chemists have to show good nerves when starting their careers. In July, the Blaue Blätter reported that in the first year after graduation, one-fifth are parked on domestic postdocs and ten per cent are even unemployed. We have been seeing high enrolment numbers in chemistry programmes for more than a decade, while the job market is barely growing.
So competition can be fierce.
"The unemployment rate among chemists is below three per cent, the GDCh figures seem too high to me," protests Esther.
It's a common phenomenon: after a difficult career start, moving from job to job usually seems like child's play. Unemployment is then low over the course of a working life. So what changes between the first and second job search? I see the following factors: Once we have started our career, we have better access to industry-specific networks and learn new skills. And we learn about more career options, making it easier to find a niche for ourselves in the labour market. So I suspect that Jana is confident about her market value.
Developing such networks and discovering niches in the labour market from university is more difficult, but by no means impossible. Further training, for example through graduate schools, can help. In addition, you can find out about your options in targeted discussions and make contacts outside the university.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
We discuss job applications in a seminar. "Here you can see a map of your city. Where do you think the price per square metre is particularly high?" I ask the group. "Where there's a lot of bubbly and not much going on," shouts Ralf, who knows the city like the back of his hand. Just like in a city, there are also particularly expensive areas in your application documents, namely the jobs that naturally attract the reader's attention. That's where the most relevant information should be.
"Who will read your application?" I continue to ask. "My future line manager, so probably someone with a scientific background, and someone from the HR department," says Sofia. "And sometimes a kind of algorithm filters the documents according to keywords," adds Burcu. So they have to deal with up to three groups of readers. At small companies, only the boss will read the application, who is probably a scientist or engineer. At larger companies, this is also done by the HR department and at the really big ones by an algorithm. However, the order is as follows: the algorithm checks first, then the HR department and finally the specialist department. The voice of future superiors only comes into play if the HR department forwards your application at all.The parts of your application that human readers look at first are particularly valuable: the application photo attracts attention, followed by everything that is high up or highlighted. Only place information there that is of particular interest to this employer. You have room for manoeuvre, for example by writing a short summary of your profile in three bullet points under the photo or by moving the most important skills for this employer to the top. Recruiters pay more attention to motivation and personality, which you should emphasise for this reader group. You should always use jargon and scientific details sparingly - none of your readers will understand them. Finally, the algorithm gets its keywords from the cheap parts of your application, for example by listing trivial criteria from the job advert such as "MS Office" at the bottom of the skills section.Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
"Maybe it sounds like a luxury problem," Dirk reports in a career seminar. "I already have a job offer with a Finnish company. So I would have to move to another country. How do I know what I'm getting myself into?"
Of course, Dirk has searched the internet for all available sources on the company and also gained an impression during the interview. But what's the façade and what's the substance? Then there is the organisational effort and the cultural changes abroad. Not a decision to be taken lightly. "How do I get authentic information, and in a short space of time?" he asks.
A tried-and-tested method that fortunately also works in times of coronavirus is talking to experts. Get in touch with people who know more about a topic than you do. In Dirk's case, that would be anyone who has ever lived in Finland and worked for the company - including at other locations.How do you do this? An impersonal enquiry to info@unternehmen.com has little chance of success. Nevertheless, you do not need close personal contact for such an enquiry. Ideally, someone who knows you will initiate the contact. However, if this is not possible for you, you will hopefully come across personal e-mail addresses or social media profiles during your research. In this case, it is often enough if your enquiry shows that you have prepared yourself. You need to express that you want to speak to this specific person.Let's change perspective for a moment: why should someone give their valuable time to a stranger?People like to talk about themselves. By using the "expert interview" framework, you emphasise the respectful approach. They do you a simple but valuable favour and feel effective and useful in the process. And the favour may be returned at some point.
Expert interviews are networking tools that are compatible with introverts on both sides. The prerequisite is that they are well-prepared, content-driven individual interactions.
After the conversation, ask for more contacts to talk to. This will help you piece together answers to your questions through individual pieces of the puzzle.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a workshop, we discuss application documents. "My publication list will break my back when it comes to applications," mumbles Adrian. He has focussed on a single project throughout his doctorate. When his boss submitted the results for publication, he was only ranked third among the authors. "I always assumed that I would be the first author on the publication." "Fortunately, you want to orientate yourself towards industry anyway," I interject, "the publication list counts much less there than at university," and add: "Nevertheless, let's take a look at how such situations can be avoided."
If Adrian had made an agreement with his boss before starting the project, he might be in a better position today. Industry is a role model here: a project plan that defines responsibilities is drawn up before a project begins. It is unrealistic to replicate the apparatus of an industrial company at a university. Academic research is also more open-ended, which is why it is more difficult to reach agreements about the future. Could we still achieve commitment without stifling creativity with too much paperwork?
Write down what you have informally agreed with the counsellor, turn assumptions into concrete statements. This doesn't have to be a legally binding contract. An email in which you record a conversation can work wonders: It lets you act as a colleague who is doing others a favour. You can end the email like this: "Let me know if I have forgotten or misunderstood something." With this minimal documentation, you create clarity and can argue with facts rather than assumptions in the event of a dispute. For ongoing, complex projects, you can share a common document in which the list of authors, for example, is continuously and transparently updated for everyone. You can avoid a major dispute at the end by having several small votes in the ongoing project.
Lawyers argue about whether an email fulfils the written form requirement to be valid in court. That's not the point in dealings between colleagues. Writing down what you have heard is not an expression of mistrust and does not have to take up a lot of time. You will appear professional and avoid conflicts through objective discussions.Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers"In about a year, I'll have finished my doctorate and need a job, but I'm unlikely to turn into Superwoman by then," moans Vera. She looked at job adverts and felt the same way as many others: Job adverts are unpleasant reading for the self-confidence. They give us the feeling that the jobs are made for much better qualified people.
"Superwoman doesn't live in Germany, so don't worry," I reassure her. "Horst Meier is your competitor for the job. That's the benchmark." Job adverts are not only written for the applicants, but are also intended to present the employer in a positive light to all the random readers. That's why they often sound more like Superwoman than Horst Meier.
"Onzin," grumbles Wouter, his arms folded in front of his chest, leaving no doubt as to the meaning of the word. "What's it like with job advertisements in the Netherlands?" I ask him. I am grateful that he has made the transition to cultural differences so easy for me. "A job advert describes the person who will be taking up the position. Everything else is ... Nonsense."
Job adverts don't sound unrealistic everywhere in the world. If you are applying abroad, you should speak to people who work there to calibrate the requirements in job adverts.
"But if there's a must-have criterion that I don't fulfil, then I'm out, right?" Vera asks. The requirements for applicants are often categorised into optional and mandatory criteria or simply arranged in order of decreasing importance. The gradation between can and must is then fluid. If you fulfil between 60 and 70 percent of the criteria, your applications will slowly become realistic. Focus your application on your strengths. You do not necessarily have to address the missing points.
This is different for the mandatory criteria: you don't necessarily have to fulfil them, but you do have to address them. Show how you could develop in this direction or how you can compensate for weaknesses with strengths. Do this in a visible place, for example in the first third of the cover letter, so that you are not prematurely rejected. This will show your ability to reflect and you will still be in the running if the rest of your application is strong.Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersA few years ago, I stood at my first scientific conference with trembling knees. How exciting, how nerve-wracking ... A well-groomed, middle-aged gentleman approaches my poster wordlessly and studies it intently. I'm not sure whether I should address him or not. So it's my guest who takes the initiative: "Could you quickly walk me through your poster, please?" My explanations are confused. He loses interest after just a few sentences.
After the conference, I do some research: a renowned professor from Oxford whose work we could support with our methodology. I already saw myself as a co-author on one of his publications, but unfortunately he didn't respond to my emails. What a wasted opportunity.We have to introduce ourselves and our projects all the time. On the subject of "pitching", as short presentation formats are often called in English, we find many instructions for polished monologues. Unfortunately, these are not authentic and tend to overemphasise self-marketing. Does it have to be that way?
In a classification, my poster presentation would be level 0: no preparation, stammering. The polished monologue would then be level 1: prepared, but too smooth. Level 2 is fortunately quite easy to achieve: We need to take an interest in who we have in front of us and adapt our explanations. This can be achieved by enquiring about the questioner's specialist background - ideally by asking questions such as: "Is that what you are interested in?"
There is a third stage, as I recently experienced in one of my seminars. When I asked them to present their projects to each other, two participants fell into seemingly irrelevant chit-chat. After a few minutes, I put them to the test and asked what they had learnt about each other. "Sven has just started his second postdoc, which he wants to use as a springboard for a spin-off. He has developed a process that prevents fungal infestation on surfaces without additional chemicals. It works like this..." I was impressed by how much information the two of them had exchanged in such a short time. This was stage 3: a relaxed yet focused dialogue.
Self-introductions in monologue form are not ideal, but they are not useless either. Think of them as preliminary exercises for the higher levels.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
"Since the pandemic, our female doctoral students no longer have the chance to build an academic network. Do you perhaps have a solution for this?" asks a professor at the final round of her online retreat. I reply: "The pandemic isn't so bad for networking!"
Like this professor, I used to travel to conferences a lot. After endless blocks of presentations, the really important parts began: Coffee break, lunch break, conference dinner. I often wobbled through overcrowded rooms with terrible acoustics. I chose a standing table at random and hoped to catch an interesting person there. I was constantly performing a balancing act: satisfying my hunger but not talking with my mouth full, asking a question, taking a discreet bite and then listening with interest and chewing. The timing rarely worked. Instead, it goes like this: receive the question, swallow the morsel unchewed, answer frantically. On the other hand, it can be difficult to concentrate on a conversation partner who is chomping away at a monologue. Not to mention that neither I nor other people smell good at the end of a long conference day.No such problems occur at virtual networking events. While a random conversation during a coffee break is not easily replicable online, there is a lot you can do to network virtually if you adapt your approach. The first step is to familiarise yourself with the technology. Decline invitations if the conference platform seems too DIY and you fear wasting time.
As in a face-to-face meeting, you should also show interest and ask questions online. There is a chat function that you can use to ask questions during a presentation, answer questions from others or build on their comments. You can get a taste of conferences for which travelling would be too much of a hassle. Then there are the social media, which make it easier to make contact. Of course, one-to-one meetings are enormously important for networking. Take the initiative and invite people to a virtual coffee or an expert discussion: "I would like to discuss this further with you." Your dialogue partner will be delighted to receive such an invitation, especially if they are not yet familiar with the new network reality themselves.Karin Bodewits, k.bodewits@naturalscience.careersWe just started our networking seminar by saying that most jobs in academia and outside are done through personal networking. Knowing people is the key to success, I said. "It bothers me," Max grumbles, "that it's all about who you know." "I'll admit, unfortunately, some vapourware people get pretty far if they know the right people. But most use a combination of networking and expertise to get to the top," I console him.
One example is Paul Erdös. He was a mathematician and probably the quirkiest networking icon in the history of science. Erdös worked with over 500 researchers and published more in one year than most researchers do in their entire lives. Solving mathematical problems was a social activity for him. Erdös was great at maths and a person who wanted to make other scientists better. He encouraged them and helped them. But Paul Erdös was also peculiar. Time magazine dubbed him "The Oddball's Oddball". Erdös appeared without warning on the doorsteps of other mathematicians - in a dirty mackintosh and high on amphetamines. For a day, a week or a month, his more or less voluntary hosts had to look after this helpless guest. He didn't cook or wash his own pants. If he suddenly felt like doing some maths in the middle of the night, he would wake his hosts by banging on pots and pans.
"Imagine if Erdös hadn't been particularly good at maths. He would - without warning - knock on your door and wake you up in the middle of the night to do maths. He would also ask you to make him dinner and do his laundry. Would you put up with his behaviour?" Max starts to laugh. "Probably not," he replies. "Exactly. Erdös was brilliant, he had something to offer. That's why people tolerated this quirky character."
You also need to have something to offer. Acquire knowledge and skills that make you unique. Don't lose the will to not only advance yourself, but also others. This makes networking easier. Because it's not just about who you know. It's also about what you know.
Karin Bodewits, k.bodewits@naturalscience.careers
In a career seminar for doctoral students, we discuss various job profiles. "I've heard that industry is all about money. Is that really true?" asks Raffael. "Yes, of course, what else is it about?" I reply with feigned naivety. All organisations have their own criteria for success. In industry, money is the dominant criterion for success. "What about your doctoral student's mother?" I ask. "What does she strive for?" "Publications," replies Raffael after a short pause for thought, "what else?", imitating me with the last three words.
When we consider whether an organisation is a good fit for us, we need to know its key success criteria and decide whether they suit us. However, we should avoid jumping to conclusions. The success criterion of money does not automatically mean turbo capitalism or exploitation. Nor can the success criterion of publications be equated with the idealistic pursuit of knowledge. It always depends on how exactly this success is to be achieved in a specific case: with or without consideration for people and the environment. Publications can be placed on an idolatrous altar just like money.
"There are other employers than universities and industry," Sandra interjects. I agree with her, but counter that we are making the same considerations here too. The public sector receives its task - and therefore its criteria for success - from higher-level bodies, such as the ministries. It is about providing a service to the community with taxpayers' money. So far, so idealistic. However, every organisation also strives for self-preservation. In the worst case, bureaucracy then fights against modernisation.
Raphael's last attempt: "Non-profit organisations. The criterion for success is doing good. What is the negative side of this?" Here it is again the classic self-preservation. This can be seen when NGOs raise donations with maudlin but irrelevant topics.
Understanding potential employers is more work than expected. However, this always leads to discoveries. Idealistic goals may dissolve into nothing. And the goal of earning money does not automatically have to lead to heartless materialism.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
An online job application training course. Together, we put ourselves in the entertaining scenario of sitting in an interview for a job that we absolutely don't want. "How can we really mess this up?" I ask the group.
"At the moment, everything is virtual, so there are a whole host of pitfalls," Franziska blurts out. "Camera or face too high or too low, you look like Hannibal Lecter or like one big nostril!" The shared laughter generates more ideas. "Start negative, end negative, a classic to enjoyably spoil all conversations!" is the next idea. Interjections such as "Ranting about Deutsche Bahn at the start, then about the weather at the end" follow. "Long and super-specific monologues like in a doctoral lecture", "Neither eye contact nor smiling" and "Asking about the availability of asparagus dishes in the canteen" fly through the virtual room.
I introduce the second part: "After five minutes, we're almost done with this exercise. Now we just need to put a positive spin on all your ideas and organise them, and we're done with our rules and tips." After a short time, we have summarised the key points:
A friendly small talk as a welcome; nothing is more distracting in this phase than focussing on problems. Very often you are allowed to speak freely to start with, the request is "Tell us about yourself". A brief outline of your motivation is required here, you don't need to go into detail about your entire life and suffering.
You can anticipate most of the questions. For motivation questions, you should be able to explain why you got from A to B in your CV. You can look up standard questions on the internet and practise for yourself or with friends. If you are asked about your strengths, for example, you should not praise yourself; simply put the facts on the table and leave the assessment to the other party. Questions about weaknesses, on the other hand, are about how you deal with them and whether you have the confidence to admit them
Interviews are ideally friendly, professional and focussed conversations. All you need to prepare is a little time and calm.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a career seminar, I announce that we're going to get into the subject of job interviews. "Cool, the most unfair format since the introduction of gladiator fights," Pepijn blurts out. "Thanks for the tip. How did you come to your judgement?" I follow up. "Quite simply," he snorts into his microphone, "they can go through my CV at will, ask my references and prepare themselves for the interview. I, on the other hand, can only find generalities on their homepage."
At the interview, which is usually the first face-to-face meeting between employers and applicants, both sides want to be well prepared and make a positive impression. There are a number of ways for applicants to find out more about the other side than is apparent on the surface.
A simple search on the Internet provides initial information. The company website naturally contains marketing texts, but it still provides key points for further searches, such as products or company history. More interesting are texts such as scientific publications or patents of the employer. And finally: What do the press and analysts write about the company?
Most companies allow you to view financial data. Depending on the type of company, companies have to publish figures in varying degrees of detail, which provide insights even without financial accounting. For example, if the company is based in a tax haven, you can immediately recalibrate "Our values" on the company website. If the profit margin is low, the company could lack dynamism - you will get little money for your ideas. A high profit margin could mean that the quarterly result is more important than long-term planning or the health of the workforce.
The best source of information is experts. Ask people who have worked for the employer or in the same industry. If you can find such contacts through your network, the chances of success are good. You will gain insights that usually go far beyond self-promotion on the Internet."Good, so I can prepare myself, the gladiator doesn't have to go naked into the arena. But many of the questions that are asked are ambiguous. I can't see through that," comments Pepijn. "We'll look at that next," I conclude and take a break.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a seminar on job interviews, we open the last part: salary negotiations. We quickly worked out the basics. In the chemical industry, starting salaries are fairly standardised: most large employers pay the generous chemical tariff, while the smaller ones are almost invariably 15 to 20 percent lower. You can use this as a guide when researching your market value. You ask around, study salary comparisons and add five to ten per cent to your market value, which is then your salary expectation. You need to pay attention to two details. The first: Salary comparisons sometimes include bonuses, sometimes not, but those of the GDCh are always all-inclusive.
The second detail concerns the target salary. I ask the listeners whether they name a number or an interval. "An interval, that's what I read," replies Sofie. I reply: "If you say 65,000 to 70,000, as an employer I wouldn't even recognise the higher figure, but would negotiate you straight down from 65,000 to my target figure."
You should never let a company pay you with air and love; however, negotiations are not just about salary. Here's an example from one of my salary negotiations when I was promoted: my management responsibilities were expanded to include a production team working in three shifts. My employment contract didn't originally mention night work, but I wouldn't abandon my team in an emergency. But I didn't want to make this concession to my employer. I also wanted to work from home one day a week; the flexibility and the savings on travelling seemed attractive to me. Both elements individually were a small concession for each side, from which the other could benefit.
So during your salary negotiations, look at what could be valuable for both sides - ideally together with your negotiating partner. The possibilities range from bonuses to further training or flexibility in all its forms. Ideally, both sides should start by putting ideas on the table without committing themselves. Then you can combine these elements until you have reached a good situation. Salary negotiation is then too narrow a term, think of contract negotiations instead.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersFranz is upset. His partner has an offer in the bag for her dream job in the Netherlands. They both want to avoid a long-distance relationship. Franz would like to move abroad for a longer period of time, but is struggling with his applications - after many hours of research, he hasn't found a single job offer for bioorganic chemists like him: "In the Netherlands, I only ever see jobs for polymer chemists or biotechnologists."
The other participants in the career seminar straighten up in their office chairs and stare into their webcams. They seem to sympathise with Franz or are curious to see if there is a solution to his case. "Who the hell needs polymer chemists?", Brian, a Canadian postdoc, asks. He is probably the most extroverted person I have ever met. "You know, Franz, you can learn the hard skills."
Brian is right. We can acquire technical knowledge quickly, that's what makes us scientists. There are some positions that require very specialised and difficult-to-learn knowledge from day one, but these are exceptions. What we don't learn so easily are the soft skills; it takes more than one course to turn an order taker into a leader. It becomes even more difficult when personality traits are missing. In these cases, applicants and employers alike should steer clear of working together.
Why is it so difficult for scientists to assess their suitability for a position based on more than just their technical specialisation? It's because of the training. We were brought up at universities in an environment in which purely technical skills were considered the only factor for success. After years of studying, we are conditioned to this. For this reason, Franz sees himself first and foremost as a bioorganic scientist and not as a scientist with a broad spectrum of transferable skills. You can acquire these equally on different research objects."The scientific specialism is just one of several criteria. Don't limit your career options by this," I add. "Just apply!" concludes Brian.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
A short debate on the topic of networking in a course for doctoral students. Half of the participants are asked to defend the thesis "Networking outside my specialism is a waste of time", while the other half argue against it. When we leave the debate format after a few minutes, our own opinions are expressed. Raphael wants to draw a quick line: "It's obvious. The closer people are to our topic, the more worthwhile it is to maintain contact." Nods of agreement in the room.
I don't want to conclude the topic so quickly. "In terms of intensity, that makes sense." I draw concentric circles, with ourselves at the centre, our own specialisation around us in the first circle, then the other natural sciences in the second circle, then other specialist areas further out. I agree with the group that the intensity of the network decreases when we look at areas of specialisation that are further away from our own. "What activities would you like to pursue in the respective circles?" I ask the group. I can literally read on the faces that the same thought is forming everywhere: "Networking." Finally, Theresa, an inorganic chemist who has just started her PhD, speaks up: "I have to be careful not to blab about the inner circle, because that's where the competition is." This comment changes the attitude of the other participants from defensive to thoughtful. "We are usually assessed by those in the inner circle, on selection committees or during the peer review of our applications or publications," adds Raffael. After a few more reports, we get a more nuanced picture.
We should, of course, maintain contact with people from our own specialist area. We are assessed by them, can get advice from well-meaning people and have to think tactically when it comes to competitors.
From a networking perspective, the second circle has particularly interesting people to offer: our cooperation partners. I know this from my own doctorate. My doctoral supervisor's working group was really good at chemically analysing DNA. Another group from the same specialised field would not have been able to offer us much. Collaborations became worthwhile when our molecules fell into the hands of physicists, doctors or biologists.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing us to experiment. As painful as this phase may be, it offers the opportunity to question habits. We keep hearing voices saying: "Online can only be a stopgap solution." But there will be no going back. Anyone who longs for a seemingly pre-coronavirus idyll is failing to realise how strongly the crisis is affecting everyone's lives and how processes will change in the coming months.
Jump ahead: The year is 2030. The coronavirus crisis and the associated lockdown lasted for years, and a vaccine was not available until 2024. We have learnt to discuss even the most complex topics in teleconferences. The technology for this was given a boost. "Flying to China with a full team for a single meeting? That's so 2019." The time and energy for travelling and jet lag can be put to better use, not to mention the environmental aspects.
The situation is similar in teaching. The first attempts in 2020 seem almost tragicomic in retrospect, with internet lines clogged with recordings of lectures in front of empty lecture theatres and shaky videos. When the lockdown ended in 2025, teaching had many more tools at its disposal. Group size, learning preferences and private and professional circumstances can now be analysed and taken into account for each course, allowing a finely tuned mix of face-to-face and online content for each individual case. Participants with caring responsibilities? Then we combine evening webinars with compact face-to-face events in the morning. Do you want an international team to meet for an event lasting several days to build up personal contacts? Then a compact workshop at one location, prepared with online content, is the ideal solution. Without the constraints of the pandemic, we would probably never have got this far. Spending two full days in a seminar room just because the trainer has to travel from far away? That seems just as outdated to us now as the lecture in Latin once did.
Of course, online cannot replicate all elements of personal interaction. But face-to-face events can't replicate all the advantages of online either: including flexibility in terms of time and location and the opportunity to reflect at your own pace.Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
Master's student Vanessa has an offer from a pharmaceutical company to write her thesis there. In addition to gaining valuable experience, she secretly hopes to make the leap into industry without a doctorate. She would rather leave the ivory tower today than tomorrow to explore the outside world. The decision is difficult for her. So she talks to her fellow student Tina: "What exactly would happen if you accepted the position for your Master's thesis?" asks Tina. "My professors would be angry. They don't want that," says Vanessa. "They think they'd be poached after five years of hard work as a supervisor." Tina has to grin, the idea of voluntary service pops into her head. "So, does that itch you?" she asks, "It would feel uncomfortable. I don't want to leave any scorched earth behind," replies Vanessa. "Whether you go through with it or not is your decision," says Tina. "Professors don't expect you to work for them for years. That would be a path that doesn't suit you." Vanessa takes a deep breath. With the company's contract, the influence of the university and the professors over her would disappear. And she wouldn't be doing anything illegal.
Vanessa accepted the offer for a Master's thesis in industry and was subsequently offered a permanent position. She has since risen to team leader - without a PhD.
Whether you are talking to a mentor, a colleague or your best friend before making difficult decisions - for these conversations to trigger thought processes in you, your dialogue partners don't need outstanding skills or qualifications, just two qualities: honesty and the ability to critically question the status quo. Just like Tina with her crucial question "Does that itch you?" Such conversations help to get a clear view of an emotionally charged situation.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a career seminar, we discuss the last part of CVs: the references. "My boss and I will still be used as a reference for the film War of the Roses 2 if this continues. But as he's supervising my doctorate, I have to list him as a reference, don't I?" asks Jeff. "You're not obliged to," I reply. "However, you must be prepared to be asked about this gap in the interview. But that also protects you: Under no circumstances are your job applicants allowed to contact your current employer without your knowledge."
In Germany, employers rarely ask for references, although they can be helpful. I have heard from employers several times: "The references are hand-picked. If I ask them 'Is she a good applicant?', they just say 'Of course'. That's pointless." But that's a problem with the questioning technique, not the references themselves. Open questions would be more informative, such as: "What characterises the candidate?" From the answer, an employer could recognise whether the praise fits the position in question - or whether praise is being given for something that is irrelevant to the position.
Applicants should inform those they wish to give as a reference and let them know which position they are seeking. This way, contact persons are prepared and old contacts can be maintained.
Letters of reference appear less useful, as it is not always clear to the recipient who wrote them.
Caution is also advised when writing a reference: An employer's reference must be worded favourably, which has led to numerous coded formulations becoming established. It is not always certain whether both sides understand the wording correctly. As a result, this document becomes a laborious task. Nevertheless, you must ensure that there are no formal errors and that all tasks and competences are listed and weighted. It is therefore a good idea for both sides to have the reference checked by a service provider, a professional association or a trade union. This way, you can avoid it containing hidden criticism of you - whether intentional or not.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a seminar for doctoral students, we discuss how to present strong and weak parts of the CV. After we have discussed how we can put the many stages in Elizabeta's career in the best light, Gregor grumbles: "I think I have the exact opposite of all the glamorous experiences." Twelve pairs of eyes focus on him. Their owners can hardly wait to find out what has left such a blot on his CV. "Cancelled doctorate," he adds. "Do I just leave a gap and hope nobody notices? Or do I bluntly write: professional loser who didn't get on with his supervisor?" Uncertain giggles mingle with nods. No one envies him having to put something like that on his CV.
The same Gregor had provoked hearty laughter just half an hour earlier. He was still talking about the differences between university and industry. He had leant back, stroked his beard and told us: "What I find most important is the timeline. In industry, everything is determined by tight project management. At university, time passes in, let's say, geological dimensions. Projects run until death do you part."
Most employers in industry are happy with their employees with doctorates. When problems arise, the complaints are always the same: There is rarely a lack of academic qualifications. Rather, companies criticise the lack of adaptability to the different culture and working methods in industry. From this point of view, a cancelled doctorate can even be viewed positively. When projects go badly, you need a range of skills. Battling through is one of them, as anyone who has completed a doctorate will tell you. Gregor also shows that he can make an unpleasant decision in a messy situation - a highly relevant skill for a job in industry, where the pace is different from that at university.
Of course, you should never speak negatively about former employers. However, there are many reasons why an employment relationship can become unproductive. That's why you don't have to hide bumpy jobs on your CV. Simply describe what you did, why you made the decision you did and what you learnt from it.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
Geert looks terrible. His hair is standing on end and the circles under his eyes speak volumes. "Thanks for giving me a chance to puke my guts out," he grumbles into the phone. What he has been through in the last few days is often a justification for the higher salaries paid to managers: the stress of having to deal with unpleasant decisions. The decision that Geert has been putting off for days could hardly be more difficult. One of his employees had been taking breaks for hours and recording them as working time, a breach of trust. Her time recording showed that she had been testing the fraud step by step for months. And now Geert doesn't know how to react. What makes things so difficult is that she has children to look after and the family is dependent on her income. Before Geert can hang up, he hears his school friend's voice on the line again: "Is there any chance that you'll ever be able to trust her again?" "No!" shoots out of Geert, his voice almost cracking. Without further comment, his friend hangs up.
We often put unpleasant decisions on the back burner. However, they don't go away, but instead undermine our credibility and cause further conflict. Rationally, most people would agree that we should make decisions quickly as soon as sufficient facts are available. Why do we so rarely act according to these principles?
"If I can never trust her again, then there's no point in further cooperation," Geert remembers. He doesn't actually see himself as a cold-hearted superior. But his employee was the one who put her job at risk. Finally, Geert prepares the summary dismissal with the HR department, he has enough evidence.
Do as Geert does and dissect the decision: First, he decided whether to end the collaboration. His friend's question gave him the answer. Then he had to make peace with the fact that he would not change this decision. After the whether, the second step is the how. Now we have to find the least bad solution.
If we don't separate these two parts of the decision, the all-too-difficult how overshadows the if. We don't even want to imagine how unpleasant the situation would be, so we postpone the decision.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a seminar on self-marketing, we discuss the use of social media. The discussion that immediately ensues could make you break out in a cold sweat. But after just two statements, the field is clear. ¬Clara, a spirited postdoc, immediately snorts: "It might be a nice way to pass the time, like feeding the ducks or watching Netflix. But it hasn't got anyone anywhere professionally. Or do you think the HR department at Novartis is just waiting for the most brilliant post of the month to fill vacancies?" Sven coolly takes up the gauntlet to all course participants who have clicked a like button more than three times in their lives. "I don't want to sound precocious," he begins in a schoolmasterly tone, "but if all you do is bury yourself in the lab and then think that non-specialist recruiters can read your brilliance from your twelfth publication, you're wrong." He floods the room with a flood of Anglicisms, all of which are terribly important in his eyes: visibility, traffic, likes and shares. He concludes - completely unbiased, of course - that everyone has to decide for themselves which century they want to live in.
"Although your opinions couldn't be further apart, you're both right," I summarise.
All social media are structured in the same way: In order to achieve network effects, as many people as possible need to be active in it, as writers, readers, likers or sharers. It is irrelevant to the success of the network whether the exchange is substantial or superficial. Whether we achieve something with our efforts or just a few people boredly press a Like button is hard to fathom. That's why we all too easily - and with the friendly support of the providers - rely on substitute metrics such as likes and shares, which are supposed to indicate traffic and visibility. We are happy about it and, in the worst case, become addicted to it, even though there may be no real interest behind it - just noise, not a signal.
Private social media is for entertainment, nothing else. This should not be mixed with work-related matters. Professional networks are helpful for maintaining distant contacts or searching for specific people to answer a question. If you like collecting, you can do this with stamps, likes or shares. Professionally, there is no difference.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a seminar for postdocs, we discuss whether it makes sense for Dirk to work towards an Emmy Noether fellowship for junior research group leaders. "I'd have to have experience abroad for that, and I can't imagine doing that at the moment. I don't want to have to repot my children several times," he objects. His wording makes the rest of the group smile, but I also see worried looks that reveal that he is not alone in his concerns. "Yes, you need experience in an international environment, but it's not necessarily a stay abroad," I relativise. Even in the Emmy Noether Programme with its strict selection process, the criteria for international experience have been expanded: applicants can also prove this through collaborations or an international working environment. Of course, it is hard work to stand up to the competition with stays abroad, especially with the appointment committees, which are usually not very lenient. So try to describe what you learnt, how you spent your working days and how these experiences changed the way you work.
What is behind the requirement for international experience? Science organisations want to encourage open-minded minds that draw inspiration from multiple sources. They should not only know how things work at their home institute, but also be able to understand the situation of their future employees from abroad.
The scientific organisations have taken a sensible step towards softening the hard criterion of a stay abroad. In times of increasingly diverse CVs for young people, this is a positive sign. After all, who can guarantee that research in a postdoc bubble will broaden one's horizons? During this phase, you are sometimes not involved in what is going on at the institute and then get little insight into how this organisation works. Some lab-obsessed postdocs only notice the change of location because the packet soup no longer comes from Sainsbury but from Carrefour - the learning effect is minimal. Whether you grow from your experience abroad depends on how you spend your postdoc.
And perhaps broadening your intellectual horizons can be taken even further? Why shouldn't scientific organisations also value sources of inspiration such as a few years of industry experience in a positive light?
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a career seminar, programme item interview. After an introduction on how to tell interesting stories, we try to apply what we have learnt to the standard introduction: "Please tell us something about yourself." What we hear in our first attempts sounds like well-formulated articles from applied chemistry with titles such as "Synthesis and analysis of my life to date and application to the case study 'Working at chemical company X'" or "A logical deduction of personal suitability for the position." If an inductive proof had been the topic, it could have been a snappy one. However, when talking to a recruiter, the result is: Topic missed.
"You only let me know why you're here in the very last sentence," I comment. "Put yourself in the other person's shoes. After ten semesters of business psychology, I would probably be thinking at this point: 'The fluff on my jacket needs to be brushed off again. Yawn!"
If you are asked to talk about yourself in a job interview, your interviewer expects a substantive story, not a proof or a novel. With a proof, you need the unconditional logic that you have to build up piece by piece until you can finally proclaim: "Quot erat demonstrandum!" In a novel, you build a kind of stage, create a very long arc of suspense, which you then resolve at the climax, towards the end of the story: "It was the gardener, he killed the grandmother!"
A job interview also follows a logic, and you should certainly generate curiosity. But to do this, you need to turn the suspense from the novel on its head. Let your audience know right at the beginning why it will be worth listening to what you have to say. Make the connection between your CV and the employer immediately. Only then do you provide the details that back up your information. You don't need to retell your CV, the recruiters have already read it. Then pass the ball back to the interviewer. This will get the conversation flowing and get you out of the novel or evidence corner.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers"Which of you has a doctoral programme?" I ask the group at a time management seminar. Eleven doctoral students look at me as if I had asked them when the last UFO landed on their campus. "A timetable of what should happen in the next three years," I add. "Oh, I have something like that," says Marius. "I've drawn up a long-term research plan with my supervisor. There's an official meeting every six months to discuss progress and set goals." "A good start! Does the plan include anything other than research?" I ask. "No. What else then?"
."How do you define a successful doctorate? What do you need to achieve in the next few years so that the doctorate wasn't a waste of time?" I reply. "A few publications, ideally in high-impact journals," replies Marius. "And a well-written doctoral thesis," adds Anna. The rest of the group nods. I follow up: "Nothing else?" Silence. "So that means: if you have a first authorship in applied chemistry and write an intellectually breathtaking doctoral thesis, then it was a successful doctorate?" Nodding again.
The supervisors of these doctoral students would probably agree. After all, the doctoral students support their careers with their publications, and they need the doctoral thesis for their degree. I would define a successful doctorate as follows: You are employable afterwards, and the process hasn't driven you out of your mind.
"Which of you is aiming for an academic career?" I ask. Only Anna raises her hand hesitantly. "No one else?"
The other ten shake their heads.
In the academic world, you become employable through publications. No question about it. Outside the ivory tower, however, hardly anyone is interested in this or in your dissertation. Employers want to see skills, professional development and your energy. If your PhD is all about publications, then you are not promoting your employability. Of course, your research is the main focus of your doctorate, but it is not the only thing. Your PhD plan should also include things like soft skills courses, summer schools, conferences or public relations. And finally: employability alone won't do you any good if you finish your doctorate mentally and physically broken - holidays, sport and social contacts should be part of your plan.
Karin Bodewitz, k.bodewits@naturalscience.careers
"I can't imagine that these professions are family-friendly," says Maya, a doctoral student. She has already said in our women and careers seminar that she wants to start a family in the next few years. I watch as she makes room for children who don't even exist yet: With a thick pen, she crosses out the options "consulting", "university career" and "sales" on her worksheet. But instead of asking her whether it is certain that she and her partner will be able to have children at all, I interject: "What exactly is a family-friendly job for you?" "One that doesn't require me to travel, at least not several times a month. And ideally with flexible working hours." "Is travelling not family-friendly?" I enquire. "Of course!" blurts out another participant, who looks at me as if this is the most ridiculous question in decades. "You can't even put your children to bed yourself then," Maya adds.
"Maybe it's not so bad if you don't put the children to bed every night," I reply. "Your partner will then have bedtime stories and kisses all to themselves. And you can sleep through the night and enjoy an uninterrupted dinner."
This seminar is no exception. When it comes to careers, discussions often go in a similar direction. We put entire professions to one side because we think we can't be successful in them and look after our families at the same time. The reason for our rejection is usually that we elevate the perfect work-life balance, the magical 8-8-8 to a mantra, i.e. eight hours each of work, sleep and private life. But maintaining this balance every day is unattainable, and that's completely normal. At some times, work dominates, you have deadlines or a business trip. At other times, your private life carries more weight, for example when your son has a dance tournament or when you have to go home early during the school holidays.
Think about how much time and weight you want to give to each part of your life. Your own balance should emerge from this, and over a longer period of time. It is unrealistic to expect this to be the case every single day. Instead, enjoy the variety.
Karin Bodewitz, k.bodewits@naturalscience.careersIn an applicant seminar, I suggest a change of perspective: The participants should not simply look at the application documents and comment on them, but first work like recruiters - under time pressure: they have exactly three minutes per application and are then asked to answer a questionnaire about the applicants. After five of these short three-minute analyses, the faces show clear signs of fatigue. One of them moans: "You can always quickly tick the 'Strong in science' box, but if you want to know more, you have to search for a long time."
We analyse the application documents together and find the same patterns again and again. For example, a participant applying for a position in science communication. "You completed a Master of Journalism as a second degree. Where does it say that?" I ask her, "My CV should be in reverse chronological order. And I completed my Master's degree four years ago." So it's on the bottom half of the first page. "If you wanted to hide something, where would you put it?" I ask her. She has to smile and points to exactly this place on her CV.
The "work experience" and "training" sections take up a lot of space in most application documents. Readers often have to wade through long and redundant lists of skills at each stage and don't really find out what makes you stand out as an applicant. "Postdoc: Organic synthesis ... PhD: Organic synthesis ... Master's thesis: Organic synthesis ..." In most cases, the cryptic titles of the theses and the names of the supervisors, which only mean something to absolute experts, are still there.
Keep your career descriptions concise: briefly describe your tasks and achievements. That's enough and is more meaningful.
To emphasise the real gems, it is a good idea to include a "Highlights" or "Profile" section at the top of the first page, directly before the career. This can be four to five keywords or bullet points that are particularly relevant from your readers' point of view. Make sure that you choose summarising formulations to avoid redundancies with the cover letter and the main body of the CV. This will free you from the shackles of chronology.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careersThe course in a career seminar is divided into two small groups. Each receives a set of cards. One group receives the set with typical application strategies, from "Responding to a job advert" to "Providing a work sample". The set for the other group depicts how employers like to receive applications, such as "Unsolicited application" and "Hiring an intern".
Each team works on a ranking of their favourite ways of applying for jobs or recruiting employees. When the time for the exercise is up, we place the two rankings next to each other and it doesn't take long before sounds of astonishment can be heard: "They're exactly opposite," says postdoc Steffi.
In fact, they are. The list of the applicant team ranges from the top position "Respond to job advertisement" to "Provide a work sample" and "Direct contact (for example, complete an internship)". On the employer side, "Hire internal candidate (intern)" is at the top, while "Advertise position/receive unsolicited application" is at the bottom.
"What was your goal in each ranking, what did you optimise for?" I ask the group. Soumitra, one of the "employers", speaks up. "If I have a good intern, I know that she will also do well in a permanent position. The risk is lower." "What risk?" I ask. "Well, hiring someone who leaves quickly or doesn't fit the position costs a lot of money," he explains. "And on the applicant side, what was your goal here?" I ask the other group. "I want to find a job that's a good fit quickly. I filter the job advertisements according to my preferences," explains Emöke for the applicant side. "It's quicker than doing an internship first."
Welcome to the application paradox. Employers and applicants have different goals: Applicants minimise the time spent, employers minimise wrong decisions. This explains why, from an applicant's point of view, it is worth seeking contact with a small number of well-chosen employers at an early stage, for example through collaborations, one-to-one interviews, internships or summer schools. The mass application, in which only one section of the cover letter is adapted, tells employers nothing about whether applicants are able and willing to commit to the job. Employers want to minimise their risk. Help them to do so.Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a seminar for post-doctoral students and junior professors, we discuss the topic of funding. After we've covered the usual suspects, I enquire whether anyone has also looked around for funding from industry. Fred, who is currently preparing for his first appointment procedures, replies reflexively: "No. I can't imagine being used as an extended workbench. Then I might as well work for them - and earn more!"
I address this prejudice: "You have to ask every source of funding whether it suits you and your research and whether you are being supported or exploited." I pause until the first uncertain glances from the participants turn to Jane. She had reported that her grant provider dropped her like a hot potato when a competing group published on her topic. You can encounter harsh conditions anywhere, even with foundations or associations.
"You have to look carefully at all sources of money, whether public or private." The arguments that money from industry is somehow dirty and could damage your integrity as a researcher are considered outdated. Acquiring third-party funding is a decisive criterion for appointment, and as long as you do good research, it doesn't matter where the money comes from. You can therefore score points in the appointment process with a diverse portfolio of funding sources.
If you are seeking funding from industry, however, you are dealing with a partner who has complex vested interests. Check in advance whether your freedom of research is restricted. Can you still publish, and if so, with what restrictions? With whom and how can you share your results and ideas? Scrutinise the motives of your partners: are you of interest to industry because your doctoral students are cheaper than permanent employees in industry? Or is it about developing a commercially relevant application from your research?After a lively discussion, I add: "You should also keep the development of your PhD students and postdocs in mind." Perhaps some would like to switch to industry. For them, industrial cooperation would be a great experience, their market value would increase. And that in turn gives you, as a group leader, the reputation that you care about the future of your doctoral students and have a network outside the university.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a seminar on self-marketing, I ask the group: "Do scientists tend to cut themselves open?" The question elicits completely different answers. On the one hand, the homo scientiae is often introverted and tries to shine more by working at the lab bench than through self-promotion. This is particularly true of younger scientists. On the other hand, studies on the development of personality traits over the course of a scientist's life show that established researchers can tend towards dominance behaviour. How do we find the right balance? How do we prevent ourselves from selling ourselves short as wallflowers or alienating those around us through dominant behaviour?
In my seminars, the discussion after this opening question usually moves in the direction of compromise, as in this case: "Then I'll just have to put on a bit more weight, won't I?" That doesn't seem to me to be the optimal solution, rather the lowest common denominator between two extremes. You still come across as a braggart, but only a little. "Why don't you do it like in science?" I ask back, "Why don't you let the facts speak for themselves and leave the judgement to your counterpart? Then you'll look good without having to resort to self-praise."
If you put enough time into your preparation, you will certainly find experiences from your past that you would like to share. "Show, don't tell" is the tip here, which you can apply to many situations in terms of self-presentation, be it in application letters, job interviews or during a coffee break at a conference. Tell the facts and let your counterpart come to the conclusions. This is self-presentation without showing off. Let's say you want to convey in a job interview that you have organisational skills. If you have organised an international conference, you don't need any self-praise or superlatives to make yourself look good. Tell them about the challenges you overcame. In other words: show the data. Your listeners will then realise of their own accord that you have a talent for organisation.
But you do need to mention your experience, otherwise you will wither away in the wallflower corner.Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
In a seminar, we discuss careers: "Jennifer had to write around a hundred applications for her first job. After 18 months in the job, she then moved to another employer without any effort. Why was that so much easier?" a doctoral student wants to know. Starting a career is indeed much more difficult than the steps afterwards. This is partly due to our own behaviour: We network more actively and strategically after leaving the ivory tower. In addition, our view of career options widens. But why does our market value increase in the eyes of employers when we have industry experience? We have often asked ourselves and our seminar participants this question and come up with four skills that we don't or hardly ever learn at university:
Quality management (QM): Universities usually work without a formal QM system, whereas almost all industrial companies do. You can attend quality management courses at university and show that you know what you are getting into. Or you can - with a sure instinct - establish your own QM light system in your work group.Management experience: As a rule, university graduates have never been above another person in an organisation chart. But teaching seminars, instructing research interns or leading a scout group are also leadership experiences, often very complex ones. If you have to explain to a group of ten-year-olds that they first have to put up their tents before they can jump into the lake, then you can't hide behind your position or cut a bonus, you have to be convincing. And sell it accordingly in your application.
Commercial thinking: Show that you can handle money, for example by offering to help your boss manage the laboratory budget.Communicating with laypeople: At university, you will be dealing with colleagues from all over the world. And yet you live in a bubble, a brain bubble. You can easily spend months with only doctoral students or postdocs. In industry, you have to talk to customers, employees, superiors and others who don't understand your technical language. Perhaps you will find time to present your work to non-experts. During the interview, don't overwhelm your interviewer with jargon and details.
You can't learn about all aspects of industry experience during your studies. But you can be aware of the gaps, dig into your past for relevant experiences and try to fill in some of the gaps.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
"So you're already in the middle of the application phase. That's a great case study for us," I say to the participant of a career seminar and enquire how he goes about it. "Well, it's quite normal," he replies. "I know some companies from hearsay or career fairs, or because we are their customers. I have a look around their homepage, and I also browse job boards and polish up my CV. And when I see something interesting, I simply apply." Nods here and there in the room. But rattling off such an obvious process doesn't knock anyone's socks off. "So, were you successful?" I prod. "I sent off 35 applications and have only received one invitation to an interview so far. But that didn't result in an offer."
What the participant is saying here is in fact the standard procedure for applying for a job. And also the main reason why it takes so long for many graduates to be offered a job. It is usually not due to their specialised knowledge, nor to their application documents, but to the simple economic principle of supply and demand. Those who choose standard routes are not travelling alone. And where there are a lot of people, it's harder to stand out.
"I don't really know what else to do," says the participant.
When looking for a job, we fall into automatisms: We apply to employers that seem familiar, in places we know or are known to be attractive. We limit ourselves to activities that we know we can do - after the doctorate, this is research. And these are precisely the three dimensions with which we can make our lives easier: We could look for smaller organisations, not rule out lesser-known places and get to know the whole range of jobs for which we would be employable. If you're not getting anywhere with your applications, see where you can best start. If you then realise, for example, after a thorough look at your inner life, that you can't live far away from the big cities and that you are only really happy in research, then you still have the option of looking around at smaller companies.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
Standing reception at a conference. While I kept my eyes open for people to talk to, I watched as a PhD student walked confidently towards a professor who was standing alone at the bar. "May I introduce myself?" were her first words as she extended her hand to him. During the handshake, she mentioned her name and institute. The professor replied with a smile and listened attentively. The name of her doctoral mother seemed to leave only question marks on the interlocutor's forehead; the field of research was not mentioned. "I've already read many of your publications and I'm very interested in your work," continued the doctoral student, without saying what it was that fascinated her so much. The professor was still smiling, not knowing which direction the conversation would take. "I will be completing my doctorate in the next few months and would like to know if there is a postdoc position available in your lab?" The listener's brow furrowed. His curiosity immediately gave way to a flight reflex. "Unfortunately not at the moment, but you are welcome to look for positions on my homepage," he said and nodded goodbye. The doctoral student seemed to realise what that meant.
The conversation was instructive for me. Good networking usually takes place in three phases: 1. visibility, 2. credibility and 3. profit. So first you need to be seen, you need to somehow stand out from a crowd of people. There are many ways to do this, for example with a presentation or, as the doctoral student did, by introducing yourself. This should be followed by a phase in which you emphasise your credibility: Your interviewer should perceive you as professional and interesting. Depending on the background of the interviewer and the situation, this phase can last for different lengths of time - sometimes years. Only after this phase can you move on to the final phase and set your sights on the target of your conversation. Now you can enquire about vacancies or suggest a collaboration. If we target our profit too quickly, then we are simply annoying. If, on the other hand, we skip phase 3 and hope that we will be discovered, then we are caught in the Sleeping Beauty trap. The doctoral student's success might therefore have been greater if she had thought about phase 2.
Karin Bodewits, k.bodewits@naturalscience.careers
"Now we know what's important in our lives. Now let's look at what is unimportant and only distracts us," I say after the lunch break in a time management seminar. The group quickly put together a good-sized list: Perfectionism, unnecessary enquiries, loud conversations in the office ... The undisputed frontrunners on all the hit lists: smartphones and emails. "How often do you check these messages?" I ask. "I get notified by a beep and then check them straight away," says one participant, while the others nod silently.
She is no exception. In my seminars, I often meet doctoral students who are addicted to their smartphones. They know that the constant beeping of Whatsapp messages, emails and their fear of missing out (Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) syndrome) has a negative impact on their work performance. It distracts them, drains their energy and bores them - despite all the activity it causes. Some users are on the verge of burnout and long for digital detox, but simply don't know how to go about it.
I show them examples of brain damage caused by social media and compare their behaviour with classic conditioning like Pavlov's dogs. This comparison helps some people to realise how nonsensical their behaviour is, but not everyone. "Switch off your smartphone," I then suggest, but for many, even this step is unthinkable. "I make my lunch appointments via WhatsApp and the others expect me to reply immediately," says one participant indignantly. "They're nice colleagues," I say ironically. She replies: "Why is that? I expect the same when I write something."
Many bosses are not much different to their employees, only the medium changes from WhatsApp to email. "Why don't you set yourself a fixed time to work on your emails every day," I suggest, "and switch off your email programme the rest of the time. Then you'll have much more time to concentrate." That's impossible, one of the attendees says, her boss communicates by email and in urgent cases she has to reply immediately. "How often does that happen?" I want to know. "Maybe every fortnight, but then it's really urgent." "Then he just has to call."
Every interruption is a distraction from work. As a boss, I would consider partially banning social media at work and introducing a few flight mode hours. You could call them #prohibited hours for advertising purposes. But then set a good example and don't send emails at ungodly hours or monologue unannounced in the lab. At some point, we will have managed to ban alcohol and cigarettes from laboratories. Maybe it's time to let smartphones follow.
Karin Bodewits, k.bodewits@naturalscience.careers
"If you have visions, you should see a doctor." Do you apply Helmut Schmidt's dictum to your own career planning, or are you more likely to follow the typical advice of HR consultants and develop a grand vision for your own career? Is it a must or at least a plus if the answer to the standard question "Where do you see yourself in five years?" comes like a shot from a gun?
I was discussing this with a university friend who was frustrated by his last job interview. "The recruiter naturally asked where I would like to be in five years' time. Complete nonsense, nobody knows that. I told her that I deliberately wanted to keep my options open so that I wouldn't be too inflexible if opportunities arose. I could see from her face that the answer wasn't good."
It is certainly a subjective question as to how much vision you develop for your career planning. Here are some thoughts beyond the HR orthodoxy:
Tim Minchin, Australian speaker and comedian, urges us to live out "micro-ambitions", to fully engage with what's going on under our noses. He warns that the really big dreams crowd out the small, shiny treasures in the corners of our eyes. The US psychologist John Krumboltz uses the term "Planned Happenstance". He uses it to describe a mindset in which we should positively expect the unexpected in life. This increases the probability of chance encounters. A rigid career plan stands in the way of this strategy.
If you tend to live for the day, simply ask yourself what motivates you: if you feel anxious and shy about making decisions, you should reconsider your approach. If, on the other hand, you consciously embrace the unknown, then you now know the technical term for it and no longer have to justify yourself.Planning is by no means pointless, however. Concrete goals or even far-reaching visions can increase motivation and focus. Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg describes her approach as having long-term goals, but not pursuing them rigidly. She wants to know how she will manage the next 18 months and lets the longer-term goals come to her.
How firmly or loosely you approach your own career planning should suit you, and not traditional dogmas. After all, you have to live with your decisions. Only you know whether boredom or uncertainty hurts you more and how important excitement or stability is to you. So set goals and keep your eyes open for the unforeseen, just as it suits you.
Philipp Gramlich, p.gramlich@naturalscience.careers
I was coaching a young lady who had just submitted her master's thesis when she became pregnant. She didn't have a job yet, but her CV was impressive. She was also highly motivated and had the infrastructure to combine motherhood and a career. "A year at home? No, that wouldn't be for me," she said firmly, "I want to and can go straight back to work after maternity leave." She knew that she needed a job that she could return to. I advised her to apply as normal and not to announce her pregnancy too early. "The legal framework allows you to keep quiet until after the contract has been signed, as long as you have the infrastructure to actually fulfil the position," I informed her. "You can't be refused an offer despite your pregnancy." My interviewer felt it was appropriate to put her cards on the table after the interview but before signing the contract.
She applied for a job at a university and was invited straight away. During the interview, the professor asked a few general questions, but was at least as interested in her private life. She limited her answers to information relevant to the position and did not mention her pregnancy.
A few days later, she found an email from the professor in her inbox. "I am pleased to be able to offer you the position. When exactly could you start?" She didn't think twice and picked up the phone: "I'm very pleased about your job offer, but I would like to mention that I'm pregnant. But I have ..." "I can't offer you the job as it is," he interrupted and added: "But I don't hold it against you." She tried to follow up: "But we can look for ways to organise the work, can't we?" To which he replied: "You can always enquire about new positions on the chair's website." That was the end of the conversation.The professor lacked basic knowledge of labour law. However, as a group leader, it is dangerous not to familiarise yourself with the law relating to employment and working with employees. Otherwise, a court hearing could interrupt the academic work.The professor was lucky because the applicant had other plans than arguing in court. There, she could have successfully sued for her position; the Maternity Protection Act and the General Equal Treatment Act are clear on this point. A good-humoured boss would not have been included in the package.Karin Bodewits, k.bodewits@naturalscience.careersBack to
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