Develop Your Skills

Getting a data science job is a hot topic right now since it’s one of the career paths that is growing in popularity. The demand for knowledge of data science is increasing in most industries, not just tech firms. An increasing number of roles involve analytics. These skills are also valued in roles that don’t directly fall under the data science label. More and more decision-making in organisations is data-driven. Understanding and using data is therefore always valued as a skill.

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If you want to develop a non-academic career, you need to develop business skills alongside your scientific knowledge. After my Biology degree, I was able to spend an intensive year studying Management to go alongside my science qualification. This was a great option as I knew I wanted a more business-focused role. If you don’t have this option, don’t worry! There are plenty of ways you can develop business skills during and after your science degree.

1. Optional business modules as part of yo…

Do you want to network in person as an introvert but don’t know how? Maybe you consider yourself an introvert because you have a science background? Do you think this means you won’t be ‘good at networking’? There is often a stereotype that science students are introverts because of the amount of analytical work we have to do. Sometimes, this is true. But other times, we put this perception on ourselves and dwell on it. This can make us reluctant to put ourselves out there when doing things like…

Whether you're in academia or industry, there are many soft skills you need to thrive in your job. Today’s job market requires it. As a scientist, there is an increasing need to engage the public with your research. This involves interacting with people in a way that helps them understand and relate to what you are conveying. It requires you to develop a skill set that allows you to do this most effectively.

Soft skills are also often a differentiator when it comes to hiring candidates. Often, …

There are many opportunities to connect with others and build your network online. Networking in its traditional sense meant going to events or making connections across the company you work at. Now, you can connect with someone who works at your dream company or in a completely different field to you. Social media networks amplify this power by providing a platform to find a specific type of person. Or, you can interact with brands and companies in general as a form of both learning and network…

You may be looking for work experience whilst working a full-time job because you want to make a career transition. Perhaps you want to change your career from a role in academia to a role in industry. Or maybe you have a science degree but want to work in finance. In any situation, getting work experience is an important step in making this shift. When you think of work experience, you might associate it with something you did in high school to tick off a compulsory activity. Or you might relat…

When I struggled to manage my time at work, I searched for time management tips and even took courses. In today’s busy world, this is something that many people search for and struggle with every day. There are growing demands on our attention in both our professional and personal lives. When you go from graduating or working in a lab to a different industry, the demands on your time change. More people want your attention. There are a number of meetings to attend and interruptions whilst you ar…

As a science graduate, you will have had to develop presentation skills in various ways which will have helped you develop the ability to give a confident presentation. This may have been to large audiences during lectures, small groups in seminars, or in a more informal setting during poster sessions. These presentations are likely to have been about conveying technical information and data to other scientists.

When you move into the workplace, especially if you are in the corporate world, pre…

As a science graduate, it's useful to know the transferable skills you get from a science degree. This applies whether you are a fresh undergraduate or want to make a career transition after your PhD. To work outside of academia, it gives you an edge if you are aware of what skills you can take into other organisations. Once you are aware of these skills, you can articulate these in various stages of the job application process. Then you can identify how your skills match those described in job …

Trying to network as an introvert can bring up feelings of dread, fear and nervousness. Event though the general stereotype of scientists being introverts is not necessarily true, often, the nature of scientific work doesn’t require the same type of human interaction compared to say, the corporate world. As someone with a science degree, whether you have worked in academia or not, the type of work you have been trained to do may not lend itself naturally to networking. Whether you are an introve…