• Question: do you like your job

    Asked by ibraheem200 to Sarah, Nicola, Jessica, Ivan, James on 12 Nov 2013. This question was also asked by zoe5, bethen.
    • Photo: Sarah Tesh

      Sarah Tesh answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      Definitely!

      It’s full of variety and flexibility. You can study what interests you the most, choose or design the experiments you want to do and play on some awesome pieces of equipment. You can also tailor your day to you . I am awful at mornings and my brain does not switch on properly till 10am at the earliest and several cups of tea are needed even then! So I go in a bit later and make up for it by working late. I have friends who do the opposite and get in for 8am (eurgh) but go home early.

      Obviously, with most things, it’s not perfect. Experiments can go wrong and equipment can break making it quite stressful at times. But after a bit you get used to this and learn how to be flexible with your work and aims, so it becomes much easier to handle.

      And there are the people. My research group (the people who work around me) are brilliant and I’ve met so many great people through conferences and meetings. Yes, in amongst them there are some…interesting people. But you learn how to loosen them up and I am very lucky with the people around me.

    • Photo: Jessica Liley

      Jessica Liley answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      Hey! Yeah I really like my job!

      I love being able to do experiments every day, and figuring out why things do (or sometimes don’t!) work. I work with some great people who keep me very entertained in the lab, and they also know a lot about my subject, so if I get stuck and don’t understand certain things, talking it over with them always helps me figure it out!

      Things definitely do go wrong in the lab now and then, and sometimes it takes a while for experiments to work, but it’s so satisfying when things go right that it definitely outweighs any bad points 🙂

      Also, as Sarah says, being able to choose your own hours is great. I’m also pretty bad at getting up early (!) so I normally start working at 10am, and just work a bit later in the day instead.

    • Photo: Nicola Potts

      Nicola Potts answered on 13 Nov 2013:

      Yes!

      I am studying exactly what I am interested in. I really enjoy preparing experiments and running them. I love meeting new people in my field. I really enjoy presenting my work to other scientists. I love that when it’s really rainy outside I can sometimes work from home in my pajamas!

      I also work with a great bunch of people who make being in work a pleasure!

      I get to travel a lot with my job, which is also a big plus to me. Right now for example I am in Amsterdam. This summer I was in Texas for 3 months. Next year I will be in Amsterdam again, Texas again, New Mexico and California.

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