At their Annual Meeting in December just gone, the British Ecological Society held a special event for PhD students and Post Docs entitled “Unlocking Your Potential – Keys to a Successful Career in Ecology”. The purpose of the meeting, as you might have guessed, was to provide early career ecologists with advice on how to go about attaining and maintaining a career in the diverse field of ecology. This was not a meeting on how to survive your PhD, although as you can imagine, there were some small tips. The meeting, craftily held in a bar, featured a fantastic panel of speakers from a variety of ecological backgrounds, at various stages of their careers. In attendance were Professor Steve Ellner from Cornell University, Professor Georgina Mace from University College London, Jenny Bright from the RSPB, Paul Craze, editor of Trends in Ecology and Evolution, and Franciska De Vries from Lancaster University.
Each member of the panel effectively summarised how they progressed from studying as an undergraduate to where they are today – in around seven minutes! Each spoke very fondly of their current positions and the paths they had chosen in order to get there. What was most interesting was the diversity of career paths taken after each completed their PhDs. While some walked straight into a Post-Doc, others took more time, struggling to find a Post-Doc available or that they were interested in. Another found great opportunities in filling various short-term university teaching roles and never found the need/want (I can’t say which) to go for a Post-Doc. And another, knowing exactly where they wanted to work, had to volunteer and persist until finally getting their foot in the door with a contract. The diversity of paths taken directly relate to the type of career each speaker aspired to, as well as their personal interests.
Below are the main points I took from all of this, which I think hold relevance for current PhD and Post-Doc students, as well as those further along in their careers. Although it’s not always easy, spend time thinking about where you would like to go next and what you would like to do (i.e. what really interests you). However, remember things won’t always go as planned. Sometimes, no matter how well prepared you are, i.e. with the correct skill sets, good connections and an impressive academic history, there are forces beyond your control, e.g. a dip in the economy, changes in funding practices etc. Of course, other times everything will go exactly as you had planned, if not better! The panel admitted that so much of this progression comes down to luck and the opportunities that present themselves.
In the Q&A that followed, one chap asked a great question – “How do I make my own luck?” The consensus from the panel: by recognising a good opportunity when it comes your way and grabbing it by the… Opportunities will eventually present themselves; you need the ability to differentiate between those that will take you even slightly further in your desired direction and those that won’t. One of the major rewards: being able to go to work and effectively just work on whatever it is that really interests you.
Author
Seán Kelly: kellys17[at]tcd.ie
@seankelly999
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