career

This afternoon, for about half an hour, I was staggering through Whitechapel with no clue whatsoever. I had followed Commercial Road for a few blocks until Spitalfields came into view and told me that I was going in the wrong direction. I headed back to where I had come from and then continued, boldly blazing my way into the unknown. Soon I realized that the Commercial Road had taken a left turn at some point, unbeknown to me and unsigned. Taking what I thought would be a wisely chosen shortcut, I struggled past quiet blocks of disintegrating 1930s housing estates before I emerged back on the main road. As I had left the lab early, I was still not late when I arrived at Queen Mary University.

I had gone to Queen Mary because of a Career Track Event organized by the London Biotechnology Network. Though I picked up my Ph.D. nearly five years ago, I'm still as confused about my career as I was in graduate school. Or, if I'm honest (which this blog is not really the place for), I'm more confused than ever. Back then, I thought I'd become I scientist, pull off my own research and head a lab at some point. After struggling for half a decade with not too much to show for, I'm not so sure anymore. Confusion is clouding my mood in quieter moments. Which is why I go to nearly every career event on the calendar – and there's plenty of them in London.

Today's was different in that it didn't claim to simply showcase career choices that are available to benchside scientists. Instead, it promised to reveal what non-academic employers look for in career changers from the university. The selling point (for this free event) was that participants would be able to precisely tailor their applications after attending it because they'd know what skills, strengths and qualifications increase their employability. It was all about industry trends and business awareness. At least that's what the flyer puffed.

In reality, the talks were not all that different from those I had heard before at similar events. I even recognized one speaker from the inaugural Source Event. An equity analyst, he gave pretty much the same talk as two years ago, just toned down a little to conform to the currently prevailing air of austerity. Oh, and in contrast to earlier events, this time the audience measured a paltry forty, making interactions with the speakers during the coffee break easily possible.

Interactions and networking was the unifying theme of the afternoon, something the chair emphasized repeatedly and every speaker mentioned. Everyone probably knows by now that connections is what it takes to get that elusive dream job, launch a company or succeed in a project that thirsts for extraneous expertise. Everyone knows, and yet nearly everyone is more comfortable in his own realm than out in the vast ocean of opportunity, knotting the mesh that will net his fortune.

That's why I loved the last speaker, a Jay Leno lookalike with bulging guts and a royal chin. He strode to the dais, anxiously clutching a USB stick and declaring with the weary voice of a Luddite that it would take him a while to get his presentation started and why don't we get up and stretch our legs. It had been a long afternoon, after all. The reaction from the audience was subdued, to say the least, but he wasn't fazed. It was all part of his spiel, though we didn't know this at the time. "Seriously," he continued. "Please stand up." He slowed his steps and looked at us as if he meant it. We got up.

"Now I want you to think about what you're going to do in the next 24 hours to advance your careers. Please turn around." Dazed by too many commands, most did. "Now speak to the person you're facing, someone you haven't talked to today, and tell him or her." After two seconds of stunned silence, a thunderstorm of chattering voices erupted in the auditorium. It was a brilliant ploy to kick-start networking – too bad that the event ended after his talk and the participants dispersed more quickly than you could establish an inquisitive bluetooth connection and exchange details.

The last talk wasn't great, but others were. My imagination got tickled by finance again, the researcher from the tiny start-up was inspiring, and even intellectual-property law sounded interesting. Around 6pm, I hurried back down Commercial Road, sketches of possible futures swirling around in my head . From Aldgate East, I took the train to South Kensington and then walked up to Imperial, for a quick hour or two in the lab. Nothing beats a career in academia, after all.