Careers Adviser

So I have just read an interesting article in the Guardian which discusses how generation Y (usually defined as people born between 1980-2000) are looking for more than 'just' salary but are looking for job fulfilment.

Now I am not suggesting that salary isn't important, of course you should be paid what you are worth, however, you may also be driven by something more. You might want to work for a company which gives something back. Social enterprises are businesses which tackle social problems, improve communities or the environment. They make their money from selling goods and services in the open market, but they reinvest their profits back into the business or the local community.

Social enterprise companies operate across a wealth of sectors including 8% in healthcare and 8% in environmental sectors, there are chemistry companies who fit the bill. From Dow Chemical Company to Bruker who provided equipment for our Spectroscopy in a Suitcase programme. Even if a company can't be wholly defined as a social enterprise, many have corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies.

You can read more about Social Enterprise here in the 2013 report carried out by Social Enterprise UK.

Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Feb 24, 2014 11:58 AM GMT

Comments (0)

Can you help?

This is a call to action for all of you who are already working...We are looking for speakers to come along to local events and talk about your career so far. I want to show that careers are not always linear and that they can take some interesting and often unexpected twists and turns. The series is called Profiles in Chemistry

What do you have to do? Just talk for anywhere between 30-45 mins about your career and/or your role/company/institution. The audience is usually around 20 people and there is a networking evening with food and drink afterwards.

Interested? Send your name and location to careers@rsc.org and I will give you more information. We are looking for speakers in the following places:

more...

Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Feb 19, 2014 3:55 PM GMT

Comments (0)

Too many options?

We all know that chemistry gives you a a wealth of options when it comes to carving out your career path. This can mean that your choices are overwhelming and you may have no idea what you want to do. That's where we come in.

As well as providing you with 1:1 careers advice via phone, email and Skype, you can also talk to us face to face in our offices in London/Cambridge, at our careers hubs around the country as well as at events we attend, like networking events, careers talks and events.

One of the events we run is 'Profiles in Chemistry' where we profile chemists and their jobs - from the career choices they have made to the skills they use. You can attend the next one in Newcastle on the 18th March. You can find more details here

Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Feb 17, 2014 1:59 PM GMT

Comments (0)

Commercial awareness? What's that?

On Monday night I gave a presentation as part of our ‘working in chemistry’ series. It was on Commercial Awareness. I thought you might find it useful too so here are the key points:

67% of employers surveyed cited Commercial Awareness as a skill shortage in graduates

( Source: Association of Graduate Recruiters “Skills for Graduates in the 21st Century”)

What is commercial awareness?

It is a general interest in business and an understanding of the wider environment in which an organisation or industry operates. It is all about being able to look at situations from a commercial perspective. This can mean understanding what makes a business successful and appreciating the factors that influence success.

What does it mean for you?

As your career progresses, it’s likely that you will become more involved in decisions which directly affect your company or organisation. It also improves your knowledge of an industry/company and can inform your career choice.

How does it affect my career choice?

If we take three common career choices:

Chemists should be aware of trends in their industry and have an awareness of end products and users
Teachers must be aware of the current trends in education.
Students applying to publishing must be aware of the profit orientation of the industry.

How do I put it in my application?

In your covering letter write why you like the company and want to work for them. Also, think about the service the company provides. You should be specific:

“I read the Financial Times”
Or
“I noticed a couple of different people talking about the same trend in organic chemistry, so I researched it. It seemed new and relevant, so I managed to persuade the people behind it to give a talk on it to my group.”

Which sounds better to you?

When preparing for interview you should:

Relate your own experience to business: You may be doing casual bar or retail work purely to earn money but this can also be used to gain an insight into business. What are the good and bad points about your employer? Who is its target market? Who are its main competitors? How would you improve the company's image or profitability?

Research the company: Check the company website of LinkedIn page for background information. Think about size, turnover/profits, share price and key activities

Research the industry trends by reading the business pages of the FT and Economist. Also the business section of Chemistry World.

Finally, just to give you some in depth interview advice, here are some questions which you may be asked which give an insight into your commercial awareness:

What skills did you develop from your work experience?
What would you do differently if you worked there again?
What was your experience of working in a team?
Tell me of a time when you were given the task of improving a service or product?
Tell me about a time you provided excellent customer service.
Tell me of a time when you have been responsible for a budget.
Why do you wish to enter the .... industry?
What are our main products/services?
What are the problems facing our industry at this time?
What changes have there been in our industry recently?
What do you think the job you would be doing entails?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
How do you keep up to date with what is going on in business?
What story in the business press has interested you most recently?

Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Feb 12, 2014 12:33 PM GMT

Comments (4)

Targeting your new career

When looking for a new job it’s important to consider how involved in chemistry you would like to be. Consider a dart board – the bulls-eye is hands on science, using your chemistry knowledge directly, then you have the next section is where you might use your skills, but not practically and the final section, the outside ring is where you use all of those transferable skills that you have gained alongside your chemistry knowledge.

It’s fairly straightforward thinking about jobs which directly use your chemistry experience in a practical way – perhaps as a environmental scientist collecting samples in the field or an analytical chemist at the bench or a computational chemist designing the latest molecule?

But what about that elusive job where you use your chemistry knowledge but not in a hands-on-practical way? Common roles people ask us about that fit these criteria are:

Teaching
Patent work
Science Communication (in all its forms)
Consultant

Less common ideas are:

Technical writing
Business Information e.g. data analyst
Policy work
Regulatory Affairs
Publishing

The last option includes everything from sales and marketing to careers advice!

Just a word on publishing…the Royal Society of Chemistry employed approximately 50 people in 2013 into Publishing and Development Editor roles – perfect if you are thinking of a career in publishing. We are expanding all the time and if you are interested you can find out more about our jobs on this page.

Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Feb 3, 2014 12:30 PM GMT

Comments (0)

Search Blogs

2015 (1)

2014 (4)

2013 (4)

2012 (2)

2011 (8)

2010 (8)

2009 (1)

Share this |