Question: What was the hardest part of going from school and kick starting a career in science??

Ian Cade answered on 11 Nov 2014:

Ah, you are assuming I have a career in science…

I’m not sure I can say that I do have such a thing (in the sense that I am only employed on <3 year contracts with very little chance of each contract being extended. Indeed I am currently only 3-4 months away from the end of my current contract and have no idea what my next job will be).

So, the move from school to Uni was fairly straightforward (a bit more effort required when it comes to self regulation and time management), as was the move from undergrad to PhD.

The jump from PhD to Postdoc was a little more tricky, I ended up taking almost a year to find my first postdoc position and even that was only 6 months. This transition would have been easier if I had recognised the importance of publishing my work during my PhD rather than simply concentrating on my project and thesis (after all, everyone with a PhD has a project thesis, to stand out you also need publications).

The jump from postdoc to more permanent position such as Uni lecturer also seems to be fairly difficult (not helped by the fact that there are 6-7 times more postdocs looking for work than lecturing jobs available). Again the theory is that having more 'good' publications should help this process. Other important aspects include things like success at writing grant applications (getting funding for your research) and teaching experience.

So, I would say the hardest bit is the transition Postdoc to lecturer!