2021 Science Graduate Special Feature
Congratulations on graduating! As one chapter in your life comes to an end, another begins and I am hoping to bring you tidings of joy (or at least some advice on what to do next!). I have put together a round-up of links and information in this blog specifically for 2021 Graduates that will help navigate this positive period of change. You might know what you are doing already – if so great! Surround yourself with people who can help you. Your University Careers Service is a valuable resource that does great work in bridging the gap between your course and the world of work. We are here to serve science-based jobs in the Scientific Industries.
When the Warwick Careers Blog explored the question ‘Is there any point looking for a graduate job?’ back in April I was pleased to see the answer is a resounding Yes! Verified by what we’ve seen inside CY Partners, the Science Industry jobs market is looking very positive: There is a constant need for science-based graduates who gain great skills, both in and out of the lab. I’m going to link to their blog here as it is a twinkling treasure trove of insight.
Before you Start
I wrote this post a little while ago on what I had learnt from my own job search and I think there is value in taking stock of your Ikigai (your path to fulfillment), your networks and what you want from your career before jumping in.
Your CV
Once you’ve done that your CV is the next thing you need to work on. See this advice article here on what a CV should cover for accessing industry. It will be different from your CV for remaining in academia and should be very skills focused.
How to get experience if you have no experience?
Yes, we hear you! And we ensure we have graduate roles available that address this (read on for actual live vacancies). What I can also do is reassure you that skills-based doesn’t just mean skills from industry so please include any skills from part-time jobs you’ve had, from course projects, from volunteer work, from your hobbies. A lot of the skills that industry are looking for will be transferable.
Interviews
After applying comes interviewing. See this post for the basics in what to expect here. Although it is perhaps the most daunting aspect, it is also something you can prepare for and you could even practice your interviewing technique with us. Our consultants routinely give up their time and offer virtual career clinics where they will offer bespoke advice to you and what you need. Graham has one on the 30th June, see below advert for the details.
Live graduate vacancies we have now
Depending on when you are reading this blog post, including live vacancies might be tricky, but I want to try it anyway as I think it’s important to get familiar with what to look for in job adverts and how to tailor your CV accordingly. Job vacancies are only open for a short period and so if the link in the job title doesn’t work, the vacancy may have expired. Check our vacancies section of the website here for others.
Chemical Technician (Graduate Internship)
The deadline for this is 11th July 2021 and would suit graduates from Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Metallurgy.
This role is a chemist in a pharmaceutical company and will be using HPLC, GC, IR and wet chemistry techniques so would suit anyone who has experienced any of these in their course.
Full training given and open to applicants from any life science graduate background.
Suitable for you if you have experience/ knowledge of aseptic technique, media preparation, pour plating and counting, environmental monitoring, filtration and micro identification from your course.
This is just a flavour of what graduate jobs are out there. It's easy to disappear down a rabbit-hole on the internet and this is never more true than when job hunting. It might be useful to create a tracker of which jobs you've applied for, when and any known outcome.
All that is left to do is wish you luck in your graduate job search and hope that this has helped you in some small way towards reaching your potential, getting you a little further on your path to career fulfillment, or just helping out your local science based organisation with your science skills, whichever you prefer, it's all in a day's work.
