Thoughts of a tired blogger

This blog was originally created for an assignment, where I had to write blogs on 5 specialist lectures relating to my degree (Zoology with Herpetology); 5 lectures on compulsory talks I attended throughout my year, and one blog post as a summary.

This is my last (compulsory) post.

What I thought

The seminars gave me a lot to think about. At the start of the year I was hoping that they’d introduce me to some magical part of science that I’d somehow managed to miss in the last 20 years. They didn’t do that, and honestly I’m not surprised.

What the seminars did show me, was that I love a lot of different aspects of science, and yes I’m not a massive fan of genetics, but I think I’d really enjoy phylogenetics.

I’ve never considered anything other than field herpetology, however I’ve now realised how valuable museum specimens are as a source of data and I would definitely consider working in a museum in the future.

Herpetology has also always been my future career. I was lucky to grow up knowing what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be, and even luckier to be a dealt a hand in life that let me follow my dreams.

The seminars have made me realise (or perhaps reaffirm) that life isn’t a straight shot, and it’s okay (and encouraged) to deviate from the course.

Yes, I am a herpetologist, but maybe I won’t always be.

Image of trees (Credit: unknown)

I actually really enjoyed the lecture on tree genetics, specifically how it was linked to palaeoclimatology and niche partitioning and that’s definitely an aspect that I want to highlight in my dissertation and perhaps study more in the future.

I also really loved the talk on Hope, the blue whale. Conservation is certainly an aspect of science that I have to ‘get in to’ if I want to study herps, but there’s no reason why I can’t enjoy it in the process.

Likewise, someone having the idea to look at baleen to study the route the whale took through oceans, and to determine the age of it, completely blows my mind. I really hope to be that smart one day.

Minutes to Die Logo

Another thing that really interests me is the socioeconomic impact of science, specifically in the case of snakebite. As someone who has never been particularly involved in activism, but has avidly followed it, I would love to be involved in some of the front line work in combating neglected tropical diseases.

Teaching? That sounds particularly attractive however, and it never did before.

Listening to other people’s experiences really broadened my mindset on career paths I had otherwise ‘written-off’.

Have I decided against anything?

I can, without a doubt, say that soil is not something that interests me. If I was The Martian and the only way to survive was to become a botanist, I think I’d rather take my helmet off and step out of the air-lock.

That’s not to say soil isn’t interesting, but it’s just not interesting to me.

Pathogens in soil though? That’s something I can get behind.

Did the blogs help with any other assignments?

I’d love to say yes, but the two assessments felt so separate I completely forgot they were part of the same module.

I wish I had looked at the seminars more closely, or noted down interesting questions which could only be answered with further research… perhaps that way I may have come up with a business idea that taught me more. I did however enjoy doing my business plan, and looking back in hindsight I’m proud of the work I did.

Do I understand employability and enterprise better?

Yes and no.

I now know a lot more about business plans than I ever wanted to or thought possible. This is both good and bad. If I ever want to start a company, I know exactly how to create a proposal to do so, however I’m not entirely sure I’d know how to run one.

Header for my Business Plan; Solvo. Libero. (Credit: Katie Medlin)

Making the business plan didn’t rule out anything for me, if anything it made me more confused.

I’ve never been attracted to the idea of running a business, however creating the plan made it seem more like a fun and interesting future prospect, but that could just be me looking through rose-tinted glasses at an idealistic setting as opposed to an actual business.

The C.V. workshop taught me that everything I did was wrong, but somehow I was never refused a job with the C.V. I used to hand-in. Alternatively I did just get a job interview with the new and improved C.V. so who’s to say which is better? The only thing I disagreed with was not putting your D.O.B on the C.V., however I seem to have been proven wrong.

I also know how to present myself more confidently in an interview, and also feel a lot more confident about assessment workshops. I feel especially prepared for less traditional questions such as ‘if you were an animal/biscuit, what would you be and why?’

• A chameleon, because I’m adaptable to my surroundings
• A chocolate digestive, as I’m reliable and unforgettable

Any new contacts?

Unfortunately no, however I have had a few people personally approach me and ask me about my blog, so although it’s not technically new contacts, it is getting my name out there more in the scientific community which is great!

Pros & Cons

• Helped prepare me for my future by giving me valuable and transferable skills.
• Great C.V.
• Bangor Employability Award (BEA) points

—

• Takes up a fair amount of time, but spread throughout the year
• Long workshop on business plans (Dragon’s Den), the day before an assessment

Future

I feel like this module, although giving me more ideas about what to do in the future instead of narrowing it down, has successfully prepared me for the real world.

It’s given me skills needed to create a stand-out C.V., the confidence to give a great first impression at an interview, and the ins and outs of an assessment centre.

A lot of what I considered useless information about my life, is actually great stuff to put in a C.V., for example volunteering at Mary Arden’s Farm shows that I have experience both with members of the public and working with large animals.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a great module. Although my assessments are now officially over, I’ll continue to write blog posts and go to Friday afternoon seminars, as it’s something that I genuinely find interesting. There were no major downsides to this module, and it’s benefited me far more than it’s inconvenienced me.

Advice

Write a blog. Turn up to lectures which normally wouldn’t catch your eye- you might find something you like. Explore different workshops and attend lectures which aren’t your speciality. Talk to your friends about what interests them, find out why.

Read my blog posts and improve your employability!

Dragons’ Den 2017

Friday saw the 2017 BioEmployability and Enterprise class take part in the annual Dragons’ Den.

Contrary to previous years, this Dragons’ Den wasn’t marked- it was however compulsory.

Having past years talk about how great this workshop is, the class entered with high exceptions; curious about what would await them.

The 8 hour long workshop had many different tasks that the class would have to undertake.

The Tasks

Groups:

The class was split randomly by numbers into groups. This was designed so that the likelihood of working with people they knew or were close to was limited; in order to replicate a real-life scenario.

Founding a company:

Nearly everyone in the group agreed on the idea of a reptile cafe, however one person really liked the idea of paper made from algae. The group disagreed with this on the basis that it hadn’t been done yet so not only did we not know customer demand, but we also didn’t have an idea of start-up costs.

After a fierce debate the team agreed on the snake cafe, on the grounds that algae-guy got to name the company, ”Serpents Chauds” i.e. ”Hot Snakes” in French.

Business Plan:

This involved determining the target audience, advertising, demand, and costings… thinking outside the box to everything from floor-cleaner, first-aid training and WiFi costs, right through to rent for a small-scale shop in Bangor.

The aim was to end up with a plan of costings, feasibility, potential customers, and projected profit for the first year and beyond.

This was, unsurprisingly, more complicated than expected and required a lot of work and research.

Advert:

A screenshot of the two final frames of our advert.

Great fun was had creating this, and it was actually shot in one take! Having the ability to use a live snake was wonderful and definitely a USP!

Most members took-on roles which they weren’t necessarily comfortable with in an effort to reach out of their comfort zones.

Presentation:

None of the team were particularly confident in their presentation skills, but it’s rare to find someone who is. They did their best however, and in the end The Dragons quite liked their unique idea, only to reject it as the company wouldn’t have made a profit due to the high rent in Bangor and the expensive equipment needed.

Thoughts

The workshop being non-assessed definitely made it into something more enjoyable as it took the pressure off- specifically for those groups who perhaps didn’t work as well together as others.

For me, although the grouping was random, I ended up in a team of people that I’m friends with. This made it really difficult to compromise on issues, and also escalated disagreements faster.

This did however make it easier to get on with the tasks as we already knew each other and therefore knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses- which allowed us to work efficiently when pushed for time.

Conclusion

Although the workshop was fundamental in understanding what goes into a business (and thus what goes into a business plan), it was difficult to focus for 8 hours.

There were also deadlines the day after the workshop, so the 8 hours would have been wonderful to focus on fine-tuning other important assessments.

In conclusion, I believe that the workshop, although great, would have been better at the end of the semester on one of the last days before the Christmas holidays.

 

Interview Assessment: Is everything as it seems?

BioEmployablity and Enterprise undertook a workshop today in a bid to mimic a real-life assessment centre.

To keep things as real as possible, the students were not informed of the content of the workshop before turning up.

The students turned up to PJ Hall to see blocks of tables spread out throughout the room, where they then sat down. They were then asked to perform a series of tasks.

To mimic a real-life scenario the students were told that they were competing for a chance to meet Bangor alumni, Ross Piper, who works on documentaries with the BBC.

A diagram showing the six main features of an assessment centre; group exercises, in-tray exercises, psychometric tests, the social side, presentations and interviews. Photo credit: unknown.

The Tasks

The students had to line up alphabetically by first name without talking to each other.

One of the coordinators then walked round and assigned everyone a number from 1-19. These corresponded to a table number, designed to group random people together.

Interviews

Mock interviews then took place, where student’s role-played as different positions. Each member of the group took turns partaking as different roles. Everyone got interviewed.

Positions included time-keeper, interviewer, interviewee, and scribe.

The groups, after giving feedback to those being interviewed, then decided who the best interviewee was.

A photo showing the set-up of the interviews undertaken. One interviewee facing four interviewers, each with different roles. Photo credit: unknown.

Psychometric Testing

Individuals then took a psychometric test to determine what sort of person they were in the workplace, what sort of environment they would be best suited for, and who they would work better with.

Results ranged from chair to plant; someone with strong leadership skills to someone who listens and offers advise of their own.

The emails

Each group was then given a series of ‘fake’ emails and told they had to pick the top three and organise them in order of importance.

A spokesperson of the group then stood at the front of the hall and read their top three emails, including the reasons why the group considered them to be of high importance.

There were no correct answers to this task, however most groups had the same top two emails, whereas the third choice varied based on personal opinion.

Explanations

It was then explained to the cohort that the people who were picked best at interviews, and then stood up to present the group’s thoughts on the last task were the ones who would be meeting with Ross Piper.

After letting the student’s know how they were assessed, in terms of engagement, enthusiasm and overall contribution, they were dismissed.

Conclusions

Although the workshop was valuable to understanding the sorts of tasks which may occur during an assessment centre, and helped me to feel more prepared in case I get invited to one, it felt as though we were a lot more unprepared than we would be in a real-life scenario.

4 hours without a break is unrealistic, especially when we weren’t told it was 4 hours and most of us had no food.

When I left for coffee and returned to see people standing at the front, I felt penalised for getting a drink.

I also felt like people who have anxiety were penalised for that, as although I was chosen from the interview section, I would not have voluntarily stood at the front without having a panic attack from the public speaking, which meant that I would never have had the chance to meet Ross Piper.

Overall, although I feel more prepared for any future assessment centres and interviews, I’m also more inclined to think that I will penalised for my mental health in the future.

2017 Careers Cafe

Today BioEmployability and Enterprise students had a chance to talk to five alumni of Bangor University and ask them questions about their past, current, and future career paths.

Beth

Photo of Snowdonia by an unknown author

Studied bsc Zoology before undertaking her masters in Wetland Science at Bangor University. She graduated in 2015 and has undertaken three jobs since then.

• Wetland Consultant, helping with field sampling
• Snowdonia Society, conservation and woodland management
• Snowdonia National Park, senior warden, Snowdon partnership management

Beth currently works with Snowdonia National Park as a Ecosystems and Climate Change officer.

Nia

Studied Zoology with Marine Biology for 3 years before undertaking a funded masters in Ecology.

Logo of the North Wales Wildlife Trust

During her masters, Nia volunteered with North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT). When they became short of volunteers, Nia took on extra work and when leaving her masters got offered a paid job. The NWWT was absorbed by Living Seas when they became short of money and Nia got a full-time paid position as a manager.

She stays in the same organisation but takes on different projects and finds funding for them. Conservation jobs are few and far between, so she loves the chance to undertake differing projects.

 

John

• bsc Zoology with Marine Biology.
• Honours on salt water crocodile feeding behaviour.
• Offered a job working with crocs, but turned it down as prefers short-term research jobs.
• Research assistant in Bangor for 3 years but left as didn’t enjoy the work.
• 6 month summer job for Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
• Offered a permanent job placement shortly after with Welsh Water.

A screenshot of the recent commercial for Welsh Water, featuring their catchphrase.

John runs a team of 6-8 scientists and his work sponsor PhD’s and offers a graduate recruitment program.

When interviewing people, he checks to see if they’ve pulled out specific phrases from the job description and scores them on a points-based-system. Giving more than one example for each gives you higher points.

Graham

Bangor University Logo

Studied biology for 3 years then went on to do a PGCE course at Bangor in Outdoor & Biology .

This degree has allowed him to travel and work across the globe, including in places such as Australia, Canada and South Africa. He’s also worked across the UK, but he now teaches the Outdoor & Science course at Bangor University.

Teaching allowed travel, fieldwork and education, and it’s not restricted to Primary or Secondary education.

Education is a political football – Graham French

Rhys

Studied Zoology with Marine Zoology and undertook a masters in Molecular Biology. He currently works as an Animal Care Technician in the University’s animal labs, looking after the animals and helping to set-up experiments for BSc/MSc students.

90% poo, 10% science – Rhys Morgan

During the duration of his masters he worked with a PhD student in the animal lab, where he learnt and volunteered in the animal room.

Image of an animal technician cleaning out a tank. Photographer unknown.

When interviewed he was questioned on what would happen if a pump broke in the aquarium. Instead of calling maintenance he went into great detail of how he’d fix it; Rhys believes this gave him the upper-hand.

Common Themes

• Do what you love
• Spread your boundaries
• Volunteer
• Personalise your CV
• Adapt & change

Conclusions

The careers workshop was really helpful in quenching some of my fears about post-uni life. I thought there was a lot more competition with getting paid jobs as a graduate, and was unaware that being a committee member on a society counted a volunteering.

I was unaware of the amount of interesting things that I can actually put on my C.V.

Volunteering with Dig For Shakespeare? Archaeological experience.
Christmas job at Matalan? Experience negotiating with difficult customers.
Air Cadets? Experience caring for young children in unusual situations.

I also realised that teaching may be something I’m interested in. I love teaching children, and have done in the past, but I never considered it as a career choice until now. If I still have the opportunity to travel and partake in fieldwork then that could be a viable option for my future.

What now?

Although I’m still incredibly unsure about my future, I have decided that this isn’t the end of my education and if an opportunity arises for me to become a teacher, then I wouldn’t necessarily turn it down, especially if it gives me the opportunity to travel.

I also know that I’ve improved my interview technique, and I’ve certainly (alongside advice from the C.V. workshop) fine-tuned my C.V. Hopefully this, alongside the rest of the module, I’ve improved my employability and gained some valuable contacts.

 

C.V. Guidelines: What Not To Do

Today saw the 2017 Bio-Enterprise and Employability class in a workshop on developing your C.V.

Unsurprisingly, we have a lot to work on. C.V.’s should now be called just that, as opposed to the ‘old fashioned’ ways of Curriculum Vitae.

What actually is a C.V.?

C.V. is a 1-2 page document, portraying the best parts of you to a potential future employer; it’s what you submit before you get to the interview stage. The very first impression of you.

There are specific sub-headings which should be included, such as personal profile, work history, education, interests, skills and referees.

Personal Profile

This should personal contact information and also what you would describe yourself as (artistic license is allowed, so long as you don’t lie).

Work History

No one will read the entirety of your C.V. if you list all the work experience you did during high school. Everyone has worked a Christmas job in retail- so why was yours special? If it wasn’t, then don’t include it.

Education

Although GCSE’s are important, they should not be listed on a C.V., but placed into a paragraph with only specific grades (important to the role you’re applying for) noted. Otherwise just 10 GCSE grades A*-B, is fine.

Grades should also be listed in reverse chronological order, so your current study is the first thing an employer sees.

Interests

Interests aren’t interesting unless they’re unusual. There’s no point in me noting that I’m a Grade 5 for clarinet, unless I can explain why that’s important to the role, however being an Air Cadet for 7 years can tell someone a lot more about me.

Skills

These are things that you’re good at, such as leadership, communication, dedication, creativity etc. Don’t lie; if you’re not good at something, or you can’t provide a recent and relevant example as to why you’re good at it, then don’t put that skill in.

Referees

More than one reference should be supplied, and writing ‘references available on request‘ is not suitable. References should also be tailed to each individual application and the title, relationship and basic contact details (i.e. email address) should be given.

General Rules

Spelling and grammatical errors warrant an immediate refusal, as does using the word ‘I’, as this is considered shoddy workmanship.

If you split anything into columns, make sure the format is uniform throughout the document. Make it look you care about your C.V. as much as you care about getting the job.

C.V.s can be up to two pages long, although no longer, so be sure you make it count.

A C.V. is important, so it make it look just that.

Was this helpful to me?

In short, yes.

Although the workshop could have been made more interesting and tailored to biological sciences, it did include a lot of information that I wasn’t aware of before.

Judging by the fact I had to redo most my C.V., I’d say the information I was given made it worth attending.

The assignment attached to this blog post was also incredibly informative. Although the lecture itself was hard to follow, and seemed to be filled with a lot of irrelevant information, it’s a valuable skill to know how to write and present yourself in both a C.V. and a covering letter.

I think what would have been useful was to explain the difference between a C.V. and an ‘academic’ C.V. i.e. one aimed at applying for PhDs or MScs.

Update:

Since writing this blog post, I’ve been complimented on my C.V. during an interview, specifically on the layout and the information included within.

Disclaimer: All screenshots are from my own personal C.V. If you like what you see, please contact me.