Hello folks!
And a particularly cheery hello it is. Yes, as the title implies, and despite what I considered to be a fairly lamentable interview (during which I was unable to answer the question, posed to me by the HR interviewer, about what I considered to be the merits/drawbacks of choosing a job in industry over a PhD studentship; only an awkward, seemingly interminable silence and much furrowing of my own brow ensued) I have now been given a job as a lab lackey at Evotec (well, I say the company’s name is Evotec; apparently, they were taken over by an American company and will be called something completely different by the time I start work there), based in Abingdon (near Oxford.) One can only surmise that they must regularly get employees leaving to do PhD’s if I was able to dodge that particular bullet, but no matter, eh?
Anyway, I start off on a three month probationary contract (standard practice, so I’m told) and assuming that the building is structurally intact at the end of those three months (and I haven’t managed to poison everyone), I will be offered a permanent contract. Admittedly, I am still using this job as a twelve month stop-gap prior to doing a PhD in organic chemistry the following year, but, at this stage, the crucial thing is that, by the time the next set of PhD projects come around in September/October of next year, I will still be doing organic chemistry work (with those practical skills still intact, I will probably be far more attractive as a PhD candidate to chemistry academics than if I spent the next year out of chemistry.)
Well, that’s all for now. Suffice it to say that, after several months of largely fruitless PhD/job searches, this week’s news came as an almighty relief. Perhaps the old cliché of having to hit rock bottom before your luck starts changing for the better is true after all (and after Wednesday’s abysmal display against Marseille, particularly from the comically inept Momo Sissoko, who should have been sold to Juve when we had the chance, it certainly felt at the time like such depths were being plumbed.)
All the best,
Liam
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6 comments:
Nice one, Prof. Shame we won't see you down in the wilds of Kent, but Abingdon is a very pleasant locale. Also good to see that you're still "ripping sh*t up" on the Guardian podcast; how's the blog banter these days?
Hi Mike. The banter can be a bit of a mixed bag (and generally depends on who's posting) but there are still a few gems to be found (much as there ever was.) Thankfully, David Wong is still coming up with fantastic puns/gags, and I've got to know BillEShears and Fundament666 outside of the GU blogs (i.e. on Facebook.) Still, the GU blog is poorer in your absence.
By the way, you are more than welcome to visit me in Abingdon, should you so wish.
Ta for the invite - very kind of you, Prof. We'll be having a "realosphere" get-together in London at some point as soon as TM is back from his peregrinations, at which your attendance is mandatory.
Apologies for my absence both from the Guardian podcast post (we're not allowed to call it a "blog" any more, it seems) and your own good site; been hellishly busy (yada yada - cue a raft of usual excuses). Shame the 'Pool seem to have run out of steam a bit; would be good if you could wheel out Mark Clattenburg for every game...
Bit late now, but I'd be interested to hear of your experiences at Evotec re extension. A friend worked there for 3 months last year, and despite no problems (as far as he says) was given the old heave-ho after the quarter. He's apparently since heard that concerns were expressed about his work but not to him. How are you supposed to progress if that's the case?
Good Luck
Hi Stephan,
I'm afraid that my experiences with extension at Evotec are no better than your friend's ones. My contract wasn't renewed after 3 months, though I was told by my manager that it wasn't related to my performance at Evotec, rather that Aptuit (the company that took over the Development section halfway through my spell there) weren't getting enough work in to justify keeping me on board (in fairness, there were a lot of people sat on their arses doing nothing towards the end of my time there.) I agree with you about how shabbily your friend was treated, though, and it's far from an isolated case; I've been on a lot of PhD visits recently, and Evotec have something of a bad reputation (poor pay and conditions, high employee turnover and shabby management.) I also think that their policy of 3 month initial contracts is pretty lousy too (how the hell are you supposed to show what you can do in 3 months?)
Anyway, hope that answers your question.
P.S. What's your friend up to these days?
Hi Liam, sorry it's taken a while to get back to you.
Last thing I heard he was working part-time in a local shop, away from the lab, but still trying to get back into chemistry.
Shame really, don't you think
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