What distinguishes the first from the second step
“Jana has real guts,” I hear Bartosz say during the coffee break at a career seminar. Curious, I join the conversation. “She completed her PhD in our research group two years ago and immediately landed a position in industry. Now she quit – without a new job lined up.” “What a daredevil!” “Or stupid?” “Wow,” murmurs the group.
Raffael from our group could wallpaper his room with his Angewandte papers, and yet it took him more than half a year to find a job.
After the break, I use the case as an opportunity for a spontaneous digression: “Is Jana stupid or brave?” I ask the group. “Raffael from our group could wallpaper his room with his Angewandte papers, and yet it took him more than half a year to find a job. I vote for stupid,” states Hedwig.
Every year, the GDCh statistics show us that even highly qualified chemists have to demonstrate strong nerves when starting their careers. In July, the Blaue Blätter newspaper reported that in the first year after graduation, one-fifth of students are parked on domestic postdocs, and ten percent are even unemployed. We’ve seen high enrollment numbers in chemistry programs for more than a decade, while the job market is barely growing. Competition can therefore be fierce.
“The unemployment rate among chemists is under three percent; the GDCh figures seem too high to me,” protests Esther.
It’s a common phenomenon: After a difficult career start, moving from job to job usually seems like a piece of cake. Throughout one’s working life, unemployment is low. So what changes between the first and second job searches? I see the following factors: Once you’ve successfully entered the job market, you have better access to industry-specific networks and learn new skills. And you know more career options, making it easier to find a niche for yourselves in the job market. So I suspect Jana is confident in her market value.
Developing such networks and discovering niches in the job market from academia is more difficult, but by no means impossible. Further training, for example, through graduate schools, can help. Furthermore, you can learn about your options through targeted discussions and establish contacts outside of the university.
This article was first published in Nachrichten aus der Chemie (issue 11-2021). See here the German original.
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