Career transition

Career transition is a topic that more and more people look into, and it is a difficult and maybe even emotional topic. After years of learning and struggling, it can be really hard to accept that the path chosen is not turning out as hoped.

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Methods&Strategies Podcast! As mentioned, today we speak about career transition with the Guest of our episode: Jelena Jordanovic-Lewis.

How everything started

When I started my PhD in immunology I was really happy, I loved it and I still love immunology. The problem? Working for so many hours alone and in a laboratory was exhausting. I love to spend my time with people socialize as well…work in a laboratory for me felt like isolation and was unhealthy. Making the decision to change my career was really hard, but I did it also thanks to a positive exchange with other people.

Jelena has a similar experience as mine. After many years working as a research, she asked herself whether the professional she chose was really the right one. A question that Jelena faced with courage and honesty, as she wrote in her biography:

“Typically, I was asked to find funding for my own job for the second time. I realized I didn’t actually care at all about the outcome and so I started to think about the type of job that I would feel more passionate about. This was slightly difficult and a pretty exhausting task“

You can listen to the interview below or on Spotify! 🙂

The interview

In our interview, Jelena shares with us the steps that she faced before becoming a professional artist and illustrator for children’s books. A dynamic discussion, in which we discussed several points like:

• Pro vs cons of being a researcher
• How to finish a project
• Research and the “shadow” of the scientific papers
• Change profession
• Researcher vs professional illustrator

Are you thinking about or are in a career transition? Are you in the research field and you are not sure if this is the right career for you?? Take yourself a nice coffee, or a tea, get comfy and tune in with us!

Listen to the interview with Jelena!

And here is where you can find Jelena and get in touch: here her Facebook, Instagram, Web pages.

She posts her illustrations and artwork, and she is happy to answer any more questions you have about her experience.

What about you? Would you like to share your experience with us? Have you or are you working as a researcher and struggling to find a new path for you? Would you like to share with us your experience? Send me an email to info@metodiestrategie.com

Ciaooo

Maria