The Career Scientist

You’ve landed the industry interview. Now the nerves kick in: will they see my experience as relevant, do I need to know every answer, what if I don’t answer perfectly?

In this episode, I explain why most PhD scientists and postdocs don’t fail industry job interviews because they’re underqualified. They fail because they answer the questions literally, the way we were trained to in academia.

You’ll learn:

• How to read between the lines of common interview questions like “Tell me about your research”, “Why are you leaving academia?” and “Tell me about a time you had a conflict”, and what hiring managers are really assessing
• Why every interview question is a risk assessment, with a real client example of a cell culture contamination question that shows the difference between listing protocol steps and showing how you think
• Why your energy and mindset matter before you say a word, and how nerves, chaos, over-apologising and desperation can cost you the role
• Interview body language basics: eye contact, scanning a panel, shoulders back, staying composed
• How to walk in like you’ve already got the job, and how preparation and networking helped me land my role at IQVIA

If you’re a scientist moving from academia to industry, whether into regulatory affairs, medical affairs, clinical research, R&D or project management, this episode gives you three actionable interview tips you can use in your next interview.

If you’ve been sending your CV to industry jobs and hearing nothing back, this episode is for you.

I’m sharing the 10 rules I give every scientist I work with, from reverse engineering the job ad to deleting your thesis title, and a few of them might sting.

You’ll learn how to write a CV that a department head actually wants to read: one that shows your skills, the results you got and what the company gains from hiring you, at the level of a PhD or postdoc.

By the end, you’ll know exactly what to cut, what to rewrite, and why your CV alone won’t get you the job.

Want to have a CV review or consultation with me to land your industry role? Message me on instagram at username TheCareerScientist

In this episode I’m sharing something I’ve never really talked about on Instagram: why I left the lab and chose industry.

I go back to where it started, with my dad explaining molecules to me instead of bedtime stories, then chemical engineering, biomedical science, and my master thesis in organ transplantation. I loved that research. I also did 24-hour protocols where the kidney went into the MRI at 7pm and I cleaned up at 7am.

Then came the crossroads: PhD or industry. My supervisors told me companies would always be there and a PhD opportunity wouldn’t. I got offered a PhD in cardiology at Erasmus, an interview I only went to as practice, and I said no.

I talk about the PhD students I saw around me, why I wanted to be the corporate girl in the blazer walking into the glass buildings in Amsterdam, and what changed when I broke in: my evenings, my weekends, and no work stress after 5pm.

If you’re a PhD, postdoc or master’s graduate stuck between academia and industry, I end with the exercise I’d give you to make the decision.

Message me on Instagram and tell me if this resonates. And the next episode is how I actually broke into industry.

You’ve done the PhD, maybe the postdoc, you’re applying and networking, but it’s not clicking. After coaching 150+ scientists, I can tell you it’s almost never your skills. It’s that you’re still thinking and talking like an academic, and hiring managers put you in the “academic” box.

In this episode, I share the shifts I made going from an academic lab to a CRO and then into pharma:

• Zooming out from your protocol to show how your research moves healthcare decisions forward
• Making quick decisions and owning your results instead of waiting until you’re 100% sure
• Giving yourself permission to go to industry instead of waiting for your PI’s approval

I also talk about closing the lab chapter without losing everything it taught you, and I leave you with one question to answer today: what would you tell a CEO about your research?