On Wednesday, C-GEM talked to Dr. Diondra Dilworth and Dr. Lee Bishop, both chemists who’ve both found careers away from the bench. Dr. Dilworth is a Science Advisor working with patent lawyers at Goodwin Procter LLP, and Dr. Bishop is the Biotech & Design Lead in charge of developing and implementing exhibits and activities at The Lawrence Hall of Science.
Key Takeaways:
- Communication is key when it comes to jobs working with non-specialists. Away from the bench, you interface a lot more with people who don’t have a science background. Dr. Dilworth has found herself working with people who have business backgrounds and need clarification about the science behind the patents they’re filing, and, working at a museum, everything Dr. Bishop does is with the general public in mind.
- The path away from the bench is filled with trial and error. To get to where they both are, Drs Dilworth and Bishop both took advantage of career exploration opportunities. These kinds of opportunities shined a light on types of career paths that they wouldn’t have otherwise heard of. Dr. Dilworth highlighted events like Career Chats were essential to her finding out about her current position, and Dr. Bishop emphasized informational interviews with people in various fields as an essential tool for figuring out what might work for you.
- A PhD prepares you for much more than just bench work. For Dr. Dilworth’s type of position, many firms are looking for PhDs when hiring because the expertise you gain is essential to the role. But scientific expertise isn’t the only skill you have post PhD. Dr. Bishop cited his PhD as what gave him the collaboration skills he uses every day, and was the thing that made him stand out in the hiring stage for his initial role.
- These are just two possible careers out of an uncountable number of careers away from the bench. There’s no wrong way to go about finding what you might be passionate about!
Thank you to Drs Dilworth and Bishop for taking the time to chat about the work they do!