"You don't marry one person; you marry three- the person you think they are, the person they are, and the person they are going to become as the result of being married to you."
-quoted in Reader's Digest, December 1983
The Cameri-mo wedding weekend is almost upon us!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
two weeks notice
A new opportunity came up and so it turns out that I will be changing jobs in mid-May. The new position is challenging and involves a lot of travel, but it is right up my alley and I am very excited. :) (Believe it or not, it is within my scientific field AND is an actual PhD-level marketing position. Who knew such things existed?) It is also based in San Diego, so I get to stay put. Win, win, win!
At the same time it will be sad to leave my current position. I have learned so much in the time I have been there, and I genuinely like the people. I do feel bad about leaving. Drug development is also quite exciting, a field that I could see myself in. As one of my coworkers pointed out, I do not know what other opportunities I could have after a little more experience in my current position... so my decision to leave is still a judgment call, one that could be wrong.
Still, it is a hard sell to get someone to continue "paying their dues" in a post-doc position when there is an offer on the table for a job that actually approaches dream job status, at least as far as I can see right now. I have had many "two weeks notice" conversations this week, with responses that run the gamut. These conversations have not been easy. But in the end, everyone says the same thing: You have to do what you feel is best for your career.
This is the right decision.
At the same time it will be sad to leave my current position. I have learned so much in the time I have been there, and I genuinely like the people. I do feel bad about leaving. Drug development is also quite exciting, a field that I could see myself in. As one of my coworkers pointed out, I do not know what other opportunities I could have after a little more experience in my current position... so my decision to leave is still a judgment call, one that could be wrong.
Still, it is a hard sell to get someone to continue "paying their dues" in a post-doc position when there is an offer on the table for a job that actually approaches dream job status, at least as far as I can see right now. I have had many "two weeks notice" conversations this week, with responses that run the gamut. These conversations have not been easy. But in the end, everyone says the same thing: You have to do what you feel is best for your career.
This is the right decision.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
tweety
Since I don't seem to be able to maintain regular blog posts anymore, I thought I'd try the 140-character thing out. Follow me at http://twitter.com/blaurb
Sunday, January 23, 2011
random amusement
first up: some cat humor combined with office humor:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/bobcats2
so cute! i love the "god damnit bob stop chasing the laser"!! hahaha. i love the oatmeal! :D
next: a daily dawdle classic, life's too short for the wrong job ads
http://www.dailydawdle.com/2010/09/10-best-lifes-too-short-for-wrong-job.html
oh so clever and creative, those germans. :)
my first week of work has been great! everyone has been super welcoming and i'm just excited to be learning so much about drug development. :) the only thing that has been a little rough is getting up early (~6:30am) every day... but i am adjusting. more on adjustment to the working life later!
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/bobcats2
so cute! i love the "god damnit bob stop chasing the laser"!! hahaha. i love the oatmeal! :D
next: a daily dawdle classic, life's too short for the wrong job ads
http://www.dailydawdle.com/2010/09/10-best-lifes-too-short-for-wrong-job.html
oh so clever and creative, those germans. :)
my first week of work has been great! everyone has been super welcoming and i'm just excited to be learning so much about drug development. :) the only thing that has been a little rough is getting up early (~6:30am) every day... but i am adjusting. more on adjustment to the working life later!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
last hurrah
For the past week I have been in Utah! Menzies was there for a Keystone conference so I got to tag along and go skiing at Park City and Deer Valley. It's been awhile since I last skied but I picked it right back up! The slopes were awesome, super wide and groomed... and there were no lines for any of the lifts... pretty amazing. After two days of skiing, I also got to take advantage of the special conference discount on the spa massage at the Zermatt Resort & Spa where we were staying. What a great way to spend my last week of freedom/unemployment!
It was also interesting, talking to grad students and post-docs about their work and their future plans, feeling strangely detached. I'm quite sure that I made the right decision going into industry.
Tomorrow I will be starting work! :D I'm excited to start this new phase...it kind of feels like the first day of school. ;) Time to go pick out what to wear tomorrow. :D
Saturday, January 01, 2011
hello 2011!
What a year it's been! 2010 was chock full of major life-altering events: finishing school, getting married, job-hunting...
2011, you have big shoes to fill. :)
Some good news: I start work in 2 weeks! I will be working at a CRO in San Diego, doing clinical research and regulatory strategy for drug development. I'm nervous and excited for this new phase, and also grateful for the opportunity to enter a new field, and to stay in San Diego for at least the next year. :)
On to the new year's resolutions!
1) Maintain a healthy weight and fitness level.
(In practice this includes committing to a gym, running, cooking more, and tracking calories when necessary.)
2) Establish a healthy work-life balance.
(Of course I am committed to doing well at work, but I am also determined to make time for friends and hobbies.)
3) Stay hungry.
(figuratively speaking that is)
and....4) Blog more consistently?? I guess we'll see about this one... I do have a good feeling about it though. :)
2011, you have big shoes to fill. :)
Some good news: I start work in 2 weeks! I will be working at a CRO in San Diego, doing clinical research and regulatory strategy for drug development. I'm nervous and excited for this new phase, and also grateful for the opportunity to enter a new field, and to stay in San Diego for at least the next year. :)
On to the new year's resolutions!
1) Maintain a healthy weight and fitness level.
(In practice this includes committing to a gym, running, cooking more, and tracking calories when necessary.)
2) Establish a healthy work-life balance.
(Of course I am committed to doing well at work, but I am also determined to make time for friends and hobbies.)
3) Stay hungry.
(figuratively speaking that is)
and....4) Blog more consistently?? I guess we'll see about this one... I do have a good feeling about it though. :)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
still searching
It surprises me a little to say it, but it's been a month since I started looking for a job. I am a newbie to the job hunt, so it has definitely been a learning process and an exercise in humility. In my optimistic moments, it's really exciting to read through job postings and imagine myself in those positions. It’s a little exhilarating to think that I could be living anywhere in a matter of months. But in my darker moments, there is so much uncertainty and self-doubt.
I used to be one of those people who would pose the unfortunate question to full-time job hunters: "So...what do you DO every day?" (Horrible, right?) When I asked this question, it was sincerely from a place of curiosity and naïveté, partly because I wondered what a job hunt consisted of on a daily basis, but mostly because I was jealous of all the free time to pursue new hobbies and a healthy lifestyle. With this question, I was just interested in how my friends' lives had changed since finishing school, and how they were adjusting. Now that I'm on the receiving end of such inquiries, it is only because I remember how innocent my own intentions were, that I am able to stave off feelings of defensiveness from not having found a job yet. What do I DO every day? I look up companies, browse listings for jobs that I don't qualify for, and mostly waste a lot of time feeling inadequate about my skills set and uncertain about the future.
I think the problem is that I just don’t quite know what job I’m looking for, which makes hunting for it that much harder. One would think that the process of getting a PhD would carve out a career path, but I find myself browsing “alternative” options, trying to find something that speaks to me. After looking through ~100 job postings, including jobs in management consulting, business development, consumer products, and non-profits/foundations, I think I have settled back down to looking along the more traditional lines of “product development engineer” or “scientist” at a medical device or biotech company. Why has that taken me so long, when I know those are the types of jobs my fellow PhD graduates have been getting? I’m not sure. I guess it’s just something I had to come to on my own.
I have not really gone down the “using your network” route yet. Yes, I know that’s how everyone gets a job these days. Indeed I have been told that many many times. I just needed to take some time to think about what I wanted before I went around asking other people to help me find it. But yes, it is time…
Other than the job hunt, my daily life is generally quite good. Newlywed life is great (it’s been 3 months already!) and I’ve had the chance to catch up with friends pretty regularly. I’ve stalled a bit on working out and getting fit, but I’m slowly getting back into that. This week I’ve been doing a free 7-day trial at Sol Yoga, a local yoga studio. Next week I have plans to do a 7-day trial at 24 hour fitness. In other words, I have all the free time that I always wanted. I just need to find the motivation to maximize it the way I always said I would.
I used to be one of those people who would pose the unfortunate question to full-time job hunters: "So...what do you DO every day?" (Horrible, right?) When I asked this question, it was sincerely from a place of curiosity and naïveté, partly because I wondered what a job hunt consisted of on a daily basis, but mostly because I was jealous of all the free time to pursue new hobbies and a healthy lifestyle. With this question, I was just interested in how my friends' lives had changed since finishing school, and how they were adjusting. Now that I'm on the receiving end of such inquiries, it is only because I remember how innocent my own intentions were, that I am able to stave off feelings of defensiveness from not having found a job yet. What do I DO every day? I look up companies, browse listings for jobs that I don't qualify for, and mostly waste a lot of time feeling inadequate about my skills set and uncertain about the future.
I think the problem is that I just don’t quite know what job I’m looking for, which makes hunting for it that much harder. One would think that the process of getting a PhD would carve out a career path, but I find myself browsing “alternative” options, trying to find something that speaks to me. After looking through ~100 job postings, including jobs in management consulting, business development, consumer products, and non-profits/foundations, I think I have settled back down to looking along the more traditional lines of “product development engineer” or “scientist” at a medical device or biotech company. Why has that taken me so long, when I know those are the types of jobs my fellow PhD graduates have been getting? I’m not sure. I guess it’s just something I had to come to on my own.
I have not really gone down the “using your network” route yet. Yes, I know that’s how everyone gets a job these days. Indeed I have been told that many many times. I just needed to take some time to think about what I wanted before I went around asking other people to help me find it. But yes, it is time…
Other than the job hunt, my daily life is generally quite good. Newlywed life is great (it’s been 3 months already!) and I’ve had the chance to catch up with friends pretty regularly. I’ve stalled a bit on working out and getting fit, but I’m slowly getting back into that. This week I’ve been doing a free 7-day trial at Sol Yoga, a local yoga studio. Next week I have plans to do a 7-day trial at 24 hour fitness. In other words, I have all the free time that I always wanted. I just need to find the motivation to maximize it the way I always said I would.
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