Nowadays, portfolio careers are becoming more common and working for the same company from graduation to retirement is increasingly uncommon. Here is what I learnt when reflecting on my own career journey, and how it matches the chemist’s old adage of ‘everything is transformed’.
Why did I become a chemist?
When I was about 11 years old, I read lots of comics from the Donald Duck universe. In one of them, inventor Gyro Gearloose creates a device that can seemingly produce anything out of thin air – including gasoline, a substance I knew we would run out of one day. Not too long afterwards, a chemistry teacher who was a friend of my grandparents told me that in theory such a thing was possible.
This inspired me and is one of the reasons why I moved to the UK to pursue an MChem at the University of Bath in 2005.
University discoveries
Besides making a MOF in my final year and working with hexaazaisowurtzitane compounds, I discovered the world of personal development and that transforming oneself was possible, much like I could transform atoms and molecules in the lab. I became a student trainer, discovering an interest in developing myself and others along the way.
What’s more, my third-year dissertation on climate change and future energy usage taught me that chemistry sat at the centre of most modern-day challenges. In short, everything around us was about transformation. So, what was next for me?
From chemist to engineer to business analyst
The only way to reconcile my interests was to apply my chemistry skills to the wonderful world of nuclear energy. On paper a nuclear reactor is all about transforming energy from uranium nuclei into electrical energy. But in reality, in the words of a former colleague working in Hartlepool Power Station, it is a ‘big puzzle’. A puzzle which I had to figure out on the night shift to answer tough questions from my colleague John such as ‘how do you pump against a vacuum?’ So, I transformed and became an engineer on the job, looking at diagrams and theory in the office and following pipes in the reactor hall to understand the ‘big puzzle’.
My biggest learning from this experience was to think in systems and numbers, and to be able to zoom into details. A mindset which was extremely useful when I traded blue overalls for crisp shirts and pivoted to work in corporate strategy.
Transforming a nonprofit
My interest in personal development never left me. While at university I heard about an organisation called Toastmasters International where one could learn public speaking. Getting involved had to wait until I moved to London. Learning public speaking was an amazing journey of self-discovery, reflection and – once again – transformation.
In fact, I enjoyed this journey so much that I seized opportunities to step up to leadership roles in the organisation. My approach to leadership can be described as transformational, as I sought to make things more efficient so that we could be a more impactful organisation. It culminated in me leading Toastmasters across southern Britain and in the greatest test of all, transforming an in-person organisation to an online one when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
The eye for metrics and data-driven leadership I honed in these roles then led me to the next stage of my career.
Pivoting into data science
I had worked with numbers and used Excel confidently since university, but pivoting hard into data science and analysis only began for me during the Covid-19 pandemic and a Python coding course a friend gave me as a birthday present.
A cornerstone of data science is transforming obscure and often very large datasets into stories and actions. I mentioned earlier that I enjoyed transforming myself and others in previous roles. So, it is no surprise that in my current role I do just that by training aspiring data scientists.
It seems that Lavoisier’s motto of ‘Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed’ is a metaphor for my career.
Lessons learned
The next step in my career ideally involves going back into leadership to transform organisations or support a cause I feel strongly about. Whatever it may be, I know that three core lessons from my journey of transformation will apply.
Curiosity matters. While I never became a specialist in one field, having a large range of interests helps me think creatively outside of the box in many situations. This can be especially useful in leadership situations that require nuance, when critical thinking is required
You own your learning. It is never too late to learn skills and learning helps keep our minds sharp. A mistake I nonetheless perhaps made in the past was to focus on hard skills as opposed to softer skills. In this emerging age of AI, critical thinking, networking and building rapport with others matter just as much as knowing how AI actually works.
Attitude matters. After University, I dithered between doing a PhD or going into industry, wasting time in the process. Lack of focus and poor time management skills also meant that my attempt at launching my own training business ended in failure. It took me time to recognise that I am my own worst enemy, and that as someone else said: ‘The best time to plant a seed was yesterday, but the second-best time is now!’