Gry Wester
Associate Management Consultant at VMLY&R HEALTHAs an academic and lifelong learner, I think you have the research and development skills to quickly learn about a new subject matter.
As an academic and lifelong learner, I think you have the research and development skills to quickly learn about a new subject matter.
Never underestimate your PhD or your academic skills. You don’t have to retrain. You don’t have to start again. Find the organisations who value what you already have and can do.
I learned to try and be OK with failure. Again, something that not many people have in industry as it is easier to ‘do what they tell you’ than to think critically.
Where you begin doesn’t have to be where you end up, and there can be lots of stops and changes along the way!
I am very passionate about higher education and I love that my work helps to improve student experience.
If you love science but think that the communication part is still missing, do not hesitate. Prepare yourself in face of whatever you see as your limitations and weaknesses and go for it!
There is always the anxiety of doing something new and the fact that you sail in unknown waters. But, on the other hand, this is what you always do when you are in basic research, so there is not much difference at the end of the day.
Do it! PhDs acquire many incredibly valuable skills which are still very rare in society. (…) Do not be deterred! Your skills are rare and valuable, and your insights will be appreciated. The grass is indeed greener on the other side…
I am grateful that I get to wake up every day as my own boss, able to help researchers who do want to achieve academic career success go as far as they want to.
My academic background allows me to understand the main issues related to the job and the research project, and how to offer potential solutions to that.
Understanding what really motivates me and gets me out of bed in the morning tended to steer me in the right direction and enabled me to realise my calling.