Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. - Cheeky Scientist

Contributing Author: Cathy Sorbara, Ph.D. I remember feeling so much pride when writing my first resume after my PhD. I could finally put that PhD after my name and I could include all the accomplishments and publications I had gotten as a PhD student. There was so much that I…

Written By: Cathy Sorbara, Ph.D. In academia it is the norm to dress casually. Sure, for special presentations or conferences you might wear a button up shirt or not wear sneakers. This was all I thought I needed to do for an industry interview. Just throw on a shirt…

Written By: Cathy Sorbara, Ph.D. I didn’t think I needed a LinkedIn profile. I just graduated with a PhD and I had several publications, so it seemed only logical that employers would come seek me out and hire me. But no one called me. So I started to apply…

Written By: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. I knew my resume was important. I knew it was the first impression that I made on an employer. I knew I needed to impress the reader with my resume. So, as I got to work on my resume, I spent days writing a single…

Written By: Cathy Sorbara, Ph.D. When I finished my PhD I had no idea how things worked outside academia. As a PhD student, I always thought I would become a professor, so I had focused all my energy on learning everything about academia. But, when I realized that I wanted…

Written by: Cathy Sorbara, Ph.D. I spent so much time writing my CV. I spent weeks perfecting it and making sure every single tiny detail of all my academic accomplishments was reflected in the document. It was a work of art. So I started sending this 5 page CV to…

Written by: Cathy Sorbara, Ph.D. At the end of my PhD, it was tough for me to see a path forward. What was I supposed to do next? I really didn’t want to continue on to do a postdoc. I’d had enough of the stress and anxiety induced by academia…

Written by: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. By the end of my PhD, I knew A LOT about neuroscience. More than nearly everyone on the planet. So, when I started applying for industry jobs, I thought I would be a shoe-in. I used job boards to find openings in my field of…

Written by: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. I remember the moment I got my first industry job offer. It was incredible. When I first started my job search, I really didn’t think anyone would want to hire me. The stress and negativity of my PhD had worn down my self worth and…

Written by: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. As I finished my PhD, I was uncertain about what I should do next. I wanted out of academia, but had no clue how things worked in industry or if anyone would even want to hire me. It was a low point. But, through networking,…

Written by: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. When I landed a job as a scientific editor, I was elated. The excitement of transitioning into industry and leaving academia (and all it’s stresses) behind me felt amazing. I was eager to learn this new position and contribute to the company. But as I…

Written by: Cathy Sorbara, Ph.D. I was pretty confident going into my first video interview. The position was perfect for me. I had the right technical skills for the job and I had practiced how to highlight my transferable skills in the behavioral interview questions. It was going to be…

Written by: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. I had been unemployed for 6 months and I was feeling desperate. I didn’t have any solid job prospects and it had been weeks since I had an interview or made a promising networking connection. I was beginning to think that I didn’t have anything…

By Cathy Sorbara, Ph.D. Photo by Open Data Institute (Flikr, CC-SA 0.2) My university was holding a women-in-the-biotech-industry speaking event. I was so excited to attend. My PhD was coming to a close, I had no job lined up, and I honestly didn’t really know what I wanted to do…

Written by: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. People kept telling me to network. I was nearing the end of my PhD and didn’t have a job lined up yet. The stress was overwhelming. And, all I kept hearing was that I should network. I did not have time for that. I was…

Written by: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. As I neared the end of my PhD, the stress that I felt about the future increased exponentially. I did not want to stay in academia and pursue a postdoc, but I felt like I was not qualified to do anything except stay in the…

Written By: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. All I knew was academia. For the past few years, I had basically lived at the University. Almost all my friends worked at, or attended, the University. It was my life. But, I didn’t want it to be. I was nearing the end of my…

Written By: Catherine Sorbara, Ph.D. When I first began my industry job search, I was completely out of my element. I didn’t even know if I was qualified for any job outside of a university. It seemed like all I knew was academia, and all the skills I had revolved…