Farzana Alam, PhD

I joined Cheeky Scientist a few months before I actually left my position, and a lot of things that did come out from Cheeky did help me bear the impact of leaving a very good job, and help tie me over to what I'm doing now. You just have to learn to trust yourself that this isn't the right place to be, so get out as soon as you can.

I learned, in networking, not to expect anything back right away, but to focus on adding value. I also learned how to initiate informational interviews with other Cheeky Scientist members and also outside of the group. I'm still learning from the group.

As a postdoc and a person who has a family I can't just be careless with the money I spend, so I had to put a lot of thought into [joining the Association]. I was on the edge, but I thought "go for it". All I can say now is, it was worth it. The Cheeky Scientist Association private group is, I would say, invaluable. The modules are amazing, they're always growing.

I actually joined the Association because I had a job, this is actually my second industry job. I was not so happy at my company, they were restricting me in a bunch of ways, and around January of 2016 I joined the Association. My resume had gotten me a couple of jobs already, but I thought maybe I could make it better, maybe meet some people around the area, and actually I did and it was very helpful. In the private group, I really met a lot of interesting people that come from completely different backgrounds and have transitioned into industry. They were very active and very helpful.