Hear Harshavardhan Sundar’s Story

Cheeky Scientist was instrumental for me. I got a lot of guidelines for how to get started, and the biggest decision for me was to make it my priority. Having a very specific set of goals made it easier to focus and put my entire energy into it.

I wanted to change my current job and I had been trying for at least the last six to seven months. I had applied, applied, applied, gone through all the people I know, contacted them, forwarded my resume. I had done every possible thing, applied for 90 or 100 jobs and had not heard back from a single position. I really learned a lot from Cheeky Scientist--how to prevent yourself in an interview situation, what to answer and what not to answer. The most helpful part for me was the salary negotiation guidance, which was phenomenal.

I think my biggest "aha moment" [after joining the Association] was that companies are looking for what the PhD means, and not the PhD itself. They're looking for people that can solve problems, who can manage projects, manage time, manage people, something that we're used to as PhD students every day.

First of all, the resume template that we get from Cheeky Scientist is absolutely amazing. The moment I did that change, I started getting results. I started getting calls from interviewers. Every third or fourth day, I had an interview.

[Joining the Cheeky Scientist Association] helped me a lot to meet people. It was really good to meet people, to speak about our challenges. We had a meetup in Munich recently, five of us who had all already transitioned, so it was really interesting. I think it helps to get other points of views, to get the perspectives of others.

Before coming to this field I didn't really know what an MSL was. The MSLA program was excellent because it's not just like any other program on the internet. It's a group of like-minded, positive-minded people, MSLs in big companies. The MSLA group is so supportive. If you have a question, just type it in and a hundred MSLA members will jump in.

I want to thank the CSA team since I never would have made it to this point without you! I have been a member since Jan 2018 and began seriously applying to positions in June, so it took me about 3 months and 3 interviews before finding the right fit.

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.

CSA helped me realize all the transferable skills I had, like writing, mentoring, leadership, and administration. Until it was presented to me in the Association, I didn't realize what skillsets I had that maybe other people didn't have. That was huge.

As many of you PhDs have experienced, there's really not much guidance as to how to structure your resume for industry. That was one challenge for sure, because after uploading my resume in its previous form I usually didn't get any kind of response. Knowing how to tailor a resume to a specific position was a big challenge, but...after taking care of that it becomes a lot easier.

Here I am with an offer for an MSL position. Words can not describe the rewarding feeling you have when you finally land the job that you have always wanted. This has been quite a journey, with many challenges and rejections, but being persistent and focusing on my goal has led me here. Special thanks to my MSLA comrades [in CSA].

I've gone to so many great meetups where I've gotten great pieces of advice that I've been able to implement, they've introduced me to people who have been crucial in keeping me motivated and focused during my job search. It's really encouraging, when it's a difficult time in your career and you're not sure how to move forward, to have all these people cheering you on.

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 was very stuck in academia. My mental health was at its lowest point - I had a hopeless mindset. CSA gave me hope that there was more outside of academia. The Association provided a great road map to career success.