Author: PhD Career Stories

A Podcast for people interested in career possibilities after a PhD with Tina Persson, Michele Manzo, Maria Sjögren and Paulius Mikulskis.

#074: Tina Persson on the resilience during the job hunting

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In this episode, the founder of the podcast Dr. Tina Persson talks about two of the most important qualities you need to have during the job search.
If weeks of unemployment have turned to months for you, if you feel that you do not have the required skills and there are no jobs, this podcast is for you.
Tina, being the professional career coach and recruitment specialist in the present and the Assistant Professor in Molecular Biology in the past, provides a unique perspective on this issue and gives valuable advice.
A job-hunting process is something that we put time on, it’s like writing a novel, an article. It is not what you do on one day, it is what you do on a daily basis, day out and day in. But the trick is if you’re going to be successful in your job-hunting process you must trust the process and learn to stay resilient.
Dr. Tina Persson

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#073: Interview with Anastasia Moiseeva on life coaching during and after a PhD


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Anastasia Moiseeva is a life coach, mentor, teacher and a life-learner. In 2005 she moved from the cold far-away Siberia to the Netherlands to pursue a master’s degree in Urbanism. In 2013, she defended her PhD in Urban Sciences and Systems at the University of Eindhoven.

Her way after receiving the PhD degree was not straightforward: after working less than a year as a coordinator and analyst in the ABN ARMO bank and then refusing several high-profile positions in academia, she landed a challenging position as a tutor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Rotterdam (EUC) in 2016.

Today, she dedicates all her time and energy to work on her project Urban Life Coaching, which aims to help current and former PhD students to get control of their project, to get out of negative thought spirals and find balance by focusing on the right things in life.

In this interview, she reflects upon her own journey from a master student to a life coach and tells how life coaching helps to overcome various difficulties like finishing a thesis, finding a dream job, or reconciling personal and professional lives.

Don’t be afraid to try different options. There is always a reason behind, why certain jobs or certain positions happen in your life.

Dr. Anastasia Moiseeva, Life Coach, The Netherlands  Continue reading “#073: Interview with Anastasia Moiseeva on life coaching during and after a PhD” →

#072: Aoife O Dwyer Story

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Aoife O Dwyer was born and raised in Ireland where she did an undergraduate degree in Genetics and Cell Biology, followed by a PhD in Immunology.
Two weeks after her PhD was awarded, Aoife moved to Melbourne, Australia in search of her first Medical Science Liaison job.

Today, Aoife still works full time as a Senior Medical Science Liaison in Melbourne, Australia. In 2018, Aoife published “Medical Science Liaison – The Ultimate Step by Step Guide” and founded MSL Consultant to help PhD graduates transition from academia to a medical science liaison position in the pharmaceutical industry.

In this podcast, Aoife tells about why she almost quitted her PhD and where she found the motivation to stay and finish it. She also shares with the listeners what challenges she encountered on her first MSL position.

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#071: Chris Armbruster on how (and why) to become a Data Scientist


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Data Scientist is often called “the hottest job of the 21st century”, but what makes it so attractive and important for society? And how can a PhD-graduate transition into this field?

Chris Armbruster, a PhD graduate in Sociology from the Lancaster University, spent two years at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy studying the emerging R&D and innovation landscape in Europe.

Later he has moved “from innovation research to doing innovation” and first worked on rolling out digital infrastructures for the Max Planck Society, and then dived into start-up life in a variety of roles encompassing digital technologies, customer-centric business models, and product development.

Today he is a Director of Community Development at The Drivery – the mobility innovators’ club in Berlin, which aims to push for innovation in the mobility sector, e.g. autonomous driving, electric kickscooters.

His key mission is to cover the shortage of talent for Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, more specifically for roles in Data Analytics, Data Science, and Machine Learning in Europe.

He writes a blog on Medium about Data & AI field and professional opportunities and drives the “10,000 Data Scientists for Europe” initiative, which we can be found on Eventbrite, Meetup, and Facebook.

Most of those experts are not in Europe, and European experts often leave for the United States, Canada, China, and sometimes also India. Hence, the shortage of talent is severe and may even get worse. Doing online courses and attending a bootcamp are a good start, but they are a start only.

– Dr. Chris Armbruster

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#068: Elvira Ganic Story

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The job search period that comes after the PhD hardly can be called “fun”, “exciting” and definitely not the one “to enjoy”. It is the time when you question your achievements, re-assess your skills and talents, restlessly scout job-boards hoping to find a “fit” to your unique set of skills, attend exhausting interviews, and, inevitably, face numerous rejections before you get that one job.

In our new podcast, Elvira Ganic argues that shifting your perspective can make this process bearable and even joyful. Elvira received her PhD from the Stem Cell Center of the Lund University. After her defense, through the career coaching sessions with Tina Persson and the long job searching process with 27 interviews, she landed on the position of the Regulatory Affairs specialist at a pharmaceutical and medical device company in Malmö in Sweden. 

In this uplifting episode, she tells what she learned on that way – how coaching changed the way she sees herself and her skills, what the transferable skills actually are, how to stay open-minded when looking for a position and why the transition period is an important life phase that you should fully enjoy and learn from it.

[…] They’re not just choosing me; I’m choosing them. This is going to be a healthy, fruitful relationship and I’m really here to see if we are compatible for each other.

Dr. Elvira Ganic

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#067: Kajsa Hallberg Adu Story

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Today you will have a chance to get to know Kajsa Hallberg Adu, who was born and raised in Sweden and nowadays lives and works in Ghana.

Kajsa is a lecturer in Communications, Leadership, and Political Science at Ashesi University. She holds a PhD degree in African Studies (University of Ghana) and a Master degree in Political Science (Uppsala University, Sweden).

Her research interests turn towards the future as she studies youth in Ghana and beyond, student migration, labor migration, knowledge societies, social media in the classroom, social media in elections, the intersection of internet freedoms and democratization, uses of augmented reality and decolonizing the academy. Outside of her academic career, Kajsa is a blogger and activist.

[Thanks to the PhD] I have confirmed my analytical nature, other useful outcomes are speed reading, efficiency, self-discipline and producing “good enough” work. As well as not worrying too much about the critique that, as you learn, is looming around every corner. The scare really wears off.

Dr. Kajsa Hallberg Adu

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#066: Interview with Magda Schiegl


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In September 2018 Tina Persson attended the annual Max Planck alumni meeting in Berlin and had a chance to speak with the professor for Applied Mathematics and Physics Dr. Magda Schiegl.

Magda Schiegl made her PhD in Theoretical Plasma Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in 1996 and then had a long career in the financial and energy industry. In 2009 she decided to come back to science and teaching, but this time, instead of theoretical plasma physics research, she chose the practical field of Risk Management and Applied Mathematics. She got a professorship position at the University of Applied Science in Cologne and later moved to Landschut, Germany.

In this interview, Magda reflects upon how her experience as a PhD influenced her career and shares a tip on how to combine interests for the industry and practical problems with the passion for scientific research and education.

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