• Question: How would you recommend your job to teenagers?

    Asked by to Andrew, Elaine, Emma, Michael, Nancy on 18 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Nancy Carlisle

      Nancy Carlisle answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      My job is pretty cool, although it is a bit stressful. For the most part, I get to try to find the answers to questions and that I find interesting, and I also get to decide how much of my day is structured (meaning I can wait until the afternoon to respond to e-mails if I want to read a paper in the morning, and no one can tell me otherwise!). Being in control of my days is very appealing to me, and it one of the perks of the job!

    • Photo: Emma Reid

      Emma Reid answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      I agree with Nancy here, one of the best things about being a scientist is being able to plan out your own day! Also, because I work at a university, I get to spend a lot of time teaching students in the lab and this is something I really enjoy doing! No two days in the lab are the same and I never get bored. If the weather is good (like today!) then I can go and sit in the sun for a couple of hours in the afternoon if I want then just stay in the lab a bit later that day to finish my work! 🙂

    • Photo: Andrew French

      Andrew French answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Yes, its a little bit like being self employed – eventually you can apply to get your own money for projects that interest you, investigating experiments that you have thought of yourself. There’s also the chance to work with some cutting edge and very expensive equipment, which is quite exciting. And as Nancy said, you get to do some teaching too, which can be good fun. There are lots of different things to do in the job, which makes it hard sometimes, but really interesting.

      And of course, you have the chance to change the world! Even if its just by a tiny bit. Most science just advances our understanding by a little bit, allowing others to build on that next time – but you never know if you’re going to make a major breakthrough!

    • Photo: Elaine Gardener

      Elaine Gardener answered on 20 Jun 2014:

      I get to test things that the general public have no idea what goes on.

      I bet you’ve never picked up eye drops/toothpaste/headache tablets/medicines and thought – if I use this, are there germs in it which will make me sick?

      It is something that just isn’t usually thought about yet testing happens all the time. I get to put germs in things like toothpaste, face creams, disinfectants and see how quickly ( or not!) the item kills the germs (germs like e.coli, listeria, salmonella, MRSA and more!). And then I get to see what the germs look like and how different they look and how different nutrition and temperature affects their growth.

      I’ve even been looking at materials which are coated with antimicrobial stuff to see if it actually works!

    • Photo: Michael Kelly

      Michael Kelly answered on 24 Jun 2014:

      Its interesting, you have a lot of control of your day and what things you follow up. You get to find out about whatever interests you.

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