Knowing that your husband is going to change his job location every four years might at first have the taste of adventure. I’ve always wanted to experience new cultures and see new places. Besides, having the opportunity to reorganize my house from scratch every once in a while feels great to me, being an interiors decor lover. Also, raising my kids with an international background seems like an intriguing idea. As exciting as it might seem, this is not that practical from a career point of view. Women often have extra challenges when it comes to family-work balance, and that’s a well known issue, but having a stable, long-term job as an expat wife is an antinomy. At least that’s what we tend to think.

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The job search landscape has drastically changed during the economic downturn of the last decade – in no favor of academic researchers looking to spread their wings outside the confines of the ivory tower. How exactly are researchers affected? Well, nowadays networking is the best way to find coveted industry positions as the majority of open positions are filled through employee referrals. Additionally, academic researchers are busy with their own research and can lose sight of their networking objectives and job search strategy, which can bring tremendous value BEFORE finishing their thesis. These two points can unfortunately keep academics stuck in the confines of academia longer than desired. Based on my own unique career path, first as a tax accountant and later as a biochemist, I share here my own job quest and how the Cheeky Scientist Association (CSA, cheekyscientist.com) equipped me with an effective job search strategy.

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