Another day goes by, I receive yet another rejection from a data scientist position at some bank that I have no interest in working in. It seems like every job posting is either related to finance or at a tech company that I don’t care about. A few data science listings pop up on indeed:
“Be the technical interface with business stakeholders to ensure commercial and credit risk requirements are accurately captured and data science solutions are delivered in the right form to meet their needs.”
Finance excites me less than queuing in the post office. Pass.
“Do you want to work for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and play a key role in keeping our country safe through caring for the Defence estate and those that depend on it?”
I’m not sure how I feel about helping the UK potentially (definitely) harm (kill) others. Pass.
“Working as part of a growing modeling team, you'll help us to make climate-first business decisions, quantify the environmental impact of our lending, and guide our customers to reduce their carbon footprint in an economically sustainable manner”
ooh.. Interesting!!
“5 years relevant work experience..”
Pass.
I see a few that draw my eye and that I could possibly be a good fit for (if you squint your eyes and smother me in grease). I spend the majority of the day writing cover letters and making 5 different versions of my CV to send off. I don’t hear back from any.
I read somewhere that women are less likely to apply to jobs they don't meet all the requirements for, while men are more likely to. I’ve made a conscious effort to apply to jobs even when I don't meet everything in the job description to try and equalize the playing field with men. I applied for a job as a data scientist at an environmental company the other day, despite not being fluent in French as required. My secondary school lessons taught me how to count to twenty and name a few animals. It was an interesting position and I was hoping they could maybe brush over the French bit since I clearly surpassed their needs in every other way. Unfortunately, I didn't hear back.
It’s a predicament with recent graduates: wanting to wait for a job which they are passionate about and is somewhat related to their degree, but also needing to afford the ever increasing gas and electricity bill (lord knows Universal Credit doesn’t cover it). Perhaps I’m being too picky with the type of job I want. After all, I have only half a year of work experience -I did a 6 month data-science internship last year before fleeing to Spain to become an Au Pair. What else do I expect? With my slightly above average 2:1, I may have to settle for an okay-not-what-I-thought-I’d-be-doing job for a few years before getting on to the good stuff. You didn’t get a first from Cambridge Rosie! Nevertheless the thought of working for a tech company that bores me is a miserable one. I’d much prefer to spend my daytime hours doing something that interests me. Or in my case, nighttime hours. There's nothing better than when I'm by myself and looking up at the stars. It's a reminder that we're all alone, and that nothing we do matters at all. There's no expectations from the universe.
You may be thinking, why is an astronomer applying for random data science jobs? Shouldn’t you be in academia?
After earning my masters in astrophysics, I wanted to take a few years off before pursuing a PhD. I wasn't sure if I was ready, and I still don't know if I ever will be. While I love learning about astronomy and astrophysics, I'm not sure a career in research is right for me. But without a PhD, what career options are available in this field? Physics graduates are very sought after in numerical jobs (many physics grads go into finance). And particularly astrophysicists are wanted for data science roles due to all our superb programming and analytical skills (ie pandas and stackoverflow). I would still like to stay in the world of astronomy if I can. It is a life dream of mine to work on a telescope, perhaps in Chile or the Canary Islands - which is why I went to Spain to learn Spanish. There are also jobs as a science communicator: working in observatories giving tours, writing articles in a science magazine etc. And the occasional and very competitive internships (ESA young graduate trainee). So far, my efforts have been futile. If you know of any astronomy opportunities, please let me know.
*Sees opportunity for an internship to gain work experience*: “Must be an undergraduate.” damn!
Yes, astronomy jobs are so few and far between that every position is flooded with applications from candidates about 10x more intelligent and qualified than you will ever be. It takes all your might not to take these knock backs personally. But after no reply from that position you ticked all the boxes and more for, and were sure you’d at least get to the interview stage, you start to spiral. “What’s the point anymore!” Ah, here comes the self-pity and the pessimism, nice to see you again old friends. Try not to let the rejection consume you. Quick! Read an inspirational quote. “Rejection is merely a course redirection”, “Every journey has its ups and downs”, “Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of it”. Phew, that was close. Just stuff that dark empty feeling down for another day.
It’s time to take matters into my own hands. If no one else will hire me, I’ll have to do it myself. Which is why I have started this blog. I would like this to be a fun hobby and for it to pass the time between job applications. I will try to post updates in astronomy which have interested me that week. Hopefully with this astronomy blog, I can also show future employers that I am really serious about this old astronomy thing and that I’m a reliable worker, motivated and consistent. “Look! Look at my blog! Look how motivated and consistent I am!”
This first blog post will be different from the rest I plan to write. I hope to capture the sense of wonder and childlike excitement that astronomy brings. Along with my wit. Hope to see you next blog post! I’m planning to do a 2022 Astro Recap of all the big headlines in astronomy last year - stay tuned!