Source: Corina Ohle
"Believe in yourself and your abilities."
Do you already know which career path is right for you? Do you know how to get there and which steps are up next? The BAM career fireside chats series invite alumni and other partners of BAM to an informal chat focusing on their career paths. Developed for BAM’s early career scientists, this series aims to help PhD students and postdocs figure out which career path would be best suited for them. We invite a wide range of professionals from different sectors, including science, industry and the public sector. Additionally, we aim to include different professional backgrounds. We ask our guests about their experiences and invite the audience to ask questions.
Dr Corina Ohle, you did postdoctoral research at BAM in the field of biodeterioration and reference organisms and then moved to the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS). What similarities or differences do you see between your work at BAM and at DAkkS?
An important part of my job as a case manager at the DAkkS is the organisation of assessments, i.e. appointments have to be arranged, various documents have to be prepared, checked and sent, and much more. It is somewhat comparable to the planning of experiments. Here, too, it is important to do very good preparatory work so as not to stop the experiment in the middle because, for example, not all the reagents that are needed are available. Working in the office is different from working in the lab: I am now much more strictly bound to times and deadlines. Thematically, I also had to familiarise myself with a completely new subject area again, but that is also the interesting thing about DAkkS.
What special memory/experience did you take with you as a postdoc at BAM?
I liked the interdisciplinary work at BAM and especially that the projects were related to "everyday problems". You did research and had the application directly in mind.
What career advice do you have for young scientists?
Believe in yourself and your abilities. Not every piece of advice fits your own circumstances. In the end, everyone has to find their own way and do what they enjoy.
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