13.10.2023
5 min læsetid

Antonella found clarity and a community in her peer group

Claudia Antonella Colque experienced a lot of uncertainty and competition in the research community. She sought support in one of IDA's peer groups, where she gained confidence, new perspectives, and valuable connections.

Anne Mynte Krogh Diget

af Anne Mynte Krogh Diget

The network group "Career Development and work/life" has helped Antonella build more confidence in her skills.

IDA members are generally doing well: Most are able to find work quickly and unemployment is generally low among STEM graduates. However, that doesn't mean that you can't have doubts about your career direction. That’s exactly what happened to Claudia Antonella Colque, who is currently working on her postdoc and is increasingly thinking about her future in the labour market. 

Antonella is 32 years old, comes from Argentina and lives in Lyngby with her boyfriend. In 2017, she spent 8 months in Denmark working on her PhD thesis, and afterwards she was offered to continue her research in a postdoc position. But as time passed, Antonella began to think about her future. One of the biggest challenges in the research world is the lack of job security, as research contracts are often short-term, which made her feel insecure. In addition, Antonella observed a work environment that she didn't want for herself in the future: 

"In addition to the lack of stability in the industry, there is a lot of competition to become principal investigator or to have your own research group. The problem with principal investigators and academia in general is that many people work more than 37 hours, sometimes even on weekends. I did this myself when I was writing my PhD, but it's not something I'm interested in doing for the rest of my working life. In the future, I want to have time and energy for my children and my partner after work," says Antonella.

From postdoc to the labour market

Over the past year or so, Antonella began to consider other options, including making the leap from academia to the industry. Until now, Antonella has bounced from one job to another during her studies, but was unsure about how to enter the labour market outside of the academic world: 

"I felt a bit insecure. I felt a bit stuck in my current position after 3 years and wanted to be more self-assured and clarify my competences," Antonella explains. 

"I think it's quite common for people in my profession to go through a lot of consideration. When do you make that leap? Do you do it after your PhD or within a couple of years after your postdoc? And do you even need to write a PhD? It was challenging for me to go from a postdoc position to doing job interviews and learning how to sell myself and my skills," says Antonella. 

She contacted IDA in the hope of getting more clarity. In addition to a conversation with a career advisor who helped her optimise her CV, Antonella also came across the IDA peer group: Career Development and Work/Life. The group is a mix of both international and Danish IDA members, and according to Antonella, it has been a great support, not only in relation to the challenges she faces in her current job, but also in preparation for a possible job change: 

"The group has helped me become more confident in myself and realise how the skills I've learned from working in academia could be applied to the industry. I think that's really important and it's rewarding to meet different people and exchange experiences and perspectives. It turns out that even though we have different nationalities, we all share the same challenges when it comes to the labour market and work-life balance," she says.

I felt a bit insecure. I felt a bit stuck in my current position after 3 years and wanted to be more self-assured and clarify my competences

Claudia Antonella Colque,
Postdoc

Members' own interests in focus 

Each group meeting is run by a facilitator who guides the dialogue and frames the agenda. According to Antonella, this adds both focus and structure to the meetings: 

"Having a facilitator definitely gives a certain focus. They organise, prepare the agenda, and invite interesting people to the meetings. For example, we had someone from the military come in and talk about discipline and motivation to work. The facilitators create a safe space where everyone can speak freely and respect each other," she says. 

The peer group is based on the members' own interests and the participants themselves contribute ideas for topics, cases, or presentations. According to Antonella, the meetings have covered a lot of interesting topics that she can use in her working life: 

"In one of the initial meetings, we talked about different career anchors and what we think is a good working environment. We also worked a lot on conflicts and how to talk to both colleagues and managers about them in the workplace," Antonella says. 

New relationships and job opportunities 

Not only does Antonella leave the peer group with a wealth of knowledge, but she has also made new acquaintances that she meets privately and that can even potentially lead to new job opportunities: 

"In the beginning, we just met in the IDA peer group and had dinner, which was really nice. But I also wanted to meet people I could talk to about work and everything else outside of the peer group itself. I've recently started seeing a few of the group members privately, where we share both personal and work-related topics. It's great to get to know them a little better, people are so nice and one of them has even referred me to different job vacancies in a company, which I think can give me an advantage in the recruitment process," she says. 

Antonella highly recommends the IDA peer group to others who are considering joining. She has gained a lot from it, both professionally and personally, and now feels more confident and professional in her working life, she says: 

"I definitely think you should consider joining a peer group! Like I said, it's been really rewarding and it's great that I've also met people I see outside the peer group," Antonella concludes. 

Are you curious about IDA peer groups? Find your new group here. 

 

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