Personal Perspective, Life Advice
An edited version of this piece appeared in a Carpe Careers column on Inside Higher Ed in early January, 2022.
Many will use the start of a new year to begin making plans to better their lives including eating healthier, exercising more, or reducing screen time. And while plans are great, leaning into unplanned experiences can sometimes produce unexpectedly positive results for your personal and professional life. Cultivating serendipity, then, should also be a goal for 2022.
Serendipity is defined as an unplanned fortunate discovery and is often cited as being influential in career choices and transitions. Past studies have shown that well over half of individuals acknowledge serendipitous events play a role in career decision making or are influential on their careers. There is more than luck involved, however. In fact, an entire theory of career exploration and discovery centers around planned happenstance. The central notion of the planned happenstance theory of career exploration is that an individual must acknowledge the value of unplanned events as potential opportunities and be willing to act on them to realize potential upsides to their personal and professional development.
Serendipity is defined as an unplanned fortunate discovery and is often cited as being influential in career choices and transitions. Past studies have shown that well over half of individuals acknowledge serendipitous events play a role in career decision making or are influential on their careers. There is more than luck involved, however. In fact, an entire theory of career exploration and discovery centers around planned happenstance. The central notion of the planned happenstance theory of career exploration is that an individual must acknowledge the value of unplanned events as potential opportunities and be willing to act on them to realize potential upsides to their personal and professional development.
Five skills have been hypothesized to aid people in benefiting from chance events according to this theory:
I encourage you to exercise these skills and embrace the moment in 2022 despite not knowing your ultimate destination. That is how you will cultivate serendipity and be able to take advantage of the unexpected opportunities you will surely encounter to enhance your professional life and career.
- Curiosity - be open to and explore new learning opportunities
- Optimism - view new opportunities as possible & obtainable
- Persistence - exert effort despite setbacks
- Flexibility - adapt to changing attitudes & circumstances
- Risk taking - take action in the face of uncertain outcomes
I encourage you to exercise these skills and embrace the moment in 2022 despite not knowing your ultimate destination. That is how you will cultivate serendipity and be able to take advantage of the unexpected opportunities you will surely encounter to enhance your professional life and career.
Find Your Community
The past nearly two years of COVID have forced many of us to retreat inwards, focused on more immediate personal and family concerns and remaining physically distant from others. As vaccine rollout and new therapeutics arise to curtail the risk of COVID, I think we all hope Spring 2022 will bring a return to more in-person interactions, including community events.
And your community is so much more than your current work or school environment. In fact, expanding your participation in a variety of communities, organizations, or groups will undoubtedly expand your network, potentially allow you to gain new skills and self-knowledge, and may open the door to new and exciting opportunities you can not yet imagine.
I will share my own serendipitous journey to my current field working in postdoctoral affairs to illustrate how you can create unexpected opportunities for yourself that could lead to destinations that, while unplanned and unforeseen at the outset, are rewarding and fulfilling landing places.
And your community is so much more than your current work or school environment. In fact, expanding your participation in a variety of communities, organizations, or groups will undoubtedly expand your network, potentially allow you to gain new skills and self-knowledge, and may open the door to new and exciting opportunities you can not yet imagine.
I will share my own serendipitous journey to my current field working in postdoctoral affairs to illustrate how you can create unexpected opportunities for yourself that could lead to destinations that, while unplanned and unforeseen at the outset, are rewarding and fulfilling landing places.
2017 Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Research Symposium organizing committee
Volunteering Helped Me Step Outside My Comfort Zone
Getting involved in my local postdoctoral association changed the course of my professional career. I didn’t know it at the time, though.
I served in the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association (VPA) as Treasurer in 2016-17 and Junior Co-Chair (Vice President) in 2017-18. When I decided to volunteer in my first leadership role, I didn’t really consider myself leadership material. I am pretty quiet and reserved but realized this group was doing important work including building a community of support for postdocs and linking them to resources on campus. My curiosity and desire to give back and contribute to an important cause pushed me to take the risk of getting involved in a leadership role in the VPA, which introduced me to postdoctoral affairs as a potential career path.
Working with the VPA, I also met many awesome people doing amazing things, including some postdocs with whom I would never have interacted if I stayed in the lab or only attended departmental events. The VPA leaders I worked with over my three plus years in the association have gone on to a variety of exciting careers: Director of Data Science at Healthcare Bluebook, AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow now working as an Environmental Protection Specialist at the US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Program Manager at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Assistant Scientific Director at AbbVie, and Assistant Professor at the University of Florida. Having this expanded network helps me in my current role as I can connect current postdocs interested in pursuing these career paths with my former VPA colleagues.
I served in the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association (VPA) as Treasurer in 2016-17 and Junior Co-Chair (Vice President) in 2017-18. When I decided to volunteer in my first leadership role, I didn’t really consider myself leadership material. I am pretty quiet and reserved but realized this group was doing important work including building a community of support for postdocs and linking them to resources on campus. My curiosity and desire to give back and contribute to an important cause pushed me to take the risk of getting involved in a leadership role in the VPA, which introduced me to postdoctoral affairs as a potential career path.
Working with the VPA, I also met many awesome people doing amazing things, including some postdocs with whom I would never have interacted if I stayed in the lab or only attended departmental events. The VPA leaders I worked with over my three plus years in the association have gone on to a variety of exciting careers: Director of Data Science at Healthcare Bluebook, AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow now working as an Environmental Protection Specialist at the US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Program Manager at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Assistant Scientific Director at AbbVie, and Assistant Professor at the University of Florida. Having this expanded network helps me in my current role as I can connect current postdocs interested in pursuing these career paths with my former VPA colleagues.
Volunteer Opportunities Build Valuable Skills
I bring up the careers VPA leaders obtained post-postdoc to demonstrate that the leadership and teamwork experience one gains from working with a community organization or group looks great to potential employers.
You don’t have to get involved with your local postdoctoral association to find volunteer opportunities that can be useful for you both personally and professionally. Graduate student associations or volunteer opportunities in scientific or professional societies are other options to explore. You can also take advantage of opportunities to hone specific skills through volunteering. Like communicating science? Why not volunteer at your local science museum or join a community like NPR Scicommers? Interested in a career in medical writing? The American Medical Writers Association has local chapters across the US.
You don’t have to get involved with your local postdoctoral association to find volunteer opportunities that can be useful for you both personally and professionally. Graduate student associations or volunteer opportunities in scientific or professional societies are other options to explore. You can also take advantage of opportunities to hone specific skills through volunteering. Like communicating science? Why not volunteer at your local science museum or join a community like NPR Scicommers? Interested in a career in medical writing? The American Medical Writers Association has local chapters across the US.
Volunteering Provides Personal Fulfillment, Builds Valuable Knowledge and Skills
It is critical to your mental health to seek out activities beyond your lab/research environment (or any workplace, really). Volunteering in local organizations can provide you a broader community of social support and sense of accomplishment in the work you do in them that is independent of how things are going in your graduate or postdoctoral research. You can also use volunteer opportunities to develop new skills that may be outside your current comfort zone and try bold things without your performance being tied to your current salary or stipend.
Prototyping potential alternative careers through volunteering or other experiential learning opportunities can be very helpful as you explore what to do after your graduate or postdoctoral training. Getting involved in specific activities that allow you to pursue a line of work you might be interested in will help you test them out as a potential career path for you. You can self-reflect during these activities asking: Do I enjoy doing this?, Do I need to develop some specific skill before seeking formal employment in this area?, etc...
You may discover you can build a fulfilling career out of the skills and experiences you exercise outside the lab or your scholarly work, combining them with your other strengths to do something you are both good at and enjoy. By venturing outside your school/work, you will also meet a more diverse group of professionals (expanding your network) and start to learn about the many career opportunities out there in the world.
My involvement in the VPA and National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) – I began by volunteering to write pieces for The POSTDOCket in 2017 – opened my eyes to another career path beyond academic research and allowed me to better understand some of the major issues affecting the postdoctoral population. I also came to realize I could make an impact working to improve the postdoctoral experience as a career. I landed my current role as Postdoctoral Affairs Program Manager at NC State University in early 2019 and encourage you to check out this piece in The POSTDOCket to learn more about my decision to pursue a career in this area. My current role is both challenging and rewarding, allowing me to lean into my mentorship and empathy strengths to support postdocs both individually and as a community.
An organization whom I volunteered with after starting my new role, the Graduate Career Consortium (GCC), offers a variety of resources and opportunities to support professionals working in the graduate student and postdoc career and professional development space. GCC members also contribute to this weekly Carpe Careers blog, which allows us to share our expertise and advice with a broad audience. The GCC has many exciting committees and initiatives to get involved in and offers trainee memberships available should you be a graduate student or postdoc interested in exploring a career in this area!
Prototyping potential alternative careers through volunteering or other experiential learning opportunities can be very helpful as you explore what to do after your graduate or postdoctoral training. Getting involved in specific activities that allow you to pursue a line of work you might be interested in will help you test them out as a potential career path for you. You can self-reflect during these activities asking: Do I enjoy doing this?, Do I need to develop some specific skill before seeking formal employment in this area?, etc...
You may discover you can build a fulfilling career out of the skills and experiences you exercise outside the lab or your scholarly work, combining them with your other strengths to do something you are both good at and enjoy. By venturing outside your school/work, you will also meet a more diverse group of professionals (expanding your network) and start to learn about the many career opportunities out there in the world.
My involvement in the VPA and National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) – I began by volunteering to write pieces for The POSTDOCket in 2017 – opened my eyes to another career path beyond academic research and allowed me to better understand some of the major issues affecting the postdoctoral population. I also came to realize I could make an impact working to improve the postdoctoral experience as a career. I landed my current role as Postdoctoral Affairs Program Manager at NC State University in early 2019 and encourage you to check out this piece in The POSTDOCket to learn more about my decision to pursue a career in this area. My current role is both challenging and rewarding, allowing me to lean into my mentorship and empathy strengths to support postdocs both individually and as a community.
An organization whom I volunteered with after starting my new role, the Graduate Career Consortium (GCC), offers a variety of resources and opportunities to support professionals working in the graduate student and postdoc career and professional development space. GCC members also contribute to this weekly Carpe Careers blog, which allows us to share our expertise and advice with a broad audience. The GCC has many exciting committees and initiatives to get involved in and offers trainee memberships available should you be a graduate student or postdoc interested in exploring a career in this area!
Take on Additional Tasks & Responsibilities to Diversify Your Expertise
Just a few months into my role at NC State, I volunteered to assist a team I met through the Future PI Slack group in analyzing important data from a faculty career applicant survey. While contributing to this project resulted in significant “after hours” work over the course of several months as we drafted a publication and responded to reviewers, we were ultimately able to publish our study in eLife in June 2020. I continue working with some of my co-authors on this work during my “free time” developing more detailed, future surveys to understand factors that lead to a successful faculty job search. We are also currently looking at how COVID impacted the faculty job market in 2020 & 2021.
Engaging in this “extra” opportunity allowed me to develop additional knowledge of metrics associated with faculty job market success that enhance my ability to support postdocs in their career preparation. In addition, this experience allowed me to produce scholarly work in my new profession, despite it not being possible in my day job. Furthermore, it demonstrates one can contribute meaningfully to creating new knowledge that has an impact despite not being a faculty or research staff member. It opened my eyes to the fact that doing impactful scholarly work in the area of education and outcomes research was possible for me in an administrative role.
While you should certainly not over-extend yourself with too much extracurricular work, I believe taking on additional opportunities when you think they will help you learn and grow in a new area is worth it.
Engaging in this “extra” opportunity allowed me to develop additional knowledge of metrics associated with faculty job market success that enhance my ability to support postdocs in their career preparation. In addition, this experience allowed me to produce scholarly work in my new profession, despite it not being possible in my day job. Furthermore, it demonstrates one can contribute meaningfully to creating new knowledge that has an impact despite not being a faculty or research staff member. It opened my eyes to the fact that doing impactful scholarly work in the area of education and outcomes research was possible for me in an administrative role.
While you should certainly not over-extend yourself with too much extracurricular work, I believe taking on additional opportunities when you think they will help you learn and grow in a new area is worth it.
Learning a New Profession Through Organizational Involvement
Over the past few years, I have taken on leadership opportunities in my new profession of postdoctoral affairs and career and professional development. One was planned and one was not. I actively chose to run for the NPA Board of Directors in 2019 as a means of staying informed of and contributing to new developments and initiatives to support postdocs. My role as GCC Communications Chair involved cultivating serendipity, however. An administrator whom I worked with while a postdoc at Vanderbilt University nominated me for the GCC role in Spring 2020, seeing something in me that I didn’t quite see in myself. I leaned into the opportunity, accepted the nomination, and was elected by the membership in May 2020. I have now been in the Communications Chair role for two years and vastly expanded my network and skillset – managing social media and YouTube accounts, running meetings, and motivating volunteers – as part of it. I believe my involvement in GCC and NPA allowed me to leverage best practices in postdoctoral affairs and career and professional development to excel in my role at NC State. Ultimately, these experiences also gave me the confidence to seek out new roles in the profession that offered more leadership opportunities and growth potential.
A Serendipitous Destination
This week, I started a new position leading the creation of an Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). In retrospect, perhaps all these “extra” experiences added up to this amazing opportunity? It certainly could not have been planned. However, I believe leaning into experiences that seem exciting and a bit of a stretch ultimately allows us to grow and discover something new about ourselves and can ultimately prepare us to take on new, future challenges.
I have found a great sense of confidence and competence through my volunteer and extracurricular efforts over the past several years. I also went beyond the bounds of my day job at NC State to demonstrate leadership and expertise in a new profession that will serve me well as I take on the task of instilling best practices in postdoctoral affairs and career and professional development for postdocs at Virginia Tech. I will be looked to as a leader and expert, which just three short years ago I would not have considered myself to be. As a postdoc four years ago, I couldn’t even imagine this is where I would be in my career.
One’s future path is difficult to see at the outset but in retrospect there is often a thread you can follow that connects you to your current situation. Leaning into your curiosity, taking risks, and having confidence that your skills, interests, and values will align to yield amazing results is critical.
You never know where the choices you make, that at the time may seem outside of your “plan,” can ultimately lead. Acknowledging the need to be open to new opportunities to build skills, try out new tasks, and grow your network can help diversify your career prospects. But if you don't put yourself out there, it certainly will be a challenge to take advantage of serendipitous opportunities that could result in you arriving at an exciting destination you can’t yet imagine today.
I have found a great sense of confidence and competence through my volunteer and extracurricular efforts over the past several years. I also went beyond the bounds of my day job at NC State to demonstrate leadership and expertise in a new profession that will serve me well as I take on the task of instilling best practices in postdoctoral affairs and career and professional development for postdocs at Virginia Tech. I will be looked to as a leader and expert, which just three short years ago I would not have considered myself to be. As a postdoc four years ago, I couldn’t even imagine this is where I would be in my career.
One’s future path is difficult to see at the outset but in retrospect there is often a thread you can follow that connects you to your current situation. Leaning into your curiosity, taking risks, and having confidence that your skills, interests, and values will align to yield amazing results is critical.
You never know where the choices you make, that at the time may seem outside of your “plan,” can ultimately lead. Acknowledging the need to be open to new opportunities to build skills, try out new tasks, and grow your network can help diversify your career prospects. But if you don't put yourself out there, it certainly will be a challenge to take advantage of serendipitous opportunities that could result in you arriving at an exciting destination you can’t yet imagine today.
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