• Question: Hi there, is your work hard ? Does it motivate you to pursue your work or make you feel like you have chosen the wrong career ?

    Asked by to Zena, Vicky, Sergey, Ian, Claire on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by , , .
    • Photo: Claire Shooter

      Claire Shooter answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      For the most part I like the challenge. When things keep going wrong though, sometimes it’s hard, and sometimes I feel like giving up. I think that’s the same for a lot of jobs though – if things weren’t hard, people wouldn’t pay you to do them! Fortunately, I have a lot of support from my supervisors, colleagues and university. Things are only ever bad for a short time until you solve your problem and feel good again! Sometimes you find that a problem really just can’t be solved. In that case you accept it, move on and try something else – it’s not the end of the world.

    • Photo: Sergey Lamzin

      Sergey Lamzin answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      It’s not hard. It is not as glamorous as you may think.
      You don’t invent anything world-changing on a daily basis, you will be lucky if someone in your department ever invents something world changing.

      Most of the time it’s digging in the hopes of discovering something useful for low pay.
      You really have to like this kind of job. If you want to make money or be famous then science is the wrong career. Go and become a tradesman or an actor.

    • Photo: Zena Hira

      Zena Hira answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      It is hard at times. In my case the maths can get quite complicated but I like it. If you are doing something easy you get bored eventually. There is no challenge and you have no motivation to improve. Certainly not the wrong career but there were other things that I like to do

    • Photo: Ian Simpson

      Ian Simpson answered on 23 Jun 2014:

      Work is often challenging and sometimes can seem pretty impossible, but that tends to be motivating and ultimately very satisfying when you finally sort it out.

      Claire’s right, experiments often take a lot of work and it takes a lot of grit and determination to stick with it and get the results. Being able to deal with the ups and downs is very important.

      Happy that I chose the right career and really enjoy my work. As you get more experienced I like to think you get better at flattening out the bumps and having a healthier work/life balance.

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