Does a good career need a perfect plan?
A good career does not require a perfect plan. That was the surprisingly ordinary, and surprisingly reassuring, message of a career panel at the 13th Heidelberg Laureate Forum, which brought together speakers from academia, industry, start-ups, education, and science communication.
A physicist now researches artificial intelligence, an aerospace engineer leads academic partnerships at SAP, and a well-paid industry engineer became an award-winning secondary school teacher. Their advice to the young researchers in the audience: Don’t treat any decision as irreversible, don’t neglect communication skills, and remember that some days, “turn up and be adequate” is enough.
This week on the HLFF Blog, Andrei Mihai unpacks the key takeaways from the career panel at the 13th HLF: The Career Path Is Not a Straight Line (and That Is the Point)
Image caption: HLF alumna, AI researcher, and YouTuber Letitita Pârcălăbescu talking about her experiences. Image credits: HLFF / Flemming