National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) – “Seachange Project”
Climate Directorate – Department of Meteorology, University of Reading

Salary range:  Grade 6-7 (£27,319 to £41,323)

Full time, fixed term for 3 years

Closing Date:  31/08/2010

External Job Reference:  RS10030

The National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) need an experienced, skilful and imaginative software developer to produce new software for analysis and visualisation of model-generated and observational climate data.

You will design and implement  the software, taking account of community standards, user requirements and existing tools, document  it and support initial users.

You will have:

• Excellent  programming skills.
• A first degree in a scientific or numerical discipline and understanding of physical data analysis.
• Experience with software development  in a research environment and (grade 7) with design of software systems.
• Self-motivation and creativity.
• Good communication skills, both written and oral.
• Ability to maintain productive working relationships.

Previous research experience in physical science would be an advantage.

Informal contact details
Contact role: Principal Investigator
Contact name: Professor Jonathan Gregory
Contact phone: +44 (0)118 378 5602
Contact email: j.m.gregory@reading.ac.uk

Applications should be made online via the University of Reading website at www.reading.ac.uk/jobs

So how can Google be used to find job adverts and aid candidates get an interview?  Firstly, acknowledge that many employers only list a vacancy on their own website or with just one specific agency.  These can be tough to find and it requires you to know the company beforehand.  However, the following tips will lead you to find companies who hire for the job you are looking to undertake and not just specific job adverts.  These tips have lead to success before!

It should be remembered that your ideal job is likely to be found only with hard research.

1. Searching online for a generic phrase, such as ‘physics jobs’ is unlikely to work.  You might find a long list of positions, but most of them will be unsuitable for your own personality.  Understand what *you* want to do and which skills you want to use.  See ‘Your Dream Job’ for more.
2. If you are looking for specific job titles or want to use a definite skill, don’t just enter a basic search on that term or phrase.  Instead, seekers can use Google’s “site” command, which filters results by specific web domains.  This can be useful to identify which companies are presently listing or have previously listed jobs with those search terms.  For example, if I were interested in fluid dynamics, I could search the ExcelScient site:
   

   site:excelscient.com fluid

   which should list a temporary position with ANSYS and a fellowship at the University of Exeter.  This command is great when used with the main job sites, but best used with local job sites (if you know a vague location).

3. Search online for industry directories.  If you fancy working in a company related to the space sector, then try a Google search for “space directory”, which leads to a large list of companies working in this sector.  Naturally, the majority of these companies will not be hiring, but it will tell you which companies work in that sector and usually list them by location.
4. A great list of companies within specific technical sectors is compiled by BERR, who publish a series of online brochures under the heading “UK Capability”.  A search for “BERR UK capability” usually lists
5. Remember to search for UK pages only, unless you are looking to move abroad, so that the results are filtered accordingly.

I will try to add more to this list as I remember my own tricks…

Good luck with the search!

At this moment Xelvin is looking for:

Experimental Physicists

Department:

The department is charged with designing, building and testing nano- and micro level systems and sub-systems which are fitted into the end products. The area’s involved are in material sciences, optics, thermodynamics, quantum physics, low temperatures / pressures and all experimental related.

Job Mission:

To contribute to the development of products by designing, creating and testing, sub-systems within the restrictions imposed by system specifications, costs and planning considerations. As well the integration of subsystems as the partially system design and simulation (Matlab) is part of this job.

Job Description:

• Specifies, analyzes and supports the design, and tests modules in order to control equipment and measurements in the machine.
• Supports the design by analysis.
• Comes up with tests and performs these tests on the design to verify the specifications.
• Is responsible for the proper documentation of specifications, supporting calculations, and tests.

Educational Level

Technical University Master or PhD graduate in physics. Solid in both theoretical and experimental experience in the field of materials sciences, optical techniques & methods, building and testing of setups, simulations, integration, testing or system designing.

Personal Skills

Strong analytical ability with a pragmatic attitude. Good communicational skills and good knowledge of English.

Please send your resume and motivation letter to Erik de Groote via e.degroote@xelvin.nl or call our office in Eindhoven on +31 (0)40 29 10 056.

At this moment Xelvin is looking for:

Optical Engineers

Department:

The optical department is charged with designing, building and testing the optical systems and sub-systems which are fitted into the end products. This specific group is concerned with the optics, opto-electronics and all interferometry within its high tech machine.
The holder of the position reports to the group leader of this department and is operational within multidisciplinary projects

Job Mission:

To contribute to the development of products by designing, creating and testing, sub-systems within the restrictions imposed by system specifications, costs and planning considerations. As well the integration of subsystems as the partially system design and simulation (matlab) is part of this job.

Job Description:

• Specifies, analyzes and supports the design, and tests modules in order to control all optical equipment and measurements in the machine.
• Supports the design by analysis.
• Comes up with tests and performs these tests on the design to verify the specifications.
• Is responsible for the proper documentation of specifications, supporting calculations, and tests.

Educational Level

Technical University Master or PhD graduate in (technical) physics or mechanical engineer. Solid in both theoretical and experimental experience in the field of optics, diffraction, opto-electronics, polarization, integration, coating, interferometry, system design, simulation and budgets.

Personal Skills

Strong analytical ability with a pragmatic attitude. Good communicational skills and good knowledge of English.

Please send your resume and motivation letter to Erik de Groote via e.degroote@xelvin.nl or call our office in Eindhoven on +31 (0)40 29 10 056.

On two occasions she has been able to fill two posts in Physics, where we had suffered from sudden and long term absence. Both of the people she found proved themselves to be highly competent and able to teach Physics at a variety of levels suited to a secondary school.
I can attest to Lisa’s judgement and her wide variety of contacts, and can thoroughly recommend her to anyone who has staffing issues in Science.

Ray Everitt
Deputy Headteacher
High Storrs School

The seminar is FREE. It will comprise approximately 2 hours of talks from 6 acclaimed speakers on various subjects followed by 90 minutes of one to one questions and answers with a panel of specialists.

• Speakers and Subjects
• Biographies
• Timings
• Registration

Speakers and Subjects:

Biographies

John Sykes, Director and Head of Commercial Law, Lupton Fawcett LLP

John has spent all of his working life helping businesses and innovative individuals protect their intellectual property, advising on technology exploitation and related deals, and the enforcement of patents and other IPRs. John’s knowledge and experience is based on both national and international work in this field. He specialises in intellectual property and competition law. He has written two respected text books on intellectual property, contributes to various other text books, and is currently taking a Master in EC Competition law. He is a member of the Lupton Fawcett strategy board.

Peter Kennan, Head of Tax, Hawsons, Chartered Accountants

Peter is responsible for the firm’s specialist taxation services which encompass corporate and business taxation, personal tax and financial planning, trusts and VAT. He worked for two national firms before joining Hawsons and has been a Tax Partner since 1989.

John Griffiths, HMRC

John is from the Revenue and Customs Business Education and Support Team, which provides businesses and individuals with education and support in matters relating to HMRC. John has over 20 years experience in various areas of International Trade including specialisation in Customs Warehousing, Customs Freight Simplified Procedures and auditing companies International trade systems. He will deliver a brief presentation relating to certain basic import and export procedures such as the importance of classifying and valuing your goods correctly . The presentation will also feature possible ways of reducing costs by adopting Customs reliefs and regimes; such as Customs Warehousing, Inward /Outward Processing relief and EC Import /Export Preference

Ken Blackwood, Director – Trade Finance, Barclays Corporate

Ken has recently completed 30 years with Barclays. Throughout his time with Barclays, Ken has been involved in International Trade, where he was involved in checking documents under letters of credit and issuing bank guarantees, also spending 10 years in Aberdeen working with the Bank’s Oil and Gas Team.

Ken currently looks after clients across South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Humber and North Yorkshire.

Ken holds an ACIB from the Institute of Bankers in Scotland and has recently obtained a Certified International Trade Advisor status from the Institute of Export.

Simon Muter, UKTI

Simon Muter is a Chartered Engineer with PhD in Metallurgy and Executive Business Masters Degree from the University of Sheffield. He has worked in the Engineering sector for over 20 years, running UK business divisions of Global Automotive and Aerospace companies. Simon has experience buying and selling engineering components throughout the world. Since 2007, he has been employed by UK Trade & Investment to help UK companies export their products and services worldwide, with specific focus on the Engineering sector.

Mike Strawson, Chamber International

Mike is one of the most experienced trainers in the UK in the area of International Trade. His International Trade experience spans 50 years. He was the fourth person in the country to receive accreditation under the BCC/OIEx Joint Export training Standards, and one of a handful of accredited trainers who is competent to deliver subjects ranging from creation of a strategy, market selection through to documentation and payments from personal hands on experience in a wide range of industries. He is a member of the Eurochambres Academy.

His direct involvement with the Chamber movement goes back to 1997. He has also worked closely with UKTI (and predecessors) and Business Link. As Training Manager for Chamber International he is closely involved in all aspects of training from standard half and one day open courses to consultancy and bespoke courses.

Timings

• 13:30 – Refreshments
• 14:00 – Talks
• 15:00 – Refreshments
• 15:30 – Talks
• 16:30 – Open questions session / Refreshments / Networking
• 18:30 – Close

Registration

“She really knows her stuff and seems to know everything!”

“She is really supportive and encourages us to find the answers ourselves. She doesn’t spoonfeed us but equally she does not let us struggle.”

“I really like Dr Hall. She is warm, knowledgeable and absolutely passionate about Physics. I think I am at last beginning to understand what the subject is about.”

Lisa has the rare combination of a high level of subject knowledge, a passion for the subject and the communication ability to pitch the work at the appropriate level. She differentiated successfully and set challenging but realistic targets in all of her lessons. She proved to be very popular and well respected by her students, and we were delighted with the impact she had on our students.

I can recommend Lisa without hesitation or reservation.

Ray Everitt
Deputy Headteacher
High Storrs School

After finishing a PhD in the USA, Neil decided to take up a postdoctoral position at the University of Edinburgh funded by an EU grant, which led to a successful application for a 3-year EPSRC research grant. As the end of his funding was approaching, Neil decided to move to the private sector, having become disenchanted with the academic environment.

Assuming nothing, and taking nothing for granted, Neil started looking for interesting positions in industry. Specifically, he was interested in jobs related to the application of mathematics to industrial problems. To aid his employment, at the end of his fellowship he took it on himself to become an expert in some areas of financial maths, and developed some programming skills at the same time. However, Neil’s hard efforts were to seem fruitless; little did he know that his endeavours would be undervalued by
most recruiters and employers, who focussed solely on practical work experience.Neil  was frustrated by the phrase, “You have no commercial experience”, hearing it repeated again and again by professional recruiters.

Neil’s frustration was intensified: “There was no point in trying to explain the skills I had to people whose mind was already made up and saw me only as a commodity. Some even thought it was a good idea to take cheap shots, by quizzing me at the phone, throwing about technical words that they had no understanding of.”

It would seem that most recruiters failed to understand Neil’s academic qualifications and skills. He was asked if being a mathematician made him a software developer, or perhaps even a statistician. Certainly, the recruiters would never promote him for a job in financial services, even with knowledge of financial maths, since it was perceived as not
commercially relevant!Neil  searched for many months, being personally knocked back by HR departments and agents alike. After a year out of work, things could surely not get any worse.

And then a miracle happened! A personal acquaintance, working at a major financial institution, informed Neil that his employer was hiring and asked if he’d be happy to have his CV looked at. Within no time, he was called for an interview and a week later was offered a job. At the same time, two others were hired for similar roles. Out of the three new employees, two had no commercial experience, but crucially, they all had knowledge around the field. Sadly, in the words of his own manager, Neil would not have been even interviewed, “had [his] CV gone to a recruiter, or through HR, as it would have never reached my desk”.

So, through Neil’s experience, it would seem that the old idiom still stands: it’s who you know, not what you know. Typically, in the recruitment world, the first major hurdle is to get your CV seen by the relevant people – usually recruiting managers and not HR representatives. If you are in the same situation, ExcelScient recommends that you capitalise on personal networks. Use LinkedIn and Facebook (as well as others) to remind old bosses and friends that you are looking for opportunities.  Finding out who might have positions available (people within companies, not just the company itself) is vital and then target a cover letter and CV accordingly!

So what should students be doing to ensure they have the best chance of success?  The answer seems to be unanimous:  gain experience and improve employability, by taking temporary employment, paid or unpaid!

So, what type of experience is recommended?

Firstly, fill your spare time with interesting activities that add to your CV.  Become a representative of your department, join the committee of your sports team, or volunteer at a local charity.  If you can gain practical awareness of how to manage people and take responsibility through your social activities, then it becomes easy and fun!

Secondly, try to get paid work in the holidays.  This shows a potential employer that you are proactive in your approach to work and that you are committed.  If possible, try to get a job close to your degree subject, though this can be difficult in scientific fields.  However, think about writing to local scientific companies a few months before the vacation and send in a good CV.  Sometimes, companies will hire for short periods, especially if they might be looking to hire a graduate the following summer!  Remember to tailor your cover letter to the person you are writing to – write to them by name and tell them why you are interested in their company.  Equally, if nothing is forthcoming, consider offering your work for free.

Thirdly, strongly consider taking a year out during your degree (or a long summer) and undertake a paid placement.  This is especially useful for scientists, who perhaps have much coursework or revision during Christmas and Easter breaks.  Again, it is strongly recommended that you undertake work that is degree related.  For summer placements, a non-related placement can be just as good, since you will gain vital management skills (including time and project management).  Many companies now offer placement schemes, though you might have to browse each individual website to find out what their scheme covers.  Not all scientific placements are obvious.

Don’t forget that all experience should be listed on your CV.  If you have a bulging CV (great!), then take off the least relevant items, such as bar jobs.  Being a great “people person” or managing your own time effectively is brilliant, but you need to emphasise such skills to an employer.  It is common that scientists take such skills for granted, but a prospective employer needs to see them on your CV.

With a tough job market, work experience is vital, so get out there and be proactive in getting some!

I’m not going to bore you with the outcome, but I was pleased to note that I have been looking at the right sort of positions in my job search.  I hadn’t, however, truly understood the importance that I place on a working environment. This is a part of a job that can only really be assessed if an on-site interview is obtained and, even then, only an initial impression of the working environment can be taken.

A big question in my mind is: can one afford to be ‘picky’ about such things if a job offer is on the table?  It is easy to say “yes, for the sake of personal happiness”, but when it comes to the crunch I just hope that I am able to stick with this principle.  I am going to keep my dream job list on hand to try and ensure that I don’t take a job for the wrong reasons.