Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I’m brand new to the site. The thing that’s triggered me to do this is finding myself at a loss in helping my son to make the transition from education to work. He is very bright and academically focused. He is now 18 and at university. He has surpassed all expectations, primarily because his mind works with subjects such as science and he has little else in his life really. So all time and energy goes into study. When it comes to friendships, social contact and anything else outside of a book he is completely lost. A work environment, the busyness of that prospect scares him. The prospect of the summer months without his lectures and timetable also fills him with dread. How do I help him get a job? What will be suitable for him? Are there any employers that will be more understanding and accommodating? Any thoughts welcome.
A summer job I'm not so sure; but after uni, has he considered a PhD? I might be able to suggest some summer projects for his free time over summer. What's his degree in?
Degree is in Biomedicine. I am sure he will want to do further study after his degree as that’s where he is most comfortable.
Some uni labs will let undergrads intern over summer but they normal take final years. He could try some bioinformatics / systems biology over the summer. Being mostly computational and open source you can learn the ropes for free on most decent modern computers. There is an entire course from last year online on youtube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW1k467x_yzgIJ8pb7F_Rdy5qFCN02_xA . Or one on modelling tissues at the cellular level in 3d here youtube.com/playlist
That's very cool! In that case, it might be very nice for him to do something science-related like an internship in a lab- it's fun and also a great experience if he is hoping to pursue a career in science :).
(I'm probably biased though as I studied natural sciences (mainly neurobiology) and I did a lot of summer internships in labs which I loved.)