I graduated from Churchill College, Cambridge with a Natural Sciences degree and then worked for a year as a Research Assistant, before starting a PhD in developmental biology. After four years of this, although I loved the science, I became certain that working at the bench really wasn’t for me. While searching for a new career direction, I came across the Cancer Research UK training scheme and never looked back. It immediately grabbed me as a fantastic development opportunity as well as providing a working atmosphere centred upon teamwork and a common purpose – the incredibly important goal that ‘Together we will beat cancer’.

The scheme runs over two years, over which time you are placed in four different departments to complete a 6-month project in each. One of the many great things about this scheme is that you start at a high level in each placement and you are not just treated as a helping hand. You have the opportunity to manage a huge variety of projects which means you build up a broad experience of the whole organisation, making friends and connections along the way. At the same time as being involved in interesting and challenging projects, you are enabled to have a fantastic work-life balance. After having given up my life to academia for 4 years, this was a refreshing change.

I am currently working in the Research Strategy Unit, organising a strategic workshop that gathers together experts in the field of oesophageal cancer, to brainstorm important initiatives that Cancer Research UK can take on board in order to have a significant impact on this cancer type. This is my first role and I am incredibly excited about it. Not only do I get to work with high level people within Cancer Research UK and externally, but I am learning about how Cancer Research UK plans their scientific initiatives and am still keeping a finger in the science at the same time.

This is just one of many opportunities available to you. While the science is incredibly important, having a scientific background is certainly not a pre-requisite to joining the scheme – there is a huge amount of support and information at hand to enable graduates from all sorts of backgrounds to step up to any challenge.

For me, this is one of the best things about the scheme – it is a constant challenge, but a positive one. You are pushed, but well supported and having the other graduates around as a sounding board and support network, both in the workplace and socially is a huge benefit.

The variety of experiences that are open to you is huge, I was amazed at what was available – you can take on a project in any department from Science Funding to Risk Management, Procurement to the Drug Development Office, People and Organisational Development to Policy and Communications, Environmental Services to Patient Information. And that’s just on the Corporate Services training scheme. There is also a Fundraising Supporter Marketing graduate scheme as well as internships available. It is well worth looking through the Graduate prospectus to get an idea of what there is on offer.

It can be daunting to enter a domain that you are not familiar with. I was worried that I wouldn’t have the skills to be able to project manage on a large scale, but it was refreshing to find that everyone else felt the same and that everyone has ended up surprising themselves with what they have accomplished. You are very well looked after at Cancer Research UK with all the training that is made available to you (e.g. project management training, finance training, and a plethora of personal development schemes top name a few), but that’s not to say you have your hand held. You are enabled to work independently and encouraged to get on with things, even if you make a mistake, because that’s the best way to learn.

In terms of being a charity, that’s hardly something I think about with respect to the working environment since it is such a well-run organisation. However, we are constantly reminded of where the money goes and the good that that we are doing and that helps keep you motivated. No matter where you end up, your role is to help Cancer Research UK work more efficiently, to maximise our output so we can have as big an impact on cancer as possible, and that is something that will keep you coming into work with a smile every day!