HRB blog

Insight, opinion and analysis of the work we do, the work we fund, and important issues in health and social care research.

Published:

How ladders, webs and side-steps can shape the most rewarding careers

As we mark two years since the establishment of the National Office for Research Ethics Committees, its Head, Jennifer Ralph James, reflects on the rich and diverse professional backgrounds of its team, and how it benefits from such wide-ranging experience.

Image of a happy office team

“If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.” Julia Culen

In a world where laser-focussed career plans and hierarchical progression are lauded, I find Culen’s words refreshing. While my own career path was never crystal-clear, I can trace a common theme along my journey, which took me from Dublin to Melbourne, and traversed public to private sectors as well as funding agencies to ‘big pharma’. Far more a career web than ladder!

This theme is health innovation – whether it be funding it, managing it, writing about it or improving the environment for it. They say you can only‘connect the dots’looking backwards, and when I reflect on my path so far, career decisions based on my personal values rather than titles or external measures of success proved the most fulfilling and educational. Driven by growth and authenticity, my CV includes junior training roles, national leadership roles, further study, and other side-steps – and not all in that order. A CV that alludes to a real-life story, not a one-dimensional, glossy career story.

As my career continues to develop, my health innovation interest is increasingly focussed on healthy minds, healthy working environments and healthy team cultures. This is priority for me as Head of the National Office for Research Ethics Committees (‘the National Office’), a new office with a challenging brief in Irish health research. When I reflect on the individuals who comprise my high-performing team two years after the office’s establishment, it is clear no one ideal career ladder led here. Our team benefits from the perspectives of time abroad, insights from diverse academic backgrounds, balance from busy personal lives, and energy from hobbies and other interests.

Here, three team members share briefly their career journey to the National Office, and some of their learnings from along the way.

Dr Lucia Prihodova, Programme Manager

Career path: Meandering, with one constant thread – interest in healthcare and health systems.

  • MSc Psychology, Trnava University, Slovakia
  • PhD in public health, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
  • Explored an alternative career path through my work at Barretstown, not-for-profit camp for children with serious illnesses
  • Postdoctoral research on knowledge transfer in palliative care, UCD
  • Research Manager, Royal College of Physicians in Ireland
  • Programme Manager, National Office for Research Ethics Committees

What is the best (or worst!) career advice you ever received?

Best – that a job interview is a two-way process. Worst – don’t leave a permanent job.

What unlikely skill or life experience best serves you in your current role?

 Having had the privilege of working with families affected by serious illnesses, as well as academics, healthcare professionals and policy makers in the past, I feel I have a good awareness of the impact of the work of the National Office on various levels. I am part of a wonderful, committed team and I really value the opportunity to shape policy in the area of research ethics in Ireland.

Dr Laura Mackey, Project Officer

Career path: Diverse track with rich transferable skills across the arts and the sciences

  • Diploma in Jazz Performance in Plectrum Guitar, Guildhall of Music and Drama, London
  • Professional musician, touring and session recording, and self-employed music teacher
  • BSc Physiotherapy as a mature student at UCD
  • PhD in Health Literacy UCD
  • Post-doctoral research on use of connected health technologies to support people with dementia who were living at home with their carers
  • Moved on from academia to be a Fellow on the Research Policy team at Science Foundation Ireland
  • Joined the National Office for Research Ethics Committees as a Project Officer

What is the best (or worst!) career advice you ever received?

The best was never to be afraid to ask questions. This sounds ‘easy’, but I am still learning how to perfect this!

What unlikely skill or life experience best serves you in your current role?

Challenging experiences and things that didn’t go to plan have taught me to foresee and manage potential problems, and helped me with similar situations. While this may have once caused feelings of anxiety or failure during my early career, they ended up being most beneficial for building resilience, and, ultimately allowing me to work in a more consistent way.

Anna Dunne, Communications Officer

Career path: International with a focus on communications in a variety of interesting environments

  • BA in European Studies and MA in Translation
  • Five years as a copywriter and translator in Stuttgart, Germany
  • Back to university in Germany for an MA in European Governance
  • Off to Brussels to work in political communication
  • On to an agency specialising in policy communication around sustainability and research, managing projects for EU institutions and research consortia
  • Back to Dublin in 2020 to join the HRB communications team to support the National Office!

What is the best (or worst!) career advice you ever received?

Best advice – that lateral moves and broadening your horizons can be just as rewarding as traditional ‘climbing the ladder’.

What unlikely skill or life experience best serves you in your current role?

As I was often the only native English speaker on international teams, I learned the value of ‘translation’ skills for any communications role – not just linguistically, but for working with non-comms colleagues to translate complex or specialist ideas into clear, targeted messages for a particular audience.

***

As leader of this team, considering the varied experience among it as described above, I am grateful for the collective of career ladders, webs and side-steps that have converged on the National Office, and heartened that the key ingredients of individual strengths, personal values, and genuine curiosities with a pinch of risk-taking is a recipe for a meaningful career. I plan to continue this conversation with my team to encourage them to bring their whole selves to work and acknowledge the richness that varied life experiences brings to the National Office.

As for the best career advice I’ve received? I always return to ‘stay in your own lane’, which I continue to remind myself of, no matter how clear (or not!) the path ahead is.

Dr Jennifer Ralph James is Head of the National Office for Research Ethics Committees in Ireland.

Visit the website of the National Office