My Latest Job Hunting Mindset, Regular Jane, Artsy Jane, and Naturally Curious Jane

For as long as I can remember I have been equally interested in arts and in sciences. When I took a job aptitude assessment, I scored highly in both realms, with a slightly higher level in sciences. I am a licensed scientist married to a musician with a doctorate degree. I enjoy moonlighting as a multimedia producer, with all that it entails. It is my artistic outlet. Yet, I was hesitant to add this activity (or my graphic art studies) to my LinkedIn profile for a long time. It is still absent from my CV. Like many others in a similar situation, as I discovered along the way, I am pretty used to being discounted as a "serious" scientist.

Never mind that I have a graduate degree in Biology from one of the highest-rated universities. More than a decade ago, noticing this dismissive attitude on both sides of the Atlantic led me to the decision to separate my artistic persona from my scientific one. I obviously did not want to look like the misfit or oddball in the "nerd" community more than I already am. I did not want to hurt my employability in technical and scientific domains. Unsurprisingly, too many people still think (or like to think) that you can properly do just one thing. I strongly believe they are missing out, thus not only hurting themselves but also their team and by eventually their community. I took great care of not flaunting a too wide array of skills, in both my personal and professional life. I met a few others like me who were doing the same thing. Until I realized that no way in hell I would ever be comfortable (at least not for long) in a "regular Jane" cookie-cutter position. Nothing wrong with regular Janes. I worship at their feet. Without their work, we would be nowhere. It is just that, by most accounts, I am not one, and likely never will I be one. They have their role. I have mine. Only that mine is not so obvious to most employers and potential collaborators. That is perfectly fine. It is a great way to weed out jobs and collaboration offers where my particular skill set would be underused. Now whenever I am not selected for a particular position, I am grateful for being free to move on to a better fitting one.

I started blogging on Blogspot without a plan, in 2006, just because I like to write and I am not bad at it (thank you, free version of Grammarly). When in 2010 Blogspot/Google offered me the chance to register my blog with a domain for a very reasonable yearly fee, I gladly accepted. Choosing my personal domain name was guided by the content I have been posting at the beginning. Mostly travel - a personal log to keep various friends and interested acquaintances informed with my latest. I was drawing and painting a lot back then, while getting my US "footing", and I was using my middle name to sign my works. I still do. My social media handles were using it too. Art has always been a violon d'Ingres for me, just as foreign languages. My main focus has always been science. When I draw, I mostly depict the natural world. I chose science for my formal education to gain access to labs and equipment that otherwise would have been nearly impossible to reach. For all the rest all I needed was at most (and increasingly so) a library card/the internet.

(So there is the explanation for my domain name. Otherwise, I am perfectly ok being called by my first name.)

Enjoy the summer, my friends. Please feel free to comment with your experience hiding and masking some of your abilities and interests, just to increase your "acceptability"- know that I moderate all comments.

And speaking of Janes, I am definitely a naturally curious one. P.S. Dear Janes with other body types, please know that you are beautiful as well.