How would you describe your job to someone standing behind you in the grocery checkout line?
I'm a Senior Account Manager in a Communications Agency. This involves working closely with the marketing departments of major drug companies to help communicate the effectiveness of their products to physicians using the services we provide - exhibits, meetings, multimedia and medical education. Most of what we do normally takes place at huge conventions all over the world, where these companies might build an exhibition booth with some clever computer programs or videos that explain how a drug works, or run a meeting at which presentations are given about specific diseases or treatments. My scientific background really helps me to talk to my non-scientific co-workers, such as designers or programmers, who will develop creative ways of communicating this information. I get to travel a lot (normally about 50 trips a year!), which can be fun, but most of the time all I get to see are airports, hotels and convention centers.

What is your educational background?
I have a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry, with a Bachelor's degree in medicinal chemistry, both of which I obtained at the University of Glasgow in Scotland (my home town).

What path did you take to get where you are now?
During my PhD I got involved with the Younger Chemist's Committee of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), which is the professional organisation for chemists in the UK. I found a job with the RSC after I completed my PhD, where I was involved in managing conferences for chemists. I did that for a couple of years before joining Photosound as a Meetings Manager, and my role evolved into what I do now.

How did you get your current job?
To be honest, I didn't know that jobs like mine existed until I saw an advertisement in a newspaper! Having checked out the company's web site (www.photosound.com), I was pretty impressed with what I saw and I applied straight away.

What do you consider to be your key career decisions?
I guess it was when I realised that I didn't feel challenged by a career in research. While I was at the RSC I learned that the organizational and project management skills that I had acquired could be easily transferred to other areas.

What is your ultimate career goal?
Agency life is very fast-paced, so it's sometimes difficult to predict how your career will develop and there isn't always a structured career path. I enjoy teamwork, so I'm at my happiest when working with other people. I would like to become less involved in the day-to-day aspects of the projects, and instead be more involved in developing new business for my employer.

What kinds of people do well in your company/organization?
Fun-loving, outgoing people who are extremely flexible, are not afraid of new challenges, long hours and a lot of hard work do best in this line of business.

What scientific backgrounds does your company look for?
The majority of Account staff in Photosound will have at least a first degree in one of the sciences; many of us also have postgraduate qualifications.

What is your typical day like?
No two days are the same! Because of the time difference I regularly spend an hour or so on the phone before I come to work, speaking with my team members back in our UK office or to suppliers in Europe. This continues throughout the morning, and could frequently involve being asked to participate in brainstorming teleconferences. We do this a lot - it helps to bring out some great ideas, and you'd be surprised at where some of these come from! Afternoons could be spent writing proposals for new business, or visiting clients to present our designs and ideas, before returning to the office to write up reports, prepare briefing documents and answer e-mails.

Of course, all of this changes when I go to a convention to execute a project. There, I get a lot of support from my co-workers, and often there will be a team of technicians, project managers, technical producers, designers and PowerPoint technicians from my company at the event. My job is really to ensure that they can complete their tasks, and I act as kind of buffer between them and my client. I will supervise the building of the exhibit booth and the installation of the equipment, meet with the venue staff and with my client to ensure that everyone understands what we're doing, or meet with high-level physicians to help them rehearse for their presentations at the meeting.

What do you like about your job? What don't you like?
I'm a real "people" person, and I enjoy meeting and working with people from all sorts of different backgrounds. Believe it or not, the traveling gets a bit much after a while, especially when you've spent five weeks away from your home and friends - room service in a hotel might be nice, but sometimes all you want is a home-cooked meal and your own bed!

What have been your most interesting projects or opportunities?
I've just completed a set of four-day meetings that have taken place in Mexico, California, Hong Kong and Spain. Those have been really interesting because the facilities at each venue were very different, and the needs of the physicians at each event varied a great deal. But because these were such big events, we were able to do some pretty fantastic staging effects, plus I got the opportunity to work with James Lovell (the commander of Apollo 13) and Sir Chris Bonnington (who has climbed Mount Everest several times), and they were very inspirational speakers.

If you had it all to do over again, what would you do differently about your career?
I'm not sure I'd change anything - I think that the skills I've learned throughout my career have been essential to what I do now.

Who are your role models?
I wouldn't say that I had a specific role model, but I've met a lot of people who are incredibly talented at what they do. I draw inspiration from anyone who can truly make a difference in the environment in which they work or live.

What do you do when you're not at work?
I have a lot of friends from the UK who now live here in the States, so I spend as much time with them whenever I can. My wife and I both enjoy traveling, and we try to get away to places that don't have convention centers!.

What is the most rewarding thing about what you do?
I still get shivers down my neck whenever I see one of our exhibit booths or stage sets. Our work regularly wins awards, and I feel very lucky to be working with an extremely creative and talented team.

What advice do you have for others who want a job like yours?
A career like mine can involve making quite a lot of sacrifices, and you have to think carefully about how big an impact the long hours and traveling can make on your personal life. But it is extremely interesting, challenging and rewarding and I'd strongly recommend it as a career option.