• Question: what is your relationship status? does that effect your job in any way?

    Asked by Rhys M to Ed, Kerrianne, Nina, Oli, yoyehudi on 4 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Yo Yehudi

      Yo Yehudi answered on 4 Nov 2017:

      I’m happily married and have been for nearly fourteen years! I think being in a steady relationship with someone you care about helps to keep you saner and prevents overworking. I know very often I’m tempted to stay late in the office when I’m stuck in a particularly fun bit of code, but it wouldn’t be very nice of me to run late all the time, so I head home instead.

    • Photo: Nina Jordan

      Nina Jordan answered on 4 Nov 2017:

      Lots of people meet their boyfriend/girlfriend at work. It’s quite natural as you spend so much time there! The only problem with that is that science is so specialised and it’s twice as hard to find two jobs in the same city compared to one!

    • Photo: Kerrianne Harrington

      Kerrianne Harrington answered on 5 Nov 2017:

      I am not in a relationship right now. It doesn’t have an effect on my job right now, but I can imagine if I was in a relationship I would have less freedom to move from place to place so that I could work in any lab I liked. For example, when I finish my PhD, I would like to go onto a postdoc which could mean I move elsewhere. Luckily, I don’t have this problem right now!

    • Photo: Oli Wilson

      Oli Wilson answered on 6 Nov 2017:

      I’ve been married now for a couple of years. Having such a good reason to go home at a sensible time does mean I’m less likely to overwork (or just eat junk food!), and being happy in your personal life is just good for your health in general. It helps me deal better with bad days, and my wife’s recently finished her own PhD so she gives me some good advice too! The points Nina and Kerrianne make are true though – it can be quite hard to find jobs in the same place. My wife’s just started working in Hull, so we’re trying to work out how to balance each other’s work while keeping our relationship happy and strong!

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