I guess that my true job search started sometime in spring 2004. That doesn't mean that I wasn't looking for jobs earlier than that, it simply means that I wasn't looking for the right ones.

I started my postdoc in January 2002 at Stanford University. After one year, I had clearly decided that I didn't want to be in academia. Everything in academia seemed too theoretical with little or no short term impact on society and frustration after frustration in the lab pursuing exciting but maybe unrealistic projects made me realize it wasn't the path for me.

So what next? My first option, and my only one by then was to do research at a pharma or biotech company. And so, I started to look for jobs there. I did my homework, or so I thought. I signed up for the career fairs at Stanford, I went to biotech forums to develop my network of people, and I sent my resum" to several openings. The result, two invitations for interviews that I turned down because the idea of being in a lab for a few more years seemed too unbearable for me. I remember vividly talking to someone that was inviting me for an interview. As he was describing the position, I could feel pressure in my chest as I imagined myself in the lab again doing something I really didn't want to do.

But I didn't know what other options existed for me. I had done research for 8 years by then and it seemed that all was going to be wasted. I thought of doing an MBA, but I was 30 by then, and I figure I should get some real life experience rather than continuing my life at school. Plus, the fellowships I had been living from all these years didn't leave much room for saving.

I was frustrated and scared, thinking that I would never enjoy my job, and guilty for not having the passion that I could feel some of my friends-colleagues had.

There was a problem, and the scientist in me knew that to find the solution, I needed to search the literature and do some "experiments." And so I did. I read a couple of books that I found very helpful. The first one, Alternative careers in science took away the guilt of not wanting to continue doing research. There were more people like me and they had found alternative successful careers. The second one, Do what you are, made me understand a lot of things about myself and made me start dreaming again of a bright future. The book starts with an MBTI test (a personality test that classifies people according to four different dimensions). It made me understand why I got so bored with details, why I liked to change subjects so often and why I enjoyed reading articles that were out of my field of research. It also showed me my strengths and listed a few jobs where someone like me would be happy. Finally, it also taught me about my weaknesses, and how I should be prepared to work harder in the tasks that used those.

At the same time, I went for my first visit to the career development center to explore different careers options. After my conversation with them, I decided I was interested in business development and consulting.

It was fall by then, and a lot of companies started to visit the campus. Among them, McKinsey, BCG and Bain, top management consulting firms. I went to their presentations and became thrilled by them. They offered starting positions for Ph.Ds at the same level than MBAs, even though we had no business background. That meant that my previous years were not wasted. But what really attracted me was the job description. All intellectual work, in real business projects, with short-term impact, and with projects lasting a maximum of 4 months. I really came out thinking, "and they are going to pay me to do what I would like to do anyway?" Plus, I knew the experience would be incredibly valuable for me in the future.

I applied to the three of them. I only got invitations for two, McKinsey and BCG. And out of those two, I only got an offer from McKinsey. I didn't even pass the first round with BCG.

So here I am now. I have been now with McKinsey for over a year, and I am really enjoying it and learning a lot. Whenever I look back, I see the path of frustration that I went through, and I almost can't believe that after my fears of not being suitable for a job, I ended in probably the most respected management consulting firm in the world.