PhD Student and Careers Zones Information Assistant, Emma-Louise Smith had been looking for a role to help both pay the bills and engage her love of science, a tough ask for many students.

She had searched websites and social media as well as checking her LJMU emails, her dedication to the latter would prove her efforts were not wasted first in April 2013.

Emma found a post advertised to work at the Abu Dhabi International Science Festival through the Edinburgh International Science Festival and applied.

Having been invited to interview in Edinburgh, Emma set off in hope of landing a great role working in the United Arab Emirates.

This was not to be, she was rejected after interview having not demonstrated enough evidence of direct science communication with children.

If she were to succeed in securing a role such as this she would need to find some experience of this nature to add to her CV.

Luckily LJMU emails would again prove fruitful as in June 2013 she found an advertisement for a role as a ‘Fun Science Presenter’ exactly the sort of role she would enjoy and would build crucial experience needed for getting work at the Abu Dhabi International Science Festival 2014.

Emma spent the next year working in this role alongside her postgraduate study until May 2014 when the opportunity to apply to work at the Abu Dhabi Science Festival came around again, this time the story ended differently with Emma being successful and getting to travel to Abu Dhabi and work as part of the ‘Planet in a Bottle’ workshop.

But she wasn’t finished there, her work in Abu Dhabi allowed her to express an interest in working at the Edinburgh International Science Festival in January 2015 and Emma was again successful, from Monday 31^st March 2015 she will be working as part of ‘The Secret Life of Corals’ workshop.

Emma’s blog about her time in Abu Dhabi can be found here: http://blog.ljmu.ac.uk/2015/science-and-flamingos-in-abu-dhabi/ and we can’t wait to feature her experiences in Edinburgh on her return!