Potential is a careers podcast with a difference. In each episode, physics graduates share their stories about the good times, the hard times, the ups and the downs of starting a career. It’s a podcast about falling over, and then picking yourself back up again. It’s about finding your path, and then changing direction completely.
Potential is produced by Chris Stewart, and brought to you by the White Rose Industrial Physics Academy, a collaboration of five university physics departments working together to better prepare students for graduate-level technical employment. For more information, visit wripa.ac.uk
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Hosted by
Chris Stewart
Chris Stewart is a York-based freelance science communicator, helping researchers reach their audiences wherever they are, in whatever ways necessary, from podcasts and videos to training and consulting. Chris works with scientists, institutions and organisations across the UK and his previous home in Sydney, Australia — which means lots of really fun time-zone adjustments.
Featuring
Sam Bourne
Sam Bourne is Customer Data Manager for Cazoo, and did his degree in physics with astrophysics at the University of York.
Nicola Brown
Nicola Brown studied physics at the University of Leeds, and now works in technical operations in financial technology startup Freetrade.
Xanthe Edge
Xanthe Edge is an automated test engineer at BAE Digital Intelligence, and did her undergraduate physics degree at the University of York.
Jonathan Foster
Jonathan Foster is a European Patent Attorney at Appleyard Lees, and studied physics at the University of Leeds.
Natalie Greenwood
Natalie Greenwood did her physics undergraduate degree at the University of York, and is now an Internal Audit manager at Aviva.
Calum Lennox
Calum Lennox did his physics degree at the University of York, before trading Old York for New York in the internal Audit Division of Goldman Sachs.
Harry Phillips
Harry Phillips completed his undergraduate physics degree at the University of York, then spent several years studying and teaching in China before returning to the UK as a maths teacher in Sheffield.
Lottie Tant
Lottie Tant did her physics degree at the University of Leeds, before moving into finance and around the world as the Head of the Dubai Office for investment company ORC.
Potential Podcast Trailer
1:45 MINUTES Download (mp3, 2MB)
A physics careers podcast, Potential is all about navigating your way from physics degree to new career — whatever that looks like for you! Featuring wise physics graduates from a network of UK universities. View Transcript Trailer
Episode 1: Feel Like A Fraud?
22 MINUTES Download (mp3, 28MB)
How on earth did I get into this degree? Why did anyone hire me for this job? I’m a total fraud — and one day they’re going to realise, and throw me out. Sound familiar? You’re not alone: pretty much everyone experiences Impostor Syndrome at some point. We’ve assembled a bunch of physics graduates who’ve been there, faced the self-doubt, and come through the other side. They’re here to share their wisdom and tips for talking back to the voices of doubt. If they can do it, so can you.
Featuring:
Featuring:
York graduates Xanthe Edge, Natalie Greenwood and Calum Lennox, and Leeds graduates Nicola Brown, Jonathan Foster and Lottie Tant
Episode 2: Where In The World?
30 MINUTES Download (mp3, 28MB)
Whether it’s lugging a backpack over a summer break, or packing your life into boxes and moving around the world for a new job, travel is transformative. We speak to three physics graduates about the highs and lows of exploring the globe— for work, sure, but also for the challenge, the growth and the joy of immersing yourself in another culture.
Featuring:
Featuring:
York graduates Calum Lennox and Harry Phillips, and Leeds graduate Lottie Tant
Episode 3: Changing Direction
24 MINUTES Download (mp3, 22MB)
Sometimes in life you start down a road, only to find it’s a dead-end. Or there’s a detour you have to take. Or you break down and have to stop for a while. In this episode we talk to physics graduates about unexpected changes in their careers, from shifting jobs to completely rethinking your whole life plan.
Featuring:
Featuring:
Leeds graduate Jonathan Foster, and York graduates Xanthe Edge, Natalie Greenwood and Harry Phillips
Episode 4: Never Gonna Keep Me Down
29 MINUTES Download (mp3, 27MB)
Life doesn’t always go to plan. Big challenges can hit you out of nowhere and make you trip, sending you crashing to the ground. And then you have to find a way to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move forward again. In this episode we hear from three of our physics graduates who went through some seriously difficult times at university or in their early careers — and not only lived to tell the tale, but bounced back stronger as a result.
Featuring:
Featuring:
York graduates Sam Bourne and Natalie Greenwood, and Leeds graduate Jonathan Foster
Episode 5: The Benefit Of Hindsight
25 MINUTES Download (mp3, 23MB)
In this final episode of this season of Potential we ask our physics graduates, if they could sit down with their younger selves back in first or second year of university, what advice would they give? What have they learned since they graduated that might help? We collected all that advice into five buckets of wisdom — and who knows, maybe some of it will resonate with you too.
Featuring all our graduates:
Featuring all our graduates:
from Leeds, Nicola Brown, Jonathan Foster and Lottie Tant; and from York, Sam Bourne, Xanthe Edge, Natalie Greenwood, Calum Lennox and Harry Phillips
Featuring
Sam Bourne
Sam Bourne is Customer Data Manager for Cazoo, and did his degree in physics with astrophysics at the University of York.
Nicola Brown
Nicola Brown studied physics at the University of Leeds, and now works in technical operations in financial technology startup Freetrade.
Xanthe Edge
Xanthe Edge is an automated test engineer at BAE Digital Intelligence, and did her undergraduate physics degree at the University of York.
Jonathan Foster
Jonathan Foster is a European Patent Attorney at Appleyard Lees, and studied physics at the University of Leeds.
Natalie Greenwood
Natalie Greenwood did her physics undergraduate degree at the University of York, and is now an Internal Audit manager at Aviva.
Calum Lennox
Calum Lennox did his physics degree at the University of York, before trading Old York for New York in the internal Audit Division of Goldman Sachs.
Harry Phillips
Harry Phillips completed his undergraduate physics degree at the University of York, then spent several years studying and teaching in China before returning to the UK as a maths teacher in Sheffield.
Lottie Tant
Lottie Tant did her physics degree at the University of Leeds, before moving into finance and around the world as the Head of the Dubai Office for investment company ORC.