Graduate profile: Kamen Cooley-Greene, assistant editor

After graduation 13th August 2020

Kamen Cooley-Greene is graduating this summer with an MPhys in Physics. He told us about his four years at Manchester and why stand-up comedy can boost your confidence when job-searching.

What does your new job involve?

I’m going to be an assistant editor for scientific papers.

How did you end up in this job?

I knew I wanted a job after uni by the end of fourth year (I was a little burnt out to be quite honest). I didn’t really have any specific thing I wanted to do, so just put some lines out and saw which ones bit.

I was applying for all sorts of things. They were mostly science or engineering based, but I didn’t have anything specific in mind. I found the editing job on LinkedIn and sent them my CV and a covering letter. Then two interviews later here we are!

Was anything about your uni experience helpful in your job hunt?

Most of my experience is society based. I was co-head of the uni’s comedy society in my final year and part of the uni’s competition a cappella group Alvarium. Both were huge helps when it came to confidence; a 12 minute interview is nothing after being on stage in front of far more than one person.

Is there anything you’re going to miss about being a physics student?

I definitely miss the people the most, both in societies and the department. The physics team are absolute legends and I can’t thank them enough.

What was the best moment of your degree?

Probably some of the lab days I think. I was never very good at lab but the experiments were always a bit I loved. The holography experiment is particularly fun, so if whoever’s  reading this is in third year right now definitely give it a shot!

Is there anything you wish you’d known going into first year?

I guess the most important thing I wish I knew was just how quickly it all goes. Enjoy it while it lasts!

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