Maja Skafsgaard is an IT & Data Specialist at Novo Nordisk. She graduated with a Master’s degrees in astrophysics from Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.
Please give a description of the work you do in your current position.
In my current position I do quite a few different things. I support several research laboratories with IT i.e. ensuring their computers and equipment function and communicate. Supporting data collection in these labs runs smoothly and upholds data integrity and IT security policies, not to mention basic IT system maintenance. I’m also learning all of the necessary legal processes for working in a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) environment as someone in IT, currently being the only specialist on this in the team.
On the side of that, I’m working on smaller PowerBI and PowerApps projects to try that out, and I will soon be trying out working with python on software development focused on data pipelines.
What motivated you to study physics or engineering in the first place?
I think I always liked the science subjects the most, even before high school where I chose the maths/chemistry/physics line. But it wasn’t until I downgraded physics from A-level to B-level and we got this new teacher. She was the first woman I’d met who taught physics, and she’d had jobs in the industry for many years before becoming a teacher. She rekindled my fire for physics and science, and showed that it wasn’t just equations on the blackboard hour after hour, but it was so much more, and it was fun! Nobody ever pushed me to study physics, but she made me want to.
What made you decide to pursue a career in the private industry?
When I started studying I knew I wanted to do a PhD. However, I quickly realised that physics was tough and I probably didn’t want a PhD afterall, I wasn’t even sure I was gonna graduate with a bachelor’s degree in physics at times. I also knew I did not want to be a teacher, teenagers were just not something I was ready to face every day.
Stumbling upon first Matlab and then Python felt like a saviour – I actually thought it was really fun! After several courses with coding on the curriculum, I had no doubt I wanted to work along the lines of coding or data science in the end. I found the private industry was ripe with job opportunities within coding and data, often looking for someone not necessarily educated in software development, but fx physics.
How do you use the skills you learned as a physicist or engineer in your work?
Most notably, and something I remember being told by my teacher in high school, is the way of thinking. It’s not necessarily learning how to solve this equation or remember the name of that constant. It is so much about logical thinking and your approach to solving a problem. “What do we know, what information are we missing, and what can we do with that?”. In short: how to approach and solve a problem.
What does being a physicist mean to you?
It means so much to me, all while not defining me. I would not be who I am today if I hadn’t met the people I’ve met while studying physics. And meeting those people wouldn’t have meant as much if studying physics wasn’t so incredibly demanding and all-consuming.
It means a lot to me that I am a woman in a historically male dominated field, which comes with a whole different volume of obstacles than physics itself. And I get to remind myself that I made it through all of that. It means that I can do anything I set my mind to, with a great support system around me.
What advice would you give to young people (in particular women and minorities) with a background in physics who would like to pursue a career in the private industry?
As cliché as it sounds; Be yourself, as much as you’re comfortable with.
Many times I wondered how much of myself I should show and tell about in the job applications and my CV. I was afraid that I’d be overlooked because I was too much, or weird, or because I was open about having ADHD and a potential employer might think it was too difficult to deal with and accommodate. But please do not tone yourself down or hide things about yourself if you’re comfortable sharing it. Had I not been honest about my ADHD I would have ended up at a place where I couldn’t ask them to accommodate. Where I couldn’t be open about such a big part of who I am. And it would have been unbearable in the long run, making myself smaller every day. Instead, I was open about it during the application process, and I still am in my daily life. And I’ve ended up in such a wonderful team who appreciate me for me, with a manager who sees me and my needs, and where I feel I fit in perfectly.
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