Dejana Gajdasevic

Dejana Gajdasevic graduated in 2010 and works as a laboratory consultant.

I decided to study Neuroscience in Trondheim because Neuroscience and Trondheim seemed like a perfect combination for me. Before I started my master's degree, I took a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Science at HiST here in Trondheim. In addition to that I also have Spanish and Social Anthropology from NTNU.

When I studied Neuroscience I worked with Parkinson's Disease, and the topic of my thesis was "Parkinson's disease and energy metabolism: investigation of polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy."

My current position is, however, not related to Neuroscience in the same degree as my master project. After finishing my degree I started working at the Department of Medical Biochemistry at Molde Hospital, as a laboratory consultant. Since I work at a biochemical laboratory, my knowledge in biochemistry is of huge importance. However, my master's degree has contributed to defining me as a more independent employee, something that has been important for my current position that is of an administrative character. My job includes challenges concerning both the academic aspects of the laboratory, and the cooperation between all the employees. On forehand I had sparse administrative experience, so I learn new things on a daily basis, concerning e.g. quality and inspection work, the legal system and shift work.  It has been important for me to have good communication with my colleagues in order to do my job properly, and as expected of me.  

I would recommend that the students always keep in mind their good qualities (and also the qualities of the master's degree) in connection to the requirements of the job, and the work tasks. It is important to reflect upon the experience that you have gather during the two years, not just the knowledge gathered from the different courses, but also concerning yourself and your personal skills. Something that I would pin out is that my employer, (and I think this goes for many other employers as well), was very interested in my two-year experience as a student assistant in the master's course Experts in Teamwork at NTNU, a course that has focus on group processes and communication skills. My experience is that it is important to have an active student life in order to get a varied everyday life, but also to show that you are willing to take on challenges. A varied background reflects a lot of different interests and most importantly, it shows good learning ability. After a few interview-rounds I quickly understood that most employers are looking for the employee with the perfect personality for the specific job. I also realized that theory always can be learned along the way as long as you are engaged and interested in your job.