In this episode, we talk about what it's like to work for the Office for National Statistics and the differences between life in academia and life outside of it. Dr Alina Pelikh is joined by James Robards to talk about applying for jobs once you make a decision to change careers and the different factors that may influence that decision, including workload, logistics and responsibilities. James talks about the differences between working in a research setting and in the civil service, and discusses how his interest in UK demography led him to working with and later for the ONS. He also shares the importance of finding a mentor to guide you along your early career path. Full show notes: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2023/jun/careers-civil-service-academia-et-al-s02e02 Transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/transcript-academia-et-al-s02e02