STEM Careers Feel Too Narrow? How to Create Breadth Without Blowing Up Your Job, Quick Win from the interview with OnQ Recruitment

Why job descriptions are narrow by design, and how to read between the lines to shape a bigger role.

This is my takeaway episode from my interview with Catherine O’Mahony, the founder of OnQ Recruitment (Recruitment in Life Sciences).

If you are delivering well but still feel boxed in, is the problem really you, or the way roles are designed?

Either way there are ways to expand!

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

This Quick Win episode is for STEM professionals who are no longer struggling with competence, but with scope. You know how to do the job. You meet the criteria. Yet the work feels too narrow, and the frustration keeps growing.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why job descriptions are written narrowly, and why that does not automatically mean the role will stay narrow
• How ownership, vision, and visibility change what is possible inside a role
• When to shape breadth where you are, when to change environments, and when entrepreneurship becomes the right answer

Action:

Press play if you want a practical way to stop fighting job descriptions and start using them as an entry point instead of a ceiling.

🧠 About the Guest:

Catherine O’Mahony is the CEO and founder of OnQ Recruitment. With over 25 years hiring across the life sciences, Catherine brings a hiring-side view on why roles are designed the way they are, where flexibility really exists, and how careers actually move forward in real organisations.

This Quick Win episode is drawn from the full-length Multiple Hats conversation with Catherine, where we go deeper into beyond-the-box careers, hiring risk, salary transparency, advocates, and entrepreneurship.

📌 Episode Highlights:

00:00 When competence is no longer the problem

01:30 Why job descriptions optimise for delivery, not vision

03:00 Ownership, why your career is not your line manager’s job

05:30 Vision and visibility, seeing opportunities and being seen

08:30 Advocates vs mentors, who actually opens doors

11:30 Reading between the lines of narrow job descriptions

14:00 De-risking yourself, depth first, breadth second

17:00 Where breadth is structurally possible, small vs big companies

21:30 Portfolio careers and not asking one job to meet every need

24:00 When entrepreneurship becomes the answer

29:00 The real signal behind feeling boxed in

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• Full interview episode with Catherine O’Mahony on Multiple Hats
• OnQ Recruitment Salary Survey – https://www.onqrecruitment.com.au
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🤔 Reflection Time:

1. Where do you currently feel boxed in, and what capability of yours is going unused?
2. Are you waiting for permission to grow, or actively shaping visibility and advocates?
3. If this role cannot stretch further, is the next move redesigning it, changing environment, or building something of your own?

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn

⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers

If you enjoyed this episode, please:

• ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏
• ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM

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