Cracking the Code: Gaining “Industry” Experience while still in Academia, By Lauren Celano
Lauren Celano, CEO, Propel Careers wrote this article for Bio Careers as part of her monthly contributions. To learn more about Bio Careers, see link: https://biocareers.com/
I wrote this article to provide thoughts on how to gain industry relevant experiences while still in the academic setting. Everyone knows that companies want "relevant industry experience," but how do you get it if you are a student, postdoctoral fellow, or otherwise in the academic world? People often ask me for advice on what would appear to be a catch 22. Never fear, there are actually many ways for one to gain experience that industry finds valuable, once you think outside of just your lab area. Below are a few thoughts to develop skills, gain experience, and make yourself more marketable. It's important to remember that if you are looking for a certain type of role (especially if you are new to industry), companies will want to see that you have invested in your own development and taken steps to figure out why a certain type of role/company is a good fit for you. Companies will ask you interview questions like, "why do you think this is a good fit for you?" or "what skills do you bring to the role?" A little time and effort on your end. to figure these answers out and provide concrete examples to share with the company, will prove invaluable in differentiating yourself and providing the right context for why the company should hire you.
Write for your school paper or industry conference - If you are looking to go into a communication career post academia, such as marketing, scientific/medical writing, PR/investor relations, honing your writing skills by writing for your school paper, school clubs, industry associations, or conferences can provide you with great experience. This allows you to develop and prove your writing skills outside of just your papers and grant applications, while also providing you additional insights into industry.
Blog on a topic pertaining to science to gain thought leadership Thought leadership is important for showing expertise in a certain area. Your online presence can be enhanced greatly via blogging, and you may even get individuals reading your blog who are in industry and perhaps looking for someone with your background. Blogging also helps develop your communication and writing skills, and your overall awareness of technical areas that could be relevant to industry.
Take on a leadership role at a school group or life sciences networking group - Companies want to hire leaders and always look to make the company stronger. By taking on leadership roles within your school or university, or outside organizations, you can demonstrate that you are an individual who wants to be involved and make the group better because you are there. Doing this specifically within industry associations also allows you to build relationships with people who are in industry. This network can be a valuable resource in your career search.
Volunteer to work at a Life Science Networking Group/Organization - Networking is critical to finding opportunities. In addition to building your network, volunteering at networking events can provide you the opportunity to develop leadership, communication, and team work skills, which are very much valued in industry. Companies want to hire leaders, now just followers and, many times, they want to hire individuals who are referred in for roles.
Take a business course or a few - Many academic institutions have business schools or relationships with business schools where you can take courses in relative areas of business/science. Courses such as intellectual property, business entrepreneurship, financial management can provide critical insight into these areas. MPH programs may also have courses that are relevant to individuals looking to work in industry.
Join your school's consulting club - If you are interested in consulting, the consulting companies that you apply to will want to see that you have consulting experience or, at minimum, an understanding of what they do. I can't tell you how many people inform me they want to be a consultant, but cannot articulate why or more importantly what a consultant actually does. Many schools have consulting clubs either for MBA's or Ph.D./postdocs, and these clubs perform consulting projects for startups, other entrepreneurs, more established companies, and academic researchers. Not only do you develop skills which are valued by consulting firms, you gain a new network of individuals who could assist you in your career search.
Volunteer/Intern at your institution's tech transfer office (TTO) - If you are interested in technology commercialization, intellectual property, or startups, you could volunteer at your institution's tech transfer office. These offices typically evaluate hundreds of technologies each year. Projects can range from technology due diligence, commercial potential evaluation, market assessment and competitive landscape evaluations. Also, you can find yourself building marketing and pitch decks, if a technology is at an advanced stage, so that the Intellectual Property (IP) can be licensed or spun out into a company.
Many of these technologies are highly scientific/technical, therefore the TTO might greatly benefit from your knowledge of a specific area. Working with the TTO can also expose you to technologies outside of your specific research focus, making you more marketable if you are looking for roles that may extend beyond your comfort level/research focus. Many consulting firms, for example, like to see that their hires can think and learn outside of their area of expertise since in most cases client's projects are not in their technology area.
Volunteer/Intern at a startup - Startups are always looking for help to advance their technologies and move the company forward. If you are looking to gain experience about what it is like to work in a company and/or to develop your skills, this can be a great opportunity to gain relevant experience, while you build your skills at the same time. If you have a specific technical background, you could use this to help the company evaluate their technology and or the competitive landscape to see how to position their technology. You could also gain valuable business experience working in a startup via exposure to different aspects of the business and wearing many hats. This could include marketing, business development, financial modeling, making slide decks, updating the website, etc.
Scientists who also work in startups, especially those with experienced CEO's and management teams get to learn from experienced entrepreneurs, not to mention making contacts with potential investors, clients, etc. This could be wonderful for your network, allowing you to build relationships with individuals who can help you in your career search. Not only would you gain new skills, you might identify what you like and, more importantly, what you don't like, which will help focus your career search.
Volunteer/Intern at a venture firm/investment bank - Many venture firms have internship opportunities for individuals with scientific backgrounds (Ph.D, MD) as well as MBAs. Many of them value scientific backgrounds since you could evaluate their investment opportunities from the technical side and help them analyze the competitive landscape. If you are an excel guru, you could also assist with financial models and various scenario projections. The knowledge you gain, and more importantly the networking you build through such an opportunity, will prove invaluable to your future career.
The details listed above are just a few examples of ways that you can gain relevant skills to industry even though you are in an academic setting. The goal here is to get involved, be proactive, and keep developing new skills. The effort will go a long way, and you may even find that you learn much more than you realize throughout the journey. Good luck cracking this code, it is a tremendous rewarding experience, you won't regret.
