As 2010 comes to a close, we are actively discussing internship hiring plans for 2011 with current and prospective clients. Many of these discussions focus on connections with graduate students (MBA, Ph.D./MBA, MD/MBA, Engineering, Law, etc) who often have significant life sciences industry experience prior to graduate school. We are also discussing opportunities for scientific and business focused undergraduate students.

We are assisting companies with internship projects such as: market research assessments, competitive landscape assessments, financial valuation and M&A analysis, technology evaluation, IP evaluation, reimbursement evaluations, business plan development, strategic partnership assessments, clinical research, discovery and pre-clinical R&D, marketing and corporate communications, and grant writing.

Our experience has been that life science companies gain tangible benefits by engaging with a partner like Propel who can assist matching their current or anticipated needs with top talent from local and national universities. Hiring interns offers a low cost and low risk solution to provide project support as well as to assess their skills and personality fit to see if they are aligned with your company prior to hiring full time. We are pleased that many companies are looking ahead and preparing now to take advantage of the opportunity to build relationships with the best and brightest students and also gain significant advantages through the projects that can be completed.

We are constantly connecting with graduate and undergraduate students throughout the US with skills relevant in the medical device, bio-pharmaceutical, diagnostics, and Healthcare IT sectors as well with those who have skills relevant to consulting, investment banking and venture capital firms. Our network includes students who have diverse backgrounds including research and development, business, law, engineering, marketing, and public health. The ability for companies and students to benefit from the connections made is tremendous.

As you think about your hiring needs for 2011, we look forward to working with you to make connections for internship projects, in addition to any full time needs that you have. Please contact Lauren Celano at Lauren@propelcareers.com or 617-896-5225 to discuss this in more detail.

I was recently on a professional development call about successful job search strategies and heard a remarkable statistic. 80% of all open positions are not published on traditional career boards. That means that every time you peruse sites like Monster, Career Builder and Indeed, you are only seeing 20% of the available job market. In many cases the jobs you interested in have already been filled reducing that number even more. So how do you tap the larger part of the iceberg and find those undisclosed positions? One of the best options is through networking. Here are four ways to expand your network and open doors to new professional opportunities.

Have Agenda-less Meetings Agenda-less meetings are informal conversations. They can be with old colleagues, professors, friends or anyone with whom you have a connection. The whole idea is knowledge sharing; asking questions and sharing perspectives and interests about whatever topics you choose. These folks are your advocates who likely have access to individuals in their own circles that have knowledge and wisdom about career paths and positions that might interest you. Offer to buy somebody a cup of coffee or take them out to lunch. Don't be afraid to ask them for a couple names that you should look up and talk to. The easiest way to expand your network is to leverage what you already have.

Arrange Informational Interviews The informational interview is a more formal, purposeful way for you to create professional connections. Most of the time these people will be strangers to you and their time is valuable. Interviews should be 15-30 minutes long and should address specific questions about a field, a path or a position. At the end of each conversation you should ask if there are one or more other people they might refer you to help with your professional discovery. Always ask the interviewer how you could return the favor in the future (e.g. offer to make a connection to someone in your network, update them on interesting industry events). Remember that informational interviews can create advocates in your targeted organizations. Referrals account for 27% of all new hires; establishing a professional rapport with an inside person can pay dividends for you down the road.

Join a Professional Group There are thousands of professional groups in all interest areas who have members eager to connect and engage with others for professional and career support. The American Marketing Association, for example, is an organization that brings together marketers, across all specialties, to collaborate and inspire one another. A $250 annual membership fee provides you access to industry knowledge, special interests groups and ~100,000 members. You5 connections can be made in online groups or in-person at conferences and events. Consider joining one.

Attend Professional and Academic Networking Events Formal and informal networking events provide excellent opportunities to make connections. Organizations like Propel Careers provide relaxed, open, moderated forums in beautiful venues that make it easy to exchange business cards and engage people in interesting conversation. Colleges and universities continually sponsor alumni-related events in different regions which you should also consider attending.

Matt Casey, Career Coach http://www.mattcasey.net/

We have uploaded new forms to our website for students, companies, and mentors so that they can provide more information to Propel Careers about their interests in working with us.

Companies who are searching for talent can now easily provide details on their projects and the type of talent they are looking for. See form: http://www.propelcareers.com/index.cfm/employers/company-intern-request-form/

Students can now provide details about the types of projects, internships, positions, they are looking for which will allow us to better match student interests with company projects. See form: http://www.propelcareers.com/index.cfm/students/student-internship-request-form/

Students looking for a mentor can fill out the mentor request form to being the mentor match process. See form: http://www.propelcareers.com/index.cfm/students/student-mentor-request-form/

Industry leaders who would like to help shape the next generation of leaders can apply to be a part of our Mentorship program using this form: http://www.propelcareers.com/index.cfm/mentors/mentor-request-form/

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10682572/1/four-ways-to-find-your-summer-intern.html

Propel Careers is building a pipeline of internship opportunities for winter, spring, and summer 2010. If you are a graduate student interested in part-time or full-time internships in life sciences companies (therapeutics, medical device, diagnostics, healthcare IT, healthcare investment banking, finance), send Propel Careers your resume and internship request form (see webpage for form - http://www.propelcareers.com/index.cfm/students/) at student@propelcareers.com and we will be able to keep you posted on opportunities which would be a fit for your background and interests. Most of the opportunities that Propel Careers has are in the Boston area, but we will be expanding to other areas soon.

Propel Careers is filling internship opportunities for winter break and part-time during the spring. Current internship openings include: market assessment for a biotech company; market research & analytics of an M&A strategy for a CRO; marketing assistance for a Healthcare 2.0 company; and help with financial modeling for capital calls & returns for a venture shop. Please contact amanda@propelcareers.com for more details & to submit your resume.