You Never Know Who You Will Meet: A Graduate Student’s Perspective of the 2023 ASPIRE Career Symposium
This article was originally published in the 2022- 2023 Annual Report
By Cherie Scurrah, Graduate Student
Each year, the ASPIRE Program hosts a day-long career exploration event, and this year’s theme was “A Kaleidoscope of Biomedical Science Careers.” I am a third year PhD student (almost 4th year, thank you very much), and I am ready to start exploring career options. I am passionate about science communication, and I want to find careers where I can do just that! I also want to get some advice from Vanderbilt PhD alumni about finding my dream job. Here, I will take you through my day at the 2023 ASPIRE Annual Career Symposium!
At the top of the morning, I grabbed my piping hot, catered coffee and listened to the “Beyond R&D in Industry” panel. Jeff Bylund, PhD, a technology advisor for 10x Genomics, enjoys consulting clients on their imaging and omics projects.
In terms of searching for the perfect job, he advises to “Think about your skills and interests and look beyond just those ‘at the bench’ positions.” He kept his mind open and landed a job he never expected!
Stacey Mont, PhD, who works as the Associate Director for Business Development
Competitive Intelligence at Bristol Myers Squibb said that she took a very different path than she originally thought when she was a graduate student working on cancer biology. Mont had an optimistic view about finding a career, “It can happen. Keep that drive, and keep that passion.” Her advice really resonated with me, because sometimes it is hard to envision life beyond my graduate work.
At lunch time, I listened to Keynote speaker Dr. Gauri Nair, who was the Vice President of Innovation at Mass Bio until this past summer. She spoke about her career journey intertwined with her life story. After receiving her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in India, she moved to the US to pursue her PhD. After graduation, she worked at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research Inc., where she drove external innovation by developing research partnerships and strategic collaborations with key partners in the academic innovation ecosystem. She frankly explained that this position was not right for her, which made her change her career trajectory: “When it’s not right, don’t be afraid to make a change.” As a woman and an immigrant, Gauri is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion in her work. At her role at Mass Bio, she aimed to create a diverse team to connect scientific innovators with industries to serve underrepresented medical populations.
After her keynote speech, I sat down with Gauri to talk about how she chose her work environment while satisfying her values. She tells me that it is entirely possible to feel impactful and fulfilled in an industry job and that if I can “be scrappy, be creative, and be open to adventure,” I will find the right place for me.
I wrapped up my time at the symposium in Networking Huddles, which are small group discussions with alumni and employers working in a variety of career fields. I participated in several different huddles, each lasting 15-20 minutes, and talked with science communicators. I learned about career options in consulting, science writing, education programming, and more. Of every event at the career symposium, networking huddles were my favorite. It was a great opportunity to get a personal glimpse into an expert’s day-to-day life at their job, and for potential employers get a chance to know who you are too! As a bonus, I got the inside scoop about some awesome science writing conferences (CommSciCon and National Association of Science Writers Conference), an online science communication slack channel (SciCommers), and even a potential internship opportunity!
The symposium left me optimistic and excited about the future! All the speakers I met were friendly and excited to talk with me about their careers. It was uplifting to see so many Vanderbilt alumni building their careers post-graduation. My advice? No matter what stage of training you are in, plan to attend the ASPIRE Career Symposium next year. I promise you will learn about new opportunities and make professional connections. You never know who you may meet!