The resounding advice of the
February’s Career Advisory Council‘s workshop at UT Health Science Center was for graduate students and postgraduates to network. The workshop focused on industry and entrepreneurship and included Dr.
Christine Burke, Dr. Randy Goldsmith, Dr. Ann Salamone, and Beth Eby.

“We are more likely to trust and hire someone we know,” said Eby, financial advisor at Eby Financial and one of the Career Advisory Council speakers at Monday’s event. “If we don’t know them, we are more likely to look at someone’s resume if someone in our circle has already met and vetted them.”

Eby explained that for employers, hiring a new employee can be a strenuous process and that companies invest a lot of time, money, and marketing efforts to recruit the best candidate.

Nathan Mitchell, a Ph.D.
candidate in the department of Physiology, explained that he attended the workshop to discover possible alternative careers in biomedical research.

“Often, young scientists are not well trained for careers outside of academia. I wanted to learn what other career choices I have and how best to use my last year of graduate school to become a
competitive candidate for those careers,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell explained that the workshop gave him sound advice on how to network within scientific communities to find and apply for non-academic jobs.

Amit Saha, a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering, explained that for him, meeting people can be challenging because he spends most of his time in a lab so events like these are helpful to make connections and learn from professionals.

“Events like these enable me to meet people and network efficiently,” Saha said. “You never know who you might need in the future.”

Salamone, president of Rochal Industries LLP, told students that the “single most important thing you can do is get actively involved
in a professional society, these are your colleagues and your peers who will do more for your career than anything else you will do.”

Don’t forget to join us at the next Career Advisory Council Workshop on Monday, March 16 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Please RSVP here.