iJOBS 2024 Annual Symposium

by Xinyi Miao

         From the career exploration suggestions by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ Leadership Team to the inspirational talk on industry experience by Keynote Speaker Dr. Marisa Dolled-Filhart, to the opportunities of connecting with iJOBS alumni in different fields during lunch, the iJOBS annual symposium was an event filled with helpful resources that showcased the commitment of Rutgers iJOBS Program to empower professional advancement for life sciences graduate students and postdocs.

         In November, Rutgers students, alumni, faculties, and industrial partners gathered at the Child Health Institute of New Jersey to celebrate another year of the iJOBS program. Starting off, Dr. Janet Alder, Director of the iJOBS program, introduced the program’s dedication: Recent reports have shown that graduate students and postdocs in life sciences transitioned between different industries or careers after graduation, with a preference towards the for-profit sectors. Yet, the skills required for these positions, as well as opportunities to connect with people in these fields, could hardly be gained solely from routine lab work. Therefore, the iJOBS program has hosted workshops/seminars/shadowing events, arranged courses designed especially for non-academic sectors, and provided mentorship/internship for trainees to INQUIRE about different careers; INITIATE a specific career pursuit and get matched to a part-time externship in the profession of interest; IMPLEMENT the skills during a job search; and reciprocally, INSTRUCT new trainees through mentorship (Four Phases of the iJOBS Journey). Though iJOBS trainees are expected to allocate time and energy to non-academic training, statistics have shown that they graduated sooner and had more academic publications than their peers. iJOBS bridges academia with other biomedical sectors and it facilitates the pursuit of various types of careers.

Regeneron’s Leadership Team shared insights on carer navigation

            After Dr. Alder’s welcoming introduction, Alex Steele, Associate Director of University Relations at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, led a workshop on professional development for the biomedical industry. From professional baseball to Progressive Insurance and then to Regeneron, Alex is an expert at recruiting the right people for a successful mission. Regarding the development of new medicines, taking Regeneron as an example, Alex emphasized the importance of collaborative and cross-sectional research for patient-centered therapeutics. To lead the R&D team with science, the ideal candidate should possess sufficient knowledge and be willing to take on big ideas; to collaborate with other departments, the candidate should be able to communicate intricate science to outsiders. Following up, Alex introduced the procedures for Regeneron recruitment: first, the candidate would undergo technique screens through interviews to showcase their scientific knowledge; next, is a round of behavioral interview to make sure they are compatible to Regeneron culture. To become good candidates for the biomedical industry, Alex encouraged graduate students and postdocs to embrace technological innovations and to cherish all kinds of experience during the graduate school journey.

            Walter Offiah, vice president of  Regeneron’s human resources business partner department, highlighted three of the most important perceptions for people working in the biomedical industry: (1) expand your mind – take every opportunity to learn different skills; (2) be bold – be willing to ask questions or ask for help when needed; (3) believe that you belong – no matter what obstacles you encounter in research and development, you should believe in the capacities of yourself and of your team to tackle the problem.Compared to people in academia, people working in industries have more access to the company’s resources including core facilities and collaboration opportunities. Unlike working for a single PI and staying in the same research group for a few years, people in industries are sometimes asked to switch between company-decided proposals. Thus, the effective collaboration with other groups of scientists and the curiosity in various of projects is highly appreciated. Walter summarized the competencies that hold the key to individuals’ success in R&D: scientific rigor; drive for results; collaboration, communication, analytical and presentation skills; dealing with ambiguity, and self-knowledge. Regarding career exploration, Walter encouraged students to think about these listed core attributes of success: Which of these competencies are you particularly skilled at? Which competency would you like to further develop for yourself and why? What specific behaviors related to this competency do you find the most challenging? How do you plan to enhance your skills as a scientist?

        Smita Pillai, senior vice president of Regeneron’s talent development, inclusion & innovation culture department, concluded the Regeneron workshop by endorsing leadership diversity and innovation in the rapidly evolving biomedical industry. Smita shared visions that the three dimensions in the industry – work, workforce, and workplace –are constantly changing: New technologies have augmented how people and machines are working together; the rise of the open talent economy, contingent work, and new workforce models create new sources of talent; a combination of physical and virtual work structures are applied to maximize efficiency. Smita appreciated the iJOBS program for cultivating skills – such as critical thinking, curiosity, lifelong learning, resilience, flexibility, leadership, and social influence – that are especially valuable in this era of continuous reskilling. When choosing a job, the “why” question becomes especially important in this dynamic environment. Smita emphasized that even with AIs and robotics, humans are the ones at the core of innovation, and it is imperative to preserve motivation and creativity. To promote innovation, Regeneron ensures the company provides employees with psychological safety to speak up freely with new ideas without the fear of humiliation, to collaborate across different fields of expertise without fear of rejection, and to take hypothesis-driven risks at R&D. Smita encouraged the audience to embrace risks for innovation and to enter careers that truly boost personal development: Play to win instead of playing not to lose.

iJOBS celebrated the completion of training with Phase 3 trainees

            In the next section of the symposium, Dr. Doreen Badheka, Co-director of the Rutgers iJOBS program, invited the Phase 3 trainees to share their experience in career-related courses and shadowing at different job sectors. Congratulations to Raphaela Bento, Luisa Fernanda Gomez-Alatorre, Luis Garza, Adriana Jones, Ranjini Ramanujam, Kristyn N. Lambert, Huyen T. Le, Shreya Madhavarapu, Nimisha Nandankar, Kimberly Newman, Marijke Rittman, Jacqueline Saenz, Sindhu Sriramoji-Virdi, Ifeoma R. Ugwuanyi, Cassandra Winz, and Dr. Brian Zalma who completed this year’s Phase 3 training!

Keynote Speaker Dr. Marisa Dolled-Filhart shared her industry experience

            This year, iJOBS welcomed Dr. Marisa Dolled-Filhart as the keynote speaker for the iJOBS annual symposium. Dr. Dolled Filhart currently serves as global team lead at Daiichi Sankyo, leading oncology drug development teams. She was previously vice president of translational research at Bristol Myers Squibb. In her talk, Dr. Dolled-Filhart engaged the audience with her career journey in different biomedical industry sectors, from her work in R&D and consulting to global marketing. Dr. Dolled-Filhart again emphasized the importance of team effort for drug development, since the process requires collaboration between various departments in addition to R&D, carrying out functions such as project management, regulatory, commercial, and medical affairs. From her own experience, Dr. Dolled-Filhart reflected that professional advancement might not feel like climbing a single ladder but instead involved exploration in different job sectors. She encouraged the audience not to be afraid of changing roles, to venture into their passion, and to pursue the individual ikigai.

            Dr. Dolled-Filhart also highlighted the importance of networking in her career journey. Like many other people in the audience, she had felt awkward about networking, but the communication skills could be taught and learned. Dr. Dolled-Filhart provided several constructive suggestions on networking:

1. Focus on relationship building rather than transactional networking (e.g., only to get something out of the connection): Start early in graduate school to strengthen your network before you are looking for a job! Provide others with value when building relationships; take the opportunities to give to people in your network.
2. Prepare for potential small talks and be authentic in conversations: Research people you may interact with beforehand. Find common ground in the talk. Don’t be afraid of asking questions, as people may be more open to speaking with you and providing help during this learning phase of your career. Follow up after the meeting, such as sending a short email of appreciation.
3. Harness the strength of weak ties in your network: Weak ties refer to acquaintances that form a weak link between people whose networks would not otherwise overlap. However, they are usually the best resource for different information in different fields and may bring more job opportunities. Dormant ties with former colleagues, classmates, or childhood neighbors may be easily reactivated and hold the potential to provide novel and unexpected insights.

Moreover, Dr. Dolled-Filhart provided additional materials for the development of networking skills, including articles, books, and podcasts:

      Articles:

• How to Build your Network by Brian Uzzi and Shannon Dunlap
• Sponsors Need to Stop Acting Like Mentors by Julia Taylor Kennedy and Pooja Jain-Link
• Learn to Love Networking by Francesca Gino, Maryam Kouchaki and Tiziana Casciaro
• How to Map Your Network by Kate Mansfield
• Networking Tips for Graduate Students by Shayna Joubert
• The Strength of Weak Ties by Dr. Mark S. Granovetter

      Books:

• Give and Take by Adam Grant
• Taking the Work out of Networking by Karen Wickre
• Friend of a Friend by David Burkus
• The Introvert’s Edge to Networking by Matthew Pollard
• Superconnect: Harnessing the Power of Networks and the Strengths of Weak Links by Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood
• The Fine Art of Small Talk by Debra Fine

      Podcast Episodes:

• Networking For People Who Hate Networking | WorkLife with Adam Grant
• Finding—and becoming—great mentors and sponsors with Carla Harris
• How Do I Build My Network from Scratch? (hbr.org)

At the end of the symposium, Dr. Alder welcomed and introduced the iJOBS alums who came to today’s event and invited students to join conversations with them during lunch (a valuable opportunity to put the networking techniques into practice!). I felt rather encouraged when I left the hall at the end of the day. I had always been too shy even to post my profile on LinkedIn, but what I had heard and learned throughout the annual symposium motivated me to start building my network and exploring my passion. I could not be more grateful to all the speakers for offering informative and inspirational talks. I sincerely appreciate Dr. Alder and Dr. Badheka for arranging and hosting this meaningful event.

This article was edited by Junior Editor Janaina Cruz Pereira and Senior Editor Joycelyn Radeny.