Career Development
Russ Weiner
Takeda
Marta Miles
Principal
M2 Consulting
Idaho Springs, Colorado
Ashley Lay-Fortenbery, PhD
Associate Principal Scientist
Merck & Co., Inc.
Hoboken, New Jersey
Vivek Gupta, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
St. John's University
Queens, New York
The proposed program consists of a hybrid mode of learning format, wherein there is a short brief presentation followed by a panel discussion. In addition, to engage the audience there would be live polling and a question and answer (Q/A) session. The individual segments of the program are summarized below:
1. Brief presentation: The brief introductory presentation will cover the important aspects of choosing a suitable career, the shortcomings of ill-informed decisions and the plethora of opportunities that are available for pharmaceutical sciences graduates, post-docs, and early career scientists. Emphasis will be made on the lesser known but highly rewarding career paths, their usual job profiles and how to network from within the educational or a research setup. The presentation will also shed light on the distinguished panelists career paths and set the agenda for the program. The presentation will aim to open the minds of the job seeker to newer avenues that will be discussed during the panel discussion.
2. Panel discussion: A carefully curated panel of speakers from the pharmaceutical community holding diverse positions within their domain will adorn the session. The panel will be provided with sufficient amount of time (~ 1 hour) to put forward their views, experiences and overcoming the usual stereotypic behavior in building their career within the chosen field. Most importantly, the panel will aim to provide a complete view of the differentiating factors, upgrading oneself to the requirement of the jobs, and the motivation to standing out from the crowd. The panel will stress on the importance of doing what one likes rather than only for the perks of the job, and derive personal satisfaction in the long run.
3. Live polling: The proposed program includes two live polling sessions from the audience, one at the beginning, and the one at the end of the session. Live polling serves two purposes within the program. First poll throws light on the mindset, the necessities and the main points that need to be addressed during the course of the program directly benefitting the audience. The poll results would allow the panelists to tune their discussion according to the expectations of the job seeker. On the other hand, the poll near the end of the session would focus on evaluating the extent of understanding, openness to researching new career paths, and also as a feedback to the programming committee.
4. Question and answer (Q/A) session: Overall the proposed program is set to educate the audience on the various career paths, their job requirements, pros and cons, and the motivation to pursue a career in the domain they like. Naturally, a fresh set of job credentials will elicit several questions among the aspirants, and clarifying the same from the panelists will make a huge impact on their decision towards future career paths. Q/A sessions bring up conversations that may be a result of the misconception about a particular job role which when clarified helps the audience to articulate their thought process.