Hosted by Merck – Neuroscience, Protein Homeostasis & New Modalities
This spring, we will be featuring blog posts written by PhD students who participated in Career Services’ Career Exploration Fellowship (CEF), a program that helps doctoral candidates explore their career interests through networking opportunities with advanced degree professionals. Click here to learn more about CEF.

Describe your experience working with your host.
My host, Nicolette Heinsinger, was extremely friendly and helpful. It was great to speak to someone in industry who had taken the steps that I was planning to take. She was able to give me a lot more information and confidence in creating a plan for transitioning from academia to industry.
What did you learn from this opportunity (about yourself, potential career fields, the job search, etc.)?
I learned that I was a lot more prepared to jump into industry than I initially thought. I was under the impression that I had to be an expert in many different orthogonal fields in order to be a competitive candidate for industry. It turns out that I can just focus on the skills that I want to use most because science is done as more of a team in industry.
How did your CEF experience benefit your future career plans?
I will be leveraging the connections I made during my time in the CEF to find new opportunities in industry. I realize now that this is one of the most important aspects of transitioning to industry.
What was the most valuable part of your CEF experience?
The most valuable part of my CEF experience was the connections I was able to make. My host introduced me to several other professionals relevant to my career interests, and I was able to meet with them and ask them questions as well. Now I have a network of people I can tap into to ask questions and make introductions at various organizations. Overall, this experience really helped me start that networking process.
Top reason PhD students should apply to the CEF program?
You can grow a network of individuals that can help open opportunities for you in industry. I went from having no connections to having several and a lot more confidence in my ability to take that next step.