Hosted by Johnson & Johnson
This summer, we will be featuring blog posts written by PhD students who participated in Career Services’ Career Exploration Initiative (CEI), a program that helps doctoral candidates explore their career interests through networking opportunities with advanced degree professionals. Click here to learn more about CEI.
My CEI host was Dr. Sheng Gao, Executive Director of Immunology Translational Sciences at Johnson & Johnson. We met biweekly, and he was direct, accessible, and honest, whether that was giving feedback on my resume, being upfront about what makes a PhD candidate competitive for industry roles or sharing what the job market looks like. Our conversations covered a lot of ground, from demystifying role titles and team structures to the real trade-offs between smaller biotech and large pharma environments. When he wasn’t the right person to answer a question, he connected me with others at Johnson & Johnson who were, including someone on the recruitment side and the Director of Immunology Translational Sciences, who brought a computational perspective that was directly relevant to my background. His willingness to open doors beyond our one-on-one conversations made the fellowship very valuable.  Â
The CEI program shifted how I think about the transition from academia to industry in a few important ways. The most surprising insight came out of the “Identifying & Articulating Transferable Skills” workshop. I learned I had more to offer than I was giving myself credit for; I just wasn’t framing it in a way that was legible to industry. Learning to identify and articulate the skills I had built through my PhD in terms that resonate outside of academia was genuinely eye-opening. I also came away with a more grounded perspective on the job search itself. It is a process, and your first role out of grad school is not your forever job. That reframe took a lot of pressure off and helped me think about early career decisions more strategically rather than feeling like every application was make or break.Â
Going into the CEI program I was already set on industry, and the experience reaffirmed that. What it changed was more about how I approach the search itself. One piece of advice I plan to act on is to stop counting myself out of job postings before I even apply. If I meet most of the qualifications, that is enough to try. I also left with a clearer sense of the value of broadening my skillset before I graduate — not to lose focus on what I do well, but to make myself a more flexible candidate across a wider range of roles.Â
The most valuable part of the program was honestly the people. My host and the colleagues he connected me with were warm, generous with their time, and genuinely willing to engage with my questions. I left every conversation feeling inspired and more excited about where I am headed. The CEI events were also a highlight, particularly the in-person ones. The “Identifying and Articulating Transferable Skills” workshop and the LinkedIn Lab were both practical and directly applicable to where I am in my job search right now. A big part of what made those events so useful was having the Penn Career Services team there throughout. Alison Howard, Dianne Hull, and Samuelle Delcy were present at the events and available to answer questions, and they were very helpful throughout the program.Â
If you’re considering applying to CEI but aren’t sure if it’s worth the time and effort, just do it. I applied once and did not get in; then I applied again and did. The worst that can happen is that it does not work out the first time, and that’s okay. The connections, conversations, and clarity you gain from the program are worth it for your future self. You will not regret trying!Â
