Hosted by Merck
This fall, 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 host was Dr. Nisha Singh, a Senior Scientist in Merck’s Discovery Neuroscience Group. She was an excellent mentor and very generous with her time. We met regularly over several months, and the conversations evolved as I did. Early on, we talked through the basics: what her day-to-day looked like, how she’d made the transition from academia, and what skills she wished she’d developed sooner. Later, she helped me revamp my resume, conducted mock job interviews, and gave me candid feedback on how best to present myself and talk about my academic work. She also connected me with colleagues across the neuroscience group, giving me a window into what careers in industry could look like at every stage.Â
Before CEI, I knew that I was interested in a career in industry, but I didn’t know much more than that. I now know that I want to work in the discovery or early preclinical space. CEI also gave me a much clearer framework for identifying positions I’m interested in, and what questions to ask people in those roles. I learned the value of networking proactively rather than waiting until I’m actively on the job market. I also learned that mentorship doesn’t stop when you leave academia. Multiple people I talked to at Merck described cultures where managers actively invest in their scientists’ development. The scientists I met with said they never felt stagnant because they were always learning something new, which is important to me. Â
I had the opportunity to do a site visit at Merck’s West Point campus, and it was the highlight of the program. Seeing the lab spaces, the high-throughput equipment, and the scale of the operation made everything feel real in a way that video calls couldn’t. What made it especially valuable was the range of people I got to meet: from co-ops just starting out to a Senior Vice President. Getting perspective from scientists at every stage of their careers, all in one day, was amazing. I left with new connections, a notebook full of advice, and so much excitement about working in industry.  Â
I highly recommend CEI to all PhD students! One-on-one mentorship from someone who has the career you’re curious about is hard to come by and genuinely invaluable. I came away knowing so much more about what I want in a job, and I built a network I couldn’t have built any other way.
