Career development when you need it

This spring has welcomed many new biochemistry graduates into the workforce. The summertime can be a welcome break for new graduates and established career biochemists as many people go on vacation or simply spend more time outside near home. 

Career development may be the last thing on your mind right now, until you check your email in a few weeks and realize you have missed out on webinars and workshops offered by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology that could have given you advice that would be pivotal in your career. 

Rest easy on your vacation! ASBMB offers recorded presentations, discussions and webinars on many topics that are important to you as a member. Here, I have selected several on-demand meetings from the career development section that I believe are relevant to recent graduates and career biochemists who are interested in working in industry. 

Unsure if industry is right for you? 

In Beyond R&D: Exploring career paths in industry, four speakers from major biotechnology companies discuss aspects of industry careers that you may never have thought to ask about: patents and intellectual property, marketing and other positions that keep a company running beyond the hard science.

Nervous about interviewing for that industry position? 

The art of the interview: Ask great questions, give great answers and enjoy the process is a presentation packed with advice on both sides of interviewing. Acing interviews is important for getting your foot in the door, but when it comes time for you to be the interviewer, you will also need the skills to get the most informative answers from your interviewees. 

Considering funding your own small biotech business? 

In this recorded presentation, Small business research funding 101, you can learn about the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer awards. These two federal programs offer funds to encourage commercialization and research and development in the sciences. Federal agencies offering these awards include the National Cancer Institute, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.   

Interested in collaborating with industry from academia? 

In Collaboration 101: Developing partnerships between academia and industry, leaders in companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer team up with professors from universities including Harvard and Penn State to discuss academic and industrial partnerships. 

Want more resources for working in industry?

ASBMB Today has an archive of articles in the industry section that can give you more advice and encouragement for starting, or changing, your career. Below are a couple of articles popular with ASBMB members that include advice for new graduates and career scientists alike. 

In Making the leap from academia to industry, Teisha Rowland outlines her career transition between University of Colorado, Boulder and Umoja Biopharma, a biotech startup. Rowland has advice for those interested in industry with a background in academia, from resume writing to interviewing.   

Another great article for scientists in academia who are curious about industry is Demystifying the gap. Tian Yu, the chief scientific officer of Truckee Applied Genomics, debunks some myths about working in industry that she believed as a Ph.D. student. Yu also highlights the similarities between the two career paths.