Careers in Industry

A career in industry can be rewarding, exciting, and very fast paced. However, moving into this area should not be considered as an easy road to a position…competition for jobs is stiff!

Gaining experience and industry related skills

Take advantage of trainee opportunities on campus for science and business career development during doctoral and post-doctoral training.

Science and Business Club

Join SBC, the UNC Career Cohort for trainees interested in science business careers. Attend club meetings and events, network with business-savvy trainees like yourself, and meet with invited guests from local companies to hear what they do in their own jobs. Learn about what positions in industry may interest you, and find out what these professionals did to get to their current role so you can tailor your experiences as a trainee to have the greatest chance at successfully pursuing the positions that most interest you.

UNC-TIBBS  Summer Series: Essential Skills for Success in Industry

Attend on campus events such as the UNC-TIBBS Summer Series: Essential Skills for Success in Industry, covering topics such as: leadership, teamwork, and professionalism; personality types and leadership styles; presentation and interviewing skills for industry; networking; company organizational structures and operating procedures; and, industry positions and finding the perfect fit.

Entrepreneurial experiences on campus 

Try joining a UNC e-Team to gain business experience through CarolinaKickstart: “The UNC eTeams program assembles multidisciplinary teams of graduate students and post-doctoral research fellows to explore the commercial potential of UNC technology. The teams work together to assess applications of the technology, IP and regulatory landscapes, explore market opportunities, conduct market research, create a product development path, and more. The goal of this program is to provide an experiential learning experience for students while generating valuable information about opportunities for University technology.”

Or get involved with other entrepreneurial ventures connected with UNC and Keenan-Flagler like CarolinaKickstart, Launch the Venture, Tech Commercialization program, and more. Consider attending a research revenue workshop, take advantage of the webinar series, or earn a Graduate Certificate in Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship, all through Carolina Kickstart education initiatives for trainees and students at UNC.

Getting your foot in the door

• Network: Yes, we know that this concept is over-prescribed with little instruction on the nuts and bolts of how to do this. Here’s one suggestion: Identify and contact a UNC PhD alumni in industry and meet for coffee or lunch to just talk. Inspired by someone at a career panel? Ask them if they would like to meet with you to discuss what it is like to do what they do for a living. Forming relationships is key and it will be more valuable than just handing your resume to them.
• Apply for industry postdoctoral fellowships: Genentech and Novartis
• Identify a postdoc position in a research laboratory where the PI has a start-up company

ImPACT Internship Opportunities

Identify potential companies and internship mentors that may be a good fit for you (click to see ImPACT partners, companies who have sponsored UNC interns in the past). Nothing is better than experiencing a job to decide if that is the path you’d like to pursue! No proof is better than work experience, or in this case the next best thing, internship experience in a real work environment, to exhibit evidence to a potential hiring company that you have what it takes to be successful in industry. If this sounds interesting to you, start planning your application for an ImPACT internship.

General tips

Update your resume with effective ‘soundbite’ summaries of your most relevant qualifications. You can keep a running list of all of your qualifications and use the top 5-7 depending on what is in the job description. Take some time to generate this list. It will not be intuitive at first and you’ll be glad you did this when time is really of the essence.

Be ready to move quickly. Positions in industry are often posted for only a short amount of time, so keep your resume up-to-date so that you can tweak it quickly when you see a new posting.

In the end, the hiring manager that generates the job description is looking for a person who actually has those skills. If you were hiring someone, wouldn’t you look for someone who could satisfy the requirements?

Resources

Use interactive web-based tools to find positions that you might be interested, such as Oystir (Beta) where you can input your skills to match to potential jobs.   Sign up for listservs that have Industry-focused advice and blogs, such as CheekyScientist.

Return to: Career White Pages