IPhO Professional Development Committee Updates
This fall, Rutgers IPhO Professional Development Committee organized some very successful events:
Our Professional Development Workshop, which was held October 24, was introduced to students how to become their best professional self. Attendees gained crucial knowledge about techniques to secure an internship, fellowship or future job through an interactive presentation given by IPhO E-board. The workshop focused on how to build confidence in the face of networking opportunities and in interviews, as well as how to build relationships between peers and professionals. The workshop was a very relaxed atmosphere, starting with a cocktail hour with drinks and ice-breakers in order to get the students to network with each other. After the E-board’s PowerPoint presentation, the attendees were split up into teams by positions in industry for “Industry 101” – essentially a small quiz to reinforce the techniques discussed. We ended with a presentation on elevator speeches and the STAR method for interviews, and finished with a few minutes of networking amongst the students.
The Industry Internship Panel, which was held on November 20th, was one of the most successful events we have had all year! 5th years who had previously held internship positions at industries such as Pfizer, Janssen, Amgen, Celgene and more. They all offered some very helpful advice and talked about how they got their internships and what they had to do in order to prepare. Each of the students were involved in internships with different areas of focus– whether it was Regulatory Affairs, Health Outcomes, Marketing & Advertising and more—they discussed their experience with that department, what they liked best and liked least about it, and what they would do or not do again. The question and answer portion of the event was very efficient and brought to attention small details about internships that not everyone thought of. Overall, we received great feedback from everyone who attended and considered this a very useful event to repeat in the future!
By Nafisa Islam