Making the Most of Your Projects

A road map:

In semester I (assuming they keep the same format) you'll be faced with an initial project that shallowly addresses the framework of bringing a medical device to market. In general, you'll cover design, market analysis, and lightly touch on regulatory, clinical and perhaps reimbursement strategies.

In semester II & III, you'll do a significantly more involved project where you'll do everything you did before but in much more detail. You'll find that you need to talk to actual professionals in the field to get the answers you need and make use of the many resources you've been exposed to in the previous semester.

There is a critical bit of advice to be had approaching these two projects. It goes thus:

You should try to choose a project that somehow relates to what you think you want to do for a job. 

Although you talk to a decent number of professionals as they come as guest speakers to your class, you have the opportunity to speak to many more as you work on your project. In fact, you'll have to in order to make your project work. So as soon as you know what your project is, start looking for people in the field that are working on similar stuff by reading papers and asking around for local experts. This is the perfect opportunity to network in your field of interest.

The phrase "I'm a student at Georgia Tech" can open a lot of doors that would otherwise be closed to you. However, always consider who you are talking to and ask yourself, "What's in it for them?" before you approach them. Do so because that's exactly what they are asking themselves.

This also means talking to your fellow classmates about what they want to do as early as possible. Chances are, you don't already have an idea for a project, but they might. It doesn't have to be a genius idea. The more important thing is exposure to the informational space and the professionals that might lead you to a job.

If you don't know what area you want to enter talk to your classmates as much as you can about what they want to do. This can give you an idea of what's available. You really need to figure out what genuinely interests you as soon as possible. If you can't seem to figure it out, jump on somebody's team that you feel you can contribute to and fake it. Fake it like crazy! This sounds stupid, but when you really pour yourself into something, you can form that genuine interest. It may only be for a very specific part of the task, but that's a great start. You can get hired for doing one part very well, but you have to show development in that area.

Good luck.

LinkedIn ... Already?

Yes.

About a week ago Ann Blasick, MBA Corporate Relations Manager of GT, spoke to us on web presence (this is in March). The bottom line was simply that LinkedIn is now crucial to your success because even if your future boss doesn't find you through LinkedIn (though (s)he might), they'll almost definitely look at your LinkedIn profile before interviewing you. But just as importantly, you can find your future employer through LinkedIn.

First is first. Take an afternoon to tailor your LinkedIn as carefully as you would your resume. It's kind of nice since it leads you through your skills and experience nearly so well as TurboTax does your financials for the year. Your target for completion? Look down the right side of your profile page just under Who's Viewed Your Profile. It will tell you how "complete" your profile is. Aim for All-Star, which is above Expert. Why do I put quotes around "complete"? Well, you know as well as I do that just because you have something in a section, doesn't mean you've filled it out as completely as you can and that LinkedIn doesn't discriminate. Think of it as your public resume--because it is--and treat it just as well. Get someone to look over it for you.

Okay, so second. Why now? For LinkedIn to truly work for you, you need to be as connected as possible. There are two reasons for this. 

First, LinkedIn caps out at 500 connections. After that, it just says 500+, but you can have as many connections as you want. Thus, your goal should be 500+ connections to give others the perception that you are well-connected. But it really takes some time and effort to get to 500 connections, especially connections that are meaningful. It does you less good to have 500 completely random connections (though don't turn down random connections, explained in the next paragraph). To get to 500, try to add 25 - 50 every month. You'll find that's hard without active networking, but that's precisely what you should be doing. Gain a contact everywhere you go. At 25 - 50 per month, you should be gaining more than 2 per day so make use of every interaction and take notes (you can discretely add them to your view of their profile) as you go. 

Second, the greater your network, the more powerful your searches. LinkedIn won't show you the full profile of anyone past a 3rd connection. Thus, it makes sense to have a wide range of connections for your own search capabilities. That means contacting those 3rd connections sometimes to add them, which extends your network far more than adding what is currently a 2nd connection. That also means getting out of the incestuous BioMed circle. Add engineers of all sorts of backgrounds. Add recruiters. Definitely add clinicians. Even add the occasional florist. You never know who will connect you to your dream job. 

Now let's talk job hunt usefulness. 

Being connected as a Yellow Jacket is awesome. It gives you an immediate opening to talk to any alumni about their job. Go to Network > Find Alumni (pictured)

This allows you to search for fellow Yellow Jackets that are currently in positions by location, work type, and company. Use your alumni association with them to start up a conversation and add them as a contact. Do this early! I can't stress that enough. People hate opportunists that are just asking questions to get a job. However, just adjacent to that, people love talking about themselves when people are just interested in them. If you ask them about themselves and then immediately ask them what jobs are open, you clearly fall into the opportunist category. If you open up a conversation about how they got there and what issues they face, and then ask them for job openings MONTHS later, you are the person they love talking to. 

If you can't find a GT alumni that works at a company you want to work at, you should still attempt to contact someone well ahead of time to start up a conversation. My biggest tip behind this is to join relevant groups. As a part of Biomedical Engineers, Medical Devices, and Georgia Tech Alumni groups (and these groups' derivatives), I had a HARD time finding anyone at 4+ connections away. 

What to say when you first contact someone you don't know.

These people don't know you or owe you anything, so it's easy to scare people off with too great a request. Ask to connect with them with a personalized message (do this from their page, not a search result list--you don't get the option to personalize your message from there). You only have 160 characters so make it count. Just say you're a student and you'd like to know more about their position and thank them for their time. Some won't help you. That's life. Don't badger them. It won't help. If they do respond, set up a reminder to ask them about any new interesting projects their working on 2 - 3 months down the line. 

Make your page searchable.

Your page becomes more searchable when people view it more often. LinkedIn gives you suggestions on how to up your traffic. The easiest to achieve (in my opinion) is sharing interesting articles. Did you find something neat on new techniques in skin grafting? Share it and comment in such a way that starts a discussion. Do you just LOVE Justin Bieber. Save that for your bedroom wall. Professionals don't want to hear about it. Make sure what you share is professionally relevant. Regularly check IEEE Spectrum, Biomedical Express, or any of a hundred other blogs to keep up with the latest coolness and share.

I'm ending it here, although there's a LOT more I could say about LinkedIn and how it can be useful. For now, just know that you need to start using it NOW. Good luck. 

It's April, What jobs am I looking at?

To tell the truth, I'm still a little fuzzy on this. I'm a bit limited because I want to stay in the Atlanta area. So, for me, it's not only a function of what I'm qualified for, but what is available (Atlanta is rated 7th in the US for medtech jobs). I had a pretty significant shock the first semester when I went to job fair interviews and even after a full description of what my program was about, I was flatly told that without experience, I wouldn't be considered for a product management job. I, just like everyone else, would start in a product design/engineering job. That's how the industry works. They like managers who have proven themselves in engineering roles first. So this kind of goes back to why I'm looking to get familiar with the lab: I'll likely be in one to start.

I think that's pretty critical to realize when you're going into this. You definitely need to develop your understanding of the overall process and look for what makes a good manager, but know that you'll likely be seeking an entry level position doing JUST QA, R&D, clinical testing, regulatory affairs, or whatever. So use your electives to hone your skills for whichever direction you want to go in. You won't be given a management job right out of college and if you tell a recruiter that's what you expect, they'll think you're an idiot and not even offer you an entry level position.

Before I end, I'll take a moment to come around and address what you might be thinking, "If I can't get a management job right out of college, why the hell am I wasting a year and $70,000+ on this program?" First, if you were thinking that, be assuaged. You're not. A master's degree is still something that will help you break into upper management later. A lot of companies insist that you have one to get there, and will pass a better BS educated candidate up for one that has an MBA (which any idiot can get). And getting a master's in one year as opposed to two (or more if you're taking night classes while dong a full-time job) is great. Second, the program gives you perspective to do your job in that singular position a lot better, increasing your opportunity to be a candidate for a management or upper management position. Some of these guys have some incredible insights to share, and it could take you a decade or more in industry to realize them yourself.

Making the Most of GT

The BioID program doesn't give you any formal technical training. It's all strategic. Strategy is kind of hard to add to a resume unless you're actually doing the work (and you will be through your project). Personally, I need some stuff on my resume that shows I have lab knowledge. So what I'm currently working on is checking out IBB.gatech.edu to find opportunities to sit in on others' lab work. I'm working with a professor to get this sorted out. I think I'll know more by the end of next week and so I'll edit this post when I have the process sorted out. You need training to use multi-million dollar lab equipment.

The first semester is really the perfect time for this since your work load isn't so high for the majority of the semester. Honestly, right now, I'm super stressed out because I challenged myself with two very difficult (but rewarding) electives and we have our projects due in about a month. I really wish I had done all this my first semester.

It's good to note that you'll be requested to go to several orientation meetings. This is a really good time to network with PhD students. Sit down between two people and talk to both of them. Then--and this is super important--get their linkedIn profile info and keep up with them. These people will help you branch out to other PhD students who already in labs and know key professors who have thousands of contacts in professional jobs. Keep up with these people and use them to access other portions of GT. As a BioID student, you aren't connected to the main campus much, so use anything you can to get in contact with your fellow yellow jackets.

Just remember that it all comes down to what you can put on your resume. Don't know ELISA? Never run a Western Blot? Have you only ever seen SEM pictures? Find a lab that will tell you what it is, what it can do, how it works, and will let you use it. That's a few hours spent on something that may get you a job.

Career Fairs

There's a lot of hubbub and pressure associated with these career fair things. So let's talk about them a bit to examine whether they are worth the stomach ulcer.

The myth:
You're most likely to find the job you want at a career fair.

The truth:
Career fairs represent the hiring period sweet spot. Companies have a fist full of entry-level jobs available at that time that aren't available during the rest of the year. And they intend to fill them. But you're also competing with many more people for the same job. As a result, you're not terribly likely to get a job originating from one of these mass interviews.

Why should I go to a career fair?
A career fair is a great place to get some practice with your elevator pitch. You should have a very concise statement about who you are, what you can do, and what you want. Pitch this to these representatives and then let them tell you how you might fit in. This leads to a conversation about how your skills match up with the company, and that's a good conversation to have.

Sooo... you're saying I should go or shouldn't?
My final advice (and it's just an opinion), is that you should. Treat it more like a networking fest, and don't allow yourself to get stressed out by it. You're much more likely to get a job on a recommendation from a professor or friend, but it's still valuable to go and test out skills and maybe learn something about a company you didn't know before. This is especially true for the December career fairs since you won't be available for hire when they want you anyway.

I've talked to people who got key internships and even great jobs at career fairs, so don't discount them completely. Treat it with your best, but nix the stress.

Reimbursement

So it turns out that the reimbursement program they have set up is something of a hassle (surprise). Reimbursement alone actually isn't so arduous if you're willing to first spend your own money. But it's better to go through this Buzzmart thing.

Basically, GT has a list of vendors through which it is allowed to purchase things through. "Okay," you say. "That sounds reasonable." But then you go to Buzzmart and you find that you can't order anything because you can't see any products or any of the vendors. Ah ha! That's because you have to first get certified (online video + a class only offered at certain times of the year) to use Buzzmart. To get certified you have to be an employee of GT. That can be subverted if you fill out a 5 page form to be an unpaid employee.

This all isn't too much work if it's done early. Unfortunately, we're facing this in the second semester when it should have been done in the first semester. So we're FORCED to first spend up to hundreds of dollars of our own money. We hope we're reimbursed. We're just crossing our fingers right now.

Final advice: bug the program director (Sathya) about this in the FIRST semester  (he'll refer you to Pat Jordan, but the referral is valuable) and get it going during that time. That will make things a lot easier the next semester.

Course Materials

Although your professors will supply a decent amount of your materials (mainly in the form of case studies), a few required materials are quite expensive. You may benefit from contacting a BioID alumni to gain these materials significantly cheaper.