The Science Career Impact Project was completed in 2021. To learn more, download the report:
Science Career Impact Project—Initiatives & Outcomes, 2014-2021.pdf
Career potential in industry is measured differently than in academia. How can life science graduate students and postdoctoral fellows seeking careers in industry convince hiring managers they can deliver value? Without experience that employers can relate to and the ability to market their skills and potential effectively, life science trainees will not be competitive in the industry job market.
From 2014 to 2021, the Science Career Impact Project operated with the mission to deliver transformational experiences to science trainees seeking careers in industry. This final report, Initiatives & Outcomes, showcases the results of the Project. Our 15 volunteers developed and delivered programs in Toronto and Ottawa, independently and with other organizations. These initiatives engaged >450 trainees and faculty and contributed to many industry career launches. We also conducted research that raised awareness of professional development opportunities for trainees and universities.
1. Marketing Yourself Effectively through the Resume: Based on the premise that an effective resume showcases potential by telling stories about experiences that highlight skills and impact, we developed a resume workshop and delivered 29 workshops to 273 trainees and 11 faculty/instructors. We developed and deployed a 16-minute online training module.
2. Building your Portfolio through Job Simulation: As an alternative or companion to an internship, job simulation enables trainees to develop skills and a portfolio of projects to prepare themselves for the job market and convince employers of their potential. We established a collaboration with the Life Sciences Career Development Society (LSCDS) at the University of Toronto, developed a mentored job simulation program, and delivered the program to 184 trainees. As of Jan. 2021, the industry employment rate of graduates exceeded the historical benchmark. The team published two manuscripts with alumni success stories. To continue the program in 2021 and beyond we transferred it to LSCDS. To enable other universities to launch programs, we published a white paper on program design considerations with co-authors from the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia.
3. Identifying Career Development Opportunities: We partnered with LSCDS to study how PhD graduates have prepared themselves for the non-academic job market. A total of 446 life science graduates and trainees from the University of Toronto were surveyed to assess the impact of career development activities on employment. We published a manuscript with actionable insights for trainees and universities.
To start their careers, trainees must define their aspirations, and acquire the skills and experiences they need. Professional development programs developed by the Science Career Impact Project have enabled trainees to start careers in industry. Such programs should be encouraged and expanded for interested trainees.
Resume Workshop
Science Career Impact Project. 2019. Resume Writing for Non-Academic Jobs. Toronto. 16 minutes, 21 seconds. vimeo.com/328041539
To get noticed, you need to catch the attention of hiring managers and hold it. You need to convince them you have the potential to be productive in their organization. We will share with you a resume writing technique we’ve used to get noticed by hiring managers and invited for interviews.
Job Simulation
Yung A, Wehrle C, Rinchon C, Sealey D. 2019. Getting hired in industry—life science graduate students use case studies to get noticed by employers. OSF Preprints doi: 10.31219/osf.io/x6fny | SNAPSHOT | ARTICLE | First posted on OSF Preprints on 11 Nov. 2019.
Many career paths are possible after completing a life science graduate degree. How trainees pursuing careers in industry can compete effectively in the job market is of critical interest. While some trainees boost their marketability through internships, co-operative education programs, and/or consulting projects, these opportunities may be limited in number or availability, or challenging to arrange around research commitments. To explore career paths and build a portfolio of experience while in school, some trainees are taking an interesting approach: working in teams, with mentorship from industry professionals, they lead projects that simulate the kind of work they would be doing in their field of interest. After ~130 trainees participated in the annual job simulation program (Industry Team Case Study) at the University of Toronto over four years, we interviewed four alumni to find out how their case studies helped them get noticed by employers and get hired.
Sealey D, Yung A, Rinchon C, Wehrle C. 2020, Sept. 28. Case studies give grad students a chance to tackle industry challenges. University Affairs. LINK
This article, prepared after 184 trainees participated in the job simulation program (Industry Team Case Study) at the University of Toronto, is an adaptation of the article above. We share highlights of our interviews with four alumni, including how they gained a competitive edge in the non-academic job market.
Sealey D, Meyer-Miner A, Kozma K. 2021. Employment Outcomes of Life Science Industry Job Simulation Program Alumni at the University of Toronto—Where are They Now? SNAPSHOT
From 2016 to 2020, 184 trainees participated in the job simulation program developed and operated with the Life Sciences Career Development Society at the University of Toronto. As of January 2001, of the trainees who graduated/completed training (106), 55% were first employed in industry; about half of these trainees had no internship. To prepare for life science industry employment, job simulation is an alternative or compansion to an internship. Alumni were first employed in pharma/biotech, devices/diagnostics, consulting, banking/finance, professional services, IT, communications.
Kozma K, Meyer-Miner A, Chio J, Mak S, El-Boraie A, Sealey D. 2021, Sept. 10. Developing an industry job simulation program for graduate and postdoctoral trainees in the life sciences. Canadian Journal of Career Development. LINK
We share design considerations for developing a job simulation program based on our experience over five years with the Industry Team Case Study program at the University of Toronto. In this program, which is focused on the biopharmaceutical sector, trainees identify a business or policy challenge, conduct in-depth research, develop a solution to address the problem, and present their findings to industry professionals. For mentorship and coaching, trainees are matched with industry professionals. This article covers four areas of program development: starting the program, recruiting advisors and trainees, designing the program and project framework, and evaluating program effectiveness. Academic institutions and student organizations can use this information to start their own job simulation programs focused on their employment sector of interest. Employers can participate in these programs to develop and scout talent.
Career Development Research
Her S, Jacob M, Wang S, Xu S, Sealey D. 2018. Non-academic employability of life science PhDs: the importance of training beyond the bench. bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/485268 | SNAPSHOT | ARTICLE | SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION | First posted on bioRxiv.org on 4 Dec. 2018.
Non-academic employment of PhD graduates is on the rise; however, cohort-level data on how life science PhDs have gained non-academic employment are lacking. We partnered with the Life Sciences Career Development Society to survey life science PhD trainees and PhD alumni non-academic professionals from the University of Toronto and affiliated research institutes about their career development. By studying the experiences and perspectives of the participants, we aimed to provide trainees with actionable insights on how their peers have prepared themselves for the job market, and to provide life science departments and institutes with insights on opportunities to support and develop career training programs for early career scientists.