Interns: The Job Hunt

As someone who very recently went through the interview process for licensing positions, I hope this blog will be of use to current and future interns. Here are my thoughts on the whole process …

Get as much experience as you can

The Emory OTT internship program is unpaid. While I’m sure there are mixed feelings on this, I think it is a great idea. It helps identify quickly who is genuinely interested. I dove in headfirst and put in as many hours as I could in the office, learning as much as I could. I read other peoples’ tech briefs, drafted my own, did market research, learned how to use Inteum (our database), learned the basics of patent law, attended as many meetings as possible, and networked like crazy. Through this, I was able to do some part time work for other groups and broaden my skill set even more. All of this was very useful come interview time.

Get started early

I asked a lot of people how early I should start applying for jobs, and I heard anywhere in the range of 3-9 months before you are ready to start a new licensing position. For me, it took seven months.

Spend a lot of time on your resume and cover letters

Through networking, I was able to meet a lot of great people who offered to share their resumes and critique mine. Getting a scientist to stick to one page is no easy task. For each position I applied to, I would say 50% or more of my cover letter was unique (some were closer to 90%), and I tweaked my resume as needed (put sections closer to the top that you think the employer will be more interested in. For each position I applied to, I spent at least 1-2 hours researching the university or company to get a better sense for who they were looking for and how I could sell myself. By the time I got to phone interviews, I had spent 5-10 hours researching the position. For onsite interviews, I spent 10-20 hours learning as much as I could.

Cast a broad net

Most of the positions I applied for were licensing positions, but several were not. I figured if I couldn’t get into licensing right away, I could still acquire skills that would be useful down the road.

Apply to positions you would hire yourself for

When I started the process, I thought all licensing positions would be more or less the same. I have a life science and biochemistry background, but I was applying for licensing associate positions focused on materials science and biomedical engineering as well. Every one of those positions ended up getting filled by someone with the qualifications they were looking for. The position I ended up getting is an excellent match for my background.

Keep your head up

Getting your first phone interview is exciting. Getting your first on site interview is even more exciting. I thought they all went well, so it was disheartening and confusing when I would not hear back anything. One position I was interested in took two phone interviews, an onsite interview, and a Skype interview before I was told I did not get the job. But you learn from every interview. I learned what employers were looking for, and I would focus my energy at the Emory OTT working on that. I learned how to answer tricky questions. Although I was nervous for interviews, I learned that I often come across as too laid back.

In the end …

I was an intern in the Emory OTT for nearly a year before I moved on to a full time licensing position. Without a doubt, the two most important things from the internship that helped me get a job were the skills I acquired and the network of people I built up.  So get cracking on those resumes, learn as much as you can as quickly as you can, and get out there and network!

— Patrick Reynolds