So You Set a Defense Date?: Starting the Industry Job Search

You've set a defense date — now what? Transitioning from the bench to industry can feel like learning a whole new language: unfamiliar job titles, a maze of application portals, and a hiring process that rewards things graduate school never taught you. Join us for a panel conversation with recent life science and engineering PhD graduates, alongside an HR professional. Our panelists will share how they navigated their own transitions from academia to industry — how they identified the right roles, translated their research experience for a non-academic audience, and approached interviews and offers. Our HR panelist will bring a different lens: what hiring teams are actually looking for, common application missteps, and what makes a candidate stand out from the other side of the table. This will be an interactive, audience-driven panel — come with your questions about resumes, networking, interviewing, or anything else standing between you and your first industry offer. Who should attend: Graduate students and postdocs beginning to think about (or already deep in) their industry job search. 📅 Date: Tuesday, October 20th 🕓 Time: 4:30 PM 📍 Location: Nils Hasselmo Hall, Room 6-101