1. Capture Consulting Offers
and Corporate
Capture Consulting Offers
Get the Offer: Essays

2. Capture Consulting Offers✪
Cover Letters (It is never to early to start!)

3. Application Essays Concise synthesis of topic
Ability to convey focused and impactful messages
Demonstration of your attention to detail
Technique to balance technical and big picture information

4. Types of Essays (Typical)
Short
~50 words
Explain
Explain why your thesis is important
Long
~200 words
Discuss an experience
Describe a situation where you led a team through a challenge

5. Keys to Success Content: FOCUS Structure: Leadership, teamwork, impact
Beginning, middle, end
Situation, Obstacle, Action, Result
Leadership, teamwork, impact
Process:
Write with pen/paper – then type
Have others (multiple) read and review
Format with high quality

6. The best essays have pop

7. Essay Example 1
Q: Please tell us a little more about your PhD thesis: describe the topic of your research as though you were speaking to someone unfamiliar with the field (50 words).
A: Recent science has discovered that there are more bacteria inside of your body than people on the planet. My thesis is trying to understand how these different species of bacteria communicate and live in symbiosis with our metabolic and immune system.

8. Essay Example 2
Q: Please explain why you feel your thesis is important (50 words).
A: Inside the human gut alone there are more bacterial cells (100x1012) than there are human cells that constitute the body (37.2x1012). Nearly two-thirds of the human body is not human and my thesis provides insight into the critical role this massive bacterial ‘organ’ plays in our daily lives.

9. Essay Example 3
Q: Please list and briefly describe the academic accomplishments of which you are most proud (50 words).
A: Only 12% of proposals for R01 (principal investigator level) grants are awarded by the National Institutes of Health. My expectations were limited for the team’s thesis/proposal for a R01 grant. I was shocked and proud when I received a Sunday evening call with news of a $349K award for our research.

10. Essay Example 4
Q: Please list and briefly describe the accomplishments outside of your academic work of which you are most proud (50 words).
A: Two accomplishments standout: 1) Conducting market analysis and preparing an investor presentation for a Professor with the goal of packaging his research to commercialize as a product. 2) I successfully helped Aquarius, a start-up company, gain FDA Orphan Drug Designation, a key driver in the company’s subsequent $XM+ acquisition.

11. Essay Example 5
Q: Please describe a situation where you had to work as part of a team and assume a leadership role. Please describe the outcome of the situation (200 words).
Answer:
Situation: Only 20% of students that graduate with a PhD in biomedical sciences end up with jobs in academia. The University of Chicago Biotech Association (UCBA) was a means to address this critical problem for graduate students and post-docs.
Challenge: The UCBA dismantled shortly after forming in Since then, limited alternative career discussions were held at UChicago. There existed strong demand among graduate students and PhD Fellows to explore these options.
Actions: Five students assembled to take on leadership roles and revive/rebrand UCBA. I was one of the five, serving as Steering Committee member and Chair of the Liaison Committee. In my role, I led the website development for our rebranding, enrolled graduate/post-graduate students and scholars, hosted networking events, and recruited prominent leaders from organizations involved in healthcare and biotechnology. These leaders provided candid career advice to our 100+ members. We successfully opened a critical dialogue and made an impact on an issue that was previously neglected within our institution.
Result: Our rebranded UCBA grew X%. We also obtained a obtaining a multi-million dollar government award provided to only seven institutions around the country focused on educating biomedical scientists about alternative careers.

12. Remember: Your End Goal

13. Capture Consulting Offers
Presented by: Pam Schilling