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25 Careers in Industry And how to get them January 2016 Kevin Parker KKI Associates Limited kevin@kkitech.com
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25 My Background B.Sc Chemistry Edinburgh, Ph.D Cambridge BP R&D, various commercial roles ‘Portfolio’ with own company, think-tanks, HEI’s – KT/KE, impact, employability Voluntary work with Scouting, Princes Trust
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25 Working in R&D Fundamental Research - performance related Technical Service ‘We’ve run out of hydraulic fluid, can we use gearbox oil instead?’ Trouble-shooting/problem-solving ‘We are being sued - a customer’s engine has blown up’
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25 Working in R&D Fundamental Research - performance related Technical Service ‘We’ve run out of hydraulic fluid, can we use gearbox oil instead?’ Trouble-shooting/problem-solving ‘We are being sued - a customer’s engine has blown up’ Key Skill(s) – problem-solving, curiosity
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25 Product Development Key Skill(s) – team working, knowledge sharing
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25 Technical Sales Key Skills: technical & financial awareness, patience, persistence, negotiation
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25 Technical Sales Key Skills: willingness to fly a lot
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25 Technology Management - HSE Key Skill(s) – attention to detail, working with people
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25 Technology Strategy and Planning Key Skill(s) – analytical, influencing
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25 Technico-economic Studies Trade Bodies, Governments, NGOs
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25 Market Research for Bioscience Key Skill(s) – curiosity, communication, commercial awareness
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25 Business Development ‘Selling Slovenia to Slough’ Key Skill(s) – curiosity, communication, persistence, commercial awareness
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25 Project Management Key Skill(s) – problem-solving, team-working, communication
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25 This all sounds great… what do I do?
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25 KKI Associates and the University of Edinburgh asked 6 major employers of chemistry, physics and life science graduates what they looked in their recruits Key findings – potential recruits need to be good at Innovation Working in team based activities Problem solving Working through formal project/process systems Integrating their specialist knowledge with others Communication Skills What Makes for Employability?
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25 Key findings – potential recruits need to be good at Innovation Working in team based activities Problem solving Working through formal project/process systems Integrating their specialist knowledge with others’ Communication Skills What Makes for Employability? We interview hundreds of potential ‘strategic recruits’ each year. Most fail their technical interviews, not because they don’t know their science but because they are not good at applying what they know to problems we might ask about If they are the only chemist on the team, they’ve got to convince the rest of the team that they know what they are talking about Can they identify technical targets and challenges 2, 5, or 10 years away, and the route to getting where we want to be? We use games, activities, and problem solving exercises in our recruitment and management assessment processes and students should experience these
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25 Making yourself Employable Know how things work Contextualise Know some basic finance Curiosity and problem-solving Co-ordination and facilitation skills Presentation and interpersonal skills Likeability
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25 Successful Academics … Want to work on big problems Good with people, team-work Good at Problem- solving Communication skills Christine Ortiz Dean for Graduate Education MIT Can put research into context
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25 What do you need to be an entrepreneur… Determination Good with people, team-work Good at Problem- solving Communication skills
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25 Environment YES and Biotechnology YES Competition for Post-grad students Teams 4-6 ‘Pretend technical idea’ Real business plan presentation to ‘real dragons’ Learn about operations, markets, finance 3 days in Holiday Inn in November Winners get 2 days in London in Dec £1000 top prize
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25 Why Should I do this? Fun! Free to students No IP issues Nice Hotel(s) Prizes Networking It builds your skills and its life-changing! Hosea Handoyo, H2020 expert Erfurt Germany James Lapworth, Head Life Science Commercialisation Univ. Leicester Deborah O’Neil Founder CEO Novabiotics £25m+ VC Funding £20+ Pharma dealflow Prof. Andy Porter, Fonder Remedios, Haptogen, Grampian Biopartners
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25 Some Successes! Sheffield Team BioYES finalists 2013 HW/Edinburgh Team Environment YES national runners up 2011
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25 Some Successes! Sheffield Team BioYES finalists 2014 HW/Edinburgh Team Environment YES national runners up 2011
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25 ‘Three Minute Thesis’
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25 Job Search and being unemployed Job searching is ‘your job’ – do it 9 to 5 Get out and meet people, don’t just stay at home answering adverts Learn how to do networking and informational interviews Build your skills doing voluntary work TAKE LOTS OF EXERCISE be and look healthy
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