Matthew Vessa

"1. Network, network, network. 2. Only you can drive your career – look to others you admire for guidance. Always have a mentor. 3. Don’t lose the passion. If you do, redirect or reconfigure but don’t remain. 4. Stay current through reading or education."

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Carrie Voycheck, PhD

"My advice to current students would be to be open to new opportunities as they come and not to rule anything out because it wasn’t part of your original plan or because you don’t think you are a perfect fit for the position. Most likely you will not end up on the exact career path you had initially set out for. It’s good to have a plan, but don’t be afraid to stray from it when opportunities present themselves – You may come across something you never even knew existed! Try something and if you don’t like it, try something else. When applying and interviewing, I would encourage you to think about the more general and overarching skills you have developed and emphasize these more than specific details or tasks."

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Dan Mendelson

"Try and figure out what you want to do with your career as early as possible, by doing a variety of internships, research activities, or whatever else may apply to your given field. This will allow you to focus your educational preferences and more quickly master the skills you need to become an expert in your field. Additionally, never be content and never stop asking questions and trying to learn new things, as this is extremely important in career development."

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Alice (Chou) Bachert

"Don’t be afraid to network with alumni if you need any career advice. Internships are invaluable if you plan to work in the medical device industry"

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Elena Mangano

"Don’t underestimate the importance of communication! I have had endless opportunities to give presentations in my role as an Applications Engineer, with audiences from the CEO/President of my company, to high school students. Being comfortable with public speaking and presenting has really helped me build my career at Instron. I’ve been given many opportunities to travel across the US and to Europe to help provide training to both Instron employess and to our customers."

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Sara Ripp

"Never think any job is beneath you. Use all and every connection you have, including alumni. Having someone recommend you carries a lot of weight in the job search."

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Lisa Bobich, PhD

"Search for medical device companies and apply to any position that looks interesting; apply to all positions even if you don’t feel fully qualified – the company can decide whether to consider you or not (i.e., don’t filter yourself out by not applying); at my company, a lot of biomedical engineers work in the quality role. the best way to land a role is to network – I did this by finding an internship when I could not find a full-time position and then used the internship to network and find a full-time position."

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Andrew Bochenko

"There often will be a number of qualified candidates for an open role, so distinguish yourself by who you know and how you communicate. Network, build relationships, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Job search engines are great for identifying companies, but you’re much more likely to get your foot in the door if you build a contact there. LinkedIn is a great tool to get started with this."

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