桑福德,N.C. - Essential advice was on the agenda when biopharmaceutical professionals gathered on July 30 to meet 中央卡罗莱纳社区学院 students one-on-one and provide expert guidance for breaking into the rapidly expanding industry. 从开发落地所需的技能, 从初级工作到最终过渡到管理层, developing professional networks and even mentoring younger employees.

但 as industry panelists shared wide-ranging insights at this second-annual "Career Paths in Biotech" networking forum, 一个中心主题开始浮现. Success in the biopharmaceutical industry is easily within your grasp, but it all depends on two things: taking responsibility for your own career and moving past any initial fear or failure.

主持人Brad Mickey, executive director and 制造业 and operations site head for Astellas Gene Therapies in Sanford, 带领他的五人小组回答了一系列最初的问题, beginning with what companies look for when hiring entry-level employees.

小组成员提到了一些有用的技术技能, 但大部分的重点都放在个人技能上.

Dr. LaDonna布依, 辉瑞制药生产主管, 提到的问题解决, 善于与他人合作，乐于学习, which came up time and time again as part of that recurring theme -- taking responsibility for your own career.

事实上, when asked later about how current employees could build their careers, Buie suggested taking the initiative to find a mentor and made that recurring point again: "You're in charge of your career,她说. "You've got to make decisions about what's best for you and how you want to go forward, 你想在你的职业生涯中做什么."

That's exactly how Lee Grimes approached the biopharmaceutical industry from Day One. He's now associate director of downstream 制造业 for FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. 但, when he got laid off from a different job after 9/11 and started looking for work, 格莱姆斯对生物制药一无所知. 这并没有阻止他.

Grimes went to a hiring conference looking for a maintenance job and met one employer who started rattling off industry jargon that sounded like a foreign language. 他开始谈论CIP和SIP, 下游和上游, 我要去, “我不知道你在说什么,’”格兰姆斯回忆道. “但是我可以修理你工厂里的任何东西. 给我一个工具箱."

His initiative landed that entry job and Grimes ran with it, always setting out to be the best. When he found success on that first job, he went to his manager and asked for more responsibility. He followed the same pattern again and again as he rose through the ranks.

His point: You don't have to know the industry to get a job in the industry. 但是一旦你做到了, 弄清楚你想去哪里是很重要的, take responsibility for your career and never lose the hunger to learn more.

当然，没有什么事业是一帆风顺的. 伊丽莎白·埃利斯, 安斯泰来基因治疗公司人力资源副总监, said that success requires understanding what you don't do well and focusing on improvement. 她建议寻求建议，并总是接受建设性的反馈. 这对一些员工来说可能很可怕，但这是必要的.

"There's a lot of fun and success and rewards on the other side of fear," she told the audience. 所以，大胆去做吧. If somebody tells you that you can't do something, that should light a fire. 告诉他们，是的，你可以. You can accomplish anything you put your mind to; it's just a matter of asking the right questions and reaching out to people."

在任何行业发展成功的职业生涯都是一个挑战. 这需要时间、精力和专注. 但 panelists said that work in their industry also offers some intrinsic rewards. 玛丽亚Lacourt-Cuevas, head of project management office and operational governance for CSL Seqirus, 在谈到完成这项工作所需的技能时提出了这一点.

生物技术行业的人做他们该做的事, 她说, because the therapies produced can keep people healthy and improve the lives of patients working their way through serious diseases. 这对每个人都很重要.

虽然长达一小时的小组讨论是最吸引人的, 这只是活动的一部分，标题是,"Career Paths in Biotech: Setting Personal Goals and Navigating Success,，在丹尼斯A. 柳条公民 & 会议中心.

就在小组讨论开始之前, Becky Levine of Kyowa Kirin introduced her global pharmaceutical company that is currently developing a new, state-of-the-art facility in Sanford to manufacture biological products for clinical and commercial use. She invited students to keep the company in mind as the opening date approaches and they begin hiring more than 100 new employees for engineering, 制造业, 质量控制及其他.

在进入礼堂开始正式节目之前, 大约60名参与者在大厅度过了第一个小时, 那里的学生, local professionals and college officials enjoyed informal discussions about the biopharmaceutical industry overall and career opportunities available throughout the region.

在去年的首届论坛上，小组成员关注的是指导问题. 第二届年会遵循了同样的总体议程, but focused instead on setting personal goals and building a successful career. Dr. 丽莎Smelser, 谁组织了这次论坛?, hoped students would leave with what she called "actionable steps" to shape their own career paths.

“这是结识朋友的好方法, make industry connections and learn more about the biopharmaceutical companies in our area,她说. "The event aims to bring together the biotech workforce with people whose goal is to join the biotech workforce and have completed BioWork and other related community college programs."

For more information on the 中央卡罗莱纳社区学院 Bioprocess Technology program, visit www.预备.edu/bioprocess.