Alumni Spotlight - January 2023

How long were you a member of miLEAD? What positions did you hold?

I was in miLEAD for 2 years, starting as a Consultant. I later served as a Project Manager and joined the Board as the Director of Finance, while continuing to support ongoing projects as an Advisor.

What was the most interesting project you were involved with while part of miLEAD?

I was on a project for a company that created a solution for concussion diagnostics that was fascinating, rewarding, and came with a variety of challenges that were fun to solve. Though, I enjoyed almost every project and was lucky enough to work with diverse industries, from medical device to software and automotive fields. It never got boring!

How did miLEAD help you obtain your current position?

miLEAD was instrumental in building my application. During the interview, I was able to pull examples of experiences that highlighted my soft skills since miLEAD challenged me in diverse ways. I could speak about conflict management, maintaining team engagement, providing feedback, building rapport, managing deadlines, adapting to changing customer needs, making difficult strategy and business decisions, and clear and effective communication through presentations or direct conversations- to name just a few. Most importantly miLEAD helped
build my confidence for the transition out of academia. Although I knew I wanted a MSL position, the diversity of skills that I honed through miLEAD also gave me the flexibility to tailor my resume to fit many different career angles.

What is your day-to-day life like in your current position?

Most days, I discuss scientific and medical information with leaders in the field (this can include conferences). On other days, I focus on administrative tasks, continuous scientific learning, and engaging with the team or collaborating with cross-functional colleagues. Overall, the days are as dynamic as you make them as you are responsible for maintaining most of your schedule.

What did you learn through miLEAD that you apply to your current position?

Of all the groups I was a part of during graduate school, miLEAD was without a doubt the most dynamic and impactful for building my soft skills. My current role prioritizes relationship management and scientific communication. Through miLEAD, I got experience interfacing with the executive leadership of a variety of companies, learned relationship management tools for internal teams and external clients, and honed data presentation skills for diverse audiences.
miLEAD projects sometimes involve mid-timeline twists and turns that require redirection for the team and effective communication of goals with clients and strategic decision making. In the pharmaceutical industry, adaptability in this way is important as business and strategic changes can occur frequently and rapidly throughout the year.

What advice would you give to current or prospective miLEAD consultants?

Get involved in initiatives outside of the lab that will develop your soft skills and build your resume (and provide some respite from research). If you are undecided on your career path, give a variety of projects a chance until you find elements that drive you. Use that to identify positions that fit your strengths and passions and continue to build the skills necessary (especially those that in which you feel weak). I found it helpful to keep track of growth and accomplishments - big or small - throughout grad school in a running document (it’s a long road and easy to forget over the years). You can then pull from these examples when you are ready to apply to help set you apart from other candidates on your application and during the interview. Though this is frequently communicated, it’s truly never too early to start networking. Take advantage of the extensive miLEAD and UM professional resources (while you are still there) such as alumni to find connections and learn from different experiences. You might find some mentors along the way that you can lean on when applying to review materials, practice
with, and give candid feedback. If you are interested in pharma, there are also a couple of great courses at Ross Business School to introduce you to the nuances of the industry as well. All in all, you will strengthen your time management and improve efficiency while juggling these activities but also build a competitive and well-rounded application.