Alumni Spotlight - May 2022

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

I participated in miLEAD for about 2 years, where I started as a consultant, project managed 2 projects, and then went on to be co-director of HR with Ish Mawla for the remainder of my time in miLEAD.

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

While at miLEAD, my first project focused on assessing the opportunity for a new underwater unmanned vehicle across various relevant industries; we got to interview different stakeholders to understand the needs for the technology and whether they would be willing to invest in it, it was really fascinating!

How did miLEAD help you obtain your current position?

miLEAD played a very prominent role during my recruiting process into consulting. Consulting firms recognized miLEAD experience as extremely relevant experience, acknowledging all the technical + soft skills that one gets from being a miLEAD member: client-facing experience, networking, community building, leadership, case-managing, managing others, framework structuring, mentorship, etc. The science and the research experience from graduate school was certainly important but that was expected given I was interviewing as an advanced degree candidate, so what really allowed me to stand out were the skills and experiences I gained from wearing various hats at miLEAD for 2 years during graduate school.

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

Day-to-day life in consulting changes every day! I know it sounds cliche but there isn't one day that resembles the other given each day's tasks are highly driven by whatever case goal needs the team needs to fulfill that day. Some days I spend entire mornings sifting through clinical / scientific literature for key opinion leaders in a specific rare cancer field who would be good targets to recruit for our market research study, other days we spend interviewing stakeholders, analyzing data from quantitative surveys, designing slides highlighting insights we gain from market research, presenting findings / stories to clients, and the list goes on! All to say each day is different and the priorities shift each day depending on project timelines and client expectations.

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

At miLEAD I learned *what* consulting was actually like and how it really is similar to what we learned in the lab for so long -  your client comes to you with a problem and needs a solution - you deep dive into their product and the relevant fields, understand the gaps, develop hypotheses, design the study to fill in the gaps, and tell a good, well-supported story outlining strategic recommendations for how they can solve the problem. And you do it with a team by your side who has the same client-driven goals as you and it's all about putting your heads together and delivering great strategy.

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

Start career exploration EARLY; it's tempting to immerse yourself in a PhD program where you have 5+ years to figure out the next steps but career exploration - figuring out what you want, what you don't want, networking, understanding what it takes to get there - takes a really long time and deserves as much attention as your bench work and coursework. miLEAD was a really great way to start career exploration because of all the professional development opportunities the organization provides in addition to actively developing skills through casework that will undoubtedly be valuable for whatever comes next.