Consultant Spotlight - April 2019

How long have you been with miLEAD? 

I joined miLEAD towards the end of my first year in graduate school in May 2018.

What are your career goals? 

I am not set on a specific career yet, but I am interested in exploring industry-based jobs. I think it would be very rewarding to work for a consulting company or biotechnology/pharmaceutical startup.

What roles have you played on projects? 

I have been a consultant with miLEAD for 2 projects so far. On one project, I conducted customer discovery research and competitive benchmarking for a local biotech company. In the other project, I assisted miLEAD with internal marketing strategies. 

What led you to seek out miLEAD?

I knew before graduate school that I was interested in pursuing a non-academic career. In my first year at the University of Michigan, I learned about miLEAD at a graduate student activities fair. I didn't know much about consulting, so I thought it would be a great way to gain first-hand experience. That can be difficult with the schedule of a graduate student, but because miLEAD is composed of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, the group seemed like a great resource for learning more about consulting with a student-oriented focus.

Since joining miLEAD, what skills have you been able to develop?

The biggest skills I have learned in terms of consulting from working on projects and going to miLEAD's professional development events would be assessing the needs of clients and effectively utilizing databases. On an interpersonal level, I feel more comfortable discussing consulting-related topics and interacting in a professional business setting.

What has been one of your most rewarding experiences thus far working with miLEAD? 

At the final meeting for one of my projects, I presented part of miLEAD's deliverable to a client. It was very rewarding to provide novel information to the client that they found to be useful and to have a candid discussion with them about business-related decisions. I knew from this experience that what I learn from miLEAD is truly applicable to solving real world issues.