Lessons From our Health Sciences Speed Networking Event (Ottawa Chapter)
Emily Freeman & The S2BN Ottawa Chapter | Jun 27th 2024
Photo features our 9 Health Sciences Panelist and the S2BN Ottawa Chapter Events Team
On May 29th the Ottawa chapter closed out the school year with an in-person health sciences speed networking event. This event featured 9 panelists representing various health science career paths in government, biotech, pharmaceuticals and academia coming together to share their insights over some food & drinks.
Attendees included students ranging from bachelor’s all the way up to PhD’s, post-docs, recent grads and lab techs looking to start or even pivot their career paths. One piece of advice that stood out amongst attendees is that every experience can be an opportunity to build valuable skills. Classes, workshops, volunteer opportunities and part-time work all allow you to develop the transferable skills that will help launch your career.
Some of our panelists highlighted that it’s never too early to start thinking about potential career avenues and expressed their regrets in not developing their networks earlier in their educational paths. Indeed, a common theme amongst almost all of our panelists was NETWORK! Practicing how to network in events such as this one will allow new career seekers a safe space to develop these skills which are invaluable for years to come.
Photo captures our panelists throughout the venue sharing their lessons and insights with atendees
Attending events just like our health speed networking night is also a great opportunity to learn about career paths you may not have known existed. Trianna, a grants and awards coordinator at CHEO pointed out that industry wasn’t the right fit for her but what she did enjoy was learning about new scientific projects. So, she leveraged her experience in understanding scientific literature to land a job doing just that. Another panelist, Rowida Mohamed, mentioned she learnt a lot of lessons about life in academia through a few recommended books. She recommends these reads to anyone currently doing or looking to pursue graduate studies. These books included:
“The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph. D. Into a Job” by Karen Kelsky
“The Genius Within: Unlocking Your Brain's Potential” by David Adam
“Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School” by Adam Ruben
Recommended readings from our panelist Rowida Mohamed.
In all, we at the S2BN chapter were thrilled to have another successful in person networking event. We would like to thank all of those panelists and attendees alongside Ollie’s bar and Pub for making this night a success. If the insights shared here interest you follow S2BN Ottawa chapter to stay up to date on how you can partake in similar future events.
We would also like to thank all of the S2BN Ottawa chapter volunteers for the busy calendar of events, and we look forward to seeing you all again after the summer!
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