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Business and Law: 

Profiles on students who have gone on to pursue careers in business or the legal profession.

Dr. Grace Lee

Senior Product Marketing Manager​ at STEMCELL Technologies

By: Deni Ogunrinde - February 2017

       Dr. Grace Lee is a product management and marketing executive with an academic background in neuroscience and an Ecommerce start-up entrepreneur. Her career path is motivational, characterized by great scholastic achievement and outstanding professional success. After obtaining a doctorate degree in Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and working as a postdoctoral researcher, she accepted a senior management position with STEMCELL Technologies - the largest biotechnology company in western Canada. In addition, Dr. Lee has founded and currently directs her own company called ‘Krimson Marketing Inc.,’ is the owner and creative director of her own food blog called ‘Graceful Cuisine,’ and is the founder of an organization called ‘Rogue Academics.’ Accordingly, this profile will outline Dr. Lee’s diverse professional pursuits and some of the experiences and personal characteristics that have facilitated these exceptional achievements.

 Education

        Dr. Lee has taken advantage of opportunities to explore various avenues of biomedical research and healthcare throughout her academic career. The first post-secondary degree she obtained was a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UBC. In the final year of her undergraduate studies, she completed an undergraduate thesis project in a neuroscience lab. This experience shifted her interests away from biochemistry and towards to neurobiology and neuroscience. In her subsequent (Master of Science) degree at the University of Edinburgh within the College of Medicine, she completed a dissertation on viral encephalitis and genetics of demyelinating diseases (these are conditions that damage the protective covering of nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord). With her continuous passion for academic research, Dr. Lee followed up her Master’s degree with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at UBC with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (i.e. Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and associated movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease. After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Lee followed the often expected academic path by becoming a postdoctoral researcher. Here, she re-specialized once again. Focusing her research on healthcare, Dr. Lee’s postdoctoral fellowship involved leading a “Canadian-based initiative for providing empirically-based policy recommendations to improve health care for patients with brain injury.”

            By this point, Dr. Lee had amassed substantial knowledge in biological systems and medical research through varied, but successive, academic pursuits. Be that as it may, she began to realize what is commonly frowned upon by many in the broader academic community - she had fallen out of love with bench top research and no longer wanted to continue in academia. As a point of note, however, by following fields of research that satisfied Dr. Lee’s evolving interests, she achieved not only an extensive academic portfolio (which I have briefly outlined), but also received multiple scholarships and was given the opportunity to travel the globe with her research. Consequently for Dr. Lee, success and opportunities followed from the pursuit of passion even though she decided not to continue along the academic path.

Entrepreneurial Pursuits
    Interestingly, by creating a food blog over the course of her doctoral degree, Dr. Lee also became an entrepreneur. Complete with kitchen tips and recipes, ‘Graceful Cuisine’ provided Dr. Lee with the opportunity to learn about digital marketing while generating a profit in the process. With this newfound expertise, she was able to found and become the director of a digital marketing company she called Krimson Marketing Inc. along with her business partner, which originally provided customized marketing and branding solutions but later became an Ecommerce enterprise after incorporating. Collectively, these self-started initiatives provided Dr. Lee with valuable business experience. When combined with her extensive life science background, these business skills made her very appealing to a prominent biotechnology company - STEMCELL Technologies.  
    Coming into a Senior Product Marketing Manager position with STEMCELL Technologies, there was a high standard to which Dr. Lee was (and is) expected to deliver. Accordingly, Dr. Lee depicted having to “learn the equivalent of an MBA” within the first month of working for the company and described the following year and a half as being ‘no-less challenging.’ Though new partners typically receive semi-structured training, Dr. Lee essentially received little to no mentorship. In consequence, she took charge of her own learning. Taking an entrepreneurial approach, she drew from personal experience with her small business and scaled up where possible in her newfound senior role. 
One of Dr. Lee’s most eye opening experiences was the preparation of her first financial marketing budget. In doing so, Dr. Lee had an effective crash course on business finance. Today, though Dr. Lee feels she is “always learning something new as processes continue to change,” she believes she is now at the point in her career where she can speak ‘the company language’ effectively which makes the day-to-day learning much easier.  

    The work of a Senior Product Marketing Manager is “fast paced, dynamic and far from routine.” Dr. Lee’s objectives are: (1) to understand the product’s business sector and direct the overall

market strategy based on her forecasts of future market potential, (2) to drive the value proposition and leverage new market opportunities according to the product development plan, but also (3) to manage competitive intelligence about what the company’s competitors are doing. These components are essential to the success of product development and implementation strategies that contribute to company growth. In order for Dr. Lee to be successful in achieving these objectives, she needed to be critical, analytical and unafraid of asking questions. Thankfully, each of these is a skill she had developed through her time in research. These transferable skills then combined with her strong work ethic and go-getter attitude to pave the way for her to succeed in this challenging role.

       Though Dr. Lee has a Ph.D. in a life science field, she found herself not only learning about the workings of the business, but also acquainting herself with some of the company’s life science technologies. For example, Dr. Lee had never conducted cell culture during her academic research. However, cell culture media and the associated supplements are one of the company’s key product streams and one that Dr. Lee became responsible for managing. Fortunately, though she had not previously used any products in this particular area, her background made it easy to understand and troubleshoot them where necessary. This example demonstrates, yet again, the importance of Dr. Lee’s transferable knowledge in the workplace and more importantly, the value of these transferable skills to a career outside of academia.


 Community Involvement
     As if starting a small business and becoming a senior manager was not ambitious enough, Dr. Lee also created an organization called ‘Company of Rogue Academics.’  During her postdoctoral fellowship Dr. Lee was elected President of the Postdoctoral Association where she worked to improve the opportunities available to fellow postdocs. Some of the questions she sought answers to were the following: How many post-docs end up in careers of their choosing? And, how are universities setting them up for that career? In order to address some of the disheartening answers she received to these questions, Dr. Lee created Company of Rogue Academics. One of the priorities of this group is to provide postdocs with the silks to explore career opportunities outside of academia and to change the conversation about the types of careers postdocs can build. In its first year, a four part workshop series was given to a full audience at each event. In addition to running a seminar on financial literacy for growth and debt management, Dr. Lee brought in lawyer to teach about estate planning, laws around cohabitancy and intellectual property. She also brought in partners from the financial sector to discuss taxation law and business financing. One of the most important concepts Dr. Lee wishes to communicate through Rogue Academics is, “whether you are on your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd postdoc, you can still leave academia and move onto other ventures.” Moreover, you are most certainly not a failure if choose not to pursue a professorship.  Appropriately, Dr. Lee ends each seminar with the following inspirational phrase: “Define your own success.” This tag line embodies her own professional trajectory but also what she hopes for other academics as well. 

Concluding Thoughts
    As you can see, Dr. Lee did not follow the expected career path for an academic. What she did, however, was follow her interests and ensure she was learning as much as possible at each step along the way. Whether it was in the form of well-established academic opportunities (e.g. graduate school), or original initiatives (e.g. Graceful Cuisine and Rogue Academics), Dr. Lee has demonstrated that diligence, in addition to a willingness to learn, are major keys to professional success. Collectively, her entrepreneurial success as a small business owner, her academic background in scientific research, and other enriching projects have enabled her to reach a senior management position, and achieve success in this position. The most important message I believe one could take away from Dr. Lee’s journey is two-fold:  Whether you are coming out of an M.Sc. or are further on in academia, follow your passions, but ensure that you take each step along the way as a learning opportunity. In doing so, you should be able to “define your own success” just as Dr. Lee has so remarkably done. 

         

      Dr. Lee has kindly offered to take questions regarding any aspect of her career path via e-mail. For those of you who are interested,

      Dr. Lee's e-mail is mail@drgracelee.ca ! You can also find out more about her from her website www.drgracelee.ca

Wentsi Yeung

Owner and Brewer at

Culture Kombucha​

By: Deni Ogunrinde - January 2017

        Wentsi Yeung is the owner, operator, and brewer of ‘Culture Kombucha’ - a kombucha brewing company in Ottawa, Canada (Facebook page: @culturekombuchaottawa). For those of you who have not yet heard of kombucha, it is an ancient recipe for fermented sweet tea, which as Wentsi informed me, is naturally carbonated and high in probiotics, enzymes, and organic acids, all of which aid in digestion and immune system function. Wentsi always knew she wanted to be her own employer and wouldn’t be happy long-term with a subscription to a ‘9-5’ career. Having the initiative to self-start, and gaining inspiration from some of her undergraduate courses, she was able to pair her interests with her goals and develop her own career, an impressive accomplishment to say the least.

       Rather than medicine - a classic lure for many students in the sea of sciences - Wensti became interested in sustainability and agriculture over the course of her Biology major at Queen’s University (obtained in 2013). Courses like 'Biology 333' (Applied Biology) and 'Biology 316' (Fisheries Biology) allowed her to learn more about organic agriculture and food systems, and through her involvement with the organization 'Queen’s Model United Nations' (QMUN) she was able to learn more about food policy and organic practice. After leaving university, Wensti worked for the Canadian Organic Growers as the Organic Agriculture Program Coordinator. As described by their website, their goals are “to lead local and national communities towards sustainable organic stewardship of land, food and fiber while respecting nature, upholding social justice and protecting natural resources.” Wentsi’s roles were to organize organic agriculture events, develop educational classes and complete mail-outs. Although she became responsible for more tasks than what were initially outlined under her title, Wensti appreciated those experiences because they fostered the development of skills necessary for her subsequent professional role. 
    Working in organic agriculture food distribution and processing at Mountain Path Organic and Natural Foods/Signature Foods, Wentsi further developed her skill set. She learned how to make products for retail and how to become ‘organic certified’. She also learned how to conduct liaisons with producers and farmers to source organic ingredients. This work experience, combined with previously developed expertise, gave Wensti the impetus to start Culture Kombucha. Wentsi also credits, however, her educational background for complementing skills gained on the job, in particular, 'Biology 333' for teaching her about the fermentation process and her organic chemistry courses. Expertise in these areas has been useful, not only developing her product, but also in alcohol and nutrient testing – crucial components of kombucha R&D. After graduating from Queen’s, Wentsi also took some online courses at Ryerson with their 'Certificate in Food Security' which she described as “enriching, and what pushed [her] to do Culture Kombucha sustainably.”

     Ultimately, it was a combination of education, extracurricular involvement, and work experience - each of which was relevant to Wentsi’s interests - that provided her with the skills necessary for beginning her own startup. Furthermore, Wentsi disclosed that she accepted the job with Mountain Path Organic and Natural Foods/Signature Foods knowing that it would allow her gain more relevant experience for starting her own business. Consequently, it is important to be mindful of the type of jobs you accept and organizations you get involved with to ensure they provide you with experience that will assist with the achievement of long-term career goals. 

       Wentsi “needed something exciting, but also wanted to do good by others” with her career. Thus far, she seems to have been successful in achieving these goals. Before beginning her startup,

Wentsi could not find any local kombucha brands in the Ottawa region. Loving the tea, and feeling that others would be looking for a local tea of this kind as well, she decided to take a chance on this burgeoning  industry - a chance that payed off. Her kombucha is now sold at numerous local café’s, health food stores, vegetarian restaurants, and yoga studios. Wentsi's kombucha is sold not only in the Ottawa region, but also at locations in Almont, Perth, and even at Limestone Organic Creamery - a location slightly north of Kingston. Moreover, all ingredients sourced for Culture Kombucha are organic and/or local including the kombucha flavours. In addition, she also works in direct trade with farmers, and uses glass instead of less-environmentally friendly plastic bottles.

       A week in the life of Wentsi Yeung consists of "constant work and new challenges" but these are all things that make it exciting for Wensti. Two days a week, brewing takes place in an industrial production facility, and throughout the remainder of the week; sales, marketing, account management, and research and development, comprise a large portion of Wentsi’s time. Although she recently hired someone to conduct deliveries and has some part-time brewers, Wentsi informed me that her business is still relatively small, consequently, she runs the majority of the operations on her own. Although she doesn’t have to be at work for 9:00 am Monday to Friday like a typical day job, she works everyday on some aspect of the business, if not multiple, saying:

"In running a business, you just have to keep going at it and stay motivated to do it every day."


    For those of you may be interested in starting a business of your own, Wentsi has insightful advice to offer. She advises first and foremost, “to [start a business] because you really like and believe in it, not because you think it’s trendy or simply to make a lot of money from it because that can be a model susceptible to failure.” She advises becoming highly educated in your field so that you can make the best possible decisions, and hard decisions, when necessary. For example, it continues to be difficult for Wentsi to find organic cherries for her cherry-flavored kombucha. Wentsi made the executive decision to purchase local cherries for her kombucha instead, in doing so, Wensti made the hard decision to unsubscribe to organic (a characteristic of her product that she values). Furthermore, Wentsi recommends looking at the marketplace beforehand so that you can develop a product that is both special and unique from others. Be sure to ask, “is my product innovative?” and “will I be the first to the market?”

   Wensti assured me that starting her business has not been glamorous, particularly because she works in food production. Describing herself as a ‘glorified janitor’ at times, she must wear a hairnet, gloves, and is required to change her clothes before entering the production facility. Accordingly, you should keep the practical concerns of your industry in mind when starting a business.

         

       In conclusion, Wensti’s career path has been self-paved with drive, education, relevant skills, and determination. Although each of these traits is important in the development of any career, they are particularly crucial in starting your own business. Hopefully this account of Wentsi’s path provides those of you considering a similar career path with sufficient insight and confidence to further develop your own businesses. (Here are the links to Culture Kombucha's Instagram (@culturekombucha) and Facebook (@culturekombuchaottawa) pages for those of you who are interested in learning more!)

Mitangi Parekh

Communications Coordinator at Herjavec Group

By: Deni Ogunrinde - November 2016

       Mitangi Parekh is the Communications Coordinator for Herjavec Group in Toronto, Canada. She is responsible for a wide variety of both short and long-term projects, including but not limited to, maintaining and updating the social media profiles for the company, assembling the monthly internal communications newsletter, managing blog content on Wordpress CMS, and working with the marketing team in storyboarding, scripting, and branding. A typical work day for Mitangi starts with a Twitter and LinkedIn surf, followed by an update on current events in the news and going live with blogs and other social-media posts. The remainder of her day involves tackling on-going projects such as the internal communications newsletter or google add development. She also tracks website analytics and assesses feedback from the audience on earlier posts. As Mitangi informed me, “days with little to do are rare because when you look deep enough, there is always something else to do.” On days with few projects, or where she is waiting on feedback from previous assignments, Mitangi will look back at goals assigned for the year and conduct research relevant to the completion of those goals.

       Having a BScH in Biology and BA in English (both completed in 2014) Mitangi’s academic career has been diverse. What’s interesting is that Mitangi credits her English background more than her background in biology for her current success. As she informed me, a lot of her biology courses were lab or presentation based, both of which promoted the development of important skills, but neither of which provided skill development in areas that were particularly transferable to her current position as a Communications Coordinator. Her English courses, however, involved substantial writing and communication skills which Mitangi has been able to make use of. Though both writing and analysis on topics related to fictional literature were not especially useful aspects of her English degree, the skills that came with it were.

       In high school, Mitangi enjoyed the sciences and was considering applying to medical school, so biology was a natural degree for her to pursue initially. It was not until the summer after her 3rd year that she developed a reinvigorated interest in English, and decided to pursue the BA along with her BScH, and as now can be seen, this decision has proved useful in helping to advance Mitangi’s career. Her career path shows there is value in following your interests and developing your skillset in as many areas as is feasible and that interest you, because you might not always be able to predict what skillset, or combinations of skills, will prove the most beneficial in attaining your desired career.

       Upon completing her undergraduate education, Mitangi worked as a barista for one year after which she took the initiative to seek out options that would further her career in a more fulfilling direction. She ultimately found a 3 month internship position with Flerika as a Digital Media Marketing Intern that springboarded into a full-time position as a Digital Content Manager. In this position, Mitangi created and promoted company content (blog posts, eBooks, etc), proposed content marketing strategies, managed social media platforms, ensured freelance writers were submitting work on time, and edited and managed all blog content and the editorial process overall. After 9 months (in total) of working with Flerika, the steep growth curve she had been experiencing began to level off. Because the work she conducted at Flerika was similar to that required by the Communications Coordinator position at Herjavec Group, the hiring manager was extremely keen to have her join the company.

Thus, what started as a 3 month internship at a relatively small company developed into the fulfilling career Mitangi had been in search of.

   Along with relevant work experience, Mitangi credits extracurricular activities for providing her with the opportunity to develop more transferable skills. She recommends becoming an orientation leader in university, describing how it “pushes you to come out of your shell - you’re expected to be a leader and set a good example for 15 freshman, while also being outgoing and vibrant.” In addition to being an orientation leader, Mitangi was also a Residence Don, in her 5th year, which engendered a similar sense of satisfaction in helping first year students manoeuvre their way through university for the first time.

"do what you love and make a list of expectations for the career you want to have"

          When I asked Mitangi for additional pearls of wisdom regarding finding a career, her advice was this: “do what you love and make a list of expectations for the career you want to have.” Mitangi’s list included 1) challenges and constant learning, 2) creativity, and 3) she wanted no two days to look the same. She knew as long as those features were prominent in a career, she would be happy with it. As Mitangi researched the Communications Coordinator position at Herjavec Group, she gradually came to the realization that it met each of these requirements, and in particular, that there would be substantial room for growth.

            As her final piece of advice, Mitangi said “the best way to put it is this, figure out what you want, figure out what you need, and try not to compromise on those things.” By following multiple academic interests in her undergraduate degree, opening herself up to enriching extracurricular activities, and pushing herself to find opportunities that would be fulfilling based on her own definition of fulfillment, Mitangi was able to obtain an immensely fulfilling communications career at one of the top cybersecurity companies in the world – an outstanding an inspiring accomplishment. Hopefully those of you reading this can take some insight from Mitangi’s career path and apply it to your own long-term career goals.

         

Celina Hong 

3rd year Law Candidate

 

By: Deni Ogunrinde - August 2016

        Celina Hong had always been bent on gaining a solid foundation in science. That trend, however, took a drastic turn when Celina went on to graduate education. In high school, she completed the International Baccalaureate (IB) program with a specific focus on higher level courses in the sciences, including biology and chemistry, and in her undergraduate degree, she progressed further into science education by majoring in Life Sciences with a minor in Psychology. What’s interesting, is that Celina made a drastic shift in her academic career by choosing to study law in graduate school, of which she will soon be a third year student at Queen’s University. As a result, she has great insight to provide regarding this - perhaps unexpected - transition.

legal issues. Celina was able to obtain her articling position through a recruiting session that occurred in early May of this year. For other law students hopeful of future recruitment, she says that it is “really important to come off paper [in these recruiting sessions]. In the end, they are really just looking for someone they can work well with, but having said that, it’s also a two-way street. Both of you want to determine if it’s the right fit.” Further emphasizing this point, Celina says that it is important to be happy with your work place and who you are working with. Consequently, after 10 months of articling, Celina may be hired as a full-time lawyer if this law firm is, in fact, the right fit for her.

"It’s a much easier and more enjoyable process if you work with, and not against, others"

           Coming from a science background (along with only 7% of her class), Celina said that she sometimes felt disadvantaged, having not previously networked as extensively with professionals like some of her classmates, or given as many oral presentations. Conversely, she also said that most of the “disadvantage” she felt stemmed from “her own head”, and that she learned quite well as she went along. In fact, she was able to transfer some of the soft-skills she developed over the course of her undergraduate degree to legal practice. Having research experience meant she developed a strong ability to think critically, which has transferred well into looking at legal cases and applying facts as hand. When I asked Celina if she had any additional advice to offer science-focused undergraduates looking to make the transition into law, she said that what really helped her, was saying ‘yes’ to a variety of opportunities. It was constructive in allowing her to expand the topics she thought about on a daily basis and break the ‘med-school streamlined process’ that is highly encouraged by the Life Sciences program. For Celina, it allowed her to better know herself - to know what she wanted in a career, and what she did not.  

        With respects to advice for surviving law school, Celina says, “it’s really important to form positive relationships with everyone”. She went on to say that “it’s a much easier and more enjoyable process if you work with, and not against, others. Especially during exams, which tend to be worth 100% of your mark, it’s extremely useful to access each other’s exam outlines and tackle legal problems together. Someone may identify issues that you didn’t see before and vice versa.  Although a highly competitive environment, it goes a long way to help others and receive help.”

          As a final note, Celina mentioned another exercise useful for gaining perspective - international exchange. This is an adventure that approximately 40% of the Queen’s third year law class undertakes each year. Celina will be doing an exchange during the winter semester at the National University of Singapore. This is something she has always wanted to do, not only for the opportunity to travel, but because this learning opportunity will be useful in learning the law in a different jurisdiction.

         

       Although it was second nature for Celina to focus her undergraduate education in the sciences, she did not have a specific career-goal in mind upon doing so. She maintains that she “was not especially law oriented from the beginning”, nor was she law oriented in selecting her extra-curricular activities. In addition, she says that it was not by one incidence, but gradually, over last two years of her undergraduate degree, that she began to discover her legal zeal. Every year in her undergraduate degree, Celina attended the Canadian Undergraduate Conference on Healthcare (CUCOH) and there, she discovered that she was the most attracted to seminars on health policy above those in pharmacy or even medicine. She then became active in exploring the potential for this interest to flourish into a long-term career. By speaking with law students, lawyers, and health policy professionals, Celina came to realize that law was not only something far more different than what she had imagined, but something she could see herself thriving in. Not surprisingly then, reaching out to professionals in your field of interest is something Celina is a strong proponent of. She professed, “I was able to learn about the diverse career paths within the legal profession, dispel some predispositions I had about the work it entailed, and even tips for applying to law school.”

           One thing I found particularly interesting about Celina’s career-choice, was that she took her personality traits into consideration when making the decision to go into law. Recognizing she was an introvert, she read a book titled “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking”, which introduces the reader to the hidden, and often undermined, strengths of an introverted character. This particular book, which was written by a previously practicing lawyer, reinforced Celina’s career aspirations, opening her eyes to the variety of personalities in law - not just the “gregarious” personality types you might expect of this field - and instilling within her a sense of confidence about her own, more reserved, disposition.

         During the course of Celina’s undergraduate degree, she also made sure to branch out to different faculties and learn more of other’s academic interests. She worked for ‘Walk-Home’, an organization that ensures students are walked-home safely late at night, which helped in this, but also held a research position in the Speech and Perception Laboratory in the Psychology Department. This experience, in particular, was enlightening for Celina because it enabled her to evaluate her career goals from various vantage points. In addition, this laboratory experience helped Celina experience the independence of research and learn that this was not a feature she valued for her own career.

         Celina has recently finished her second year of Law school at Queen’s and has one more year to complete before articling begins - a position she has secured with a national law firm in her home town. When I asked Celina if she knew which type of law she wanted to specialize in, she informed me that she was not “100% committed to one particular field of practice”, and thankfully, the firm she will be articling with is ‘full-service’, meaning that it consults on a variety of

         

        In conclusion, I hope those of you reading this can see that Celina’s journey to law was one of exploration and self-discovery. Though not always her end goal, through engaging in a variety of experiences, she came upon a career-path that was of interest to her and also suited both her skill set and personality. Whether law school is of professional intrigue to you, or not, hopefully your own self-exploration can take you to a career path that suits just as law seems to befit Celina.

Anneke van den Hof

Account Coordinator at Zulu Alpha Kilo

 

By: Deni Ogunrinde - May 2016

        Anneke van den Hof completed her BScH in Psychology in 2013 from Queen’s University, and although she progressed into a lively career in advertising, this path was not what she had envisioned for herself early on in her academic career. In high school, Anneke was interested in the arts, sciences, and everything in between. She was involved in her school newspaper and even mentioned taking an intricate robotics course. Consequently, progressing into an undergraduate degree she knew she wanted to focus her academic career on more than solely the sciences or the arts. Upon taking PSYC100 (the introductory psychology course at Queen’s University) Anneke realized she would be able to take the comprehensive approach to her studies that she wanted through a Psychology degree. “Psychology” she says, “was a bit of both the arts and the sciences”.

         In  Anneke’s second year she took a marketing course as an elective which marked the beginning of her progression into business. During her third year Anneke continued with this trend, taking even more business oriented electives. In addition, she began working at the Print and Copy Center at Queen’s (P&CC) where she was able to do substantial marketing for the business and she attended marketing conferences held by the Queen’s Smith School of Business. She had always been interested in marketing literature and media, and so the transition into marketing was a gratifying one for Anneke.

"No two days are the same which keeps my work interesting."

            Anneke’s advertising career was truly launched, however, through the Advertising Account Management post-graduate program at Humber College. This is a one year program consisting of two semesters followed by an eight-week internship. Anneke said, though she learned exceptionally useful information in the program and her instructors were supportive, the fact that the program required an internship was in reality the most valuable component. Anneke secured a placement with Zulu Alpha Kilo, an advertisement firm, which expanded into a full-time position as an Account Coordinator upon the completion of her internship. As I learned from speaking with Anneke, at an advertisement firm, client needs are met through the cohesive efforts of various company sectors including creative, production, studio, and strategy account management – the latter is where Anneke’s current role resides.

         As a project manager, Anneke is responsible for ensuring all sectors have a consistent strategy thread, and are meeting their goals along set timelines. Her position also requires her to be client facing. She must ensure all initiatives meet clients guidelines, and where new ideas emerge, she consults with the clients to suggest alternative options. Anneke’s internship was incredibly valuable because it gave her the skills required to be client facing, to put together schedules and timelines, and ultimately grow into her current full-time position. “I really enjoy the fast pace... no two days are the same which keeps my work interesting”, Anneke says.

         

As a project manager, Anneke is responsible for ensuring all sectors have a consistent strategy thread, and are meeting their goals along set timelines. Her position also requires her to be client facing. She must ensure all initiatives meet clients guidelines, and where new ideas emerge, she consults with the clients to suggest alternative options. Anneke’s internship was incredibly valuable because it gave her the skills required to be client facing, to put together schedules and timelines, and ultimately grow into her current full-time position. “I really enjoy the fast pace... no two days are the same which keeps my work interesting”, Anneke says.

            Interestingly, Anneke has been able to use some of the skills developed over the course of her undergraduate degree, disclosing “I can use science based skills such as writing and information management but in a more extroverted and creative fashion”. I learned from Anneke that, like psychology, marketing involves a good deal of human behaviour oriented research, particularly related to the psychology of decision making and motivation. Unlike psychology, however, marketing is less solitary, faster paced, and provides greater creative freedom. For understanding how people will interact with advertisements, in addition to understanding the best way to convey information, and even client-relationship management, Anneke found her psychology courses on motivation and decision making have related exceptionally well.      

            Anneke’s advice for an undergraduate student considering marketing is to take relevant courses, try going to conferences, and give cold calls/e-mails a chance. Approximately half of the cold-calls Anneke made were returned, and these conversations provided her with insight to make the decision to pursue marketing as a career. “It is always good to reach out to current experts in a field you might be considering to find out if it is something you would really like”, Anneke says. Moreover, Anneke emphasized that “Clinical Psychology and Medicine are not your only career options coming out of Psychology”. Psychology can feed into various career options, you just have to find them, and thus it is important to be active in investigating career options.

          Activities you naturally gravitate towards, in this case marketing for Anneke, might provide clues to guide you on the path to a satisfying career, so as a final piece of advice, I would suggest try being open to what your heart naturally draws you to.

Benjamin Cameron 

2nd year Master of Biotechnology Candidate 

 

By: Deni Ogunrinde - September 2014

       Benjamin Cameron is a bright Bachelor of Science (Honours) graduate in Biology from Queen’s University (class of 2014) and is currently a second year candidate of the Master of Biotechnology program (MBiotech) at the University of Toronto (anticipated 2016). Additionally, he is completing a co-op position in the Future Portfolio Marketing Division at AstraZeneca. Consequently, he has great insight to provide concerning the transition from a science-based education into a business-focused career.

 For students interested in the “commercial applications of science and biotechnology", Ben would 100% recommend the Master of BIotechnology program at U of T. Although his interest in science lead him to Major in Biology, and complete a BIOL537 (thesis) project, Ben  knew that he didn’t have the passion for lab work in the form of an M.Sc. or Ph.D., which left him, like many other emerging pure-science undergraduates, seeking out other options. He had previous business experience in starting his own landscaping company through the support of The Summer Company start-up grant here in Ontario, which awards up to $3000 for producing a strong business plan and executing it over the course of a summer. It was through this experience that Ben knew he was set for more business-related innovative ventures. Thus, it was his summer work experience based on an initial passion that helped gear him towards his ultimate professional career path.

     The Master of Biotechnology (M.Biotech) program that Benjamin Cameron is currently enrolled in, is unlike most other programs of its kind. For Ben, “it serves as a highly focused program geared at transitioning students with a science background into a business setting”, and is associated with a great deal of partners in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. When I asked Ben what he felt most prepared him for such an innovative Master’s degree, he had a lot to say. 

      "Your resume is not about quantity, it is about quality"

The summer start-up fueled his interest in business, but he said it was his thesis research that helped him substantially. When referring to his undergradute thesis, Ben believes that “you will learn 10x more from jumping in head-first and doing something you are not comfortable with, than from learning through a text book”. He also mentioned that having a thesis on his resume provided additional leverage for gaining acceptance to the program, and that in the wet lab aspect in the first four months of the M.Biotech program, his past lab experience became very useful. Mr. Cameron also mentioned that a big influence on him was is volunteer work at Revved Up, a rehabilitation gym in the Kingston community.

 

He believes that “especially at Queen’s where the school can seem like it’s the only thing in Kingston, realizing that the world is bigger than what you’re focused on, is important”. It is  important to get involved in your education, as well as your community. Try a variety of different activities, Ben says, as it might prove to be enlightening, either towards what you might want to pursue as a career, or what you might not, which are equally valuable revelations. 

   

 

  When Mr.Cameron started his undergraduate degree he wanted to pursue a career in medicine, but like many students, he realized part way through his undergraduate degree that this was not a path he truly wanted to follow, and he started considering other options. He found out about the M.Biotech program through a friend, and when the program had a representative come to the Queen’s Campus, he spoke with them and got more information. Subsequently he reached out to a professor in the Biology department to probe even further for program related information. Whatever post-secondary education you choose to pursue, if any, more information only means you have more power to make the best decision for your future, so Ben recommends that you try to learn as much as you can, before maing any decisions.

   As another piece of advice Mr. Cameron divluged is that “your resume is not about quantity, it is about quality”. They are looking for people who know what they want. Your resume will be substantially stronger if you are focused on something, or show passion in a particular area over a longer period of time”.

     Get involved, and get committed. You never know what doors it will open up for you.

 

 

Mr. Cameron has been generous enough to offer contact by e-mail for any of those who have other questions: Ben.Cameron@mail.utoronto.ca 

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