School of Science Career Month

In late September 2022, School of Science organised a Career Month, in which a series of career events were held, with speakers ranging from current students to external industry representatives. The month-long initiative was spurred on by feedback from students requesting for more career events, specifically science-related, so they can be better prepared for the workforce after graduation. The theme of the Career Month is “Shaping Your Future”.

The events were planned in a joint effort between the various departments in the School (Education Management Office, Operations Management Office and Research Management Office), the student committee team led by the MUSA Science Representatives, and the Monash Science Club.

There were 5 events in total, each covering a different area that students may be interested in. They were, in sequence, as follows:

Career Talk: STEM to STEM (21 September 2022)

The purpose of this session was to let students have a better understanding of how to build a career in STEM. For this session, we invited 3 of our Science alumni who are currently working in the STEM field to share their experience in a panel discussion moderated by Dr Lee Yee Ying. The speakers were Nicole Tan Kit Yi (DuoPharma), Yap Kee Shiun (Pure Circle) and Wong Xun Wei (Parexel).

Group photo of the speakers, our Head of School (Prof. Emily), our Deputy Head of School of Education (A/Prof. Song), Dr Lee Yee Ying and various attendees of the session.

Career Talk: STEM to Non-STEM (22 September 2022)

The STEM to Non-STEM session was held for students who have an interest to divert from their field of study and explore the non-STEM industry after graduation. We had two Science alumni who have developed a promising career in the non-STEM field to share their experience on their transition. The first speaker was Ng Yi Shin, the current Head of Data Strategy and Performance at PETRONAS and previously a Bachelor of Science (Food Science and Technology) graduate. The second speaker was Dr Shane Tan, who completed both his undergraduate and doctorate degree at School of Science. He later went on to establish three companies, Neucleus Decoding, a genetic testing company, Immunecare Wellness, a company specialising in health food and the digital marketing consultancy firm Neucleus Consultancy

Group photo of the speakers, our Head of School (Prof. Emily), our Deputy Head of School of Education (A/Prof. Song) and various attendees of the session.

Evening with Industry (5 October 2022)

The aim of this event is to expose students to the different career options available after graduation and for them to network with industry professionals. For this round, we invited representatives from the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC) and Novo Nordisk to give an insight into the scientific communication and pharmaceutical industry respectively. Saarani Vengadesen, MABIC’s project manager, gave our students an overview on the importance of scientific communication in the industry and some useful career tips. For Novo Nordisk, we had four representatives from the company, each in different positions and departments. They were Alicia Yee (Director, People and Organisation), Dr Joelin New (Medical Advisor), Natalie Loke (Junior Clinical Research Associate) and Remi Goh (Intern). Their different roles allowed them to share different aspects of working in a multinational pharmaceutical company.

Our Head of School (Prof. Emily) presenting a token of appreciation to representatives from MABIC and Novo Nordisk.

Resume Clinic (6 October 2022)

Due to popular demand from students, we organised a second resume workshop this year. This round, we invited Brian Lum, Team Lead of Marketing at Hiredly, to be the presenter. Before the workshop, interested students were asked to email their resume to him. On the day of the workshop, Brian gave a brief presentation on resume and cover letter writing, before giving feedback on the students’ resumes that were submitted.

Brian Lum consulting a student on her resume.

Pathway to Graduate Studies (6 October 2022)

Diverting from the previous series of career talk, the last event in the Career Month is instead a sharing session from our PhD students on their experience in progressing to graduate studies after completing their Bachelor’s degree. Our speakers consist of Dr Nur Zawanah Zabidi, recent PhD graduate and now working as a Trial Capabilities Associate in Eli Lilly and Company, Heerman Kumar and Nurhamimah Misuan, both current PhD students in School of Science. The session was conducted in a panel talk format and moderated by our MUSA Science Reps, Adrian Teh and Megan Ashley.

Group photo of the speakers, our Associate Head of Graduate Research (Prof. Sadequr), our Research Manager (Dr Tan Wooi Boon), MUSA Science Reps and various attendees of the session.

The Career Month events were greatly received by our students. Feedback collected from the events indicated that students were generally happy with the event contents and look forward to joining similar events from School of Science in the future.

Thank you to all staff and student members for making our Career Month a success!