Science group hosts career fair at USC

On Feb. 22, around 200 students from the Los Angeles area were invited to attend the Bioscience Talent Connection fair to partake in company-led information sessions and workshops. Biotech Connection Los Angeles hosted the fair, an event aimed at providing life science students the opportunity to attend a full-day networking experience with Southern California’s top biotech companies at Irani Hall.

BCLA is a non-profit organization run by students, young professionals and post-doctoral students.

“What we do is educate our community about biotech, not only to increase diversity in this field, because we need it, but also to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs in the L.A. community,” said Carolina Amador, vice president of Biotech Connection Los Angeles and a fourth-year Ph.D. student studying bio organic chemistry.

A few of the 10 groups that sponsored the event included Cell Care Therapeutics, Corning and USC’s Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering.

Most students at the fair were graduate students. Seniors, especially those searching for internships, and faculty also attended.

The fair began with a career panel, which educated students about alternative careers in the field. The discussion provided examples of working professionals who studied life sciences and their subsequent career paths.

These discussions aimed to demonstrate unconventional applications of life sciences. For instance, the discussion exemplified that life scientists can use their training to work in management, consulting, business development, scientific affairs and medical writings.

“We put everyone in the room so that we can understand our opportunities as students,” Amador said.

The discussion also stressed the significance of students getting involved in nonprofit organizations.

“The goal for these alternative career channels was for every student to know the different type of roles you can have and how to get to them,” Amador said.

Networking opportunities allowed students to work their people skills.

The afternoon also put students’ career skills to practice. They were asked to bring their updated resumes and dress professionally. Some companies interested in hiring students conducted on-the-spot interviews.

“The most important thing is to meet people and exchange ideas because most of the times, we are stuck in our lab and we are just focusing on certain applications,” said Mustafa Daloglu, a graduate student at UCLA. “It’s really narrow.”

This type of event was the second one of its nature hosted at USC. Last year, the fair featured resume seminars and building LinkedIn profiles.

Feedback forms from last year indicated that there was a heightened demand for more involvement for the Bioscience Talent Connection fair. Although there was an increase in the number of sponsors that attended, from six to 10 companies, there is a need for more investment from the USC community.

“For this to become even bigger, we need support from faculty and managers,” Amador said.

BCLA hosts other events, including seminars, symposiums and networking mixers. The next event will be held on Thursday at the Health Science Campus.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated Carolina Amador was a second-year Ph.D. student. She is a fourth-year Ph.D. student. The Daily Trojan regrets the error.