Program Highlights

Job Start: Preparing Students for STEM Careers

Rebecca Lai and Jocelyn Bosley
Nebraska MRSEC

Nebraska MRSEC’s Job Start workshop, now in its second year, aims to expose students, postdocs, and other early-career scholars in MRSEC-affiliated disciplines to the diverse career opportunities available to those with advanced STEM degrees.  Representatives from industry, entrepreneurs from startup technology companies, and Nebraska MRSEC graduates are invited to share their experiences and perspectives, along with researchers in academia. This year, the Job Start workshop featured an interactive presentation by Carmen Sidbury, former provost of Spelman College and now President and CEO of The Sidbury Group, entitled “Transferrable Skills to Help You Win in the Job Hunt.” David Conrad, former President of the University of Nebraska’s technology transfer office NUtech Ventures and now Vice President of Research and Development at Streck, Inc., offered a talk entitled “Design and Differentiate Your Life’s Work.” Drs. Sidbury and Conrad provided 38 attendees with specific experiences, skills, and strategies they should cultivate to make themselves exceptional candidates for positions in various sectors.  

These programs are supported by the National Science Foundation, Division of Materials Research, Materials Research Science and Engineering Program, Grant 1420645.

Dr. Carmen Sidbury emphasizes the cultivation of transferrable skills at the 2017 Nebraska MRSEC Job Start Workshop.