Networking. The daunting task every college student faces at one point during their career search. Entering the job market in a niche industry like clinical research can be nerve-racking, and our hiring teams understand. Finding resources to answer questions like How do I start? and How do I know who to reach out to? can be overwhelming. That is why we sat down with an in-house Medpace recruiter who specializes in talent acquisition to answer your questions about networking and kickstarting your career.
How would you define networking?
At its core, networking centers around intention. From making small talk to introducing yourself to delivering an elevator pitch, your intention and what you’re aiming to take away from the conversation is what makes it an act of networking.
What are other ways for candidates to network outside of career fairs?
Job Sites
Between LinkedIn, Handshake, Indeed, and even industry-specific sites, candidates have a pool of job boards to choose from. These can be powerful tools to supplement attendance at a career fair or recruitment event…when used correctly. An impactful, albeit intimidating, avenue our recruiter recommends is cold emailing. For some, this can prove to be easier than in-person networking. Others may feel the opposite. Either way, optimizing your cold email may impact your spot in the hiring process. “Just make the introduction,” our recruiter explains. “Because at the end of the day, as minor as it seems, those cold emails could open up a lot of doors.” A cold email that recruiters will want to open, read, and pass along will be short and sweet. It will include your resume as an attachment, a brief description of yourself, why you would be a good fit at Medpace, and any relevant experience not listed on your resume.
Recruitment Events
At Medpace, we hold our own recruitment events in addition to the career fairs we attend as a business. We hold the majority of our events during career fair season – September through February – but we also hold events throughout the spring and summer. Recruitment events are formal, in-person events where candidates are either invited on-site or to a local business such as a restaurant or hotel event space. These events are designed for candidates to meet with recruiters and hiring managers to learn about a specific role or roles within a department.
Another type of hiring event we hold are Info Sessions. Normally conducted virtually, these events allow Medpace recruiters or hiring managers to give a presentation on career opportunities, culture, benefits, and more. Candidates can pop in and listen during these sessions in a more informal environment. Info Sessions are some of the best ways to learn more about various opportunities and to start making connections with hiring teams.
What are tips for candidates that may help the networking process seem less intimidating?
Consider the Obvious (or not so obvious)
The pressure of networking can often snowball into what feels like a larger-than-life task. We all must start somewhere, so start small. Take a look at your immediate circle. Talk to your family and friends about your networking goals. While you may not have a direct line to someone in your field, start exercising those muscles in a low-pressure environment. From here, you can look towards secondary connections like your classmates, professors, and coworkers. Once you have a solid foundation, you might feel more comfortable branching out into recruitment events and trying your hand at pitching yourself to hiring managers.
Authenticity
What does it actually mean to be authentic? It’s a characteristic many recent grads are instructed to bring to professional environments, but they can’t actually mean it, right? While it’s important to “stay true to yourself” and “be authentic,” new grads can sometimes struggle to know how and when to let their personalities shine, especially during a recruitment event with little time to introduce yourself. When it comes to authenticity, let your personality come through via self-assuredness. Whether you’re soft spoken or extroverted or headstrong or creative, bring those traits to conversations with confidence.
First Impressions
First impressions, a skill so imperative college classes have been built around it, work in tandem with your resume. Resumes convey a limited scope of your experience, so when paired with a first impression, hiring managers are granted a more complete picture of you as a candidate. A simple introduction or elevator pitch is only part of what makes up a first impression; hiring managers discern a great deal about candidates based on punctuality, preparedness, and more.
Expert Advice
Medpace hires a large number of entry-level roles that don’t require professional experience. We see value in what students bring from their education; we don’t expect new hires to understand the specialized, intricate aspects of clinical research – that’s part of our training program. We look for applicable experience like a toxicology class or holding a role as an undergraduate research assistant. When applying for roles at Medpace, step back to consider the experience you’ve gained through the classes you already have under your belt. Once you’ve found your niche, pursue it. If in the end it doesn’t pan out in the way you were expecting, you have the opportunity to explore other career paths through the Medpace internal transfer program.
Go Forth and Network
Determining and entering a post-college career can be new and scary and exciting. It’s easy to feel like the first person to take these steps, but you are walking in the footprints of many who understand your position. At the end of the day, everybody at Medpace was a student. They know what you’re feeling. Knowing where and when to step can be difficult if you don’t even know where the path is. Individuals throughout Medpace have been in your shoes and offer guidance to young professionals looking to make connections within the field and build their clinical research career.
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