If you were to Google “how to find a job after college,” you’d be inundated with more than 500 million search results. Almost every single entry speaks to the same core concepts such as writing cover letters, building your resume and networking. However, one of the key things that new graduates can sometimes forget is that no matter how much time and effort you put into those core concepts, everyone’s journey is going to look a little different. This LifeSci Comms Corner series will explore the backgrounds of some of our most recently graduated team members and their personal journeys to LifeSci Communications.

For most people, there comes a point in time either during an internship or after graduation where you find yourself performing a task and you’re struck with the sudden feeling of “oh, this is what I want to do.” For some, this feeling crops up on multiple occasions over the course of their career. For me and my colleague Eloise, our backgrounds are similar in that we were not originally seeking a career in the healthcare industry, but one day we found ourselves exposed to this industry and everything just clicked.

Coincidentally, we are both trained dancers and both worked in the fashion industry. Who could have possibly guessed that years of training in a studio or attending trade shows would position either of us to eventually join the LifeSci team? However, it was these experiences that shaped our work ethic, our drive and served as the stepping stones to our introduction to the healthcare industry.

My love for the performing arts is what flexed my creative muscles. In college, I learned how to apply this creativity in a business setting for brainstorms, creative development and the final presentation of my work to large groups of people. I knew that after undergrad I wanted to work at an agency and in a capacity that would challenge me creatively. I found the latter when I stumbled into the healthcare/pharma industry and the former when I found LifeSci Communications.

Eloise’s work in fashion PR and her history with ballroom dance provided her with the attention to detail necessary for communications and inspired a personal passion for fitness and nutrition. After identifying a way to combine her interests, she utilized her resources and networks at college to learn more about the healthcare PR field. Intrigued by the various opportunities she found, Eloise began to lay the groundwork to secure a job in the industry after graduation. Her initiative and drive is exactly what brought her to LifeSci Communications.

Here at LifeSci Comms, you can find me and Eloise utilizing the tools we picked up from our previous industries and applying them to our day to day activities. As a senior social media associate, I get to combine an inherent creative mindset with learned marketing strategies to advise clients on how to achieve their objectives with social media. And I’ve found that the excited nervousness I enjoyed before every theatrical performance is replicated in all of my client facing opportunities. Meanwhile Eloise, as an assistant account executive, is putting her degree in PR to very good use. Internships in the fashion PR industry helped her realize that her major was certainly the right fit. But it was the initiative she took to educate herself on the healthcare PR industry while still in undergrad that allowed her to enter the field with a working knowledge of the industry and dive right into the deep end of account management.

So there you have it, your career and the path that you take isn’t always going to be exactly what you originally envisioned. When I was applying to colleges, I thought I was going to be a dancer on Broadway. Flash forward 5 years and I have a degree in marketing and work agency side in healthcare/pharmaceutical communications and advertising. What an unexpected journey it was and while not without its challenges, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

To the class of 2020, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite songs from my musical theatre days: “It’s Not Where You Start, It’s Where You Finish.” Simple and poignant, remember that as you begin your own career journey!

If you have any questions about shifting industries or finding the right job right after college, feel free to reach out on Instagram @Leah_Miao or email me at lcunningham@lifescicomms.com

Graphic created by: Autumn Von Plinsky