Packaging Yourself for Product Companies

Any researcher or graduate student who has ever performed a lab experiment knows that achieving an accurate, reproducible result is often less of a science and more of an art—and certainly much more complex than some scant "methods" sections would lead one to believe....

For Ph.D.-level scientists seeking a career outside of academia, a job at a product company can represent a challenging yet highly rewarding career path. While opportunities involving a range of different skill sets are available, in general, companies are seeking research scientists with highly developed technical expertise that possess the ability to think creatively and fix problems, while being able to function as part of a team. Many of the positions involve interacting directly with customers and end users to help resolve problems that may be occurring and to find ways in which products can be improved...

Various technical skills learned in graduate school are, of course, important for getting a foot in the door at product companies...

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