Industry Transition Spotlight: Pallevi Srivastva, PhD
An interview with Pallevi Srivastva, Ph.D.
What is your name, your full job title, and the full name of the company you work for?
My name is Pallevi Srivastva. I work as a Postdoc at Agilent Technologies. I have been at the company for 8 months now.
What is your biggest or most satisfying career goal you’ve reached since transitioning into industry?
I have always enjoyed learning about and working on projects that potentially have practical applications. In my current role, I work on developing new measuring technologies that will meet future customer needs. It’s my most satisfying career goal that I was able to achieve.
What’s been your biggest learning experience or Ah-Ha moment since transitioning into your new role?
I am consulted as an expert in my field, even by coworkers with several years of experience.
How is your current industry position different from your academic postdoc or experience as a graduate student?
The projects have more defined goals, the customer need drives the project. In that sense, it’s very satisfying to be able to contribute in developing a technology which will empower users to meet their research goals.
My time is valued more here and there is a lot of interaction among team members. We frequently have brainstorming sessions.
If you could go back in time, to before you received your job offer, and give yourself one piece of advice or encouragement, what would it be?
Persistence is the key to success. Never take a no-response personally, and keep following up on your emails.
What was the most memorable moment for you (so far) as a Cheeky Scientist Associate?
Learning to write a resume! It seemed to be this tedious task, never knowing if the resume I drafted is acceptable for the job I am applying to. That first resume webinar broke it down to a formula and I was never worried again that my resume wasn’t perfect.
What do you see as the next step in your career?
The next step would be to transition to a full-time employee, hopefully at Agilent or another company working at the interface of engineering and biology.
How has the Association and the Association’s members helped you continue to achieve your career goals?
I value the wealth of information that is accessible through the Association. In that regard, learning (either through webinars or articles posted in the group) how to get better at my current role and move up the career ladder would be helpful.
Now that you’ve spent some time working in industry, what is the biggest takeaway(s) you’d like to share with those who are still executing their job search?
Networking is important, not just to build your contacts but also to get better at your communication skills, which is a highly valued skill to have in the industry, especially if you are working in a cross functional team.
To learn more about how you can transition into an industry career like Pallevi, including instant access to our exclusive training videos, case studies, industry insider documents, transition plan, and private online network, get on the wait list for the Cheeky Scientist Association.
