Recently, I advised a scientist just starting their first biotech job to take the time to get to know their colleagues.
Now I’m going to 10x that advice.
Get to know your colleagues who do DIFFERENT work than you.
In our training years, we mostly associate with people who share our expertise. They spoke our (obscure) technical language and had the same interests. But when the ultimate goal -say of a biotech company – is broader, more and different types of expertise are needed.
Meeting experts from different areas is helpful because:
-You’ll understand the company better.
-They may help you in your current job.
-Learning about their work can inform what you might/might not want to do in the future.
If you need an excuse to meet someone outside of your group, try ,”I’d like to learn more about what you do.” They may be interested to hear about your work, too.
And, as I said before, your company may not be there forever, but the people will be around for a long long time.
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