‘Genuine care’: How UChicago PME’s Career Development team helps students find jobs
The UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Career Development Office runs a slate of programs - like this February 2025 visit to biopharma company AbbVie - to aid young scientists with their job search while connecting employers with high-quality candidates. (Photo provided by Xiao Yun Sim)
When Carlos Medina Jimenez, PhD’26, crossed the stage at Convocation on Saturday, he left the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering with more than a diploma in hand. He also had a job.
Medina, who studied molecular interactions between zwitterionic polymers and rare earth elements in the Tirrell Lab, will soon start as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). His advice to students just beginning their own journeys? Partner early with the UChicago PME Career Development team.
“The Career Development team was helpful and patient when it came to me figuring out what I wanted to do with my career and navigating the different options available to me as a student,” he said. “It’s easy to feel lost while balancing your research and academic responsibilities, so they have developed programming that deepens your understanding of careers in the real world while avoiding the sense of being overwhelmed.”
Led by Senior Director of Career Development Briana Konnick and Assistant Director of Employer Engagement Xiao Yun Sim, the Career Development and Employer Engagement Office offers a suite of in-person and virtual networking events, info sessions, “trek” site visits to local industry, research seminars and symposia, lectures and one-on-one sessions offering everything from resume reviews to interview prep to talking through career paths in an ever-changing market.
In December, in collaboration with UChicagoGRAD, the Career Development and Employer Engagement Office was named one of the 2025 Best Universities of the Year by Zhaopin.com, a leading online job platform in China.
“We’re here to provide every UChicago PME graduate student and postdoc with tailored, holistic, and individualized support, ultimately empowering and guiding them to make an informed decision about their next career steps,” said Konnick. “Our office aims to offer as many opportunities as possible for them to explore options, build additional experience and skills, and grow connections, while simultaneously aligning our work with current employer and market needs.”
Layan Hanouch, MEng’23, credits the team with connecting her with biopharma company AbbVie, where she is now Scientist I, Drug Product Design and Development.
“For me, entering a field full of colleagues with PhDs while I had a master’s degree was intimidating at first. It took time for me to understand that my value and expertise weren’t defined by my degree alone, but also by the experience I was building along the way,” she said. “Overall, what stood out to me most was the Career Development team’s genuine care and authenticity.”
Tailor-made solutions
Konnick, who has a PhD in Biology herself, knows an advanced science degree opens thousands of options, and not just in a university.
“Our employer partners are key collaborators in creating this two-way street between career development and successful outcomes,” she said.
Forrest Etheridge has been on both sides of that street. He first encountered the team as a postdoctoral scholar in the Rowan Lab and now uses them to help find talented interns for material sciences company NanoPattern Technologies, where he is Chief Operating Officer.
“As a startup, you can’t spend the money on somebody that’s not going to immediately be impactful. Every dollar counts when you’re a team of seven or eight people,” Etheridge said. “Having somebody that’s been thoroughly grilled in the scientific method and rigor through a research-based program like UChicago PME, that’s critical. We know what we’re getting with UChicago PME students.”
For Yan Fang, PhD’25, the team provided her first glimpse at life outside academia.
“I went straight from undergraduate to UChicago for my PhD,” she said. “Briana was critical in getting me prepared for a real-world job application as well as for the interviewing process.”
We know what we’re getting with UChicago PME students.
NanoPattern Technologies Chief Operating Officer Forrest Etheridge
When multinational pharmaceutical company Merck selected Fang for a coveted interview opportunity in 2023 during their annual UChicago Lectureship, the lessons, conversations, resume reviews and mock interviews served her well. She is now a Senior Scientist at the pharmaceutical giant.
Recent grad Yousuf Mitchell, MEng’26, used the office to help tailor his resume and cover letters for his recent internship with Chicago-based Sandbox Carbon. He said the one-on-one approach was eye-opening.
“At my previous school, we had professional resources that you could go take advantage of, but it wasn’t nearly as personal. I didn’t have someone I could go directly to,” he said. “It’s been valuable to have such a close interaction with Briana and Xiao Yun.”
Strong partnerships
Job opportunities don’t come out of thin air. The Career Development team constantly pursues and maintains relationships with industry leaders in healthcare, quantum, clean energy, manufacturing, microelectronics and other fields where UChicago PME students excel.
“Strong employer partnerships are essential to career development,” said Sim. “They provide our graduate students and postdocs with opportunities to explore career paths, build meaningful professional connections, and better understand the evolving needs of today’s workforce, while helping employers engage with and recruit exceptional UChicago PME talent.”
Honestly, if it felt like there was an event every week that I could go to and benefit from in a professional sense.
Yousuf Mitchell, MEng’26
To keep these bonds strong, the team maintains a schedule of networking events, site visits, and virtual and in-person talks connecting employers and students, adding new opportunities as industry needs change.
“Honestly, if it felt like there was an event every week that I could go to and benefit from in a professional sense,” Mitchell joked.
Christopher Eom, PhD’25, a Research Scientist at microelectronics manufacturer Brewer Science, said the office’s varied offerings set up students for success.
“It is clear that their high-quality events were carefully structured to allow both employers and candidates to learn the most about each other’s interests and needs,” Eom said. “The efforts of this office ultimately allowed me to begin my post-PhD pursuits on the right foot and in a way that I am confident will continue to inform the rest of my scientific career.”
The Career Development team’s work doesn’t just benefit students. The employers – and the cause of science itself – also reap the rewards, said AbbVie Scientific Strategy & Operations Lead Kelly Desino.
“The most fun is the energy the UChicago PME students bring: they’re curious, ask great questions, and create meaningful dialogue with our scientists, while also allowing us to connect with early talent who will soon be entering the workforce,” she said.