Biomedical Engineering Job After College in Cambridge
Name: James
Career: Scientist
Company Field: Pharmaceutical
Located In: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Grew Up In: Boston, Massachusetts
Graduated From:
Majored In: Biomedical Engineering
Graduated In: 2011
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After College Lifestyles
 


James is a Biomedical Engineer in Cambridge, Massachusetts. James takes on the world with a highly analytical mindset. He explains that a lot of engineering work involves number and data crunching. This is something he believes everyone should have a good understanding about if they were to go into this field.

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Overview:

Name: James
Career: Scientist
Company Field: Pharmaceutical
Located In: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Grew Up In: Boston, Massachusetts
Graduated From:
Majored In: Biomedical Engineering
Graduated In: 2011

Quick Stats on Biomedical Engineering

Work Hours/Week: 40 hours
Work Hour Flexibility: High
Quality of Lifestyle Outside of Work: Medium
Work Stress Level: Medium
Level of Routine Work: Medium
Interaction with Co-Workers: Medium
Pay Level (out of 5): $$$


Life of a College Grad Biomedical Scientist

 

My group collects data from our medical manufacturing site and makes recommendations for improvement. We also use this data to troubleshoot deviations and identify problem areas. All of our work is GMP-regulated and must be properly documented, and needs to follow strict protocols.


Biomedical Engineer's Daily Routine:

6:30 AM Wake Up

7:30 AM Arrive at office

7:30 AM - 8:00 AM Morning update meeting

8:00 AM - 12:00 PM Catch up on emails, tie up loose ends/work

12:00 PM Lunch

1:00 PM Afternoon meetings/work

5:30 PM Leave work

6:00 PM Get home, start cooking

Dinner, relax

11:30 PM Sleep

Biotech Engineering After College
How To Get Into The Field
I studied biomedical engineering in college, mainly related to medical devices and prosthetics. I had also spent a lot of time in an academic research lab setting, focused mainly on microbiology, and spent a summer interning at my current company in Research and Development. Job search in the medical device field during last year of college did not go as anticipated, and ended up taking another internship at my current company in a different department through someone I had met the last summer. Internship turned into a contract position, and eventually matured into a full-time employee within a year.

What Do You Really Do?
A lot of work with spreadsheets. I would say that most jobs in science/engineering would require a lot of familiarity with Excel, statistics, and programming to a certain extent. There are also lots of reports that need to be written to properly document our work. Rules and procedures need to be followed whenever we perform any task, especially so in a GMP-regulated setting. If you are more interested in the Discovery side of the pharma industry, R&D is a better bet, but an entry-level scientist will be more of a lab assistant than a decision maker.
Pros/Cons of Your Job
Pro: Excellent benefits, a competitive salary, and co-workers who are easy to get along with.
Con: You may be frustrated, as at any large company, by the hierarchical structure and the difficultly in implementing new ideas (especially under tight FDA regulations). In a large pharma company and this position in particular, it is sometimes hard to feel as if your work is making an impact. In contrast, small start-ups are deeply impacted by the work of every employee.



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Quick Stats on Cambridge, Massachusetts

Job Opportunities: High
Competition for Housing: High
Housing Cost: High
Population of Young People: High
Nightlife: Medium
Safety: Medium
Biggest Industries: Biotech

The Life of a College Grad In Cambridge, Massachusetts

 

College Grad Cambridge Massachusetts Condo

What's it Like to Live Here?
Cold for 70% of the year, Hot for 10%. 20% of the year is perfect weather. Everything closes too early owing to the horrid state of public transportation. Biking is preferable to being stuck in traffic or waiting for delayed trains. Lots of students and young professionals, and nightlife is generally catered towards this crowd.

How Did I End Up Here?
Weighing options between renting and buying a place, decided that buying was more financially smart given the low mortgage rates and high rental prices. Decided to buy a condo as opposed to a house, as its value is relatively stable and is easier to maintain. Lived at home with parents for a year after graduation.
My Set-Up
2 bedrooms, 2 roommate (older brother). Everyone is busy and has their own things going on, so not much contact. Shared groceries and household chore duty.

Closing Advice

 

It doesn't matter what your major was in college. It doesn't matter what field you want to get into. The most useful (and profitable) skill you can learn is programming. You will need this for anything you do. If you don't learn that, then really, really pay attention in statistics. The world runs on data and making decisions based on that data. If you learn neither of those, you better know someone powerful.



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