Latest / Let's Talk Risk! Podcast / LTR 166: Building a MedTech Career in the Age of AI

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LTR 166: Building a MedTech Career in the Age of AI · Let's Talk Risk! Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, everyone, and welcome to Let's Talk Risk!.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Naveen Agarwal.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Here we explore how leaders in medtech navigate uncertainty,
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: make better risk-based decisions,
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: and build safe and effective products to support sustainable business growth.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: Today, I'm super excited to welcome Mitch Robbins, a friend, a coach in some ways.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I call Mitch Robbins a recruiter with HARD.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: He's the founder and managing director at the Anthony Michael Group,
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: and they specialize as a search firm in the medtech industry.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: So guys, we have a unique opportunity today.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: And the opportunity here is to ask questions.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: Mitch has a lot of experience in the industry.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: He knows the needs of the hiring managers,
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: needs of people who look for opportunities, people like us.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: And he has a great perspective on what it takes to be successful in today's world
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: where AI is affecting everybody.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I encourage you as you settle down to share your comments and questions
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: and tell us if you are at an entry-level position or a mid-level position,
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: senior position.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: What are your concerns and questions about finding a great opportunity
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: and growing your career in the age of AI?
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I will bring them in in our conversation with Mitch as much as possible.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: So Mitch, with that, welcome to the show.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing great, Naveen.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate the kind intro and it's good to be here with you, man.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: We've been friends for quite some time.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of respect for what you do for the industry and excited to talk with you today.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome, Mitch.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: So let's start by just sharing with us,
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: what is the general environment like right now,
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: especially for QA, RA opportunities in Mexico?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: I would say it's drastically different from what folks knew just a couple years ago.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think that there was just a domino effect of what was going on in the industry
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: during the COVID era with a ton of overhiring.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then interest rates changed, money got tight, and then layoffs started happening, right?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: For better or for worse, layoffs started happening.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so now you've got this interesting dynamic going on where So a lot
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: of really good, talented people who are on the hunt for their next opportunity.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: They're actively looking in combination with folks
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: who are gainfully employed right now, but not satisfied and trying to make a change.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's plenty of opportunities out there,
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: but trying to make the match of where people live,
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: what their skill set is and what the actual opening is,
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: is actually a very much narrower window.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so a lot of people are feeling the strain that,
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: hey, there's just not a lot of opportunity out there for me.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's causing, it really is, it's causing a lot of headache.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's really affecting the morale of our AQA folks these days,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: to be honest with you, from the folks that I speak with.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: So Mitch,
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: I want to just jump right into the topic today and let's just address
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: the big gorilla in the room here, which is AI.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: I was in Boston for a conference earlier this year and I had several people come
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: and talk to me and ask me like,
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: hey, are you hearing something how AI is taking away jobs and whatnot?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: And just, you know, they were very direct with me.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: What are you seeing?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Is that fear true that AI is replacing a lot of entry-level jobs,
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: even in QA, RA or even senior people are at risk?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think so yet from the folks that I talk with.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think what it is is that AI is really, really good at the research piece.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: AI is really good at taking away some of the mundane stuff that used to take
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: a long time and make it happen within minutes.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think what it's doing now is actually really increasing productivity on teams.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Do I think that it has the capability
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: of taking away entry-level resources Do you have documentation type roles?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I really, truly do.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's kind of where the industry is heading.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that there's so much right now that AI is being used for in
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: a positive way as far as making folks more productive.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: The talk about, you know, it's replacing jobs.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it's going to replace a lot of jobs across all industries.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's just the harsh reality of what we're dealing with.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's a matter of, okay, well,
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  SPEAKER_00: if we know that,
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  SPEAKER_00: how do we prepare ourselves based on our current skill sets and
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: where we can be leveraging what we know and perhaps learning what we don't know over
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: the coming 18 months or so to try and prepare for that?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to get into a couple of detailed areas where people might have an interest.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: If someone is looking for an opportunity now,
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  SPEAKER_00: there was a time when the name of the game was
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: try to contact the hiring manager,
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  SPEAKER_01: get on their radar, send them your resume.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: How is it working now?
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Is it like AI screening resumes or AI is doing interviews and screening?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: What is happening right now that people should prepare for?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think a lot is hearsay until you actually have the experience yourself.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: I've spoken with people who have been screened by an AI agent.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard people saying, I keep getting screened out by AI.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's all you hear is AI is doing this, AI is doing that.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: We really don't know.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know for sure what these companies are using AI for.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: What I will say that absolutely has not changed is the ability and the necessity
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: to be proactive with your search.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: So what I mean by that is you said, hey, the old adage used to be contact the hiring manager.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: I would say, Naveen, it remains the same.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: You are on the hunt for a new role.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: You absolutely have to be proactive in this market.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot just rely on simply applying and feeling like you're not hearing back
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: and that's the reason why you're not getting a job is
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: because you must not be qualified or they must not have the position open anymore.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: There is so much noise out there.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's tools out there that will, companies for that matter, that will apply on your behalf.
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  SPEAKER_00: That will do all fancy work to your resume.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: They'll send out a gazillion applications a day.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: In addition to people who are clicking the easy apply button on LinkedIn.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: In addition to people who are taking the time to go through
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: the three page application on a company's website.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine all of that coming in and being filtered by an internal recruiter Or,
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: the human resources person and trying to make a decision on who should be passed to
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: the hiring manager.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, with respect to those people,
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: a lot of times they don't have the technical background
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: to understand who's qualified and who's not and to understand that gray area
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: between.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: So what are you left with?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you're left with the ability to realize that you are a solution provider.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: You're not a walking resume.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: You're a solution provider to somebody's pain.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Your expertise is the solution to their pain.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, how do you get that in front of them?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the real bonafide way is to be proactive on LinkedIn by connecting.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: You can send audios.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can send videos.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: You can send emails.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: You could pick up the phone.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you really got to take that into your own hands
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: because I think too many people are stuck in what they think is the way to apply
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  SPEAKER_00: for jobs.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just not the case.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think you made a couple of great points that I want to emphasize
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  SPEAKER_01: for everybody's understanding.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
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  SPEAKER_01: of course,
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: AI is going to be helpful in creating resumes and even sending them out on scale
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  SPEAKER_01: that you just mentioned.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's so easy to apply now, but we have to think about the other person at the end of that.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: They are going to be flooded with this information.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's why they are applying AI tools because there is just so much noise.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: So we have to be mindful.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: The second thing that you mentioned was
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: the human connection is even more important now than ever, right?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to build this connection together.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: Did I capture those two key points right?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Because you said many great things there.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was a really good summary.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think the human connection piece is a huge emphasis for what I was trying to get across.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And as far as the AI being able to help you with your resume,
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to say one thing on that.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Unless you really truly know what you're doing as far as prompting AI,
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: and you're just giving it your resume or you're giving it your background,
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  SPEAKER_00: and you haven't had a very specific prompt with a specific context behind it,
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: that AI tool that you're using is going to probably turn out a beautiful resume.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: But that beautiful resume is going to look like everybody else's with very similar...
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: What's the word I'm looking for?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Language, right?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's just going to come across the exact same way.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's not necessarily a good thing when you're trying to differentiate yourself, right?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess I will just say one more piece about resumes because I could get off on
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: a big tangent here.
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  SPEAKER_00: When you're putting together your resume,
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  SPEAKER_00: what's most important is the outcomes that you deliver,
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  SPEAKER_00: not the scope of responsibility that you've held.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can sum up your responsibility in two to three sentences.
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  SPEAKER_00: The bullet point should be used where you made money, saved money, or improved a process.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's going to help distinguish you and identify you as somebody who's unique
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  SPEAKER_00: because a hiring manager looking at that resume can say,
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: okay, hey, What they've accomplished is very similar to the pains that we have.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you put on the responsibilities and you're very heavy with that and you copy
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: a job description,
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: for example,
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: you're just like everyone else because a quality manager is a quality manager.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Nine out of 10 times, right?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's the outcomes that differentiate you.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that's helpful.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: So Mitch,
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: we do have a good question here and I want to take as many questions
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: as possible today, guys.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: David is asking,
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: rather than a typical W-2 employment,
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm seeking opportunities related to consulting or as a vendor.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I guess
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: I would say a couple of things right off the bat.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Number one,
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'd start talking about the expertise that you have in the form of problems
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: that you've been working on for your clients on LinkedIn as much as you can.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Number two,
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be reaching out with some sort of,
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: try to build a theme of the types of problems you are seeing in companies
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: that you're helping and try to build some sort of lead magnet that you can share as
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: a piece of value upfront with the folks that you are prospecting as clients.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Third thing is I would start picking up the phone and try
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: to understand these challenges as much as you can from these folks
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: and start nurturing those relationships.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I would tell you that I run a small business and we compete against giants every single day.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think the difference is the hands-on approach that you're able to provide versus
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: a larger business,
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: the amount of time and how you can use a sniper approach,
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: so to speak, as far as the problems that you do solve.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I think there's a lot of different ways.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that's at least a good starting point.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, Mitch.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll just add to that because I'm in the same boat, right?
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a solo consultant.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: I have defined projects.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: And the thing that I can share with everybody is just ask the question,
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: if I were to hire myself for something, what would I hire myself for?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And how much would I pay me?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: If you can answer those two questions as correctly and as accurately as possible,
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: precisely as possible,
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: that is the starting point of writing your blurb,
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: short blurb of how you help other people.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: We have people looking for full-time jobs, contract jobs.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: We have consultants looking for projects.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: We just had that question.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: In my mind, though,
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: the fundamental is the same,
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: is you have to be very clear about the value that you offer,
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: the solutions that you bring to the table that you have already mentioned.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: But can you help us think about this in a little bit more tangible way?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Can you give us an example of something that has passed through your desk?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: Off the cuff, I'll do my best.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just give you, I guess, the example in quality leadership, right?
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: If a company is under a warning letter,
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And they're looking for somebody who's turned around a quality organization,
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: who's led several different remediation projects,
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: who has been able to basically fire and hire a brand new team and really build up
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: the quality program.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine two people who come to me and one's resume says,
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: I've been a director of quality and I've overseen five people and I've got 15 years
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: of experience and I've I understand quality management systems
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: and I understand quality operations,
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: et cetera,
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: versus somebody who's come to me and says,
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: my last company actually was under consent decree.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what I was hired to do.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what we did about it within six months.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what we did as a turnaround.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the outcome that we delivered a year and a half later.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see the it's very, very stark difference, right?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: So again, it's really about trying to understand two different things.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: One, what are the goals?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's one piece.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: The other piece is looking across
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: The department you're in,
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: whether you're an individual contributor or you're a leader,
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: what are the actual measurable outcomes that you can speak to?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Every single person has it.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's a process and regulatory quality, it's oftentimes a lot about process, right?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Or obviously submissions, but it's a lot related to process.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: In other departments, it's about saving money or making money.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: So everybody can speak to outcomes.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the piece I want to harp on the most.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I hear you, Mitch.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: I hear you.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that is very intuitively clear to everybody.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: I should be honest with you and share my experience.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: I've worked for many big companies and every year you have to write your,
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: prepare for a performance review and you have to describe what you have done,
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: what you achieved.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: People work in large teams, large projects.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: And the outcome of the project sometimes is such that as an individual,
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: you cannot claim what you did.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: So do you have any advice on people who might be in that situation, how to write?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Their contributions, their results, how to claim with honesty.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: They should not misrepresent the facts,
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: but hey, if a project delivered $50 million in saving, 100 people worked on it.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: What was my contribution that I can highlight?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's an amazing question,
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: actually,
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: because years ago when I was building our firm,
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: especially in regulatory and quality,
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: I would look at resumes a lot of times and you had these junior people talking about
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: the vast submission experience that they had on the regulatory side.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: And very quickly when you speak to them,
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: you realize, hey, we actually compiled a lot of the paperwork.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: It was my manager who oversaw the submission or whatever it was.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, well, you can't say that...
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: This submission was yours.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so I bring that up as an example because if that's the case,
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: the word Contributed is probably the best word to use, right?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: But then what I would say is if you're going to use that outcome on your resume
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: and you talked about contributed,
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: you have to be able to be prepared to discuss what was your contribution to
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: the outcome.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: I worked on a project team and this is what we were responsible for,
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: but collectively across these different departments is how we did it together.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, that's the way the vast majority of business works is that it's cross-functional.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I think another tip that I can share from my experience is All of us go through this too.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Many of us have to write our goals and objectives first part of the year.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: That is the time when you sit down with your manager and identify your goals,
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: which are measurable for you and the project together.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because then at the end of the year, you can say, I delivered my goal.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: And how what I delivered contributed to the project this way,
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: because that can go directly on your resume.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a tip that I can share from my experience.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Mitch, do you have anything to add to that?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would say to your point there,
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: when you are sitting down in the review,
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: one of the interview questions we always recommend,
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm prefacing this by explaining how we prep for interviews
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: and how it can be translated into the conversation come review time.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: So in the interview, we always say, Fast forward a year from now, you and I are sitting down.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: How would the department,
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: how would this role,
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: whatever it may be,
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: how would it look different for you to have the confidence you hired
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: the right person?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what that is doing is it's forcing the hiring manager to get rid of,
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: we need X amount of experience,
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: we need a dynamic team player, blah, blah, blah,
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: and really try and be as tangible as possible,
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: cast that vision, where are they trying to go?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because then from there,
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: that person interviewing can reflect on their experience
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: and discuss how they can help get them there, right?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so translating it to the review,
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: you're sitting down, hey,
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: you and I are sitting here a year from now,
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: what would have had to be accomplished for you to have the confidence I'm still
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: the right person for the job?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a good one.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, Mitch,
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: we have another question and I want to take as many questions as we can,
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: guys, so don't hold back.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Ilif is asking,
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: do you have any specific advice for students who are now graduating
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: with engineering degrees,
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: not software, and interest in working in medical device or pharma field?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: What can they do to differentiate or prepare themselves when they apply to entry-level jobs?
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hopefully they would have had some...
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Relevant internship experience.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: But then I would say it comes back to what I said at the beginning for everyone is proactive.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: The way you differentiate yourself is by rising above the noise
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: and doing things others aren't comfortable or willing to do,
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: which is getting in front of these people directly.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: So connecting on LinkedIn,
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: explaining,
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: trying to find folks who are already in the industry who can make introductions,
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: trying to be visible on LinkedIn with content.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Younger folks are Awesome at content.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's all they've grown up with doing that.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then,
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: it's really the willingness to be proactive and get conversations going even
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: without seeing an actual, you know, specific job.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you can start to build that network as fast as possible,
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: one thing will lead to another.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: It just, it just will.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think what I will add to
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: that is entry-level job doesn't mean it's low quality work or low level work.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, to me,
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: it seems like you should think about What that job might look like two years in.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: And if you push hard and present yourself as a candidate who can do
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: that job two years in,
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think you will already automatically differentiate yourself.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: So we should not have an assumption that entry-level job is just low-level job and
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: a lot of people are applying.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And how can I differentiate?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think you differentiate by looking ahead and telling people,
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: communicating to people that You see a vision already ahead of that based on
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: the job risk.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I know I'm talking about in abstract things,
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: but I want people to think that You should aspire for a higher sort of a role
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: that you can play and communicate that you can play that role.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a way that people can do that?
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, does that make sense to you?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it makes great sense.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a way that people can do which part?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: To communicate that.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: They cannot write that in the resume,
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: but being on LinkedIn,
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: sharing content and sharing some perspective,
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: which shows them to be more than just typical entry-level person.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's a tough question because the whole idea of being entry level is
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: that you only know what you know, right?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: And sort of cast a vision of where it's going to be in a couple of years,
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think might be more challenging.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it also comes back to knowing your avatar.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: The more conversations these entry level folks have as far as what is going on
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: within these engineering departments,
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: where is the struggle,
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: what are they trying to accomplish in the next couple of years as they learn that
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: from these conversations, the more they can talk about it.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: going to.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to say that word, know your avatar.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: That is an amazing phrase that you just mentioned.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Know your avatar.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: And think about it.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: If you are in school,
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: in engineering school,
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: you probably are more familiar with the latest technology than most people in
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: the industry.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: They're still doing the old stuff.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: So, Mitch,
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to keep moving because now I'm going to focus on people who are already,
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: they have a career, maybe five, 10 years behind them.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: And they are mid-level engineers.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think you said something very profound early on,
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: and that is leverage and build your network when you don't need it.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that would be the first piece is that I've taught a lot of people to be voices
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: within their own space on LinkedIn and have some Authority positioning from content.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: And some people are unnerved by that.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say you literally talk about this stuff every day,
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: all day within your own organization, with your own colleagues.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Why not share your journey on LinkedIn?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: You start to build a following.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now you become visible.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: God forbid you're in a position where tomorrow you get the notice
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: that you're being laid off or whatever it may be,
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: you're starting to build this relationship equity on a consistent basis.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: The next thing I would say is if you're trying to get to
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: the next You can't acquire everything without the next step,
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: but you can acquire a lot of things.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: I would talk to industry colleagues and start building those conversations
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: with people who are in the next level up that you want
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: and asking them those questions.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: I would look
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: People who are in the next level up from what you want to do and what was their track.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Look at their LinkedIn profiles and look at what the types of positions they've held.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then I would be a student of your craft.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times I think we get stuck in these silos where we kind of wake up,
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: we go to work,
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: we come home,
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: we wake up, we go to work, we come home and forget what is the bigger picture here?
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: What am I trying to accomplish other than what's on my plate today?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe take some time,
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: find some downtime to really think to yourself, why am I working so hard every day?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: What am I working towards?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think that sometimes is a necessary thing that people often overlook until all
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: a sudden they're caught in a jam and now it becomes a fire drill.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Wonderful.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: There is so much, so much wisdom there, guys.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: And by the way, there'll be a recording of this conversation.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: You can go listen to this back again.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: But I really appreciate, Mitch, you sharing so much information.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Wisdom with us, I think it can help everybody no matter what their level is.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Guys, we are coming close to our end time today and I want to give Mitch a couple
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: of minutes to think about maybe two or three key bullet points Mitch you can share
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: as a key takeaway today.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: In the meantime, I'm going to share some announcements with all of you.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: If you are new to this forum, first of all, welcome.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: Let's Talk Risk is a platform to help you gain confidence
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: in applying risk management for medical devices.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: It is not just training.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: It is not a webinar.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a lecture.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's a community and it's a conversation supported by a lot of content on
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: the Let's Talk Risk Substack page.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're interested in joining that, most of the content is free.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: You can reach out and we can share it.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'll link with you, sign you up for our newsletter.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: But I hope you will participate in this journey with us on Let's Talk Risk!.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: One of the benefits I want to highlight is the LTR Risk Coach that I have prepared.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Think of it as a thinking partner in your risk management journey.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a yes-no tool.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's based on AI, but it's not a yes-no tool.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's a conversation tool that can help you navigate a risk question
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: that you may be dealing with in your work.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's not going to give you an FMEA template.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's not going to give you a risk management plan template,
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: but it's going to help you develop a template on your own through conversation
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: and questions.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: So it's available to people on a very limited launch basis.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you're interested, let me know and I'll share that information with you.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Mitch, with that,
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: the floor is yours if you want to share with us just two or three key takeaways.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I would turn it back to the audience and hope that they've got some takeaways.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody's on a different piece of their own journey,
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm always happy and willing to answer questions if people reach out.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: I guess if I was to sum up what we talked about today is number one,
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: be proactive, realize that We talked about the resume piece.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: And number three, AI is not going anywhere.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: If anything, it's going to continue to evolve at an unbelievably rapid pace.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we're all excited and we're all intimidated at the same time, but it is here.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so you can't be using that as an excuse as to why you're not getting to
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: where you want to get because we're all in the same boat.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think leverage it as productively as you can.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: Learn about it.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Don't ignore it because it's only going to get more prevalent in all of our lives.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day,
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: This business of getting a job, keeping a job, getting promoted is a human to human.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that's, in my opinion, going to be that way for quite some time.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's a wonderful way to close, Mitch.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for taking the time and sharing these tips with us.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: I wish all of you,
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: all of us in the audience,
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: a great future,
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: great career, great successes, because all of us have something to contribute.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: Let's believe in ourselves.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: Let's use AI for that benefit.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Not be a victim to that.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you everyone for attending today.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: In two weeks, we will meet again and we'll have another great speaker.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Mitch, thanks for joining.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much, Naveen.