MedTechVets is hosting their third annual Networking Event this year! After every Academy, MedTechVets hosts a virtual networking event to give their current and former Academy Graduates the opportunity to introduce themselves to our corporate sponsors and community partners, all renowned biotech, MedTech, Pharma, and Life Science companies. Their last one on May 18th was a tremendous success—and they carried this success through to their second one.
How The Academy And This Conference Supports Our Veterans
There are two major pain points that we’ve observed among veterans seeking employment:
- The ability to translate their military experiences in a manner that accurately describes their skill level.
- Access to a quality network that can offer sound advice, guidance and job referrals.
These pain points result in unemployment and more commonly, underemployment. Today, unemployment rests at 4.4% among veterans, and underemployment at 37%. An examination of this phenomenon in the military community was conducted by the NYT last year, and they found that many employers “don’t want to take on the responsibility of training veterans.” This became the impetus for our mission, which is two-fold:
- To support and assist veterans and active-duty service members within 6 months of separation in their transition journey into fulfilling careers in biotech, medtech, and life science careers.
- To increase awareness about the challenges veterans often face attaining civilian employment and translating their experiences properly, while highlighting the unique and desirable qualities that they offer to a civilian workplace.
This is why our Academy is structured as a one-stop-shop for veterans. Instead of seeking different services to support their job-hunting endeavors, we designed the program to be all-encompassing; cover letter editing, presentation skills, personal branding, resume editing, interview training, and then a final networking session to get their resumes in the hands of hiring managers at well-known Biotech, MedTech and Life Science companies.
On the flip side, for companies looking to hire more diverse candidates—this is the perfect opportunity to find already qualified Veteran candidates.
How This Helps MedTech, Biotech and Life Science companies
- Easy on recruiters: Access to veterans whose resumes, cover letters and interview skills are already refined.
- Access to Veterans who have been qualified and vetted for—who are fast-learners, loyal, and eager to make an impact.
- Support for company-wide Diversity Initiatives.
It is our goal to help military personnel achieve career success through innovative tools while strengthening our nation’s relationship with our veterans. That night, 23 attended and walked away with valuable industry connections, insight into company culture and early knowledge of job openings.
When it comes to making beneficial contacts, Landon Lack, President of Medical Device company CA Medical, put it simply: “From my personal experience I just think that networking through other vets who are in leadership positions is absolutely the best way to go.” It’s more advantageous to network with veterans because they can easily translate much of the jargon associated with military training or jobs within the military, to how that would fit into the civilian job the candidate is interviewing for. This is why many of our mentors who work in the industry are veterans.
“From my personal Experience I just think that networking through other Vets who are in leadership positions is absolutely the best way to go.”
Landon Lack, President of CA Medical.
Most of the time, however, the recruiter isn’t a veteran. They don’t have time to look at every resume thoroughly, and much is left up to the applicant to be purposeful. There must be intent behind what you’re seeking in a job. Many of our partners agreed: Tailor your resume to have some degree of relevance to the description, and make sure that a lay person can understand. If there are things in your resume that aren’t explainable, a cover letter is always a great way to explain your history, “It never hurts to write a cover letter! It can help if the resume is not an obvious match,” said Abigail Barley, Senior Talent Acquisition at Vicarious Surgical, Inc.
It’s palpable when a candidate has thoroughly researched the mission and the vision of the company, “people can really see that you took some time to get to know us, and this is where you want to spend the next 5-10 years of your life” said Rob Alexander, Healthcare Experience Director at Medallia. Loyalty is a common trait among military members, and it’s a trait many companies value, but often don’t get to appreciate in veterans because they can’t get past their resume or experience.
The networking conference is a night of self discovery, professional development, and building contacts—but more than that it offers tangible benefits to our Academy Fellows that have helped many of them get hired at the best MedTech, Biotech, and Life Science companies in the world, while giving them a sense of community. It’s also a great place for recruiters to find eager veteran talent ready to train, work hard and integrate within the company without a significant learning curve.
MedTechVets ended their third Academy, and gearing up for their next networking conference on August 17th. Read more to learn about their mission, and how you can get involved.
Our Mission
MedTechVets (formerly MVPvets) Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization connecting medtech and life science companies with talented veterans ready to serve a purpose, with a broad bandwidth of skills, and an extraordinary focus on achieving goals. MedTechVets’ network has grown to nearly 100 life science and medical device companies, hundreds of mentors, and thousands of veterans. For more information, visit https://medtechvets.org/
MedTechVets is endorsed by the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed).
If you are a transitioning service member or military veteran interested in being matched with a mentor, apply today on our website.
If you are in the biotechnology, medical technology, or life sciences industries and would like to give back to our veteran community by becoming a mentor, apply today on our website.
AdvaMed is the world’s largest medical technology trade association, representing more than 400 companies that produce the medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems that are transforming health care through earlier disease detection, less invasive procedures and more effective treatments. AdvaMed members range from the largest to the smallest medical technology innovators and companies. For more information, visit www.advamed.org.
If you would like to learn more information about MedTechVets, please go to our page https://medtechvets.org/contact-us/.
