Tianzhuo Zhu

Now working in Research and Development, Tianzhuo graduated in 2018 having studied MSc Biotechnology.

I think my research work experience proved my proactive, logical thinking, team work etc. qualities. Many companies emphasise leadership and I think club activities, voluntary work and other relevant campus activities are very important, because these experiences can prove our leadership.

What path has your career taken since graduation?

I started preparing to apply for a job when I started the master’s course in September. In the beginning, I tried to search in a variety of industries, however I found it was very difficult in reality. In particular, it is hard for international students to find a job in the UK with a sponsored Tier 2 visa. So I focused on the industries which preferred the life sciences background students. I found that CRO (Contract Research Organisation) companies usually recruit many students who study life sciences, chemistry etc. Moreover, they offered very abundant positions (for example, lab work, clinical trials related work through the whole drug clinical period etc.) without any work experiences requirement. Finally, I chose the “drug safety associate” position to start my career, with a company located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. The job was always the same routine work to collect data on the adverse effects experienced by patients in clinical trail. Then I reported to the authorities in different countries, to see if it followed the different countries regulations. It was very boring every day!

I always desired to work in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industry, because I wanted to challenge myself in a rapid speed environment. Then, I found P&G (Procter and Gamble) in China. P&G is a very friendly company for fresh graduate students and recent graduate students, people who graduated within 2 years can still apply. There are only 2 rounds of interviews for the recruitment process and you can talk directly to P&G staff. I prepared well in advance (over 1-year!), researching the company and practiced the online test and interviews. Collecting the tips and information is very important. My preparation meant I got the R&D (Research and Development) job offer from P&G finally!

What is your current role and what does your work involve?

My current role is “product design” in R&D. My main responsibilities are learning the consumer needs and then collaborating with raw material colleagues and product supply colleagues to develop and update diapers, to then deliver improved diapers which consumers will love and buy.

Now, I believe this work makes me study quickly, think quickly and move quickly. Also, I am learning how to communicate with people effectively to achieve my purpose to make the final results better.

What experiences do you feel helped you get to your current position?

Firstly, my master’s degree helped me get an interview with P&G. Actually, the course “Industry and Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology” helped me to find my first job in CRO company. During that course, I searched and read many literatures, then I found the CRO companies which provide many services to the pharmaceutical companies. Thus, everything we learnt may help us a lot in the future! Moreover, every student who studies biology should do an experiment for dissertation. I think my research work experience proved my proactive, logical thinking, team work etc. qualities. Many companies emphasise leadership and I think club activities, voluntary work and other relevant campus activities are very important, because these experiences can prove our leadership.

How have you used the skills and/or knowledge developed during your degree in your career?

We know students who have a life sciences background may work in many different industries. So, I think the common skill is how we solve problems. We face the problem, then we learn the background knowledge, set up a series of reasonable experiments, meet many problems, fix the root causes, improve our methods etc. and finally we achieve a good result. I think everyone who does a master’s degree can develop the skills to solve problems.

In addition, I think being able to research and analyse information is very important. I always search and gather different industries and jobs information on the Internet, and I always try to connect to the people who may help me, such as alumni or head hunters. Then, I can understand what qualities and experience I should summarise or develop in the future.

What do you think was the most valuable aspect of your time at Edinburgh in preparation for your career?

I believe the most valuable things I learnt are independent learning and critical thinking. Sometimes, it is very difficult to find what we want. Then, I usually search different industries and found what the people said for their jobs and what their experiences look like. Maybe, we can get some insights from others. With critical thinking, I do not always trust one person’s views. I know that I should learn more things, open my eyes to obtain more reliable knowledge and experiences.

What advice would you give to students who are interested in your area of work?

For a FMCG company, integrity, leadership, ownership and passion for winning are qualities that are very important. So, firstly, search and gather the campus recruit (or the jobs for graduate students) timeline, online test and interview information. Recall your past experiences and summarise them to reflect your excellent qualities in a CV. If you do not have lots of experience, then you should try to do some club activities, voluntary work or intern work to make your applications more competitive.

Information given in April 2020.