Åbo Akademi’s Arbetsforum, University of Turku Career Services and Tech Campus Turku organized a Company Safari for university students to familiarize them with local diagnostics and life science companies. The Students mostly majored in chemistry, biochemistry and biology and companies visited were Revvity and Radiometer.
Revvity Finland is focused on developing and marketing equipment, reagents and software for natural scientific research, clinical diagnostics and industry to help improve the health of pregnant women and newborn babies. Revvity is a world leader in newborn screening systems. There are approximately 530 people working in Revvity’s Turku site, of which almost 30% have a university degree.
Radiometer is a Danish multinational company which develops, manufactures and markets solutions for blood sampling, blood gas analysis, transcutaneous monitoring, immunoassay testing and the related IT management systems. Radiometer is a leading supplier of acute care equipment and has around 300 employees on its Turku site.
The best part of the day for the students were the visits to the production facilities, which are not normally accessible. The students also appreciated the insights from the industry and the information about different career opportunities outside university. They were also pleased to hear that many different educational backgrounds can be suitable for the life science field. University gives you the tools to learn and many things can only be learned in the workplace.
What qualities and skills are needed when pursuing a career in diagnostics and life science? According to people working for Revvity and Radiometer, understanding of statistics and health economics are useful in almost every position. Be the person everyone wants to collaborate with because that is how ideas are born. Don’t be afraid to ask stupid questions as they are often the most important ones of all. Also flexibility and collaboration skills are needed especially when working in a global company.
The student also got some tips for applying for a job: telling about your motivation is more interesting than merely listing your education and work experience. And whether you are hoping to catch a summer job or a thesis placement, apply early!
Revvity offers summer jobs yearly and it is also possible to leave an open application. See the latest openings here. Radiometers job opportunities are found here.