What are the future prospects of biotechnology students?

Duke University Masters of Engineering Management (MEM): What are the prospects and benefits of doing this course?..inviting all the alumni and current and future students to share your thoughts and views on this topic.

• Answer:

  I am currently in the program and will be graduating in a month so I have spent considerable amount of time here at Duke to give you some insights on the course and share my experiences. Engineering management is relatively a new course compared to traditional master's courses and not widely recognized as courses like 'MIS' but the skills, 'Engineering Management' teaches you is very valuable to employers. Everything depends on how you explain this course and what you have learnt in it to employers. Job prospects totally depend on your background and interests. This program is so diverse in terms of it's offerings that it opens up so many options for you. People end up getting jobs in different roles and industries. To give you some examples - people have got jobs as Technology consultants, project managers, data analysts, product managers, supply chain consultants, marketing analysts and other engineering roles in various industries like manufacturing, healthcare and financial services. Some roles like Product management or marketing are difficult to get but not totally impossible. Everything depends on the effort you put in learning the skills required for the job and networking. There are many benefits of doing this course. Some of them are: 1. Flexibility - This is the most flexible MEM course as you have the option to customize it the way you want. The 4 electives can be taken from any school at Duke, provided you get professor's and program directors approval. You can even take some courses from NCSU or UNC, if you are interested. Courses can also be taken from Fuqua school of business, which gives you a chance to learn from professors, who are the best in their field. You will also get a chance to learn and interact with people from Fuqua, which is a great learning experience. 2. Audit courses - Apart from the 8 courses that you pay for, you also have the option to audit some courses every semester. You can take any subject you want, provided the professor gives you permission and you will not receive a grade for the course, just pass or fail. Students in the MEM course have audited various courses like dance, swimming, horse riding and many others. You have so many options to choose from , provided you manage your time well. 3.Duke Brand and network - Duke MEM and Duke in general has a great alumni network, and the brand name of Duke will open various avenues for you. Duke is respected and recognized not just in US, but all over the world. 4.Career center- The Duke career center has so many resources and some of the most helpful people. They help you by organizing several workshops, mock interviews , resume drop-ins and networking sessions. And apart from this, info sessions are held at Duke by some of the top firms in the world like BCG , Bain and Mckinsey. 5.People- The MEM class is diverse when it comes to their previous backgrounds, interests and even cultures. You meet some really inspiring people here. It's great to interact and learn from them. The program also has the most awesome staff ever, they are much more than just staff. They organize some of the most fun events, and they are like your mentors and friends, who will help you out whenever you need them. In a flexible course like this, it is very easy to get lost, as there are so many things to do here that it's so overwhelming. Everything depends on the effort people are taking to get the maximum benefit out of this. To sum it up, Duke MEM has been one of the best experience of my life and I have learnt so much from the course and the people here.