I have never worked as Biomedical Engineer student, but if one advice I have to give I would certainly say to make contacts. Take as many co-ops/paid or unpaid internships and build connections. I am not saying GPA is not important but it is definitely not the end of the world. Once you get your first job, no one will look at what GPA you passed out with. I was one of the student, who have to have As in all subject but I realized I have spoiled my health due to that, I would never do that again.

I agree with the other two posts, definitely try to get into as many co-ops / internships as you can while your still in school. I have been working in the industry for about 6 years and I did not take advantage of any co-ops or internships while I was a student. Now that I am working I get the opportunity to work with the interns / co-ops that work at my company and I try to teach them as much as I can about what it’s like to work in a big medical device company and how to communicate with management and other co-workers. Having someone who has those types of experiences teach you these types of skills is invaluable to someone who has no experience at all. Understanding how to communicate your project status and how display and present your results is extremely important to being successful working as an engineer. Another big benefit that other's have mentioned about internships / co-ops is the ability to network and meet people. In my opinion and experience, getting a job is directly related to who you know. As you meet people and make relationships while working as an intern / co-op it will only help you when you start looking for a job. My recommendation would be that if you do get an internship or co-op, make sure to keep in contact with the people you meet.

While I agree with the posts above, but not so long ago I used to get the same advice from my seniors. However, getting an internship is extremely very difficult regardless of your grades and experience. Sometimes it's just plain luck. One advice from me would be to get proficient with at least one programming language. As an NJIT alumni, Dr. Erdi once told me that software development area with regards to medical devices is really flourishing. I heeded to her advice and learned one programming language to at least understand the basics of coding.

Though you may not like to take that career route but while applying for my first job, a lot of job positions required knowing one programming language. To be very frank, MATLAB is very restricted to labs only. I have yet to come across some across a company who use MATLAB regularly. Besides it's always good to know basics of coding as the knowledge will never go waste.

Another piece of advice I would give to current engineering students would be to potential work in the industry for a few years before going back to get your master’s degree. This is an approach I have taken with my education, and I feel like I am benefiting from it. Working in the industry for a few years allows you to start to understand what it is like to work for a company, what types of skills are required, and what types of skills you may be lacking. Getting a good understanding of these types of things allows you to take classes during your masters that you can truly get the most out of and that are directly related to your job / career. This will also give you an opportunity to take classes that are specifically related to a specialty skill / knowledge that you need for your job. One example I can give from my own experience is that the company I work for does a lot of high volume injection molding manufacturing for disposal plastic products. During my master’s degree I have taken a class called “engineering design of plastic products”, which was specifically about learning about the injection molding manufacturing process and the design considerations associated with designing products that will eventually be manufactured by the injection molding process. If I had no industry related experience for me to know that I could need knowledge like that I may have never taken that course. Also going into that class with a background of injection molding products allowed me to get the most out of the class and really gain a deep understanding of the content.

I started working in industry and working on my MS degree simultaneously after completing undergrad. I can see the benefits to waiting a few years to return for your master's degree but personally I have enjoyed working on both right away. I think doing both gives you the ability to supplement your real job with the courses you choose to take while also evaluating how you enjoy your current job to see if you would like to see what else is out there upon completing your master's ad re-enter the job market.

Advice I would give to Biomedical Engineering students would be to 1. network your butt off. This means going to conferences as a freshman in college, regardless of location. Going to meet ups sponsored by companies and industry professionals. 2. Apply for a research gig within your home university or do what I did and apply outside of NJIT which actually exposed me to what I now find myself passionate in. 3. Apply for co-ops/internships even full time positions/part positions as a junior/senior who has the time. It is possible to work full time as a junior/senior. REUs for summer research also help. Basically find any possible avenue where you can become exposed to a multitude of areas in industry and research to see what area of focus truly captures your attention. From there, build your resume around your passion allowing you to shape your career how you desire.

P.S. If BME isn't for you, learn programming languages other than MATLAB such as Python, Java and C++. Maybe Software Development can be of interest, BMEs can also apply for such jobs, given that they know certain skills.

My advice would be to try to get into co-ops/ internships/ part-time or full-time job if possible even if not directly related to the area you would like to work. As Dr. Simon indicated, there is high demand for certain positions in quality that might be a great start understanding how the industry works. Also, the FDA website is a great resource for understanding requirements around medical devices (link below).

Everyone in this forum keeps stating "get an internship or co-op". For a lot of people trying to break into the field, this is actually a lot more challenging then it seems. When companies are recruiting at schools, they have a limited number of roles open (usually 2-3) and can have between 50-100 students vying for these selective roles.

I had mentioned in the General Forum, that the best thing to do is learn a skill that will separate yourself from everyone else, especially as Biomedical Engineers. That skill I believe is knowing how to code in one or more languages. Knowing how to code even in Microsoft Excel Visual Basic can go miles ahead. Also, a lot of these coding languages can be learned online for FREE. I used Code Academy to learn most of the programming that I know today. One student previously stated that Matlab is very restricted to labs. I definitely agree with this and frankly, I think this is a language that shouldn't be taught immediately as freshman without understanding the basics behind what coding is. To go back to the question of what advice to give potential prospects - learn a skill. If you want to learn to code, I HIGHLY SUGGEST starting with Microsoft Excel Visual Basic. Using excel is very common in industry and being able to know how to simply automate data is a skill that can get you hired.

The second piece of advice I would give is - create an outside project on your own or with a team. I found that trying to do an outside project with a team allows you to better your leadership skills and technical skills. For example, trying to create an app or webpage is a very reasonable project that you can do on your own or with a team. The project doesn't even have to fully succeed or be implemented. The goal is when it comes time to talk to recruiters, you can have a project to speak of.

The third piece of advice I would give is something that sounds easier then what it is - write a decent resume. The best way to write a resume, I believe is following a simple forumla:

Accomplished X by doing Y measured by Z

This simple formula for writing bullet points on your resume clearly outlines to someone reading it, everything they need to know about what you did. Too many times people just state their responsibility and that doesn't provide any evidence that you added any value to your role. Find a way to QUANTIFY what you accomplished. Also, the bullet points on a resume should be 1 - 2 sentences each.

So to sum it all up my advice is - learn a skill / create an outside project that you can speak of / write a decent resume

I haven't worked as a biomedical engineer but I have worked as a nuclear engineer for 5 years. My advice would be more general. During internships and later when you work, don't be afraid to be aggressive. I mean that in every way. Don't be afraid to be take charge of projects, be the leader, be loud, etc. I know this might sound abrasive but I'm not saying don't have people skills. I'm saying don't let your people skills get in the way of doing work. Working and surviving in corporate America is a rat race and if you just let people run over you, they will do just that. Know what you are talking about and get stuff done. Organize the masses and know that this might mean getting ugly from time to time (not always...only sometimes). For some reason this helped my career really take off. It made it so people who report to Congress got to the point of saying to me, "Just tell me how much it costs Ginger and Ill get the money for you".

I personally never worked in the field, but I can share the advise other upperclassmen and advisors gave me. In my experience, landing an internship is not easy and from what I hear in some other fields may not be totally necessary. An upperclassmen told me that a BS in BME is quite valuable, so maybe for at least trying to get into industry, applying for a full-time job can save more time then trying to get an internship or co-op first. Since BME is considered a "jack-of-all-trades" the first job doesn't even need to be directly related to what you want to end up doing. I would also say learn some programming. MATLAB is a great start, but it is limited to labs and not very practical for anything outside of data and signal processing. It doesn't even really follow what other languages do in terms of syntax and design. Another good starter language to learn is Python since its close to what is used everywhere else and freshmen CS majors usually learn this as their first language. Once you know one kind language like Python or Java you'll see that other languages like C++ are very similar and may even work practically the same except for a few nuances.

Looking at this from a current student's perspective, I can state that all the advice given above is extremely valuable. I am currently a senior and throughout my past four years something that I have heard constantly is the importance of co-ops and internships. However, from my experience it is first important to understand and realize where one wants to work in the future. One can either go into industry or research. If going into research is the goal, much more valuable experience can be gained by working in a research lab suited to your interests. This can be done by discussing and finding a mentor within the BME department. However, if industry is where you want to go, internships and co-ops are tremendous opportunities. Several of my friends were offered full time jobs after their internships. The common underlying theme between both these approaches is to put yourself out there and meet people. To grow as an engineer it is vital to make connections and strengthen them.

I totally agree with you Betty, I will tell the student the same thing to get more exposure to the industry environment and take masters courses which teaches about the how the things work in the Industry. Also try to get the internships and CO-OP when you are in undergrad, Industry will love hiring someone with a little experience then the one with nothing. I strongly suggest doing research to undergrad but not all four years, I will say do research in you freshmen and sophomore year and based on that experience try to get Internships and CO-OP's. I will say don't stress about you GPA too much that it has to be 3.9 to get a job that being said don't fall in to category that your GPA so bad that you will get a probation, maintain it between 3.2 to 3.5 means you getting decent grades, because GPA will help you to get your first job, after that no one really care about your GPA. After that it all depends on your luck and most important you connections.
I wish I have started applying to internships in my sophomore year, so I can have at least 2 years of industry experience before I graduate with my undergraduate degree.

In agreeance with akashranpura along with multiple others who posted above, I would definitely stress the value of a Co-op and/or internship. These real world experiences are immensely valuable because they give you insight to the nuances of industry and help guide you on an eventual career path. As Dr. Simon said in his intro video, these opportunities are extremely helpful even if you do not partake in the perfect role that suites your interest. Sometimes, a mediocre or even a bad stint at a company can be just as good pointing you in the eventual direction of your career by showing what you don’t want to do.

In addition, answering the concern about acquiring internships, I would highly recommend having any work experience over none. In my undergraduate days, I was unable to find a paid internship my sophomore year so I chose to volunteer in a research lab at Rowan University. Although not with my favorite professor, nor my intended career path, that experience proved to be invaluable come the next summer in helping me secure my internship at a big pharma company.