Month: November 2024

Foot in the door: How a career navigator helps transition into a RD position?

Contributors: Mayla Boguslav and Toyin Babarinde
Career Navigator program lead: Samarpita Sengupta

“I fell into it.” 

If you ask a room of RD professionals the question “How did you get into RD?,” the most common answer is likely “I fell into it!” For a profession that has significantly grown and continues to do so, “I fell into it” doesn’t resonate with everyone. The NORDP Mentoring Committee launched the Career Navigator program and the trainee membership to create intentional pathways to the RD profession. Trainee membership is defined by NORDP as “individuals who must, at the time of NORDP membership application, 1) have not held a paid Research Development (RD) position, 2) be enrolled in a graduate educational program (for example a Master’s or Doctoral program) or hold a postdoctoral fellowship, and 3) be interested in pursuing RD as a career.

In this program, NORDP trainee members, who are looking to explore RD as a potential career path are paired with NORDP Career Navigators who share similar backgrounds and career paths of interest to the trainee. Through a mentee-driven relationship, trainees learn more about the field of RD and find support for landing their first RD position.

The program has matched 20 NORDP trainee members to date, with an impressive 42% of the trainee members landing their first RD position. Nine of the matches are currently open. Through a Mentor Sign up form sent through the NORDP Listserv, 13 NORDP members so far have signed up to be Career Navigators, many of whom are alumni of the program and are looking forward to giving back.

Mayla Boguslav, PhD
Toyin Babrinde, PhD

In February 2024, Mayla Boguslav, PhD, who was then a postdoctoral research fellow at Colorado State University was paired with Toyin Babarinde, PhD, who serves as the Executive Director of the Office of Strategic Research Development at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Since then, Mayla has transitioned into the Research Associate, Research Development role at the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Southern California. We caught up with both of them to ask about their experiences with the Career Navigator program. 

  1. What influenced you to join the Career Navigator program as a mentor or mentee?
    • Mayla as mentee: I identified that I wanted to study the research endeavor and realized that RD is the place to do it. However, I did not know much about RD, let alone careers in RD. I joined the NORDP Career Navigators program to focus on my career transition into RD and learn the possibilities.
    • Toyin as mentor: As a beneficiary of having great mentors, I am compelled to pay it forward wherever possible. Finding my career path was not easy or clear and I’m happy to help others in their journey. 
  2. What was your favorite part about your mentoring relationship?
    • Mayla as mentee: Toyin’s honesty about an RD career both the struggles and the excitements. We have discussed topics such as leadership, change, career transitions, and many more that have all been very valuable. 
    • Toyin as mentor: Mayla’s openness to ask questions and explore various topics. 
  3. What have you found most rewarding and most challenging about being a mentor? 

Toyin’s answer: The most rewarding part is hearing that I was helpful. There are not notable challenging components to mentorship. There are times when I have wished I could intervene/advocate on behalf of my mentee in some of their situations, but all I can do is give thoughtful feedback and guidance and hope things work out the best way possible for them in that situation. 

  1. Any words of wisdom or encouragement to those who are considering a transition into an RD career?
    • Mayla as mentee:
      • Find mentors to learn from and discuss it with.
      • Be open to new ideas 
      • Ask lots of questions
      • My RD career transition has been seamless because of all the mentors and conversations I have had including with Toyin.
      • Give yourself grace to not be perfect because you need to learn a whole new field.
    • Toyin as mentor: Mayla summarized it very well which is why you will see some of the same answers.
      • Be open to new ideas
      • Don’t be afraid to ask “ALL” the questions 😊
      • Know it’s ok to feel lost but understand that you will find your ground at the right time. 
      • Extending grace to yourself is critical
      • Talk to as many people in various roles as possible to learn about your options.
      • Be bold, courageous, and confident
      • Do not be afraid to let your light shine brightly, there is room for everyone to do so.

As with many mentoring relationships, Mayla and Toyin still keep up the mentoring relationship beyond the official Career Navigator program and Mayla considers Toyin as a lifelong mentor.

If you are a trainee member looking to find your RD career, please sign up for the Career Navigator program. We are always looking for more Career Navigators for our pool. If you are a RD professional, and are able to commit to a short-term mentoring relationship, please sign up to be a Career Navigator. This program is especially useful for those who are contemplating signing up as mentors for the NORDP mentoring program and would like some experience with being a mentor. If you have a RD position, you can be a Career Navigator!

The July 2024 Career Stories featured Jessica Brassard, the Director of Research Development and Communication at Michigan Technological University

Written by: Roshni Singh, Career Stories team

From a Marketing and Visual Communication Background into RD—A Magical Profession 

A Covid detour, career experimentation, and recognizing the need for something new led her to a role in RD.

Jessica Brassard

Meet Jessica Brassard, the Director of Research Development and Communication at Michigan Technological University. In her role, she creates visuals for high-impact/high-value research proposals, supports science communication for research, enables team building around research initiatives, and designs faculty development events and workshops. Before joining this “magical profession”, as Jess describes her role in RD, in 2015, she was in healthcare marketing and communications.

Jessica describes how she found RD as an “act of desperation.” Her position in a local healthcare organization was slowly draining the joy from her work and she needed something new. In 2015, a friend at Michigan Tech helped her look past the RD title and position description, and a new chapter in her career was born. In 2021, Jess was drawn to a position at the University of Michigan which was the perfect alignment of her love of visual communication and helping researchers tell their stories, giving her an opportunity for career experimentation. During this career experimentation, she learned that her own bucket is filled when she can help researchers through a wide variety of services and support. This led her back to Michigan Tech. Her career transition was possible because of her built relationships and network. Jess highly recommends nurturing relationships as it can do wonders.

Jess believes RD is a field where one can help in so many different, fulfilling ways. To her, keeping a whole heart is important in doing service-oriented work. Sending pieces of your heart in the work you do can result in the power of your happiness being controlled by other people. Jess puts forth her best effort and quality work while keeping her heart firmly hers. She believes that others cannot control her; thus, not to become stressed by her emotional reaction toward her work. It makes the work enjoyable and encourages people to be themselves, which is also Jessica’s legacy and RD pro tip.

Jess uses OOO away messages and email footers intentionally to make incremental culture change. In her personal Gmail account, she wrote a sort of “mini LinkedIn” footer to nod to where she’s been and where she currently spreads her energy. Inspired by Karen Caitlin’s weekly Better Allies newsletter, Jess writes her OOO messages to describe what she is doing away from work. This small act of honesty helps her be more present while at work and supports building relationships. The people Jess surrounds herself with make an impact and help her grow into the person she wishes to be.

Outside of her RD position, Jess has had a hand in multiple nonprofits. In 2013, she founded Keweenaw Young Professionals (KYP), a non-profit for young professionals to connect and grow through community engagement. She has served local non-profits, service organizations, and on committees at Michigan Tech and the University of Michigan. Jess coaches the local Ski Tigers cross-country ski club level 1 skiers (ages 5 and 6)!

In NORDP, Jess currently serves on the Mentoring Committee and the McMc (marketing and communications) subcommittee, co-chairs the Communication Working Group (CWG) with Kelsey Haasevoort, and serves on the national Conference Planning Committee. One of her favorite volunteer projects is helping with the Conference Planning Committee with the #MugMottoTaskForce. She helps solicit phrases and ideas from NORDP, then makes designs and illustrations that are uploaded to a RedBubble shop, RDDrinkApperati Shop on Redbubble, where NORDP members can get them on mugs, shirts, stickers, and other products. The unique mottos capture the spirit and dedication of research development professionals and each design celebrates and inspires RD professionals. Sales from these items generate a modest profit (less than $200) and help to pay for appreciation gifts for the conference planning committee volunteers. It’s a small token to recognize the countless volunteer hours committed to enriching our community and advancing the field of research development.

Jess is happy to answer any questions you have, so please feel free to email her at jnbrassa@mtu.edu.

The link to Jess’ full Career Stories by the NORDP LEAD Career Stories team will be posted when available.