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Chemical Engineer Excited by the Private Sector


Name: Do Soon Kim (he/him)

PhD: Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2020



What was your main area of research?

My research focused on RNA design and applications of molecular biology and computational design to help accelerate RNA design.



What is your current job?

I am currently on a break but my last job was Head of Business & Product at Inceptive in Seattle, Washington. 


I helped lead a team to close commercial partnerships and define what we should build at Inceptive.


The best part was working with extremely talented and kind people.



How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

I found the position through networking. 


PhD ➡️ postdoc ➡️ Industry (big pharma) ➡️ Network to co-founding startup



Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia? Was this a difficult decision or one you felt came easily?

The decision came easily to me. Academia did not align well with my personal life (to be able to support my wife in her career), and I felt more exciting things were happening in the private sector.



What are three pieces of advice you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

  1. Don't focus on academia vs. industry -- focus on what you want to be doing day-to-day and over the course of your career. 

  2. Network a lot, this has basically made my career what it is. Keep in touch with people, form new relationships. 

  3. Be excited about your work -- if you can, take the job you would do for free, and then don't do it for free.

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