Engineering Team Lead Shares 8 Steps for Securing the Job
- ashleymo5779
- Jul 19
- 3 min read
Name: Samvit Menon (he/him)
PhD: Physics and Materials Science, Manipal University, 2017
What is your current job?
I am an Engineering Lab Manager and Technical Team Lead for Meta Reality Labs based in Cork, Republic of Ireland.
I manage the uLED labs and engineering for Meta's AR/VR headsets. My role and responsibilities include:
Managing cleanrooms and the equipment in them
Managing taskflows to ensure project milestones are hit on or before time
Ensuring that the equipment health is optimal at all times
Liaising with vendors and external stakeholders for various project requirements
Handling budgets
Being the point of contact (POC) for supply chain, legal, procurement, finance, and other cross functional teams.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
I absolutely enjoy managing projects and people. Delivering projects before completion with high levels of accuracy is a thrill I cannot explain. And I don't need to worry about securing funding or writing grants to sustain my career! That's peaceful.
What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?
To be honest, the biggest skills I had were hands-on experience with the equipment we use in our lab and a background that matched perfectly with the projects we are currently working on. However, when I started as a lab manager, I had prior experience setting up lab standard operating procedures (SOPs) and protocols for lab best practices. The challenge was taking academic experience to an industry setting. I was always organised and systematic, which always helped.
I figured out project management and everything else on the job.
How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?
I learnt most of what I do on the job, but I strongly recommend understanding job descriptions of roles you are interested in transitioning into and assessing where you are with the requirements.
Getting a project management or Lean Six Sigma certificate goes a long way.
Learning to code to a certain degree of proficiency is also essential in today's world.
How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?
Networking
PhD ➡️ Postdoc (5 years) ➡️ Programme manager for Ireland's research funding agency ➡️ Current position
If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?
Review current openings and job descriptions
Assess
Fill the gaps in your CV to match at least 60 - 70% of preferred qualifications and 80-90% of essential qualifications.
Get certified in project management.
Network - talk to peers working in industry
Network - talk to recruiters and consultants hiring to roles you are interested in
Network - talk to anyone working in industry across different fields.
Prepare well
Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?
I could not see myself constantly fighting for grants and funding to sustain my academic career. It was stressful. And the salary I am paid in industry today would have taken me 10 years in academia. So, no, the decision was not difficult. When I put the pieces together, the decision came easily.
Besides, by the time I left academia, I felt I had contributed enough to advance my field and add new knowledge. I didn't feel obligated to add more. I left happy and content.
What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?
Network. You will need to make cold contacts and message random people on LinkedIn. You have to do this.
This would mean getting out of your comfort zone.
Nothing good ever comes out of staying in your comfort zone.
And for those interested, what was your main area of research?
I explored 2 things during my PhD.
I tried developing materials to clean up wastewater from water systems and deliver clean water to rural areas of India, where groundwater has a lot of heavy metal toxicity.
I developed a new method to make optical nanomaterials for creating more efficient LED lights. We were able to make high quality materials in 10 minutes, compared to several hours that other methods employ.