First Newsletter from Mentor-Mentee Program

Part I What we need to do:

Update your latest status to your mentor so s/he can help you according to your current situation, e.g. update your current job/position/institution, your location/meetings to attend/career plan.
Focus on learning life experiences and soft skills from your mentor rather than just asking for a job opportunity.
Check the website of CAFPNA to get the latest information about the CAFPNA annual member meeting at IAFP 2013 annual meeting in Charlotte, NC.

Part II What we’ve learned:

(Special acknowledgement to the mentee members: Dr. Chongtao Ge, Dr. Hongshun Yang, Dr. Min Li, Haiqiang Wang and Silin Tang, for generously sharing what they’ve learned from their mentors.)

1. Dr. Chongtao Ge
Email: ge.35@buckeyemail.osu.edu
Dr. Ge is working as a scientist in P&GBeijingInnovationCenter right now. He contacted with his mentor Justin after he came back to China and found it very helpful. Justin gave him a brief introduction of the biotech industry especially Life Tech where Justin's working at, and some advice on choosing job. Dr. Ge mentioned that, working in industry, even in the R&D department, is quite different from academia, mentor-mentee program could be a good tool for to-be-graduate to understand what industry/academia/government do if they are interested in a certain type of job. Additionally, if you are exactly fit any position, maybe your mentor could give some helps (suggestions or even recommendations).

2. Dr. Min Li
Email: limin923@gmail.com
Dr. Li is a postdoctoral research associate at IowaStateUniversity. Dr. Li's mentor Dr. Luo is a very warmhearted mentor and always ready to help her. Dr. Luo is an accomplished scientist and has provided Dr. Li with kind advice and useful information on scientific research, job hunting and professional development. Dr. Li agrees that a regular meeting with the mentor is an effective way to keep in good contact. Also meeting the mentor face to face at some professional meetings is even better. Dr. Li has joined the QQ group (160787975) of CAFPNA.

3. Silin Tang
Email: st543@cornell.edu
Silin is a fourth year Ph.D. student at Cornell University. She just had her first monthly conference call with her mentor Linda. To her surprise, Linda is a very warmhearted mentor and generously shared her life and work experiences with Silin and another mentee in her group. The conference call lasted for more than 1 hour. They firstly introduced to each other their current situation and future plan. Linda then covered not only how she grew up to a Research Microbiologist at DuPont from a graduate student in Europe, but also how to write an effective resume to get a job, and the culture/major business coverage of DuPont. Please feel free to contact Silin for more detailed information.

4. Haiqiang Wang
Email: wanghaiq@msu.edu
Haiqiang is a third-year Ph.D. student in Food Science at MichiganStateUniversity and he hopes to step into the food industry after graduation. Through CAFPNA mentor-mentee program, he was connected with his mentor- Dr. Zuoxing Zheng at Kraft Foods. Along with another mentee in his group, they set up monthly teleconferences with his mentor and discussed various topics related to “career development in the industry”, such as networking skills, interview tips, H1-B & Green card application etc. While he built up a strong relationship with the mentor and his fellow mentees, he has learned a lot during the group discussion and also received many very useful suggestions that will guide him through his career in the future. He really appreciates what the mentor-mentee program has brought to him and will recommend it to other student members.

5. Dr. Hongshun Yang
Email: yang1262@umn.edu
Dr. Yang received an assistant professor (Food Science and Technology) offer last month from the National University of Singapore. He learned a lot from his mentor, Dr Tong-Jen Fu. After he got his Ph.D at the end of 2012, he contacted Dr. Fu and expressed that his long-term goal was to find a job in academia. Dr. Fu then advised him to find a position in academia, which led him to his postdoc position at University of Maryland. Dr. Yang mentioned that if there is any member who wants to know job information in Singapore, please do not hesitate to contact him.

CAFPNA Mentor/Mentee Program Committee

Any question, please contact:

Haiqiang Wang: wanghaiq@msu.edu

Silin Tang: st543@cornell.edu

Welcome to join us:

QQ group: 160787975