Getting from Here to There: Setting Yourself Up for Career Success

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by David P. Otey, M.A., M.B.A.

Last November, when I presented a career development session to a standing-room-only crowd at the inaugural PharmSci 360, I experienced one of those “How did I get here?” moments. As I reflected further, I realized there are lessons other scientific and technical professionals can draw from my rather convoluted career path.


To put those lessons in context requires a bit of background. I did not set out to be a practicing scientist, nor have I ever been one, despite physics being one of the undergraduate majors I successfully completed. (The other was radio/television/film—a term that dates me!) My earliest career goal was to create high-quality, science-themed television programs. That never happened.

What happened instead was that I looked for employment opportunities to support me through a graduate program in broadcasting management, and the most promising door that opened was a job in television engineering. That opportunity led me in an unexpected direction. By the time I completed my graduate work, I had risen to a department-head position as chief engineer of an Austin, Texas, television station.

Lesson One: Be open to new directions.

How did behind-the-scenes work in broadcasting prepare me to be in front of audiences as a keynoter and workshop presenter on communication skills? It was far from a straight path. There were steps, sidesteps, and missteps along the way.

One such misstep was my first foray into public speaking. Around 1992, I submitted a paper to an engineering conference, where it was accepted for presentation. I did not yet have the benefit of my subsequent years of study in public speaking. The room at the conference was large and dim, illuminated primarily by the projection screen. I proceeded to give what was undoubtedly a sleep-inducing narration of my slide deck. By the end of that presentation, I knew two things: My audience deserved a better experience, and I wanted to learn how to give it to them.

Lesson Two: Be a lifelong learner, especially where communication skills are involved.

By a decade later, my career had taken another unexpected turn. In the early 2000s, I was working for the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE), a professional association I first joined in the 1980s. My volunteer work for SBE led to my being hired to provide staff support for the 200 or so other volunteers, providing something called “frequency coordination” in broadcast markets all over the U.S.

In turn, my work for SBE led to being recruited to head a training program in support of the rollout of a new technology that was making many in the broadcasting industry nervous. By the time that training program had run its course in December 2009, it had touched more than 10,000 people in about 900 locations across the country. And I had transitioned out of television engineering and into a new career in training and public speaking. How could I have known, when I first joined SBE, where that step would eventually take me?

Lesson Three: Be open to networking through your professional association.


Let’s have a closer look at these career-development lessons.

  1. Be open to new directions.

The path to career success is not always linear. It may include unexpected changes in direction. When I stumbled upon an opportunity in Austin where a new TV station was about to go on the air and was desperate for staff, I found someone who was willing to take a chance on me even though I was only minimally qualified for the job. However, I quickly realized I had a knack for the work. What I learned on that job qualified me for a lateral move to another station, where I ended up rising to a management position—all steps I had not envisioned when I decided to pursue graduate study.

Likewise, I have a relative who is a cell biologist. When she finished her postdoc, she saw herself working in academia in a cell biology department. Instead she was recruited by the physiology department of a major research university. That department wanted someone capable of looking at physiology at the cellular level to round out its faculty. Her subsequent work in cell physiology led to the discovery of a new protein, the expression of which plays a key role in cell motility and tumor formation. Would that have happened had she not allowed herself to change directions? We will never know.

  1. Be a lifelong learner, especially where communication skills are involved.

When I went to work on the training project I mentioned earlier, my boss said, “Go find a Toastmasters[i] club to join.” That was his way of telling me that, even though I had been recruited based in part on my communication skills, I still had more to learn. After I joined Toastmasters, I heard the same story many times from new members: “I’m an engineer [or other technical professional] and my boss told me if I want to advance in my career, I need to improve my presentation skills.”

As leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith said, “What got you here won’t get you there.” In science, as in any field of endeavor, your technical skills will get you only so far in your career. Going beyond that point will require you to gain skills in communicating about your work (with both scientists and nonscientists), and in leading teams. Unfortunately, I think we sell these skills short when we refer to them as “soft” skills. Their application may be harder to quantify than your “hard” skills, but they are no less essential to your advancement.

When I presented at that conference in the early 1990s, I had no idea I was on a course that would lead to a career in public speaking. I just knew I wanted to do better. Later, thanks largely to the people I met through Toastmasters, I would find the help I needed to build those skills and take my career in a new direction. The desire to learn is what made that possible.

  1. Be open to networking through your professional association.

When I first joined SBE, I had no idea what that step might ultimately mean for my career. I had not even heard of the society’s frequency coordination program, so I could not possibly have envisioned my later role in it. I just knew it was an opportunity to engage with like-minded professionals.

Later, I would end up chairing the society’s chapter in Austin.

Later still, I would get involved in local frequency coordination in Denver. This move led almost directly—though unexpectedly—to my staff position with SBE. And I could never have been successful in that position had I not drawn on the expertise of others in the society who showed a willingness to help me learn unfamiliar aspects of the job.

The professional network that you grow and nurture can help you achieve much more than you can achieve flying solo. And one of the best places to build that network is through your involvement in AAPS. Are you a student? Did you know AAPS lists 101 student chapters worldwide? Or that AAPS has regional discussion groups where you can meet face-to-face with like-minded individuals? Not to mention the value of meeting a tremendous cross-section of the industry at PharmSci 360. When you go to this year’s even in San Antonio, be sure to check out the career development programming.

I can state unequivocally that I never would have achieved my highest earnings potential had it not been for my involvement in SBE. Do not underestimate the importance of networking through your own professional association!

Be open to new directions. Work continually to round out your skills. And build your network. These steps are your recipe for career success.



David Otey, a three-time career development presenter for AAPS, is a keynoter, public-speaking coach, and workshop presenter on communication and leadership skills for scientists and engineers. He is the author of
The Speaker’s Quick Guide to Telling Better Stories as well as numerous technical articles. He can be reached directly by email or through his website, He resides in Golden, Colorado.


1 https://www.toastmasters.org/

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Career Success
June 2019