Careers Talk: Pfizer

Students in L5 and L6 were joined on Monday via Teams by Harpreet Seehra and Ollie Dixon from Pfizer.

Harpreet and Ollie virtually joined the students to discuss their personal career journey, what their current role involves and the careers available at Pfizer. 

Throughout Pfizer's 170 year history, and over 68 years in the UK, they have remained dedicated to discovering and developing new and better ways to prevent and treat disease, and improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world.

Harpreet began by asking students what they thought when they heard the word ‘scientist’ to which they responded, ‘lab coat’, ‘Bunsen burner’ and ‘teamwork’.  

Harpreet went on to explain that not everyone that works in vaccine research and clinical trials wear a lab coat. Pfizer has a huge workforce that includes Lawyers, Project Managers, Content Creators, Human Resource staff, Marketing Executives as well as Scientists, Doctors, and other healthcare professionals. Speaking about her own role, she revealed that despite working in clinical trials, she doesn't work within the labs. This insight into the scale of a workforce in a STEM industry was eye-opening for the students.

At just 22, Ollie has completed four years at university, studying chemistry and is currently studying for a Masters. He is nearing the end of his one year placement with Pfizer and spoke about his experience in applying for placements, providing a valuable insight into the competitiveness of placements and outlined a timeline for applying. He gave personal advice on dealing with university stresses and how no matter what you choose to study at university you will find a career that is of interest. He has been provided with brilliant working opportunities at Pfizer and credits his positive attitude and mindset for his success.

“Go to university for the education, not just your degree.” – Ollie Dixon

Both Harpreet and Ollie stressed how important work experience, networking and seizing every opportunity was to the girls’ future success.