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The industry has consolidated many services, research initiatives, medical and consumer products, leaving a few mega corporations that do it all. Within those multi-location companies is a need for

administrators, office personnel, equipment technicians, communications personnel, and a variety of technical assistants, as well as chemists, biologists, engineers and medical doctors. That’s good news for job seekers.

It gets even better. According to data published by the Department of Labor in its Occupational Outlook Handbook for the 2010-2020 decade, the projected growth rate for biomedical engineers for the period is 62%. For pharmacists, it’s less dramatic at 25%, but better than the projected average of 14% “for all jobs.”

Below, four stand-out professionals with widely diverse careers at BASF, Edwards Lifescience, Essilor, and Merck, talk about what they do, how they arrived where they are, and how a student can prepare both academically and non-academically for a similar career.

What they all have in common is Latin blood, and as one of them speculates, that could account for some of the social savvy that has figured into their success.

Just as real estate is a buyer’s market in today’s economy, employment is an employer’s market, and many companies can take their pick of candidates. However, in any economy there is always a small percentage of candidates for whom the tables turn, giving them their pick of companies to join.

Nadya Morales-Cummings, scientist II with BASF, is one of those fortunate few. With a double Ph.D. in microbiology, and ecology & evolutionary biology from Yale; and a B.S. in industrial microbiology from the renowned University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, fear of being

hired wasn’t on her list of trepidations in January of 2011 when BASF hired her to work in its post-doctoral program at Harvard University. Her biology background made Morales-Cummings an ideal pick for BASF’s advanced research initiative at Harvard, which needed a scientist to

Later in 2011, BASF, which has more than 111,000 employees globally, and more than 16,000 in its 120 North American locations, promoted Morales-Cummings to her current position.

“We’re a chemical company, so the majority of my colleagues are chemists, and I was the first biologist to join the Tarrytown, NY site,” she explains.

Aside from preparing academically, Morales-Cummings says she took steps to develop professionally, while still in school, by joining two organizations that “offer many opportunities for minorities and women.” She recommends students find the organizations that best match

As an undergrad, she joined the American Society for Microbiology, which sponsored her undergraduate summer internship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She also joined the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Sciences (SACNAS). “They offer a place where young scientists getting involved in research can present their work, and also helps them locate internship opportunities that may help them give their grad school applications a

little bit more weight.” Apparently hers was heavy enough to get her into doctoral programs at Yale. Completing two Ph.D. programs allowed her to develop “a very broad set of technical skill in microbiology, as well as cell biology,” she says, giving her, “a unique flexibility,” she says she uses constantly on the job.

Sharing what she’s learned as a young professional comes easily for Morales-Cummings, who talks enthusiastically about encouraging Latinas and other women to pursue science careers. That professional landscape is opening up to more females, she notes, adding that she’s determined

For women who compete by trying harder, there are ways of standing out, she says, by contributing to the entire company, beyond job-specific responsibilities. Practicing what she preaches, Morales-

Cummings has been active in getting employees even more directly engaged in recruiting,” she explains. “Many employees are very happy with the school they went to and are willing to tap into those resources.

“We are working to get [BASF] employees from varied backgrounds, to recruit at their alma maters and get the message across that BASF is obviously an equal opportunity employer, but also a great place for minorities to work.

According to Patricia Rossman, BASF’s chief diversity officer, “building an inclusive environment at BASF that en- compasses diversity of gender, ethnicity, experience, and points of view is

“This includes commitments to inclusive programs such as cross- cultural mentoring and participation in an expanding array of Employee Resource Groups,” says Rossman. “The African American, Latin American, ALLchemie (LGBT), Asian, Women in Business, and Emerging Professional

& Friends Employee Resource Groups offer employees a convenient way to network, build knowledge and skills, and learn about BASF’s market and customer needs.”

At the division where Morales-Cummings works, opportunity is increasing, she says. “Right now our site is in growth mode,” she says. “It is a research hub for our company, so there is a lot of

growth in different area.” Another biology group has moved in, she says, and her group consults with them, and they share a manager. In that regard, Morales-Cummings says she applies a valuable skill she learned in graduate school: adaptation. “You need to adapt, because many things don’t always turn out that way you expect,” she admits. But while everyone works very hard, the atmosphere is relaxed, she notes. “We have a lot of fun because we are given the creative leeway

For instance, while much of Morales-Cummings’ work at BASF is related to viruses, she also evaluates “a lot things that aren’t necessarily biological.”

“So I have to adapt, and come up with new ways of looking at materials, and [be able] to thoroughly evaluate them, and give my colleagues feedback on how good or not so good they are.

“Right now I work with two technicians who help me to complete projects and meet deadlines,” she says. “And many of our technicians are trained in chemistry and not biology, so it’s always fun because a lot of them [say], ‘this is so different from what I do every day,’ and it gets them excited, and its fun to actually teach them, and work along side them.”

Morales-Cummings, who credits her dad with encouraging her love of science as a child, says she finds similar support from the top at BASF, where scientists are encouraged to brainstorm and offer new ideas. “And that’s not always the case everywhere,” she notes. “So you can not only show up and do your core duties, but you’re also encouraged to come up with different ways in which we can make our customers successful, and I find that very gratifying.”

Margie O’Jea, vice president of business excellence, Edwards Lifesciences, has a B.S. degree in chemistry from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY. Thirty-plus years ago the

degree opened the door wide enough for her to eventually catapult into the heart of corporate machinery where the ceiling meets the bedrock, and she’s been flipping reality ever since.

They call her “turn around queen,” O’Jea says “because when there’s a tough problem – when somebody wants something turned around, they somehow find me. I have the vision of what needs to be changed, combined with perseverance to get it done. And I think that’s why I

After 16 years at her prior company, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), doing what few men were willing to do O’Jea could have gone anywhere. She chose Edwards, which she joined in March 2010, leaving a prolific legacy at J&J, for which she ran one of its largest worldwide plants –Cordis Plant in San German, Puerto Rico – and simultaneously served as vice president of that division’s global supply chain.

O’Jea, who admits to having “tons of energy,” says she attributes her success in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industry to, “proven leadership capability and deep subject matter expertise garnered over a career, and a passion for what I do.”

At Edwards’ Irvine, CA headquarters, O’Jea was hired to fill two roles, she says. Secondarily she oversaw development of the company’s newest facility in Draper Utah as its operations leader. When

Her primary responsibility continues to be, she says, “to define and implement the business or process excellence program at Edwards, to establish a core office that would define and lead the continuous

O’Jea is responsible for Edwards’ continuous improvement trainings, including Lean and Six Sigma, a set of tools and strategies for process improvement. “We certify people; we deploy it and we help

people apply it within the organization.” She and team members used those tools during much of her career “to solve a lot of problems, turn around a lot of facilities that were in deep trouble.

“When I start talking to people about these tools, it’s coming from someone with a lot of dirt under their nails,” says O’Jea. “It’s not professorial. I have a lot of expertise because I applied it. I had

failures. I learned from making many mistakes. So I come at it in a very different way.” She thinks that’s the main reason she was hired by Edwards. “I had the proven leadership capability, but I had deep subject matter expertise. I wasn’t just book learned.”

Professionals need to apply methodologies in order to be valuable to a company, notes O’Jea, who hires for various positions. “If somebody comes to me with any kind of certification who did not train and apply it to a project, I discount it very heavily,” she warns. “You don’t learn that way. It’s like trying to learn to ride a bike by reading the manual.”

Her mature outlook, says O’Jea, also made her “a good fit culturally” for Edwards, which she describes as “a relationship-based company that requires people to have their egos in check.”

“While I brought great subject matter expertise, I wasn’t going to tell everybody how dumb they were, or that they had to listen to me,’ says O’Jea. “I had an ability to honor the past while getting people to see what they’re doing isn’t going to get them where we need to go.

And then get them to follow me … People have got to want to listen, and they’ve got to see value. You have to fit in, in a way that you’ll be able to work with people.”

She lets people know they are not the cause of operational dysfunction, says O’Jea. “Often we create an environment that’s filled with bear traps, and the best people who come to work in that

After college, O’Jea began her career as a research chemist with Eastman Kodak. She didn’t plan to become a manufacturing and operations expert solving system dilemmas, but “after just a few years

as a chemist, I found my way into manufacturing, and that turned out to be a love,” she says. “There are lots of things that go wrong in operations, and a lot of problems need to be solved.”

O’Jea, who calls herself “a change agent with a penchant for heavy lifting,” says her unique talent is combining technical knowledge and analytical thinking with her drive for continuous improvement and “a passion for rooting out the causes” of operational problems.

As a female and certainly as a Latina, O’Jea finds it disheartening that in her field there are very few women at the top, and even in mid- management but perseveres.

“My advice to anybody is don’t just look for the best-paying job, but look for one where you really love what you are doing,” says O’Jea. “Look for a boss who is going to develop you, because that was a big part of my career – having people who believed in me and gave me stretch assignments … I was hard working, and they were good coaches – that is a great combination.”

O’Jea notes analytical and intellectual horsepower isn’t enough. “You’ve got to have the perseverance and energy to do the heavy lifting, and I’m talking about some very heavy lifting. A lot of

people aren’t built that way…They just won’t do it because it is hard work, and you’ve got to be willing to hang in there and get the boulder rolling,” she says. “The toughest assignments have been the best assignments. I mean I’ve done things like, wow, I didn’t know I could do!”

When product-marketing strategists come up with brands they can identify as “the most,” “the easiest” and “the only,” they score a big win for the company, assuming that sales meet internal forecasts and the product claims are backed up by science.

Greg Rodriguez, associate director of marketing, did that when he created, launched and managed the Xperio polarized sun-wear brand for Essilor, one of the largest biomedical product developers in the world.

Under his leadership as Xperio’s brand manager, revenues “soared to double-digit U.S. growth” in the two years following its introduction and is now a global brand, notes Rodriguez.

With a presence in 54 countries, the 150-year-old Essilor, based in Paris, France, employs more than 8,500 people throughout its U.S. laboratories, manufacturing plants, distribution centers, and research

The diversity focus includes the EVE Program for women, says Cunningham, and the professional women’s forum, which focuses on inspiring, developing, and empowering women. Essilor is also embedding a “commitment to diversity” in its talent management and staffing activities, he notes, and it continues to support various community activities, including outreach through Essilor’s Vision Foundation.

Rodriguez, who works with the foundation, says it provides vision services to indigent children in the U.S. and globally. Rodriguez, who works in the Dallas office of Essilor, landed his job 18 years ago, after earning a psychology degree from Baylor University, Waco, TX. He already had worked at five other companies, and knew someone at Essilor. But more importantly, he was prepared

The break came when a former colleague at Pizza Hut asked him to consult on a project for Essilor with her, says Rodriguez, who holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

“It was through that opportunity to demonstrate my work to the company, that I was asked to lead the polarized branding initiative, which eventually turned into the Xperio brand,” says Rodriguez. Since 2008 he has been promoted twice within the strategic marketing department, and was also selected to lead a creative development project at the Paris headquarters.

Currently, his primary function is to identify and champion new business growth opportunities from around the globe.” He communicates with Essilor growth strategists around the world, he says, “to

encourage information sharing and stimulate new ideas.” He then must “execute pilot programs in various markets to test ideas for viability, and to refine for broader execution.”

Rodriguez, who plans to stay with Essilor until he retires, started his career in budgeting for the Naval Air Systems Command. From there he went to Pizza Hut, where, within two years he was named senior financial analyst. To prepare for bigger challenges, he took time off to earn his MBA, then joined Pepsico in 2002, rising in five years from an assistant product manager to marketing manager of Frito Lay single serve.

“I believe my educational background – together with my previous branding experience at a consumer packaged goods company – was attractive to Essilor, particularly as it pertained to the brand launch for their prescription polarized lens portfolio,” Rodriguez explains. “That, coupled with having the chance to prove myself as a consultant first, ultimately led to my permanent placement on the team.” Rodriguez admits he would have done a few things differently if he’d known as a student, what he now knows. “Looking back at my graduate school experience and matching that up to what I’ve learned over the past 10 years,” he explains, “I would have gone back and taken some

courses that stretched me in areas where I felt deficient.” Most new hires in the strategic marketing department come in at an associate product manager level, “and quickly have an opportunity to

Three months after posting her resume and application on Monster.com, Adriana de la Fuente received a long-awaited phone call. “I had given up,” she admits. A few weeks and a second round of interviews later, Merck called again to make her an offer.

“I think it’s not true that you have to know someone to get the job, de la Fuente says. “I was literally one of thousands of people to apply for the job. It worked out for me.”

If her resume stood out, it was probably because she was able to show she had various skills. “My persistence for one. I won a perseverance award in one of my previous jobs,’ she notes.” It was a very, very small award, but it showed that I was able to be a top-notch leader.”

De la Fuente, now Merck’s Latin America regional manager for the global engagement management services department, supports the regional marketing directors, and regional directors of medical

She is also an active member in Merck’s employee resource group, Merck Hispanic Organization (MHO). The prior board member and internal communications leader now holds a position she created last year, co- leader for the west commercial operations group..

“One of the things I did in order to help our executive leaders understand what it means to be Latino,” says de la Fuente, who worked with another MHO colleague during Hispanic Heritage Month in 2011 on an initiative called “Latinos: Understanding Many Facets of the Culture.”

“It really highlighted 20 of our MHO members, and the countries they were from. All of them were working in the U.S. in different capacities, and in different positions. The goal was to educate and

inspire the Merck employees, especially our executive leaders, about the special places we come from, that we call Latin America,” explains de la Fuente.” It was a great medium to highlight not only the MHO,

Merck is very active in talent management and inclusive management, says de la Fuente. “One of the things we do is partner with several universities to not only develop talent, but offer interviewing skills— resume writing, for instance—to help students create the documents they need to obtain jobs inside and outside of the industry,” she explains.

Merck hired De la Fuente in 2004 as a sales representative, assigned to the Rio Grande Valley, 15 minutes from the border of Mexico. Two promotions later she worked out of White House Station, NJ, as Latin American regional manager.

After winning three consecutive vice president premier awards within her first four and a half years, she decided to pursue opportunities within Merck’s corporate offices. “Winning three consecutive times is rare, especially with the tenure that I had,” says de la Fuente, who attributes her success to building relationships both with management, and her clients.

“My first manager really helped guide me in the right direction, and gave me the liberty of being able to do what was best for the territory. Being a sales rep, I called on physicians and promoted the

Merck product we had in the U.S.,” says de la Fuente, who credits relationship-building with physicians and their staffers as partly responsible for her success. “It’s kind of ingrained in childhood, in Latinos,” she says. “I think it’s in our blood to have those social relationships.”

De la Fuente earned a bachelor’s in business administration, specializing in management and international business, from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She participated in student abroad programs in Mexico City, and Monterrey, Mexico, and she anticipates earning an MBA in international business at DeSales University, Center Valley, PA in 2013.

Before joining Merck, de la Fuente worked in the telecommunications industry, but that wasn’t where she saw her future, she says. “I gained some experience in two or three roles that really paved the way for me to create that stepping stone of where I wanted to go,” she says. “I was determined to create a better life for myself, and I knew that meant I was going to have to start at the bottom. But I knew that if I were to continue to work hard, an opportunity would present itself and at the end of the day I do feel that Merck values talent and diversity, and I felt I had both of them.”

“For a career path like mine, I definitely would recommend basic functional areas of global, or international business. I would propose courses like business analysis and critical thinking for international business, and executive skills development – knowing how to be able to put presentations together for a global audience, with an international mindset.

“Also, knowing two or more languages is a must in any global career path,” says de la Fuente. “I’m learning Portuguese. Another relevant fact is that real world experience can never be overestimated.”