Credit: Joseph E. Vilendrer

As a postdoc and graduate student, Stefanie Marquez-Vilendrer acquired a suite of lab skills. Now she works at AxoGen, a medical-technology firm in Alachua, Florida.

How did you approach your job interview?

I looked at the job description and what skills they were looking for, and came up with a response to how I would fit. Even if I hadn't written regulatory documents, I could say I had written grants. It's better to say that than to say that you don't have any clue.

Why did your company choose you?

They wanted someone who could provide support for all sorts of experiments, and to help with writing protocols and with university collaborations. Even though I didn't have all the techniques, I had shown I could learn many new methods in my postdoc. And I did have management experience coordinating 10–15 people, mainly undergraduates. I work closely with students and interns here at AxoGen, helping them to plan what experiments they need to run and what reagents they need to buy.

Do you wish you'd done anything differently during your training?

For graduate school I found a lab that was interesting to me, rather than a lab that published a lot or had a lot of funding; those were questions I probably should have asked about when I was choosing. An important question to ask about potential mentors is how often they participate in conferences. As a postdoc, I didn't attend a single conference outside the University of Florida. This hurt my chances of getting a job quickly, because I didn't make any industry contacts.

How can trainees best prepare for their job search?

I don't regret doing a postdoc, but I wish that I had had different opportunities presented to me. We have quite a few interns here; they are getting experience that will make them more competitive if they decide to go into industry. I didn't have that available. It was that lack of industry experience that was holding me back — it was hard for me to get my foot in the door.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. See go.nature.com/2dbh9u8 for more.