Have you ever wondered, ‘Should I get a PhD?’ Many professionals and executives ask themselves that question as they consider their career goals. It is not uncommon for the topic of pursuing a PhD to come up during career coaching sessions, and to linger on someone’s mind for years.
A lot of people are focused on the feeling they’ll receive after obtaining a doctoral degree, or how others’ level of perceived respect for them might increase. They often forget to assess their personal career plan and how doctoral studies could affect that. In this episode, you will learn more about potential career paths with a PhD.
Our host and CEO Porschia, alongside our guest, Dr. Ignacio Guerrero-Ros, will share their insight on how obtaining a PhD can impact your career. Dr. Ignacio also discusses how he made the decision to pursue his studies in the U.S.
Ignacio Guerrero-Ros, Ph.D. is an Assistant Vice President at Russo Partners. Dr. Ignacio obtained his Bachelor of Science on Biotechnology from Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, in Madrid, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences focused on Immunology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York City. His role as an Assistant Vice President is focused on both earned and social media, including the analysis of scientific literature and industry news to identify opportunities to engage in points of interest and debate as well as generate media relations.
What you’ll learn:
- Ways to decide if getting a PhD is right for you
- The 3 main career paths for professionals with a PhD
- Tips on how to stay motivated when working on a PhD
- The biggest mistakes graduate students make when pursuing their PhD
- How Ignacio addressed the question, “Should I get a PhD?” and his experience as an international student
As a thank you for listening to this episode of the Career 101 Podcast, we are sharing our FREE master class – Career 911: Solving the Top 5 Challenges Executives and Professionals Have! It’s a training based on solving the common problems our clients have experienced to reach their goals. You can get access to the master class here!
Episode Transcript
Porschia: [00:00:00] Today we are talking about PhDs 101. Should I get a PhD with Dr. Ignacio Guerrero Ross? Ignacio Guerrero Ross, PhD, is an assistant vice president at Russo Partners. Ignacio obtained his bachelor of science in biotechnology from Universidad Francisco de Vitoria in Madrid and a Ph. D. in biomedical sciences focused [00:01:00] on immunology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.
After the completion of his Ph. D., Ignacio worked as a scientific associate at international meetings in science. part of the New York based Gray Health Group at Rousseau Partners. Ignacio uses his communications and scientific background to analyze biotech industry news and emerging technologies to conduct research plan and draft social media content, as well as compile information for news releases, website content, and educational tools.
His role as an assistant vice president is focused on both earned and social media, including the analysis of scientific literature and industry news to identify opportunities to engage in points of interest and debate. and generate media relations. Hi, Ignacio. [00:02:00] How are you today?
Dr. Ignacio: Hi, Portia. I’m great.
It’s my pleasure to be here today speaking with you and I’m looking forward to our conversation.
Porschia: Great. I’m excited to have you with us to discuss PhDs 101. Should I get a PhD? But first we want to know a little more about you. So tell me about seven year old Ignacio.
Dr. Ignacio: Seven year old Ignacio was a very adventurous and hardcore fan of Indiana Jones and wanted to be either an archaeologist or an actor, because I decided that being an actor was the thing that was going to allow me to play multiple roles in my life.
And I was always very distracted by everything that interests me. So I wanted to be everything, and I thought being an actor might be the way to be an archaeologist one day, a scientist the other day, and a lawyer the next day. [00:03:00] Yes,
Porschia: yes, it sounds like you were into those exciting careers, and, with an archaeologist and an actor, actually, they’re both investigative in nature, like being a scientist, so I can see some themes there, Ignacio.
Dr. Ignacio: I always loved history and then eventually understood that science was the thing that piqued my interest the most, but history was always a very strong interest for me. So
Porschia: tell us, what was your first job?
Dr. Ignacio: My first job actually I thought about this and I’m doubting between either I was selling figurines for something we do every Christmas in Spain and other countries in Europe, which is called a Belen, which is the nativity scene.
We all make this nativity scene at home where we have the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. And I was either selling those in the subway for a company [00:04:00] that was paying me. Or working in the library of my university. I actually think it was working in the library of my university. It was my first paid job.
And it was great because it allowed me to take any books I wanted. Any movies they had. And I was basically there by myself a lot of the time. Helping people, release their books or return their books. But I had all the opportunity to take any book I wanted. So it was a fantastic experience.
Porschia: Yeah, that sounds very cool to me. I love reading. When I was a little kid, I used to love to go to the library. So I would have loved that job.
Dr. Ignacio: I discover the Chronicles of Narnia thanks to that job,
Porschia: actually. Yes, I loved reading those too when I grew, when I was growing up. So Ignacio, tell us about some highlights or pivotal moments in your career.
And I’m going to ask about your career prior to getting your PhD.
Dr. Ignacio: Perfect. [00:05:00] Cause I had a significant pivotal moment on my educational career, which was after I graduated from school. And in Spain, we call it school because it’s just one thing from. five years old to till you’re 18. So basically after I graduated high school you have to choose in Spain and in most countries in Europe what you want to be.
So there is no exploring yourself either you want to be a doctor or a pilot or an architect or a lawyer and I was very prone for science or very attracted by doing something in science but I also like marketing and creating advertising and making a commercial. So I ask everyone around me, including family members, about becoming a doctor.
And I was very certain that within science, I wanted to be a medical doctor. And everyone in Spain being a [00:06:00] medical doctor is very different to being a medical doctor in the U. S. It’s not as well paid or rewarded. And Everyone that I knew basically told me you have to be 150 percent if you want to become a doctor because you’re going to invest the next six years of your life in Spain six years to become a doctor.
And of course I thought I’m 18. I’m not even sure about the clothes that I’m wearing today. How can I decide my future career? So out of that fear, since I had another interest, which was As I said, being creative and creating commercials and advertising, I started marketing. I enroll on a school on a very good private school in Madrid called a Sikh called a Sikh.
Sorry. Let me start that. I enroll in a school called a Sikh. for marketing, which was a very good private school. And after just a month of taking [00:07:00] classes, I remember the moment perfectly well when I was taking notes on a history lesson of economic development or something like that. And I thought, no, this is, I’m not going to waste the next five years of my life on this.
I can read about this. I want to understand how the human body works. And that was the moment I asked permission to leave the class, called my mom and told her, I know you already paid for this semester, but I really don’t think this is the path for me. So I want to change to science. And funny enough, I had been accepted to the one of the best schools on medicine in Spain, but rejected that to do marketing because I wasn’t sure about becoming a doctor.
And of course, when I take my decision a month later, my spot has been filled. So I was lucky enough to be able to enter in Universidad Francisco de Vitoria to study biotechnology, even though I was a month late. And he was the best decision of my [00:08:00] life. Wow. A
Porschia: lot of, very interesting points there, Ignacio.
The first, I didn’t realize that in Spain, students had to specialize early too. We had a guest recently on our episode on business operations and she’s from Switzerland. And so she was telling us that, and I told you, I grew up in Germany, so I knew that in Germany they did that as well, but I didn’t realize they did that.
It’s very brave of you to, make your decisions and then also have the courage to change your mind. I think that
Dr. Ignacio: That’s what I’m most proud of. I knew it was a big disappointment or waste of money. You know what the best thing is? I had amazing supporting parents, and my mom didn’t even question my decisions.
She said, fine, if that’s what you wanna do, I trust you. So she helped me enroll in the other school. A month later, I started biotechnology as my degree. And again, best decision ever. [00:09:00] And again, to me, the whole thing is incredible because, and I’m advancing a little bit on this. Story narrative, but I ended up doing something that kind of merge both worlds of commercial marketing and science.
Yeah. It’s funny how, paths take you around, but if you follow your instinct. They lead you to the right spot.
Porschia: Absolutely. I can definitely tell how you’re doing that. Both of those things today. So in episode 38 of the podcast, we discussed the topic, should I get a graduate degree from a career counseling and a career coaching perspective.
Two different perspectives, actually. Since people really enjoyed that episode, and also, our episode 31 on our master’s degrees worth it, we wanted to dive deeper into the world of PhDs. I think you started telling us this, [00:10:00] but tell us more about when you first became interested in getting a PhD
Dr. Ignacio: specifically.
Yes. So as I said, in Spain, you choose what your profession is going to be. And that means you’re going to get a minimum of five years of specific education on that topic. So from day one, if you become a pilot or an architect, you’re exclusively studying things that are relevant to that profession. After that, you become a licensed architect or a licensed biotechnologist in my case.
Which means I have the knowledge enough to do the equivalent of a tech lab, a lab tech technician, or maybe work for a company that works in healthcare, but with a title that will be appropriate for my degree of knowledge during my degree. It was pretty much, and this is part of my quest to educate people, to [00:11:00] me it was pretty much obvious that the only thing to do after that was a PhD.
I didn’t even question it, and that has changed now. However, it might have been a good thing for me. I didn’t even question it. You have to do a PhD. What else are you going to do? If you want to do us, if you want to become a successful scientist, you need to keep educating yourself because that is. even to date, even though I’m no longer working in a lab, the reality of a scientist.
If you want to keep being a successful scientist, you need to keep yourself up to date, which means keep growing your education and knowledge. So I don’t know, maybe my second, third year, right before I was starting to think of graduating is when I thought I need to go to a school and I need to do my PhD.
There’s no other. I didn’t even doubt it. And I explored my options. I had a good program in my university where they send us to different institutions to practice internship for three to four months. And I was [00:12:00] lucky enough that I got New York, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and I had such a wonderful experience just working there as an intern that I had not doubt that’s where I wanted to do my PhD.
So in my case, it was very clear because there was no other pathway. But now, I think we have people pursuing those educational paths that understand better. There are certainly a variety of options and you don’t have to do a PhD to succeed in science.
Porschia: Yeah, absolutely. We’ve had some clients who have master’s degrees and they are scientists.
And then we have some clients that have bachelor’s degrees and they have different roles. in, in labs as well. So that’s very interesting. When I think about the clients that we’ve had with PhDs over the years, I’ve noticed that most of them tend to [00:13:00] embrace three different career paths.
The first is academia and research. The second is being a subject matter expert within an industry or their field. And then the third is consulting. And sometimes I’ve had clients who want to pursue all three of those career paths at the same time. So tell us a little bit about your career path after getting your PhD.
Dr. Ignacio: I think that your assessment after you spoke with many people is correct. Those are pretty much the three main paths. For an academic career, you certainly need a PhD, so there is no question there. For the other two, you may not need a PhD. My career path was, I was doing the PhD as I thought was the only and clear option for me.
And I enjoy every second. I have to say I have the most wonderful principal investigator or mentor in the world. [00:14:00] My PhD experience is highly unusual. Everybody ends up being burned out and almost hating their boss and what a horrible experience. I had a wonderful experience. My PI actually unfortunately passed away this year from glioblastoma, and I’m very sad that I didn’t get to show him where I am today and what else he helped me to achieve.
But I have a wonderful experience. However, about my third or fourth year of PhD, I realized that the only path forward in the academic setting was to have a lab and become a PI and be the chairman of the department. Thank you for your time. and maybe even the dean of the university at some point. So it’s clearly that’s the goal, the, what was the top of the academic pinnacle is to be the dean of the university, I assume.
And I didn’t like that because I saw how my boss was, and every other PI [00:15:00] was. very much concerned 90 percent of the times on how much money I’m going to have next year. What other grants should I be asking for? How can I make my research more attractive to the NIH to get more grants? And I thought I didn’t get into this to worry about money.
I got into this to worry about science and have the freedom of experiment and fortuitously discover something. So it became very clear to me that I didn’t want to pursue that path. And I was very lost. I didn’t know if I wasted my time investing in something. As, as important as a PhD, which takes many years of your life.
While my friends were making money in banks and law firms, I was getting an espen from the NIH and I thought, did I waste my time? Thankfully, I did not, and I don’t think anyone ever does waste their time doing a PhD. But [00:16:00] I explored many things. Consulting was one of them. I became part of the consulting club at Einstein.
I did some business program and the best thing I did actually was the Fundamentals of Bioscience Industry program that Stony Brook offers here in New York. That was the best thing and the best investment I did in my education. It allowed me to take a look at the full industry variety of jobs that we can do as scientists and where our skills are valued.
And after that, of course, I narrowed down to communications and, took my first job and then landed on my current job, which I’m happy as can be. Yeah,
Porschia: Thank you for sharing that Ignacio and I really am happy to hear that you had a supportive PI, Principal Investigator, because another thing that I have heard from many of our clients who were either pursuing PhDs and stopped [00:17:00] or Accept Perhaps who had gotten a PhD, maybe they were doing a postdoc.
They did not have a positive experience with their PI. And that really shifted their career path a lot of times in different ways. So I’m so happy to hear that you had a supportive PI.
Dr. Ignacio: Yeah. His Macian. And he and his wife, Ana Maria Cuervo, which is [00:18:00] very renowned in the field of autophagy see, they both were very supportive, even to the point that they knew I wanted to transition to industry.
And that made my life so much easier. I had so many fellow PhDs who were afraid of, I don’t want them to see my email just in case I’m using a different font to the interview and I’m like, no, my boss is completely aware that’s, but that’s what nurture his lab. He made such a great environment that he didn’t care if people were doing the path of PhD to then transition to industry.
He knew he was getting new candidates that wanted to join the lab every year. Yeah, that’s
Porschia: great. So if someone asked you, should I get a PhD, what would you say?
Dr. Ignacio: My response is always, if you’re questioning, it’s probably not a good sign. You do need to understand that it’s an investment for the longterm on your life [00:19:00] and your path.
But in my opinion, a PhD is. It’s an amazing, wonderful and growing experience that if you have the chance, you can afford it. You should do it. You should never rush and you should never be envious of your colleagues or fellow age comparables who are earning more than you now. There is time for everything.
There is no rush here. Everyone should. Aim for their own goal and don’t compare to each other. So I think one of the main callbacks for people or things that make them. We think the decision is, Oh, I’m going to be earning so little for the next five years with everybody else advancing, everything pays off, and having a PhD certainly helps you.
Now, I would not do it just for the, I always tell people, if you’re having questions, don’t do it just for the sake of [00:20:00] getting a title. This is not a title. It’s an experience. It’s an educational experience. It’s a growing experience. It’s not about the title. Does the title matter? Yes, of course, it matters.
But would you invest five years and a lot of frustration? And it has to be a passion project. So it is the same as, and this is the funny comeback, is the same advice that medical doctors gave to me when I was wondering, should I be a doctor? And they basically, now I understand why they were telling me if you’re questioning the fact that if I should be a doctor, Probably not a good sign because you have to be convinced it has to be something that you want to do Regardless of how you feel it’s going to go on it’s because you want to do it because it’s going to require 120 of your passion and an effort so Certainly is absolutely a rewarding experience But only if you do it because you want to not [00:21:00] because you feel like you have to wow
Porschia: So I love everything that you’ve shared and.
One of the things that you said about not just doing the Ph. D. program for the title, I think, is so important for people to know, and it’s actually one of the things that I’ve seen people do, and perhaps they are thinking that a Ph. D. and having that title is going to boost their confidence or, some other reason, but that can really be A mistake really in some cases.
So Ignacio, what are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve seen students make when pursuing their PhD?
Dr. Ignacio: In terms of, I would say going back to what you said is that doing the PhD for the wrong reasons is absolutely almost 100 percent guaranteed to make you miserable. So then you’re going to be miserable. I’ve seen a lot of people quitting after [00:22:00] investing as much as four or five years. I saw a girl when I first entered Einstein that quit after her defense date was postponed because they decided that she needed some revisions to her thesis and she quit.
And she went to London to work from some big company. And I thought what a waste of five years. You were this close. All you have to do is be more patient and graduate. So if you do it for the wrong reasons, you’re not going to have the strength because we’re challenged every day doing a PhD. Experiments don’t work.
You don’t know why you’ve tried a million things. Maybe your hypothesis is wrong. Maybe your whole world might be questioned because you might question Am I actually following a hypothesis that my boss dumped me that doesn’t actually prove true, and that’s my whole basis for my thesis. So I think that the biggest mistake is really doing it for the wrong reasons.
If [00:23:00] you have the curiosity of a true scientist, Doesn’t matter how many challenges you have, you’ll overcome them. So what are
Porschia: some tips or recommendations you would share with students to help them stay motivated while working on their PhD?
Dr. Ignacio: As much as you’ll have bad days, you’ll also have good days.
And even if they’re outnumbered, Those good days are immeasurable and significantly more important to you than any good deal than a banker friend of yours can get, or the fact that they sold a stock. There is no comparison to you getting your experiment to prove your hypothesis right, knowing that you’re And goal is to find a cure or a solution to a current health care problem makes your everyday stress, frustration and [00:24:00] effort all the most worth it.
And that’s what I kept reminding myself is I’m doing this. I’m not saying we’re better than anybody else for doing science, but at the end of the day when I thought about my friends doing again, numbers and moving money or building houses or everything has a purpose and everything is lovable.
But I have this kind of debate internally between medical doctors and PhD, and I think at the end of the day. MDs are doing an amazing job, but they wouldn’t be able to do anything if it wasn’t for the researchers who discovered the innovations and breakthroughs that result in, improved treatments and cures for disease.
Yeah, that’s a
Porschia: great way to think about it, Ignacio. So we’ve worked with many international clients who have had a lot of questions about relocating for their career. How did you make the decision to relocate [00:25:00] internationally for your
Dr. Ignacio: career? So my decision was based on two things. One, I was a huge fan of movies and of course, New York.
comes up in every movie and looks amazing. Fun fact, when you get here, it actually looks exactly like in the movies. I definitely was very insistent in, I want to come to New York. Second, I actually had a great opportunity to do an internship here and I was amazed by the level of collaboration between the departments at Einstein, the way that everybody was really working together to advance science, and of course the level of resources that we have here.
Unfortunately, in Spain it’s completely different. You can hear stories of people sharing the last microliter of antibodies to do two experiments and they know they won’t have any more and in the U. S. that’s usually not a problem. You can order any reagents you need, [00:26:00] your department or your lab or your institution will put the resources that you need to really be creative and innovate in science.
So I knew I wanted to come to the U. S. Because the investment in health care and research is just better in research is better. It’s just playing better. And that’s something that we aim to improve in Spain, but unfortunately, it’s not even comparable. And the second or last thing, sorry, third and last thing will be that I’ve always believed in that.
You should don’t, you should not be afraid of taking a leap as long as you’re following your passion. And so I came here, Porsche, with knowing no one. no family, no relatives, never had put a foot in the U. S. and I was happy as a clam to come here and ready for the adventure and that might be all part of my growing up, wanted to be an archaeologist and explore caves and I was adventurers, I was, Not afraid, [00:27:00] and I was true to my passion, which I think is the most important thing.
Yeah,
Porschia: We are happy that you are here, Ignacio. Thank you. We recently did an episode on immigration with an immigration attorney. Can you tell us more about your immigration experience when coming to
Dr. Ignacio: the U. S.? Yes, it has been a journey. I think it’s a very good example actually of how to navigate the immigration system.
I’ve been here now for 15 years, Porsche, and for the first time I finally got the approval for my green car. It’s not completely official. I got my work permit and travel permit approved yesterday, so I’m very happy about that, but I did that after 15 years. I know people who spent here a couple of years and then immediately applied to the green car.
So the way I navigated was maybe a naive way, but I was just trusting what [00:28:00] people were telling me that I should be doing. So I first came with a J 1 to do my internship, then I applied to the PhD, got accepted, and started a F 1, which is a student visa. Thankfully, students in the STEM area Can access a work permit after their graduate students are done call OPT or professional training.
I forgot what it stands for. Optional promote something OPT so you can get that for three years. Whereas if you were to do like a brief master on art or something like that, anything you study in the US will allow you to work for an extra year with this OPT. But if you are in the realm of STEM, you can actually do that for three years.
So after my first day one, then I spent six years [00:29:00] on my PhD, and then I used three years on my OPT, and then I applied to an O 1 right before the pandemic hit because my OPT was ending sooner than I realized. and the green card is famously known to take forever. So I didn’t want to be caught in the middle.
And I decided to apply for an O 1, which is also very appropriate for scientists with good publications, or if you’re some type of public figure, a writer, a reporter, or an actor or anything like that. And I got that.
But the mistake I made here, which is funny, is that I did this application right before the pandemic. The pandemic hit, everything was closed, and in the time that everything was delayed and it took for me to get the old one, I could have… Submit and get the green card by now. But anyway, the good news is that I got my O 1, I extended it and finally Now we’re on my [00:30:00] green card.
So it’s been a journey 15 years of four different visas. And a lot of stress on always being pending where my next visa is going to end. I’m traveling home. Do I have enough time to come back before my visa expires? When do I have to make my next appointment? However, there is a very growing network of international people in the U.
S., and especially in New York, that are dedicated to help each other educate on how to navigate these immigration issues. And I feel like the better you get, the more you want to give back to the community, and you’re happy to help others in how to navigate this immigration pathway. Yeah,
Porschia: Thank you for mentioning all of that Ignacio to piggyback on what you were saying the immigration attorney that we had on the show, she mentioned exactly what you said.
She [00:31:00] said that people on student visas, sometimes when they ask her, what should they study, the strategy behind it, she told them told us all that, she recommends people are in the STEM field. And I think, for the reasons that you outlined thank you for sharing your journey.
I know that immigration can be its own journey in addition to your career journey just a lot going on there, but tell us about your role at Russo Partners.
Dr. Ignacio: So Russo Partners is a communications agency that is one of the oldest healthcare focus PR, IR firms. It has more than 35 years of experience, and we’ve been involved in all the, a lot of the famous IPOs and biotech foundations and pharma drug approvals through the last three decades.
Our agency was founded by Tony Russo, who is a PhD himself and saw the value on creating a team of [00:32:00] scientific experts. To help in the communications for healthcare companies. So our company is basically made for PhDs and these masters in science. And at the same time, experts in media communication.
So we have former broadcasters from different big networks like NBC or ABC. And we pride ourselves on understanding the science that the company who hire us is developing, making sure that we’re serving our clients to the best of our abilities to educate. Communicate their milestones, create new partnerships.
And overall being a node of information for either patient community, investor community or health care providers. Our services runs from website development, obviously news releases, earned media[00:33:00] to virtual events and organizing events in person. We design strategic plans and. come up with smart communications plans that actually achieve the goals of our clients.
It’s a really fun job. It’s something I never even thought about it until I actually landed at RussoPartners and I could not be happier. This is the perfect mix going back to my journey. To emerge communications with with science. I also have the pleasure to work with really the latest innovators in every space imaginable.
So we’re talking medtech device, we’re talking oncology, we’re talking neurology. Even sometimes organizations that help the healthcare community. But we really, thanks to our clients, are up to date with the latest. cell therapies, antibody drug conjugates devices, anything. And [00:34:00] one thing I find very attractive is to first be helpful to patients in a quicker manner than my PhD was.
And that’s the reason I changed too, is because I knew my research was not going to be really put to use maybe until 10 years from now, saying, thanks to the research Ignacio did, now we have a drug that can improve autophagy in cells and therefore help obese people, which was my thesis. What I’m doing now is literally helping nowadays to either enroll patients.
who I might be helping save their lives because they’re now having access to a new candidate for a therapeutic their drug, or I’m helping raise awareness so that there is more funding for the development of rare diseases. therapeutics or things like that. So I felt like I had an impact that was more imminent now doing this than what I was doing with academic research, which I still feel like I thank God every time [00:35:00] that I know that the new class has been enrolled at Einstein and.
The numbers are growing. We need the scientists in this country and all around the world. Those, the scientists are really the people that push our boundaries and advance our technology, our health, our lifespan. So I’m thankful for them, but I wanted to do something that will have an impact more close to my action, whatever it is.
Yeah.
Porschia: We’ll be providing a link to your social channels in our show notes so that people can find you online. But what is the best way for someone to get in touch with you?
Dr. Ignacio: They can either email me at my company email,
And I’m always open to connect with anyone on LinkedIn. So just shirts for me on LinkedIn by Ignacio Guerrero Ross. From Russo partners, and I’m always more than happy to help people who are in doubt about their career paths or have any questions regarding [00:36:00] our field of communications. We’re always looking for new talent, so I’m happy to talk to anyone who has an interest in the field or just want to check.
With me on their career path.
Porschia: That is great. That is great. And yes, I can echo all of that. Ignacio is so gracious with his time and all of that. So thank you. And now I want to ask you our last question that I ask all of our guests. How do you think executives or professionals can get a positive edge in their career?
Dr. Ignacio: I think the key is to expand your knowledge to areas that are not on your focus. So when we, when I took that course that I mentioned from Stony Brook, one of the best lessons I learned was as a PhD, as an example, as a PhD, you become an absolute expert. In fact, you should become the expert by the end of your PhD in that field, which is a dot within the world [00:37:00] of knowledge.
That’s great. But that won’t get you very far. So you need to broad your spectrum of skills and knowledge. If you’re only knowledgeable on your science or your topic of immunology or chemistry, whatever it is. You won’t get too far, but if you extend your skill knowledge to things that are outside of the scope of your professional career, that’s what is going to make you succeed.
And also surrounding yourself with people who know better than you on things that you don’t know.
Porschia: Great. Great advice, Ignacio. You have shared a lot of insights with us today, and I’m sure that our listeners can use it to be more confident in their careers. We appreciate you being with us.
Dr. Ignacio: I’m very grateful to be here with you, Portia, and always love to help others and [00:38:00] having a chance to chat with you.
