Hannah Gallagher

Please tell us about your current role and employer:

I work as a Project Manager, Laboratory Project Services for IQVIA Laboratories. We are the clinical laboratory division of IQVIA, the CRO (Clinical Research Organisation). In layman's terms, my day-to-day role involves making sure clinical trials from our sponsors (e.g. pharmaceutical companies) are set-up correctly in our database, that all the tubes/needles/pipettes etc. are sent out to the clinical sites that need them, those sites then collect clinical trial samples (e.g. blood, tissue etc.) and send them back to us & I manage the testing and sending results back out to the clinical sites. In reality, as with most jobs, it is more complex than that - I often say my job title should be 'Professional Spinner-of-plates'!

What does a typical day in your current role look like?

Desk-based, but I work exclusively from home. My company's main UK site is in Edinburgh, but I'm based in Midlands. It is a lot of email-answering but, as I've said above, the trick to being a good Project Manager is being able to spin many plates all at the same time! There is no typical day, my role throws up new challenges and queries and issues daily, and each day is a new day of problem-solving, risk-mitigating, project planning, forecasting, tracking KPIs etc et.

What was your journey to getting a job after graduating from Birmingham? (e.g. application process, visa considerations)

I graduated in 2020, right as COVID/lockdown hit so I didn't enter the job market until later in 2020 when the world started to open back up again. I applied to loads of positions, focusing on entry-level roles in my target field, as my research indicated grad schemes either weren't available and/or didn't focus on the field I was interested in. Eventually, I was offered my first role as a Project Coordinator for a company in Coventry, which was my first foot in the door in my industry.

How do you feel the learning experience on your course helped to prepare you for your career?

My placement year (the experience of applying for placement schemes, experiencing the working environment, the 9-to-5 lifestyle etc.) was INVALUABLE in preparing me for the working world. By the time I came to applying for post-graduation roles, it didn't feel like my first rodeo and I was far better prepared.

How did the University's support services (e.g. Careers Network) help to prepare you for your career?

I used the Careers Network services mainly when I was applying for placement years during my 2nd year. I used the CV services, and the mock interview services, all as practise for the gruelling placement application experience.