NHHI Hiring Spotlight – Mikayla Osumah

Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in New Haven and live in the West Rock neighborhood. I attended the Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS) and am a New Haven Promise Scholar. I graduated from Quinnipiac University, earning a degree in Biomedical Sciences focusing on microbiology and immunology. In my spare time, I like watching movies and playing logic puzzles and strategy games.

Tell us about your career path.

Last summer, I worked as a New Haven Promise intern at West Campus, supporting Professor Jason Crawford’s lab. Upon graduating from Quinnipiac, I re-engaged with the New Haven Hiring Initiative, and they helped to develop a career pathway opportunity for me. My current role at West Campus is different than my internship because I have more independence. I plan and perform my experiments by myself. Also, in my one-year fixed-duration staff position, I can research more thoroughly without worrying about running out of time at the end of a summer internship.

Tell us about your current role at Yale.

I currently work as a research assistant under Professor Crawford, and I support one of his graduate students by doing complimentary research for their thesis. Each day is different because research is very dependent on the previous day’s results. I also do a lot of reading on the materials, instruments, genes, and cell lines I’m working with. Then, I write procedures for different experiments I want to try.

What advice do you have for other job seekers?

I believe networking and being sure of your life goals are important and helpful when it comes to looking for a job. If you have research goals, you should know what kind of work you want to do, where you want your impact to be, and the atmosphere you want to be around every day. The more you help people know what you’re looking for, the more they will be willing to lend a hand in the job search.

What is next for you?

I am looking into Ph.D. programs to further my knowledge and experience. I also want to join a Yale Affinity group and look into the Yale Homebuyer’s Program.