Raymond Nagy (left) Associate Director, (EHS) Office Sites, Yiran Wang (center) Scientist in Biologic Downstream Development, Sarah Tayyab (right) Technical Project Manager, Global Development and Supply
Fast forward to 2021, and Nagy is on a Microsoft Teams call with Bristol Myers Squibb’s current class of interns and co-ops. He looks at the smiling faces on the call and tells the crowd, “Twenty-two years ago, I was an intern in the Environment and Health and Safety Department. I know what it’s like to be in your shoes.”
His story is not an uncommon tale at Bristol Myers Squibb; a number of employees who began as interns are now full-time employees.
On this year’s National Intern Day, Bristol Myers Squibb is celebrating employees who, like Nagy, got their start at the company with an internship.
Each year on National Intern Day, companies spotlight the contributions and impact current and former interns have made within their organizations. This year, current Bristol Myers Squibb Corporate Affairs interns Annie O’Regan, Aaliyah Patel and Brandon Simon sat down with three former interns Raymond Nagy, associate director, Environment Health and Safety (EHS) Office Sites; Sarah Tayyab, technical project manager in the Global Product Development and Supply (GPS) Emerging Leaders Program; and Yiran Wang, a scientist in biologics development, to learn about their transition from intern to a full-time employee.
Nagy, Wang and Tayyab discussed the unique lessons they learned from interning at Bristol Myers Squibb and how their experience helped prepare them for their careers.
According to Nagy, “The greatest lesson I learned from my internship is to network! I met so many people during my internship, which exposed me to various kinds of projects and teams. My network helped me get to where I am today, and I would not trade my job for the world.”
Bristol Myers Squibb internship and co-op programs pave the way for a meaningful and rewarding career path. Interns and co-ops become immediately immersed in the mission of transforming patients’ lives through science from hands-on opportunities. Bristol Myers Squibb is invested in helping its interns flourish by providing them the necessary tools for success: mentoring relationships, career development classes and networking opportunities.
Yiran Wang, who was a graduate intern in 2017 for the drug development organization, started working full-time in 2019 as a scientist at the company’s Biologics Center of Excellence in Devens, MA. Wang shared how interning with Bristol Myers Squibb prepared her for the workforce.
“The biggest lesson I learned is to be confident about what I'm doing and to be active,” Wang said. “Reach out to others. And do not be afraid to raise questions.”
Bristol Myers Squibb’s 2021 intern and co-op class is the largest ever, with 305 interns and co-ops joining this year’s program. The internship program has a 10-week duration and runs from June to August. The co-op programs run twice a year, from January to June, and from July to December. The company started investing into these programs decades ago to attract and retain talent across all facets of the business.
