May 5, 2022 By Michael Dorgan
The Long Island City Partnership held a career fair in Queensbridge last week to promote vacancies in the booming life sciences industry.
The event, called the Life Sciences Career Open House, took place on April 28 at the Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement with nearly 100 participants in attendance. The attendees were made up of high school and college students as well as older jobseekers.
The LIC Partnership, the economic development organization that promotes business in the area, hosted the event to highlight the variety of life science jobs that are available in western Queens.
“Many of our local life sciences companies, hospitals, environmental companies… are actively
hiring lab technicians, research assistants, data and IT specialists [as well as] sales representatives and administrative assistants,” said Elizabeth Lusskin, president of the Long Island City Partnership.
Lusskin said that the industry offers a vast array of career opportunities. The life sciences field is broad, she said, covering a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, biomedicine and food processing.
Representatives from companies such as Triumvirate, a national firm that operates a waste management service out of Astoria, and the hospital system Mount Sinai Queens were at the event to discuss jobs at their respective organizations. The non-profit healthcare group The Floating Hospital and the Biotech Without Borders, a non-profit that advocates for the biotech industry, were also represented.
Officials from the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit tasked with boosting employment in the city, were on hand to promote their internship program called LifeSci NYC. The program provides paid internships to students in the life sciences industry.
Attendees sat at tables with company representatives to learn about the industry. The attendees included students as well as individuals looking to change careers.
A major goal of the event, organizers said, was to let jobseekers know that careers in the industry are not just limited to PhD-level professionals.
Deputy Queens Borough President Ebony Young and Senior Advisor to the Mayor for Workforce Development Jose Ortiz also attended the event.