On Tuesday, September 23, 2019 Skyline College students met with Anne to hear about her internship at Genentech Histology Lab.Anne Marizz Onte, our latest STEM intern as a research associate, is a very dynamic individual, having aspirations to research cancer and to run her own clinic in the Philippines.
Genentech recently asked Skyline College biotechnology manufacturing to provide the names of students, specifically ones that live locally, to apply for positions in a lab at Genentech. For many of us in the Science|Math|Technology Division, specifically biotechnology, this is a dream job. Being an employee for the first biotechnology pharmaceutical company at this stage in our careers is quite a feat.
Anne Marizz Onte is our latest student to gain an internship at Genentech. She works for a histology lab within South San Francisco Genentech and spends early mornings in the lab, ensuring that the lab is clean and that the histology machinery is working and filled up with materials. Anne is a full-time student working on her Biotechnology Associates degree as well as being a full-time employee at Genentech. While she is doing what many of us have to do in school, at least in this position she is learning in real time what she is studying in the classroom. While it is hard, she feels that she is supported by her colleagues at work to continue her education and to do a quality job for Genentech.
During her talk, Anne described the interview process that she went through to get her job. Believe it or not they asked about how she cleans and she told the story of how her grandmother taught her how to clean, a process she now uses at home and in the lab. A second question that she was asked was what friends she has in the lab. Nick Kapp thinks this question may be a way to see how well she works with others. If you have a friend in the lab you are more likely to get along with others, which is more what Genentech wanted to know. Lastly, they asked her about a project that she did in the lab. This was easy for Anne because in her biology class, each student is asked to do a research project. Anne was able to talk in great detail about how she isolated a strain of yeast that would break down cellulose and what she did to characterize it.
When one of the attendees asked Anne what the most important “thing” is to get employment, she said it was to just ask. While you may not think you are ready, someone will think you are and hire you. She suggested getting your resume ready right now and to just try.
We can see from her picture that she has the support of her friends who came to wish her well. She feels that she is working hard and is on her way to be that cancer researcher with support from Skyline College and her coworkers at Genentech.
Article by Elsa Jimenez-Samayoa | Photo by Nick Kapp
