How Boston Scientific creates a pathway to meaningful careers for new graduates
11 March 2024
Investing in future talent is key to the company’s continued innovation and success.
“Young graduates tell us they join our business because it fulfils their desire to make an impact,” says Benjamin Hilton, graduate programme officer for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region at Boston Scientific. “They also want to be part of a team helping doctors to deliver the best patient care with our innovative technologies.” Hilton explained that in EMEA the approach to talent attraction aims to encourage young new joiners to be innovators from the start of their career with the company.
The company builds partnerships with local universities to connect with students and recent graduates. They can enrol in the company’s various early career programmes, which include internships, a one-year intensive training option and a three-year job rotation.
“Here in Europe in particular, during career events with local universities, we meet with talented students and graduates,” says Hilton. “The profiles we usually connect with have backgrounds in biomedical engineering, as well as in finance, business, economics, health economics, marketing, digital marketing and analytics.”
In recent years, Boston Scientific organised and participated in recruitment touchpoints including networking events, CV workshops and job shadowing opportunities. Early-career Boston Scientific employees also helped give a personal glimpse of what life is like at the company. "We regularly invite students to come to our offices to meet with other young professionals who have already joined Boston Scientific, as well as with our internal recruiters and leaders,” says Hilton.
Employees volunteering in employee resource groups (ERGs) are also involved. “Together with my colleagues of the Young Professionals Network, we often meet students visiting our office in Milan. I share the opportunities that the company constantly offers me to grow and develop as well as what I do daily in my digital marketing role,” says EMEA Graduate, Stefania Trenta.The Young Professionals Network (YPN) is one of the Boston Scientific ERGs, an employee-led and company-sponsored community that helps employees and young talent connect and succeed.
Meaningful careers: the story of Hamza Rabhi
Hamza Rabhi is one such graduate who recently joined the company’s one-year graduate programme dedicated to biomedical engigneers in Belgium, working with the left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) team within the company’s cardiology business.
Rabhi has a dual master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium.
“I always enjoyed drawing and inventing things as a child. I enjoyed solving technical issues and it was my dream to become an engineer and invent devices, such as prosthetics, to help those with medical issues,” says Rabhi. “I already knew about the company but when they told me about the sort of roles on offer, it really interested me because it embraced both the technical and clinical aspects, including the opportunity to gain experience in hospitals.”
Rabhi engaged with Boston Scientific field clinical specialists at the VUB University career fair and was interested in the idea of working in the field and interacting with physicians and patients. After going through the recruitment process, which included an interview and technical assessment, receiving feedback all along, he eventually joined the company on a graduate scheme. In his role, Rabhi now meets with Boston Scientific colleagues from across Europe to help innovate patient care wit LAAC therapies and within other areas of cardiology. He has also learned about MedTech business economics more broadly.
“Boston Scientific’s recruitment officers looked after me and mentored me. I also receive ongoing training to stay on top of my role and the latest science in my area. Most exciting of all is going into the field, visiting clinics and meeting physicians and patients.”
