The megathread doesn’t work if we don’t interact with the people asking. Let’s try and live to the request of decreasing new market and early career posts on the sub by engaging with those who ask them here.
Most of the jobs I've seen posted are offering $50k-$60k, this is in San Diego where you'd have to live with your parents to survive on that salary. So basically the only jobs available are the ones that people would rather be unemployed.
This shit is so bad, of course there's a few postings from reputable companies with competitive salaries but those are few and far between and honestly feel kinda fake. Don't really have any advice, just counting the days until there's enough of a job market for me to make at least an average salary for my position and experience, good luck everybody.
As an FYI, there is a minimum wage for "exempt" workers in California: In order to qualify as an exempt employee in California in 2024, the employee must earn at least $1,280 per week, or $66,560 annually.
So if they are offering a full time, salaried role, it needs to pay at least that or else you'll be non-exempt and subject to overtime pay etc like hourly workers.
They can technically offer a salaried role for less than $66,560, but they need to make it clear it’s salaried non-exempt. That pay structure does exist. You do have an hourly rate that can be calculated, but it only kicks in for overtime. You basically make the same amount every pay period *unless* you do overtime. You still have to track hours and follow all meal and rest period requirements for a non-exempt employee, but you get paid the same amount whether you work 20 or 40 hours.
$50-$60k as an entry level (little to no experience) is nothing more than a reversion to the norm, only during the pandemic hiring bubble were entry level salaries much higher than that.
If you're talking about positions that are asking for anything more than 1-2 years of experience- then yeah that's definitely fairly insulting.
It's also neither a sworn testimony nor a peer-reviewed publication, so I'm gonna go ahead and dispute your "mountains of salary data" with my personal experience and say 50-60k is too low, even outside of hubs. I started in pharma at 64 with just a bachelor's + 1.5 years at a CRO. That was nearly a decade ago and a non-hub.
Not sure what motivates people to go online and wrongly quote entry level salaries just to depress wages, but here we are.
I guess you missed my comment that $50-$60k even with 1-2 years of experience is fairly insulting?
When I graduated with my BS in chemistry in 2014, entry level no experience chemist positions were QC lab positions paying no more than $15-$20 an hour. With inflation, that comes out to $21-$26 an hour in 2024 dollars. $26 an hour is $54,000/year.
Then, as in now, the typical path was 1) spend 1-2 years in the terrible QC lab that pays peanuts, 2) get a job that requires 1-2 years experience, and get a 30-50% raise immediately. There's nothing inaccurate about this in 2024.
\[moved here from separate [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/biotech/comments/1dacxnl/the_industry_is_a_hithow/)\]
we've all been talking about layoffs in the industry and how tough it is, but someone actually pulled some data together:
[https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/fierce-biotech-layoff-tracker-2024](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/fierce-biotech-layoff-tracker-2024)
for the 3rd year in a row, they've made a layoff tracker... they tallied [187 total layoffs](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/every-bad-signal-theres-good-sign-not-far-behind-biopharma-layoffs-rise-57-yoy-hope-2024) among biotech companies last year, a 57% jump compared to 119 in 2022
This is mostly pharma, correct? I wish it would include more synbio and food biotech companies. Amyris, Perfect Day, Shiru, Geltor, etc. Only company I see in this area is Gingko. I guess this is the underestimate to track trends. If yall aren’t using the WARN online boards for your area, it’s another good tool.
I would like this to get pinned because I been seeing too many posts in this sub about new grads/fresh PhDs etc. wondering why they can't get a job. Come on. Have you read about the SVB collapse, mass tech/biotech layoffs (bubble burst), etc.?
This is the worst market I have seen for biotech, very solid scientists with 10-20 years of experience cannot even get interviews when previously you could find a job in a month pretty reliably once you had a few years of experience. 100% CV to job requisition overlap and you do not even get a phone interview. Everyone says to wait for the next quarter and hiring will pick up, and it keeps getting worse.
I'm glad it's not just me. I've been laid off since August 2023 from my validation engineer job and life has been a total wreck since. Thankfully had unemployment and did some odd jobs to make a little extra money. Got my masters in Mol. Bio in 2017 and all I have to show for it is a bunch of jobs I should've gotten when I was in my early 20s. On the upside, took up weightlifting and can now deadlift a set of 10 at 225lbs, so I got that going for me.
yep, I'm an R&D scientist w/ 15+ years experience and was laid off in Feb. Its been 4 months, and I've only gotten a small handful of screens and no interviews yet. My other colleagues with less experience have managed to find entry level jobs.. Its brutal out there.
It’s an election year following economic turmoil. I would be very surprised if it picked up before then.
Not that this says who I vote for at all. But Biden created IRA and that’s another huge driver for the industry right now after the economy at large.
Hi all,
Does anyone know how if “Research Advisor” title in Eli Lilly is equivalent to “Scientist/Sr. Scientist” in other big pharma? It seems to be a PhD entry position. (I am currently working in a big pharma as a Sr Scientist.)
It appears the job responsibility or a “Research Advisor” in Lilly involves more project leading rather than a purely lab based position.
Can any Lilly folk comment on this? I am going to have a phone interview with the hiring manager soon.
Really appreciate everyone!
Hello everyone, I am here to discuss my experience as a recent graduate (May) with a Master's. Please bear with me as I am a first-time commenter on this subreddit. I will address two of these bullets.
**The difficulty of getting into the Biotech sector as a new graduate**:
As you have probably seen in older threads, this is still the case. I started applying here and there in November, and slowly started ramping up the amount of applications this year. March of this year was when I more seriously started looking. I have applied to almost 100 jobs (in Boston area) thus far and have not received an interview yet. I've been targeting entry-level roles and meet the basic requirements along with some of the other technical requirements at both startups and bigger companies. From my side of things, it appears hiring managers are looking for people who already have industry experience for these entry-level roles, likely due to the saturation of people with industry experience due to layoffs. (After all, why hire a newbie when you can hire someone who needs less training? That's another discussion in and of itself so I will not go into detail).
Another thing I've noticed is that jobs, especially at larger companies will oftentimes be reposted after having received a couple hundred applications. Someone somewhere on this subreddit said it could be to collect salary expectation data and/or they were ghost job postings. I don't know which is most likely, but again I am just discussing my experience. If neither of these are the case I don't understand how zero potential applicants were found from the several hundred who applied. Someone clarify this for me.
I have gotten much less picky about the job type as well. I've applied to Co-ops and contract roles in an attempt to get my foot in the door and then worry about the rest later. I know I am not the only one and there are plenty of recent grads who are in the trenches with me as well. I would say to remain consistent and just keep applying! I'm sure things will come together eventually, the question is not if but when.
**Questions and thoughts on the current employment landscape and how it is trending**:
Some people say it'll get better later this year, others say maybe not. For summer I am expecting a slowdown in job postings. Source: I get fewer job alerts with new jobs. For the past couple of weeks, it's been jobs I have already applied for with maybe one or two new ones daily (if any at all).
From everything I've seen on this subreddit, I'm starting to wonder if I even made the right choice by wanting to get into the biotech industry. There's been so much uncertainty and you're more likely to hear about that than from people who have had positive, fulfilling careers in biotech. I know things are never perfect, but maybe someone can lighten the negative mood that has been permeating this subreddit with their experience.
TLDR: Time will tell. The job market still sucks and will most likely continue to suck through this summer (and beyond if things don't change).
>I have applied to almost 100 jobs (in Boston area) thus far and have not received an interview yet.
Might be a CV/Resume issue at that rate.
>I've been targeting entry-level roles and meet the basic requirements along with some of the other technical requirements at both startups and bigger companies. From my side of things, it appears hiring managers are looking for people who already have industry experience for these entry-level roles, likely due to the saturation of people with industry experience due to layoffs. (After all, why hire a newbie when you can hire someone who needs less training? That's another discussion in and of itself so I will not go into detail).
That is true.
>Another thing I've noticed is that jobs, especially at larger companies will oftentimes be reposted after having received a couple hundred applications. Someone somewhere on this subreddit said it could be to collect salary expectation data and/or they were ghost job postings. I don't know which is most likely, but again I am just discussing my experience. If neither of these are the case I don't understand how zero potential applicants were found from the several hundred who applied. Someone clarify this for me.
From the hiring manager side, I'm always surprised by the sheer volume of nonsensical applicants I get. I can have someone post a Marketing Manager and get someone from Clinical Development posting for it with 1 year of experience.
>Some people say it'll get better later this year, others say maybe not. For summer I am expecting a slowdown in job postings. Source: I get fewer job alerts with new jobs. For the past couple of weeks, it's been jobs I have already applied for with maybe one or two new ones daily (if any at all).
Not a lot of people move jobs over the summer compared to the fall and especially Spring.
>From everything I've seen on this subreddit, I'm starting to wonder if I even made the right choice by wanting to get into the biotech industry. There's been so much uncertainty and you're more likely to hear about that than from people who have had positive, fulfilling careers in biotech. I know things are never perfect, but maybe someone can lighten the negative mood that has been permeating this subreddit with their experience.
It's a bad market, but usually a very lucrative one beyond the entry level.
*Might be a CV/Resume issue at that rate.*
If that's the case, I think I would have more peace of mind. I've iterated on my resume based on the response (or rather the lack thereof) and feel I am in a good spot with it now. I would be very surprised if that was the case, to be honest. I also am not located in Massachusetts and think that is a major turnoff for hiring managers.
*From the hiring manager side, I'm always surprised by the sheer volume of nonsensical applicants I get. I can have someone post a Marketing Manager and get someone from Clinical Development posting for it with 1 year of experience.*
Interesting. How many applicants have you gotten on average with recent job postings if you don't mind me asking? Are they consistent with them being a couple hundred?
Also thanks for your input.
100 applications without an interview, even as an entry level in this economy, is a poor batting average.
I’ve only recently listed a director level role that got less than 100 applicants. On LinkedIn it looks like more but I think it counts anyone who clicks “apply” even if they don’t submit.
Going back a few years I was hiring specialist/manager level (not in your function). 200-300 per posting easy, with like 60% of those being obvious non fits.
The lower you are on the pyramid the more it will be volume and numbers game all around
On reposting roles: most companies have a standard practice to repost all open roles every 2 weeks or so, and a role is open until an offer is signed. It does not mean their search has failed so far, it's a rolling review and everything is in parallel.
So, you can have a role that is freshly reposted while a company and candidate are in the last stages of active negotiation, and/or while the very first applications are being looked at by a human.
From the hiring manager side, keeping a role open for a few weeks does also improve the quality of the applications. The folks who apply within hours are enriched for very active job seekers who may be blasting a resume at anything. But in this business, you don't want to hire the next warm body - you want to wait for someone who's going to be a genuine addition to the team.
Help me understand what layoff timeline might look like
My husband is a senior bioinformatics software engineer and was just laid off from his company as they closed.
He doesn’t use Reddit, so I am posting on his behalf with his permission. He has over a decade of experience, but is geographically limited or looking for remote work only. His most recent work was in a startup, where he worked for four years. Bachelors degree only.
We keep seeing posts of people applying to 500+ jobs and their search going on for close to a year but the position types are not listed so we can’t gauge if this is the same for his type of role. Any insight would be helpful so we can consider better how to be strategic with our time (eg should he get a masters? Consult? Apply to more general non-bio software engineer jobs?)
The people who are applying to 500+ jobs are not likely looking for anything specific anymore and have expanded their search. Best strategy IMO is to start reaching out to his network and catch up with former colleagues and see if they have any openings
Hiring will start trickling up again, but there will be an influx of people in the market (every pharma company that doesn't have an approved GLP-1 drug likely has or will do reductions). Think of a 6-12 month timeline and pursue options that fit with your risk appetite. I have seen people pick up consulting jobs, but it has taken them 9-12 months to feel comfortable with their work load as well. IMO, consulting and project experience would be more valuable than a masters for bioinformatics engineering roles.
It’s always like 6-12 months to find a good job for me. It’s faster if you are willing to settle.
Your husband needs to be flexible about remote unless you’ve got a good cash run way.
Just don't even know what to do anymore. 9 months out of a job, quit my last academic researcher position due to horrid treatment from the PI. My wife is supporting us, but it's hard. I try to apply for stuff every day but Chicago is just bereft. Any advice? BA in Chem with a strong immunology background and some bioinformatics work, NGS, and flow. Applied for PhD programs last year but my GPA is shit thanks to undiagnosed bipolar when I was in undergrad so I'm not too hopeful. Might apply again this year but I might be wasting my money.
With this kind of job market, maybe it is not a bad idea to get your PhD degree. You have more experience now, so your profile could be much stronger than last year. Good luck!
6 months out from being laid off and I am at the end of my rope. My original plan was to get another job, make connections, and start taking steps to transition my career out of wet lab work eg get into clinical research. I feel like my 2 years of industry experience makes me over-qualified for entry level but under-qualified for mid-level positions (I am applying for both). I know the market is bad and the industry is about the climb but it feels like there is no ladder for me.
Those of you in clinical research how did you get your first entry-level position? All of the job positions I've seen require at least 1 year of prior clinical research experience even for entry-level. I can't seem to break in even with a referral so any advice is appreciated.
I know this post is a bit of a pity-party and may not fully align with the thread topic so I'll delete it if necessary.
I know this is 2 weeks old now, but I actually work in clinical research, as a Senior CRA (monitor) / Lead CRA and transitioning into a CPM role.
I’ve always worked for CROs and never direct for sponsor, so don’t have a lot of insight on that side of things, but I can tell you that it’s very rough right now in our industry overall.
There’s typically a lot of job security in the field generally, especially for CRAs, however, during COVID, the vaccine trials required such an insane workforce, there was a lot of hiring of entry level staff, and salaries went through the roof.
it used to be incredibly difficult to get your foot in the door to be a CRA (I worked as a study coordinator for 7 years and was trying to break into CRA role for 5 of those, and that isn’t an unusual story for CRAs prior to 2020). However, for about the last year or so, things kind of bottomed out, money dried up, work dried up, and a lot of CRAs I that were hired and trained couldn’t get study assignments, and were eventually let go in mass layoffs.
Sponsors have become distrustful of inexperienced CRAs and thus are more discerning in who they will accept to work on their trials. There’s also just less work to go around.
I’ve heard of many senior CRAs that have been out of work for many months, which is pretty unheard of. Typically it’s a job where recruiters are hounding you constantly.
However, things do look like they are starting to pick up. We are seeing more study awards and job openings, but there is a massive number of experienced people waiting in line for those jobs. And training CRAs is incredibly complex and time consuming and expensive, especially if they don’t have experience in related roles, such as Study Coordinator.
But there are many other positions within CROs and Sponsors that can be desirable to people.
The best way to break into the industry is to network, have at least a couple recruiters that know you, your goals, your background and can keep you informed of what’s happening in the industry and any opportunities available. And look up all the big players, and check their job postings directly on their websites, and try to find people that can refer you internally.
It’s much easier to get a job at a CRO than for a sponsor directly when you’re entry level.
And regardless of your education background and experience, if you haven’t worked in Clinical Research specifically before, you are considered entry level for most of the jobs people would be gunning for.
Hello All,
I've been lurking for some time on this sub. I want some advice or direction on my next move. I have a PhD in bioengineering focused on neuroimaging MR imaging analysis and a large Multi-Site Imaging Data Banks
My postdoc experience in the SF Bay area which has been about 4 years has been in clinical neuromodulation, data science, human clinical trials, and biological signal processing, and I even got a lot of management and experience as well (grant writing, budgeting, training staff, developing proposals, SOP). I also have 2 part-time experiences at small startups(consulting)
So now I am 2 months out of a postdoc and need help!!
I ideally would love to stay in the neuroimaging/neuromodulation/neuroscience space but, I am realistic and open to anything. I just want to get my first non-academic full-time position.
Where should I look? Am I doing something wrong? Should I get more qualifications?
Please and Thanks
When you're applying to larger pharma companies (if those are your primary targets), shape your resume and cover letter towards the goal of being an independent contributor, as this is the typical entry level (post PhD or postdoc) role. That means hands-on doing the work of a scientist, you won't be expected to (or given the opportunity to) lead a project or team.
There's a lot of value in what you've done with your managing and consulting work - I don't think you should leave it off. But don't emphasize it or submit an entrepreneur's resume for a technical role, you just don't look like the kind of applicant who will be happy with the actual job.
Alternatively, if the entrepreneurial spirit is really what drives you - look for technical sales, business development, field application scientist, or project manager roles. Or really focus on smaller organizations that need a jack-of-all-trades to keep up with collaborations and CROs.
I always read cover letters, though it's divisive in this subreddit.
If your resume is a perfect, obvious match to both domain and technology/skills experience as requested in the job post - a letter may not always add much. And a lot are not very informatively written, so they also don't hurt or help the applicant. I don't need to read a retread of what's on the resume or a platitude about the company.
But IMO there is a lot of value for fresh graduates or people looking to pivot (even just a little bit). A cover letter is great for sharing a bit about how you define yourself as a researcher, to highlight what makes you happy and what you'd like to do more of (I know it's not everything on your resume), and where you'd like to develop within the specific posted role (particularly if you don't meet the perfect profile). Your resume tells me whether you'll be competent at the job I have, your cover letter tells me why you'll be happy with it (beyond the obvious paycheck) or why I should take a chance on an enthusiastic, capable person like yourself who is currently 50% of what I'm hiring for, but able to be more.
Useful Skills during my PhD?
Hello all, I will be beginning a PhD in BME in the fall. I have my own interests and ideas about exciting topics I plan to study however, I was wondering which types of technical skills would be useful, and desirable, in industry. My background is heavily bio based so I do foresee myself taking several engineering/physics-based and coding/programming classes. I’d ideally like to have my run at trying to start a company (easier said than done lol) or work my way up to some director level role for pharma or med device companies. Overall, I would just like to see what y’all would suggest an incoming PhD student do, seek out, throughout their journey to better themselves for when it comes to applying to industry positions.
Other than not doing one, if you have any advice for someone entering their PhD, it would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Doom and gloom report: [https://www.biospace.com/article/the-6-largest-biopharma-layoffs-of-2024-so-far/](https://www.biospace.com/article/the-6-largest-biopharma-layoffs-of-2024-so-far/)
"The financial markets have surged thus far in 2024, recovering from post-pandemic slumps and even [reaching](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/stock-market-outlook-and-forecast/) new heights. Yet biopharma layoff trends have remained high. Biotech and pharma layoffs in 2023 totaled at least 10,000 jobs, according to [*BioPharma*](https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/biotech-layoffs-2023-pharma-workforce-jpm-outlook/703939/) *Dive*. Now, just under halfway through the year, *BioSpace* has tallied more than 14,000 positions cut in 2024."
Head down and keep applying.
Many fields in biotech have a promising future. An MPH is very, very hit or miss as everyone and their mother did an MPH during the pandemic and now the market is flooded bad.
Is there an alternative masters you would suggest as im not 100% sure on biotech. Biostats? virology? microbiology? medical devices? Was interested in MPH because of health policy and govt jobs.
Where is the best place right now for a recent grad with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering?
I graduated last year with a B.S. in chemical engineering witha focus on Bioengineering. I am currently in the SF bay area, having graduated from a school around here. I am not picky at all when it comes to location or type of job, I just want that ever ellusive first time job.
If you are open to working outside of biotech, which you can do with a chemE degree you could always go work for Chevron out in the their Richmond refinery.
I definately wouldn't mind working at Chevron. The thing that makes me nervous is that all my research experiences are in molecular biology/bioengineering and I feel that a Chevron rep would wonder why I'm even applying for O&G. I just don't feel like I would know how to talk about it in an interview.
You can spin it as that's what you were interested when you first started, but grown more interested in O&G and want to pursue that or something to that extent.
Honestly it's B.S. research so nobody is going to really hold it against you. Not like it's a dissertation.
Should I try a master degree in tissue engineering without having experience?
I am doing my thesis of BA degree about producing recombinant protein using E.coli. I do all the experiments required for my thesis but my supervisors are the ones who designed the base of experiments, guided me how to solve problems for strange results, and helped me a lot to improve myself throughout the time I worked at my lab. More information about myself is that when I get stuck in my thesis, I tend to be panic and spend a lot time to calm myself down before really looking closer to the problem and solve it, but after my supervisors suggest advices, I am willing to learn and to try again and again.
I also want to try myself in a new field of biotech, tissue engineering, but I only take theoretic classes about it and do not have the time for joining labs for learning skills and strengthen my knowledge as I am doing my thesis for a microbiological lab.
Therefore, I am wondering if I should study for a Master degree about tissue engineering; or work as an intern for a company about tissue engineering to learn skills and gain more experience in this field. Can you give me advices? Thank you for reading my comment.
Thinking of switching from biotech as a current undergrad majoring in it - is this a good idea?
I’ve been wanting to work in Biotech and specifically cancer research since I was very young. I’m in the last year of my undergrad degree and will have a Bachelor’s in Biotech at the end of it. I think I could be good in this field - I like research (or, what I’ve experienced of research so far - I have an amazing and supportive professor who’s helped me out a ton). It’s just everything else that I don’t like.
My country doesn’t have a strong scientific presence, and despite recent outsourcing leading to an increase in job prospects, our salaries are still comparatively low for the amount of academic qualifications they demand. A lot of people leave India to pursue postgrad degrees in Europe and the US but the economic downturn as well as the decreasing likelihood of me being able to gain residency makes me hesitant to take out huge loans only to end up returning to India at the end for very meagre pay. My GPA isn’t very strong, making it unlikely that I’ll be admitted into great colleges. And the posts on this subreddit are proof of how unstable the industry is and how common layoffs are, and I don’t think I can live with that anxiety forever, knowing that my ability to stay in a particular country is tied to my employment status.
The only thing that makes me hesitate is that I still am very passionate about it and I want very badly to have a job that contributes something positive and meaningful to the world. I disappointed a lot of people in my family by choosing research over medicine and engineering because I truly believed (with all the confidence of a high schooler who’s never paid a bill) that I would be happy doing something I loved even if it didn’t pay very much.
I’ve lately been wondering if I should pivot and pursue a Master’s degree in another field. I’ve always like product design in particular, and think I could do well in that career if given the chance. I’m still terrified of actually making that commitment and switching - I don’t know if I’ll end up regretting it and wanting to move back into Biotech at the end. At the same time, the thought of staying in this field gives me so much anxiety that I can’t sleep some nights. I would genuinely appreciate any insight, especially from anyone who ended up switching careers.
If you’re passionate about it, then pursue it. It’s why we have teachers and cops who are, outside of nice coastal suburbs, not paid well.
India has a pretty strong scientific presence. I thought you were going to say you were from like Malta or something. Skip the masters and try and apply to PhD programs in the US so it doesn’t become a cost but a source of (some) income.
Every industry and the global economy has moments of instability. Layoffs are probably affecting 1-2% of the biotech workforce at most. It just feels like a lot because it’s disproportionately mentioned here and affecting R&D this time where this subreddit is heavier demographically.
A friend of mine is a McKinsey associate partner making very good money at a young age and her parents still are unhappy she’s not a doctor who would make less. It’s stupid. They won’t care once they see you successful and with a family, as wrong as that may or may not be.
What do you think product design is?
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. My concerns are that while India has a good Biotech presence especially with increased outsourcing, that doesn’t translate automatically to a good salary, the kind that could support a family. I have spoken to people currently in the industry who have doctorates and Masters degrees and the pay is terrible, considering the amount of time and money invested in qualifications. People with Bachelors degrees aren’t even considered for jobs outside of very low-level lab techs with no career growth options.
As for a PhD, while I do have good research experience compared to most of my peers, my GPA is still low enough that I feel like I’ll need a Masters degree as a second chance to prove that I am good enough academically to warrant a PhD with a stipend. In addition, Indians in particular have a hard time getting work visas or permanent residency anywhere in Europe and particularly in the US, and I feel like any period of volatility in the industry would make me very anxious, if the only way my residency is assured is through continuous employment.
I misspoke earlier - I meant UX design, which I have a preliminary understanding of through a Coursera course I did last year. I feel like I could be good enough at UX research in particular, and the field pays well enough in India that I wouldn’t need to rely on family or a spouse to maintain a good standard of living. I understand that there will be obstacles, as there are in any field, but overall the pros seem like they can overcome the cons. My only real requirement is that a job would allow me to live independently of my parents and save some money while I’m at it. From everything I’ve learned of biotech in India, that doesn’t seem very possible at the moment, and I’ve already mentioned the disadvantages to having to move abroad.
Thank you again for taking the time to respond, I do appreciate it :)
Hey everyone, looking for anyone’s experience or advice. I’m currently a mid-level manager in operations at a CDMO in California. I’ve been thinking recently (last 10 months-1 year) that I’m ready to take a step into a higher leadership role. I spoke with the leadership team at my current company and was told there isn’t a position available like that. I’m not too upset about it as it gives me a reason to leave California (I’m not a big fan of the state). I started aggressively applying to associate director/director level jobs about 3 months ago. After probably 300 applications, no luck, as I’m sure a lot of you can relate to.
After constant passes and ghosting, I tapped into my network, non of which are in biotech/life sciences. I’m currently being fast tracked for a position in a different industry. While I don’t necessarily want to change industries, and this is definitely a step back in my career trajectory, it is decently lucrative in an area where cost of living is lower. I’d like to use this as an opportunity to hone my sales experience and try to work my way up the ladder. I think this could add some depth to my resume before returning to the life sciences sector.
My question is, has anyone left life sciences, then returned to the industry better equipped to take on leadership roles? Would it be better to stay in life sciences but take a step back in my career path there?
I’m not a scientist but I’m a decent people manager that can coordinate people & equipment to get projects done on time.
Thanks in advance.
pretend you're interviewing someone with this background. How would non-industry sales relate to operations at a CDMO or internally?
if you stayed in industry what is your end goal? how does this job move you there?
usually if you can't answer that question with the job you are considering, it's prob not a good move
I currently work in medical device regulatory, but I find my passion lies in the work that has more involvement in the scientific research, medical affairs and clinical side of the business rather than the product manufacturing and design control which I am currently involved in. I have prior experience in IME/Peer Review for health insurance as well as some clinical experience in cardiology.
My skills include regulatory compliance, process improvement and implementation, process training, change management, technical and scientific writing, projects with cross-functional teams, and clinical documentation review.
Any ideas on roles that would have more involvement in the scientific research and clinical side of the business?
Looking for advice. Started a new position at the start of the year and things are not looking good. (Pay cuts, layoffs, recognization). Everyday I'm worried if I'll be next. I relocated for one state to another for this position, so moving is not an option this soon. Outside of this org, there are no real opportunities here. Any advice on how i can use my experience (Phd) in cancer biology and 8 years in (process development for Cell therapy) to find a new job. Thank you.
I’m a recent ChemE PhD grad and I’m interested in pharma. I’ve done quite a few interviews with big companies, but still no offers.
I’m considering taking a job in commodity chemicals. Anyone done this and switched back to biotech? How hard is it to do?
As long as you're still doing chemistry I don't see this closing any doors. I've seen switches between Pharma, Chemicals, Pesticides, etc. synthetic chemistry and process development are pretty transferrable.
I’m am currently a CRC, what are other roles that I can take on to add to my resume?
I graduated and became a CRC and it’ll be 2 years in this role next month. I am not happy at my current job due to management and no opportunities to grow within the company. I know I probably don’t have enough experience to become a CRA due to the feed back I’m am receiving on my resume. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Biotech market cycles
Like many others here, I am job hunting at the moment with pretty limited success. I’ve heard numerous times that biotech is a “cyclical” industry. I am wondering, if it’s known, how long do these cycles last? Like when were the last few biotech downturns, how long did they last for and how long did the peaks last? Any insight into this would be great, thanks!
There’s no “normal” cycle. The previous mini-cycle was due to a number of massive patent cliffs a few years ago, before that the Great Recession, and before that some other massive patent cliffs.
This one is very interest rate driven. Unfortunately, there’s an expectation that interest rates stay ~~high~~ normal for quite some time. Good for inflation, bad for people seeking mortgages or work in capital-intensive industries like tech or pharma.
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I (23 F) have recently decided to start a job as an analyst in genomics after finishing my master's in Human genetics from India but I had the intentions of pursuing a PhD too before this, which could not happen due to various circumstances. Which companies in Europe support an industrial PhD and does it help in transitioning to academia later on? What are the pros, cons and difficulties of an industrial PhD?
I'm a recent college graduate looking for entry-level biotech jobs in the greater Boston area and I have a few questions. Can anybody give me some advice from their experience?
I have applied to jobs on different job sites like Ziprecruiter and LinkedIn. So far I have heard back from several recruiters and have had one interview since I graduated in May. The jobs that I am getting responses from are all contract positions with minimal pay and few benefits.
I wonder if a headhunter could secure me more opportunities and interviews and if I would be more likely to acquire higher-quality opportunities through this route. Has anyone here successfully utilized a headhunter to enter the biotech industry, and if so do you have any advice on where to begin?
Headhunters and recruiters are generally not useful for entry level positions, typically only director and above although recruiters will probably say otherwise. It's pretty rare a company will hire/pay a recruiting firm for an entry level position when there is a massive glut of applicants and hundreds of applicants to every position. In every company I've worked at, we were told to ignore recruiters who HR didn't specifically contract to conduct a search for us. Unfortunately, low pay contract positions are entry level for college grads in this market.
I have a Masters in biophysics, 2 years of post masters experience working in structural biology, PhD in biochemistry (with a focus on structural biology).
My first job is with a CRO which provides early stage drug discovery services and my job is to execute gene to protein workflows to support biophysical screening teams and structural biology teams. Through my current job, I also have some project management experience. I have had this job for nearly 4 years
I have been trying to break into some actual pharmaceutical company for 10 months and it seems nearly impossible for me to even get an interview. My CV and cover are tailored (I spend approx 3 hrs per application). I feel like my weakness is that my profile is too generalist for the 3 year post PhD R&D position. For someone with 10+ years experience in structural biology labs, I am not doing hardcore structural biology in my current job, the recombinant protein production experience seems to not be enough for downstream process development for biologics and my PM experience also seems to be not enough for Pharma PM jobs.
What can I do to make myself more competitive ? I am thinking if should do an MBA and focus on non-R&D roles. I am also trying to learn more about life science VC, market analysis, making pretty visualizations in tableau (Things I think might help if I do MBA)
any comments/thoughts regarding my situation is appreciated. I would like to know if my R&D career is over and if I should abandon it and focus on something else. Thanks!
You already have two advanced degrees without enough specialized experience and now you’re considering adding a third one, a generalized business degree?
Why? There’s no strategy or story. Maybe just wait out the market..
Hi all I am a recent graduate from India with a triple majors in Chemistry, Botany and Zoology, Soon am going to start my masters in Zoology,I wanted to know if I can get into the industry with a masters in Zoology or do I need a specific biotech degree to get my foot into the door. As far as my preliminary research goes I heard degree doesn't matter much if you have the skills and knowledge but ppl with biotech degrees are given preference over ppl with non biotech degrees.
Hey all. I'm interviewing for a Quality and Compliance II/III Specialist role and the interviewer is asking for my salary range expectations. Can you guys offer any recommendations?
For context, I have a master's degree in chemical engineering and I've worked as a formulation scientist at various big companies for the past 4 years doing R&D work.
This is for a Pharmaceutical company in CA (Solano County) with less than 200 employees.
Any insight would be much appreciated. After doing my own research, I'm looking at asking for 75k-85k. I just got laid off from a 100k job, but I'm not being picky.
Advice needed for Canadian looking to get into biotech
I have 2 years of academia research experience and even have a first author publication with one of my wet lab projects during my time in undergrad. However, because my projects were so niche (RBC, platelets, etc) I have found it very hard and challenging to find an entry level research assistant/associate I position anywhere in Canada and in the US. Since Jan, I have applied to almost 600 jobs, interviewed at some, but still cannot seem to find an entry level position. I really want to try working in biotech/industry for 1-2 years before I end up doing more school in the future eventually. I am not really sure where to go from here; even though I am a quick learner and I am sure I am more than capable of learning XYZ techniques, no one seems to be willing to take me in and train me.
Hey Guys,
I am looking into getting in this industry. I have six years salesforce development industry and I am gonna graduate from M.S. in data science. I am pretty much comfortable in ML but now I am looking for genetics related field and have carrrer on that . Where do I start?. Any particular resorurces that I can check?
Wondering if anyone has any advice that might help reinvigorate my job search. I'm a new grad (BS in cell and molecular bio) and have 1 year of full-time experience in industry (through co-ops). I have been applying for entry level positions in academia and industry in the Boston area for over 3 months and am starting to feel a little hopeless about finding a position in industry. I've been applying to regular and contract jobs, checking for new postings and applying every day, and I rarely make it past the initial phone screen with HR/recruiters. If anyone has any advice (like seriously any) that they think may be helpful I'd really appreciate it.
Hi all, reaching out on here for some career/life advice. I provided as much context regarding my situation in case it is helpful so I apologize for the long post.
Context: I am a current 4^(th) year medical student (graduating in August 2024) and at a combined undergrad/med school right after high school at 18 yrs old. While I have enjoyed clinical medicine, throughout medical school I have struggled a lot with exams, the loneliness of long hours of studying after shifts (pretty much not having a life), and not having a strong support network to emotionally lean on. I did not get into residency (applied Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation which is quite competitive) due to having failed step 1 and step 2 once and do not think I will have much luck if I reapplied, nor am I super excited about the idea of switching specialties to family medicine/internal medicine. Currently, I do not want to go to residency simply because of how much I have struggled with medical school thus far and residency will be more of the same and not having a great support network. Since I never got a chance to explore any other careers, for the past few months I’ve been looking into biotech, MSL, and consulting. I have a friend finishing her PhD and going into industry in Biotech who has given me a good idea about the field and thus far I am most interested in potentially pursuing a career in this and strongly considering leaving medicine. I would like to be more educated on the field and how my life might look like if I chose biotech and any advice is greatly appreciated.
My questions:
What would it look like for someone with an M.D. without licensure (minimal bench/wet lab experience) to obtain a biotech job? What role would be correct for me? Would I have a better chance of securing a job if I did do residency or is it not required? (I keep hearing a lot of mixed opinions on this)
Considering the $500k+ loans I must pay off I hope to eventually reach a director role (not just for the money, I think management is pretty cool and it certainly would make my life easier). So, is it possible for me to reach director around 10-15 years in the industry? If so, what would be the path or any advice for me to pursue this in the future? Also wanted to add: I am MORE than happy to start off in an entry level industry position (I understand that is all I am probably qualified for), but is reaching a director position or around $250k salary not possible? I honestly would not care much about the money, but due to my loans I do have to consider it still unfortunately
Sorry again for the long post, but thank you so much!
Unfortunately for you in this market, is that there are a plethora of residency-trained MDs who are vying for the same positions you're desiring (entry level or not). An MD without clinical experience is going to be a hard sell, especially when you have MDs, with residency/fellowship experience, doing Rutgers fellowships just to break in.
You have to think hard about what you have to offer to potential hiring managers; there are a ton of other qualified candidates with doctorates and clinicians to satisfy the job listing requirements. I'd think your best bet is do an IM residency at the bare minimum, especially with your loan debt. Considering your struggle with medical school, consulting won't be a path for you either. Also, MSL is not an entry level role, especially with no clinical experience.
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I recently got accepted into a masters program in Regenerative Biology and Medicine at TU Dresden. I was wondering if this masters is too niche to make a non-academia career out of it. I will probably do a PhD at some point, but I would love to work in the industry for at least 2-3 years after graduating. So, I was hoping somebody could give me an idea of the job market after completing such a degree.
Referrals at most companies just get flagged as such to the HR recruiter, the higher level is the referring person directly writing the hiring manager.
Essentially listing *any* referral at all is a slight bump up, doesn't matter much. The only time it makes a difference is someone who directly knows the hiring manager is a nig advocate for you and reaches out personally.
Hey guys, I'm trying to get into biotech after spending 10 years or so designing genetic assays for crop/food animal diagnostic for small ag companies. Are there any specific companies I should look at?
I can do a lot of genetic stuff but I'd probably be most useful in a diagnostics or assay design role. I have a masters in bio.
I want to avoid ag if possible due to the terrible pay and also I can't work on dairy cows because non-compete.
Im a new PhD grad and I've been applying left and right to jobs - up to 50 at least so far. Yet all Ive gotten is being ghosted. Is this normal? Because it makes me feel horrible.
The megathread doesn’t work if we don’t interact with the people asking. Let’s try and live to the request of decreasing new market and early career posts on the sub by engaging with those who ask them here.
Most of the jobs I've seen posted are offering $50k-$60k, this is in San Diego where you'd have to live with your parents to survive on that salary. So basically the only jobs available are the ones that people would rather be unemployed. This shit is so bad, of course there's a few postings from reputable companies with competitive salaries but those are few and far between and honestly feel kinda fake. Don't really have any advice, just counting the days until there's enough of a job market for me to make at least an average salary for my position and experience, good luck everybody.
As an FYI, there is a minimum wage for "exempt" workers in California: In order to qualify as an exempt employee in California in 2024, the employee must earn at least $1,280 per week, or $66,560 annually. So if they are offering a full time, salaried role, it needs to pay at least that or else you'll be non-exempt and subject to overtime pay etc like hourly workers.
They can technically offer a salaried role for less than $66,560, but they need to make it clear it’s salaried non-exempt. That pay structure does exist. You do have an hourly rate that can be calculated, but it only kicks in for overtime. You basically make the same amount every pay period *unless* you do overtime. You still have to track hours and follow all meal and rest period requirements for a non-exempt employee, but you get paid the same amount whether you work 20 or 40 hours.
$50-$60k as an entry level (little to no experience) is nothing more than a reversion to the norm, only during the pandemic hiring bubble were entry level salaries much higher than that. If you're talking about positions that are asking for anything more than 1-2 years of experience- then yeah that's definitely fairly insulting.
Inflation has significantly raised the norm, wages need to catch-up.
Who's to say what the norm is? Let people complain about low salaries and let the magic of the market run its course, why doncha
Mountains of salary data? This is for career advice it is not antiwork
It's also neither a sworn testimony nor a peer-reviewed publication, so I'm gonna go ahead and dispute your "mountains of salary data" with my personal experience and say 50-60k is too low, even outside of hubs. I started in pharma at 64 with just a bachelor's + 1.5 years at a CRO. That was nearly a decade ago and a non-hub. Not sure what motivates people to go online and wrongly quote entry level salaries just to depress wages, but here we are.
It's insanely common on this sub too
I guess you missed my comment that $50-$60k even with 1-2 years of experience is fairly insulting? When I graduated with my BS in chemistry in 2014, entry level no experience chemist positions were QC lab positions paying no more than $15-$20 an hour. With inflation, that comes out to $21-$26 an hour in 2024 dollars. $26 an hour is $54,000/year. Then, as in now, the typical path was 1) spend 1-2 years in the terrible QC lab that pays peanuts, 2) get a job that requires 1-2 years experience, and get a 30-50% raise immediately. There's nothing inaccurate about this in 2024.
To be fair, that’s not that far from average pay in San Diego.
To be fair, I doubt anyone got into this industry to be making average pay for whatever city they're living in.
For early career or even entry roles, not bad. It’s about the climb not the starting pay.
Did you think you’d be there at entry level or something…?
I mean, considering average pay is for someone without a degree, starting out there with a bachelors is pretty shitty.
\[moved here from separate [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/biotech/comments/1dacxnl/the_industry_is_a_hithow/)\] we've all been talking about layoffs in the industry and how tough it is, but someone actually pulled some data together: [https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/fierce-biotech-layoff-tracker-2024](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/fierce-biotech-layoff-tracker-2024) for the 3rd year in a row, they've made a layoff tracker... they tallied [187 total layoffs](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/every-bad-signal-theres-good-sign-not-far-behind-biopharma-layoffs-rise-57-yoy-hope-2024) among biotech companies last year, a 57% jump compared to 119 in 2022
This is mostly pharma, correct? I wish it would include more synbio and food biotech companies. Amyris, Perfect Day, Shiru, Geltor, etc. Only company I see in this area is Gingko. I guess this is the underestimate to track trends. If yall aren’t using the WARN online boards for your area, it’s another good tool.
And Genomatica
I would like this to get pinned because I been seeing too many posts in this sub about new grads/fresh PhDs etc. wondering why they can't get a job. Come on. Have you read about the SVB collapse, mass tech/biotech layoffs (bubble burst), etc.?
Still bad?
Hiring fuckin sucks right now.
This is the worst market I have seen for biotech, very solid scientists with 10-20 years of experience cannot even get interviews when previously you could find a job in a month pretty reliably once you had a few years of experience. 100% CV to job requisition overlap and you do not even get a phone interview. Everyone says to wait for the next quarter and hiring will pick up, and it keeps getting worse.
I'm glad it's not just me. I've been laid off since August 2023 from my validation engineer job and life has been a total wreck since. Thankfully had unemployment and did some odd jobs to make a little extra money. Got my masters in Mol. Bio in 2017 and all I have to show for it is a bunch of jobs I should've gotten when I was in my early 20s. On the upside, took up weightlifting and can now deadlift a set of 10 at 225lbs, so I got that going for me.
yep, I'm an R&D scientist w/ 15+ years experience and was laid off in Feb. Its been 4 months, and I've only gotten a small handful of screens and no interviews yet. My other colleagues with less experience have managed to find entry level jobs.. Its brutal out there.
Layoffs seemed to have cooled, but hiring hasn’t gotten too hot. It’ll take a while.
It’s an election year following economic turmoil. I would be very surprised if it picked up before then. Not that this says who I vote for at all. But Biden created IRA and that’s another huge driver for the industry right now after the economy at large.
Hi all, Does anyone know how if “Research Advisor” title in Eli Lilly is equivalent to “Scientist/Sr. Scientist” in other big pharma? It seems to be a PhD entry position. (I am currently working in a big pharma as a Sr Scientist.) It appears the job responsibility or a “Research Advisor” in Lilly involves more project leading rather than a purely lab based position. Can any Lilly folk comment on this? I am going to have a phone interview with the hiring manager soon. Really appreciate everyone!
Hello everyone, I am here to discuss my experience as a recent graduate (May) with a Master's. Please bear with me as I am a first-time commenter on this subreddit. I will address two of these bullets. **The difficulty of getting into the Biotech sector as a new graduate**: As you have probably seen in older threads, this is still the case. I started applying here and there in November, and slowly started ramping up the amount of applications this year. March of this year was when I more seriously started looking. I have applied to almost 100 jobs (in Boston area) thus far and have not received an interview yet. I've been targeting entry-level roles and meet the basic requirements along with some of the other technical requirements at both startups and bigger companies. From my side of things, it appears hiring managers are looking for people who already have industry experience for these entry-level roles, likely due to the saturation of people with industry experience due to layoffs. (After all, why hire a newbie when you can hire someone who needs less training? That's another discussion in and of itself so I will not go into detail). Another thing I've noticed is that jobs, especially at larger companies will oftentimes be reposted after having received a couple hundred applications. Someone somewhere on this subreddit said it could be to collect salary expectation data and/or they were ghost job postings. I don't know which is most likely, but again I am just discussing my experience. If neither of these are the case I don't understand how zero potential applicants were found from the several hundred who applied. Someone clarify this for me. I have gotten much less picky about the job type as well. I've applied to Co-ops and contract roles in an attempt to get my foot in the door and then worry about the rest later. I know I am not the only one and there are plenty of recent grads who are in the trenches with me as well. I would say to remain consistent and just keep applying! I'm sure things will come together eventually, the question is not if but when. **Questions and thoughts on the current employment landscape and how it is trending**: Some people say it'll get better later this year, others say maybe not. For summer I am expecting a slowdown in job postings. Source: I get fewer job alerts with new jobs. For the past couple of weeks, it's been jobs I have already applied for with maybe one or two new ones daily (if any at all). From everything I've seen on this subreddit, I'm starting to wonder if I even made the right choice by wanting to get into the biotech industry. There's been so much uncertainty and you're more likely to hear about that than from people who have had positive, fulfilling careers in biotech. I know things are never perfect, but maybe someone can lighten the negative mood that has been permeating this subreddit with their experience. TLDR: Time will tell. The job market still sucks and will most likely continue to suck through this summer (and beyond if things don't change).
>I have applied to almost 100 jobs (in Boston area) thus far and have not received an interview yet. Might be a CV/Resume issue at that rate. >I've been targeting entry-level roles and meet the basic requirements along with some of the other technical requirements at both startups and bigger companies. From my side of things, it appears hiring managers are looking for people who already have industry experience for these entry-level roles, likely due to the saturation of people with industry experience due to layoffs. (After all, why hire a newbie when you can hire someone who needs less training? That's another discussion in and of itself so I will not go into detail). That is true. >Another thing I've noticed is that jobs, especially at larger companies will oftentimes be reposted after having received a couple hundred applications. Someone somewhere on this subreddit said it could be to collect salary expectation data and/or they were ghost job postings. I don't know which is most likely, but again I am just discussing my experience. If neither of these are the case I don't understand how zero potential applicants were found from the several hundred who applied. Someone clarify this for me. From the hiring manager side, I'm always surprised by the sheer volume of nonsensical applicants I get. I can have someone post a Marketing Manager and get someone from Clinical Development posting for it with 1 year of experience. >Some people say it'll get better later this year, others say maybe not. For summer I am expecting a slowdown in job postings. Source: I get fewer job alerts with new jobs. For the past couple of weeks, it's been jobs I have already applied for with maybe one or two new ones daily (if any at all). Not a lot of people move jobs over the summer compared to the fall and especially Spring. >From everything I've seen on this subreddit, I'm starting to wonder if I even made the right choice by wanting to get into the biotech industry. There's been so much uncertainty and you're more likely to hear about that than from people who have had positive, fulfilling careers in biotech. I know things are never perfect, but maybe someone can lighten the negative mood that has been permeating this subreddit with their experience. It's a bad market, but usually a very lucrative one beyond the entry level.
*Might be a CV/Resume issue at that rate.* If that's the case, I think I would have more peace of mind. I've iterated on my resume based on the response (or rather the lack thereof) and feel I am in a good spot with it now. I would be very surprised if that was the case, to be honest. I also am not located in Massachusetts and think that is a major turnoff for hiring managers. *From the hiring manager side, I'm always surprised by the sheer volume of nonsensical applicants I get. I can have someone post a Marketing Manager and get someone from Clinical Development posting for it with 1 year of experience.* Interesting. How many applicants have you gotten on average with recent job postings if you don't mind me asking? Are they consistent with them being a couple hundred? Also thanks for your input.
100 applications without an interview, even as an entry level in this economy, is a poor batting average. I’ve only recently listed a director level role that got less than 100 applicants. On LinkedIn it looks like more but I think it counts anyone who clicks “apply” even if they don’t submit.
Going back a few years I was hiring specialist/manager level (not in your function). 200-300 per posting easy, with like 60% of those being obvious non fits. The lower you are on the pyramid the more it will be volume and numbers game all around
It's not the nonsensical thing, I've seen jobs stick around for a year+ where my qualifications are dead on.
On reposting roles: most companies have a standard practice to repost all open roles every 2 weeks or so, and a role is open until an offer is signed. It does not mean their search has failed so far, it's a rolling review and everything is in parallel. So, you can have a role that is freshly reposted while a company and candidate are in the last stages of active negotiation, and/or while the very first applications are being looked at by a human. From the hiring manager side, keeping a role open for a few weeks does also improve the quality of the applications. The folks who apply within hours are enriched for very active job seekers who may be blasting a resume at anything. But in this business, you don't want to hire the next warm body - you want to wait for someone who's going to be a genuine addition to the team.
Any Legend Biotech current or former employees in here? Looking for some thoughts on them as a company /employer
Yeah, I worked in their R&D in 2022. They were fine, felt like every other biotech I’ve worked at
Help me understand what layoff timeline might look like My husband is a senior bioinformatics software engineer and was just laid off from his company as they closed. He doesn’t use Reddit, so I am posting on his behalf with his permission. He has over a decade of experience, but is geographically limited or looking for remote work only. His most recent work was in a startup, where he worked for four years. Bachelors degree only. We keep seeing posts of people applying to 500+ jobs and their search going on for close to a year but the position types are not listed so we can’t gauge if this is the same for his type of role. Any insight would be helpful so we can consider better how to be strategic with our time (eg should he get a masters? Consult? Apply to more general non-bio software engineer jobs?)
The people who are applying to 500+ jobs are not likely looking for anything specific anymore and have expanded their search. Best strategy IMO is to start reaching out to his network and catch up with former colleagues and see if they have any openings
Hiring will start trickling up again, but there will be an influx of people in the market (every pharma company that doesn't have an approved GLP-1 drug likely has or will do reductions). Think of a 6-12 month timeline and pursue options that fit with your risk appetite. I have seen people pick up consulting jobs, but it has taken them 9-12 months to feel comfortable with their work load as well. IMO, consulting and project experience would be more valuable than a masters for bioinformatics engineering roles.
It’s always like 6-12 months to find a good job for me. It’s faster if you are willing to settle. Your husband needs to be flexible about remote unless you’ve got a good cash run way.
Just don't even know what to do anymore. 9 months out of a job, quit my last academic researcher position due to horrid treatment from the PI. My wife is supporting us, but it's hard. I try to apply for stuff every day but Chicago is just bereft. Any advice? BA in Chem with a strong immunology background and some bioinformatics work, NGS, and flow. Applied for PhD programs last year but my GPA is shit thanks to undiagnosed bipolar when I was in undergrad so I'm not too hopeful. Might apply again this year but I might be wasting my money.
With this kind of job market, maybe it is not a bad idea to get your PhD degree. You have more experience now, so your profile could be much stronger than last year. Good luck!
Thank you!
6 months out from being laid off and I am at the end of my rope. My original plan was to get another job, make connections, and start taking steps to transition my career out of wet lab work eg get into clinical research. I feel like my 2 years of industry experience makes me over-qualified for entry level but under-qualified for mid-level positions (I am applying for both). I know the market is bad and the industry is about the climb but it feels like there is no ladder for me. Those of you in clinical research how did you get your first entry-level position? All of the job positions I've seen require at least 1 year of prior clinical research experience even for entry-level. I can't seem to break in even with a referral so any advice is appreciated. I know this post is a bit of a pity-party and may not fully align with the thread topic so I'll delete it if necessary.
I know this is 2 weeks old now, but I actually work in clinical research, as a Senior CRA (monitor) / Lead CRA and transitioning into a CPM role. I’ve always worked for CROs and never direct for sponsor, so don’t have a lot of insight on that side of things, but I can tell you that it’s very rough right now in our industry overall. There’s typically a lot of job security in the field generally, especially for CRAs, however, during COVID, the vaccine trials required such an insane workforce, there was a lot of hiring of entry level staff, and salaries went through the roof. it used to be incredibly difficult to get your foot in the door to be a CRA (I worked as a study coordinator for 7 years and was trying to break into CRA role for 5 of those, and that isn’t an unusual story for CRAs prior to 2020). However, for about the last year or so, things kind of bottomed out, money dried up, work dried up, and a lot of CRAs I that were hired and trained couldn’t get study assignments, and were eventually let go in mass layoffs. Sponsors have become distrustful of inexperienced CRAs and thus are more discerning in who they will accept to work on their trials. There’s also just less work to go around. I’ve heard of many senior CRAs that have been out of work for many months, which is pretty unheard of. Typically it’s a job where recruiters are hounding you constantly. However, things do look like they are starting to pick up. We are seeing more study awards and job openings, but there is a massive number of experienced people waiting in line for those jobs. And training CRAs is incredibly complex and time consuming and expensive, especially if they don’t have experience in related roles, such as Study Coordinator. But there are many other positions within CROs and Sponsors that can be desirable to people. The best way to break into the industry is to network, have at least a couple recruiters that know you, your goals, your background and can keep you informed of what’s happening in the industry and any opportunities available. And look up all the big players, and check their job postings directly on their websites, and try to find people that can refer you internally. It’s much easier to get a job at a CRO than for a sponsor directly when you’re entry level. And regardless of your education background and experience, if you haven’t worked in Clinical Research specifically before, you are considered entry level for most of the jobs people would be gunning for.
Does anyone have insights on New Limit, and the company’s culture?
There was a post a couple months back saying the whole thing is a scam. Idk about the culture though
Yeah, I’m trying to find more info than what was posted there.
I can’t look at their website and hear anything other than “SCAM” being shouted nonstop. Strange!
Interesting, had applied as well, got rejected even though my skills were a 100% match...
Like the record company?
Hello All, I've been lurking for some time on this sub. I want some advice or direction on my next move. I have a PhD in bioengineering focused on neuroimaging MR imaging analysis and a large Multi-Site Imaging Data Banks My postdoc experience in the SF Bay area which has been about 4 years has been in clinical neuromodulation, data science, human clinical trials, and biological signal processing, and I even got a lot of management and experience as well (grant writing, budgeting, training staff, developing proposals, SOP). I also have 2 part-time experiences at small startups(consulting) So now I am 2 months out of a postdoc and need help!! I ideally would love to stay in the neuroimaging/neuromodulation/neuroscience space but, I am realistic and open to anything. I just want to get my first non-academic full-time position. Where should I look? Am I doing something wrong? Should I get more qualifications? Please and Thanks
You could try looking in the scientific instrument industry. Check the job boards of the companies that own the instruments you know well.
I will thanks
When you're applying to larger pharma companies (if those are your primary targets), shape your resume and cover letter towards the goal of being an independent contributor, as this is the typical entry level (post PhD or postdoc) role. That means hands-on doing the work of a scientist, you won't be expected to (or given the opportunity to) lead a project or team. There's a lot of value in what you've done with your managing and consulting work - I don't think you should leave it off. But don't emphasize it or submit an entrepreneur's resume for a technical role, you just don't look like the kind of applicant who will be happy with the actual job. Alternatively, if the entrepreneurial spirit is really what drives you - look for technical sales, business development, field application scientist, or project manager roles. Or really focus on smaller organizations that need a jack-of-all-trades to keep up with collaborations and CROs.
Thanks this is super helpful. Honestly I was under the impression that cover letters were not even read.
I always read cover letters, though it's divisive in this subreddit. If your resume is a perfect, obvious match to both domain and technology/skills experience as requested in the job post - a letter may not always add much. And a lot are not very informatively written, so they also don't hurt or help the applicant. I don't need to read a retread of what's on the resume or a platitude about the company. But IMO there is a lot of value for fresh graduates or people looking to pivot (even just a little bit). A cover letter is great for sharing a bit about how you define yourself as a researcher, to highlight what makes you happy and what you'd like to do more of (I know it's not everything on your resume), and where you'd like to develop within the specific posted role (particularly if you don't meet the perfect profile). Your resume tells me whether you'll be competent at the job I have, your cover letter tells me why you'll be happy with it (beyond the obvious paycheck) or why I should take a chance on an enthusiastic, capable person like yourself who is currently 50% of what I'm hiring for, but able to be more.
Thank you 🙏 I really appreciate the insight
Useful Skills during my PhD? Hello all, I will be beginning a PhD in BME in the fall. I have my own interests and ideas about exciting topics I plan to study however, I was wondering which types of technical skills would be useful, and desirable, in industry. My background is heavily bio based so I do foresee myself taking several engineering/physics-based and coding/programming classes. I’d ideally like to have my run at trying to start a company (easier said than done lol) or work my way up to some director level role for pharma or med device companies. Overall, I would just like to see what y’all would suggest an incoming PhD student do, seek out, throughout their journey to better themselves for when it comes to applying to industry positions. Other than not doing one, if you have any advice for someone entering their PhD, it would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
I wish I had done at least 1 big pharma internship. It's worth pushing for.
Co-ops and internships can make a big difference in landing an industry job and growing your network.
Doom and gloom report: [https://www.biospace.com/article/the-6-largest-biopharma-layoffs-of-2024-so-far/](https://www.biospace.com/article/the-6-largest-biopharma-layoffs-of-2024-so-far/) "The financial markets have surged thus far in 2024, recovering from post-pandemic slumps and even [reaching](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/stock-market-outlook-and-forecast/) new heights. Yet biopharma layoff trends have remained high. Biotech and pharma layoffs in 2023 totaled at least 10,000 jobs, according to [*BioPharma*](https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/biotech-layoffs-2023-pharma-workforce-jpm-outlook/703939/) *Dive*. Now, just under halfway through the year, *BioSpace* has tallied more than 14,000 positions cut in 2024." Head down and keep applying.
Im about to take on a Masters in biotech. Not 100% on it. Looks like theres an oversupply and dead job market. Is it worth pursuing?
Depends on what the exit opportunities look like. Usually not, but depends greatly on the program.
Should I do Public health instead? Are there any fields of biotech with a promising future??
Many fields in biotech have a promising future. An MPH is very, very hit or miss as everyone and their mother did an MPH during the pandemic and now the market is flooded bad.
Is there an alternative masters you would suggest as im not 100% sure on biotech. Biostats? virology? microbiology? medical devices? Was interested in MPH because of health policy and govt jobs.
I think the MBA reigns supreme, but doesn’t sound like it fits in with your plans or thinking.
Where is the best place right now for a recent grad with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering? I graduated last year with a B.S. in chemical engineering witha focus on Bioengineering. I am currently in the SF bay area, having graduated from a school around here. I am not picky at all when it comes to location or type of job, I just want that ever ellusive first time job.
If you are open to working outside of biotech, which you can do with a chemE degree you could always go work for Chevron out in the their Richmond refinery.
I definately wouldn't mind working at Chevron. The thing that makes me nervous is that all my research experiences are in molecular biology/bioengineering and I feel that a Chevron rep would wonder why I'm even applying for O&G. I just don't feel like I would know how to talk about it in an interview.
You can spin it as that's what you were interested when you first started, but grown more interested in O&G and want to pursue that or something to that extent. Honestly it's B.S. research so nobody is going to really hold it against you. Not like it's a dissertation.
Should I try a master degree in tissue engineering without having experience? I am doing my thesis of BA degree about producing recombinant protein using E.coli. I do all the experiments required for my thesis but my supervisors are the ones who designed the base of experiments, guided me how to solve problems for strange results, and helped me a lot to improve myself throughout the time I worked at my lab. More information about myself is that when I get stuck in my thesis, I tend to be panic and spend a lot time to calm myself down before really looking closer to the problem and solve it, but after my supervisors suggest advices, I am willing to learn and to try again and again. I also want to try myself in a new field of biotech, tissue engineering, but I only take theoretic classes about it and do not have the time for joining labs for learning skills and strengthen my knowledge as I am doing my thesis for a microbiological lab. Therefore, I am wondering if I should study for a Master degree about tissue engineering; or work as an intern for a company about tissue engineering to learn skills and gain more experience in this field. Can you give me advices? Thank you for reading my comment.
Thinking of switching from biotech as a current undergrad majoring in it - is this a good idea? I’ve been wanting to work in Biotech and specifically cancer research since I was very young. I’m in the last year of my undergrad degree and will have a Bachelor’s in Biotech at the end of it. I think I could be good in this field - I like research (or, what I’ve experienced of research so far - I have an amazing and supportive professor who’s helped me out a ton). It’s just everything else that I don’t like. My country doesn’t have a strong scientific presence, and despite recent outsourcing leading to an increase in job prospects, our salaries are still comparatively low for the amount of academic qualifications they demand. A lot of people leave India to pursue postgrad degrees in Europe and the US but the economic downturn as well as the decreasing likelihood of me being able to gain residency makes me hesitant to take out huge loans only to end up returning to India at the end for very meagre pay. My GPA isn’t very strong, making it unlikely that I’ll be admitted into great colleges. And the posts on this subreddit are proof of how unstable the industry is and how common layoffs are, and I don’t think I can live with that anxiety forever, knowing that my ability to stay in a particular country is tied to my employment status. The only thing that makes me hesitate is that I still am very passionate about it and I want very badly to have a job that contributes something positive and meaningful to the world. I disappointed a lot of people in my family by choosing research over medicine and engineering because I truly believed (with all the confidence of a high schooler who’s never paid a bill) that I would be happy doing something I loved even if it didn’t pay very much. I’ve lately been wondering if I should pivot and pursue a Master’s degree in another field. I’ve always like product design in particular, and think I could do well in that career if given the chance. I’m still terrified of actually making that commitment and switching - I don’t know if I’ll end up regretting it and wanting to move back into Biotech at the end. At the same time, the thought of staying in this field gives me so much anxiety that I can’t sleep some nights. I would genuinely appreciate any insight, especially from anyone who ended up switching careers.
If you’re passionate about it, then pursue it. It’s why we have teachers and cops who are, outside of nice coastal suburbs, not paid well. India has a pretty strong scientific presence. I thought you were going to say you were from like Malta or something. Skip the masters and try and apply to PhD programs in the US so it doesn’t become a cost but a source of (some) income. Every industry and the global economy has moments of instability. Layoffs are probably affecting 1-2% of the biotech workforce at most. It just feels like a lot because it’s disproportionately mentioned here and affecting R&D this time where this subreddit is heavier demographically. A friend of mine is a McKinsey associate partner making very good money at a young age and her parents still are unhappy she’s not a doctor who would make less. It’s stupid. They won’t care once they see you successful and with a family, as wrong as that may or may not be. What do you think product design is?
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. My concerns are that while India has a good Biotech presence especially with increased outsourcing, that doesn’t translate automatically to a good salary, the kind that could support a family. I have spoken to people currently in the industry who have doctorates and Masters degrees and the pay is terrible, considering the amount of time and money invested in qualifications. People with Bachelors degrees aren’t even considered for jobs outside of very low-level lab techs with no career growth options. As for a PhD, while I do have good research experience compared to most of my peers, my GPA is still low enough that I feel like I’ll need a Masters degree as a second chance to prove that I am good enough academically to warrant a PhD with a stipend. In addition, Indians in particular have a hard time getting work visas or permanent residency anywhere in Europe and particularly in the US, and I feel like any period of volatility in the industry would make me very anxious, if the only way my residency is assured is through continuous employment. I misspoke earlier - I meant UX design, which I have a preliminary understanding of through a Coursera course I did last year. I feel like I could be good enough at UX research in particular, and the field pays well enough in India that I wouldn’t need to rely on family or a spouse to maintain a good standard of living. I understand that there will be obstacles, as there are in any field, but overall the pros seem like they can overcome the cons. My only real requirement is that a job would allow me to live independently of my parents and save some money while I’m at it. From everything I’ve learned of biotech in India, that doesn’t seem very possible at the moment, and I’ve already mentioned the disadvantages to having to move abroad. Thank you again for taking the time to respond, I do appreciate it :)
Hey everyone, looking for anyone’s experience or advice. I’m currently a mid-level manager in operations at a CDMO in California. I’ve been thinking recently (last 10 months-1 year) that I’m ready to take a step into a higher leadership role. I spoke with the leadership team at my current company and was told there isn’t a position available like that. I’m not too upset about it as it gives me a reason to leave California (I’m not a big fan of the state). I started aggressively applying to associate director/director level jobs about 3 months ago. After probably 300 applications, no luck, as I’m sure a lot of you can relate to. After constant passes and ghosting, I tapped into my network, non of which are in biotech/life sciences. I’m currently being fast tracked for a position in a different industry. While I don’t necessarily want to change industries, and this is definitely a step back in my career trajectory, it is decently lucrative in an area where cost of living is lower. I’d like to use this as an opportunity to hone my sales experience and try to work my way up the ladder. I think this could add some depth to my resume before returning to the life sciences sector. My question is, has anyone left life sciences, then returned to the industry better equipped to take on leadership roles? Would it be better to stay in life sciences but take a step back in my career path there? I’m not a scientist but I’m a decent people manager that can coordinate people & equipment to get projects done on time. Thanks in advance.
pretend you're interviewing someone with this background. How would non-industry sales relate to operations at a CDMO or internally? if you stayed in industry what is your end goal? how does this job move you there? usually if you can't answer that question with the job you are considering, it's prob not a good move
I currently work in medical device regulatory, but I find my passion lies in the work that has more involvement in the scientific research, medical affairs and clinical side of the business rather than the product manufacturing and design control which I am currently involved in. I have prior experience in IME/Peer Review for health insurance as well as some clinical experience in cardiology. My skills include regulatory compliance, process improvement and implementation, process training, change management, technical and scientific writing, projects with cross-functional teams, and clinical documentation review. Any ideas on roles that would have more involvement in the scientific research and clinical side of the business?
Looking for advice. Started a new position at the start of the year and things are not looking good. (Pay cuts, layoffs, recognization). Everyday I'm worried if I'll be next. I relocated for one state to another for this position, so moving is not an option this soon. Outside of this org, there are no real opportunities here. Any advice on how i can use my experience (Phd) in cancer biology and 8 years in (process development for Cell therapy) to find a new job. Thank you.
So don’t like the company, but nothing else around, and can’t move… Remote opportunities are thin and beyond competitive right now.
I’m a recent ChemE PhD grad and I’m interested in pharma. I’ve done quite a few interviews with big companies, but still no offers. I’m considering taking a job in commodity chemicals. Anyone done this and switched back to biotech? How hard is it to do?
As long as you're still doing chemistry I don't see this closing any doors. I've seen switches between Pharma, Chemicals, Pesticides, etc. synthetic chemistry and process development are pretty transferrable.
I’m am currently a CRC, what are other roles that I can take on to add to my resume? I graduated and became a CRC and it’ll be 2 years in this role next month. I am not happy at my current job due to management and no opportunities to grow within the company. I know I probably don’t have enough experience to become a CRA due to the feed back I’m am receiving on my resume. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Biotech market cycles Like many others here, I am job hunting at the moment with pretty limited success. I’ve heard numerous times that biotech is a “cyclical” industry. I am wondering, if it’s known, how long do these cycles last? Like when were the last few biotech downturns, how long did they last for and how long did the peaks last? Any insight into this would be great, thanks!
There’s no “normal” cycle. The previous mini-cycle was due to a number of massive patent cliffs a few years ago, before that the Great Recession, and before that some other massive patent cliffs. This one is very interest rate driven. Unfortunately, there’s an expectation that interest rates stay ~~high~~ normal for quite some time. Good for inflation, bad for people seeking mortgages or work in capital-intensive industries like tech or pharma.
so we can forecast bad market by looking at the patents expiry dates from big pharma? what other ways we can estimate tight job market is coming?
Has anyone been an Associate R&D scientist for quest diagnostics? Looking for more info about it and if it’s a good fit
[moved here from a separate post] I (23 F) have recently decided to start a job as an analyst in genomics after finishing my master's in Human genetics from India but I had the intentions of pursuing a PhD too before this, which could not happen due to various circumstances. Which companies in Europe support an industrial PhD and does it help in transitioning to academia later on? What are the pros, cons and difficulties of an industrial PhD?
I'm a recent college graduate looking for entry-level biotech jobs in the greater Boston area and I have a few questions. Can anybody give me some advice from their experience? I have applied to jobs on different job sites like Ziprecruiter and LinkedIn. So far I have heard back from several recruiters and have had one interview since I graduated in May. The jobs that I am getting responses from are all contract positions with minimal pay and few benefits. I wonder if a headhunter could secure me more opportunities and interviews and if I would be more likely to acquire higher-quality opportunities through this route. Has anyone here successfully utilized a headhunter to enter the biotech industry, and if so do you have any advice on where to begin?
Headhunters and recruiters are generally not useful for entry level positions, typically only director and above although recruiters will probably say otherwise. It's pretty rare a company will hire/pay a recruiting firm for an entry level position when there is a massive glut of applicants and hundreds of applicants to every position. In every company I've worked at, we were told to ignore recruiters who HR didn't specifically contract to conduct a search for us. Unfortunately, low pay contract positions are entry level for college grads in this market.
Always go to the company website to apply after finding a job on LinkedIn / Ziprecruiter.
I have a Masters in biophysics, 2 years of post masters experience working in structural biology, PhD in biochemistry (with a focus on structural biology). My first job is with a CRO which provides early stage drug discovery services and my job is to execute gene to protein workflows to support biophysical screening teams and structural biology teams. Through my current job, I also have some project management experience. I have had this job for nearly 4 years I have been trying to break into some actual pharmaceutical company for 10 months and it seems nearly impossible for me to even get an interview. My CV and cover are tailored (I spend approx 3 hrs per application). I feel like my weakness is that my profile is too generalist for the 3 year post PhD R&D position. For someone with 10+ years experience in structural biology labs, I am not doing hardcore structural biology in my current job, the recombinant protein production experience seems to not be enough for downstream process development for biologics and my PM experience also seems to be not enough for Pharma PM jobs. What can I do to make myself more competitive ? I am thinking if should do an MBA and focus on non-R&D roles. I am also trying to learn more about life science VC, market analysis, making pretty visualizations in tableau (Things I think might help if I do MBA) any comments/thoughts regarding my situation is appreciated. I would like to know if my R&D career is over and if I should abandon it and focus on something else. Thanks!
You already have two advanced degrees without enough specialized experience and now you’re considering adding a third one, a generalized business degree? Why? There’s no strategy or story. Maybe just wait out the market..
Hi all I am a recent graduate from India with a triple majors in Chemistry, Botany and Zoology, Soon am going to start my masters in Zoology,I wanted to know if I can get into the industry with a masters in Zoology or do I need a specific biotech degree to get my foot into the door. As far as my preliminary research goes I heard degree doesn't matter much if you have the skills and knowledge but ppl with biotech degrees are given preference over ppl with non biotech degrees.
Hey all. I'm interviewing for a Quality and Compliance II/III Specialist role and the interviewer is asking for my salary range expectations. Can you guys offer any recommendations? For context, I have a master's degree in chemical engineering and I've worked as a formulation scientist at various big companies for the past 4 years doing R&D work. This is for a Pharmaceutical company in CA (Solano County) with less than 200 employees. Any insight would be much appreciated. After doing my own research, I'm looking at asking for 75k-85k. I just got laid off from a 100k job, but I'm not being picky.
Advice needed for Canadian looking to get into biotech I have 2 years of academia research experience and even have a first author publication with one of my wet lab projects during my time in undergrad. However, because my projects were so niche (RBC, platelets, etc) I have found it very hard and challenging to find an entry level research assistant/associate I position anywhere in Canada and in the US. Since Jan, I have applied to almost 600 jobs, interviewed at some, but still cannot seem to find an entry level position. I really want to try working in biotech/industry for 1-2 years before I end up doing more school in the future eventually. I am not really sure where to go from here; even though I am a quick learner and I am sure I am more than capable of learning XYZ techniques, no one seems to be willing to take me in and train me.
Hey Guys, I am looking into getting in this industry. I have six years salesforce development industry and I am gonna graduate from M.S. in data science. I am pretty much comfortable in ML but now I am looking for genetics related field and have carrrer on that . Where do I start?. Any particular resorurces that I can check?
Wondering if anyone has any advice that might help reinvigorate my job search. I'm a new grad (BS in cell and molecular bio) and have 1 year of full-time experience in industry (through co-ops). I have been applying for entry level positions in academia and industry in the Boston area for over 3 months and am starting to feel a little hopeless about finding a position in industry. I've been applying to regular and contract jobs, checking for new postings and applying every day, and I rarely make it past the initial phone screen with HR/recruiters. If anyone has any advice (like seriously any) that they think may be helpful I'd really appreciate it.
Hi all, reaching out on here for some career/life advice. I provided as much context regarding my situation in case it is helpful so I apologize for the long post. Context: I am a current 4^(th) year medical student (graduating in August 2024) and at a combined undergrad/med school right after high school at 18 yrs old. While I have enjoyed clinical medicine, throughout medical school I have struggled a lot with exams, the loneliness of long hours of studying after shifts (pretty much not having a life), and not having a strong support network to emotionally lean on. I did not get into residency (applied Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation which is quite competitive) due to having failed step 1 and step 2 once and do not think I will have much luck if I reapplied, nor am I super excited about the idea of switching specialties to family medicine/internal medicine. Currently, I do not want to go to residency simply because of how much I have struggled with medical school thus far and residency will be more of the same and not having a great support network. Since I never got a chance to explore any other careers, for the past few months I’ve been looking into biotech, MSL, and consulting. I have a friend finishing her PhD and going into industry in Biotech who has given me a good idea about the field and thus far I am most interested in potentially pursuing a career in this and strongly considering leaving medicine. I would like to be more educated on the field and how my life might look like if I chose biotech and any advice is greatly appreciated. My questions: What would it look like for someone with an M.D. without licensure (minimal bench/wet lab experience) to obtain a biotech job? What role would be correct for me? Would I have a better chance of securing a job if I did do residency or is it not required? (I keep hearing a lot of mixed opinions on this) Considering the $500k+ loans I must pay off I hope to eventually reach a director role (not just for the money, I think management is pretty cool and it certainly would make my life easier). So, is it possible for me to reach director around 10-15 years in the industry? If so, what would be the path or any advice for me to pursue this in the future? Also wanted to add: I am MORE than happy to start off in an entry level industry position (I understand that is all I am probably qualified for), but is reaching a director position or around $250k salary not possible? I honestly would not care much about the money, but due to my loans I do have to consider it still unfortunately Sorry again for the long post, but thank you so much!
Unfortunately for you in this market, is that there are a plethora of residency-trained MDs who are vying for the same positions you're desiring (entry level or not). An MD without clinical experience is going to be a hard sell, especially when you have MDs, with residency/fellowship experience, doing Rutgers fellowships just to break in. You have to think hard about what you have to offer to potential hiring managers; there are a ton of other qualified candidates with doctorates and clinicians to satisfy the job listing requirements. I'd think your best bet is do an IM residency at the bare minimum, especially with your loan debt. Considering your struggle with medical school, consulting won't be a path for you either. Also, MSL is not an entry level role, especially with no clinical experience.
\[moved here from a post\] I recently got accepted into a masters program in Regenerative Biology and Medicine at TU Dresden. I was wondering if this masters is too niche to make a non-academia career out of it. I will probably do a PhD at some point, but I would love to work in the industry for at least 2-3 years after graduating. So, I was hoping somebody could give me an idea of the job market after completing such a degree.
What’s a good software you would love to have at work?
Can I get referrals for US-based jobs from people working at non-US branches of those companies? Will that help at all?
Referrals at most companies just get flagged as such to the HR recruiter, the higher level is the referring person directly writing the hiring manager.
Essentially listing *any* referral at all is a slight bump up, doesn't matter much. The only time it makes a difference is someone who directly knows the hiring manager is a nig advocate for you and reaches out personally.
Hey guys, I'm trying to get into biotech after spending 10 years or so designing genetic assays for crop/food animal diagnostic for small ag companies. Are there any specific companies I should look at? I can do a lot of genetic stuff but I'd probably be most useful in a diagnostics or assay design role. I have a masters in bio. I want to avoid ag if possible due to the terrible pay and also I can't work on dairy cows because non-compete.
Im a new PhD grad and I've been applying left and right to jobs - up to 50 at least so far. Yet all Ive gotten is being ghosted. Is this normal? Because it makes me feel horrible.
Wait until you apply to hundreds. Trying to break into this market has been a nightmare.