Your First Pharma Job

The Blue Sky Resumes blog has a great post, the 7 Mistakes You’re Probably Making on LinkedIn.

The pharmaceutical and biotech sectors have been enthusiastic adopters of this social networking site. If you’ve ever wondered how to find the names of people to call for informational interviews, or for personalizing your cover letters, this is your answer.

These days, LinkedIn should definitely be a part of your networking strategy but you can’t just put up a profile and forget it.   Louise Fletcher’s advice will help your profile get attention.

If you’re trying to land a clinical research job, you should apply these tips on how to write a clinical research resume to your profile as well. Be sure to sign up for some LinkedIn groups that relate to your career goals (e.g. the Good Clinical Practice group).

In a future post, we’ll talk about how to use LinkedIn to actively build relationships, and discuss the value of other niche social networking sites.

Informational interviews, Resources, Resumes & CVs, networking LinkedIn, networking, resume, social networking

Medical Science Liaison jobs are often seen as the “Golden Ticket” for advanced degree holders looking at career options in the pharmaceutical industry. The thought of receiving a six-figure salary to travel from place to place discussing the latest scientific research is incredibly alluring, and many PhDs and postdocs see the skill sets required as a “perfect match” for their own experiences carrying out research and making presentations. But for most, MSL jobs remain out of reach, because they don’t think carefully about what the industry is looking for in applicants.

Approximately 80% of Medical Science Liaisons hold advanced degrees (PhD, PharmD or MD). Companies prefer to hire people with these degrees because they are seen as more credible when discussing scientific research, and because their advanced training gives them a kind of parity with the doctors they work with. If you don’t have an advanced degree, your chances of landing an MSL job are very limited, and if you do, it almost certainly won’t be your first pharma job. In your position, I would recommend approaching these MSL jobs laterally, by succeeding as a medical sales representative and switching over to the more consultative MSL role after proving yourself.

If you hold a  PharmD or MD, you don’t have the same hurdles to jump as PhDs, who may be perceived as too narrowly focused and insufficiently patient-centred. Instead, you simply need to continue developing your presentation skills and knowledge of the clinical trials process. Communication skills are the #1 challenge that limits the success of internationally-trained MDs in applying for MSL roles. If you think this might be the case for you, consider investing in an accent-reduction training program.

The remainder of this article will be most useful to those who are at the beginning or midway through a postgraduate program (PhD or possibly postdoc) in the life sciences.

Read more…

Marketing, Medical Science Liaisons, Resources, networking Medical Affairs, Medical Science Liaison, MSL, networking, Phase IIIB, Phase IV, PhD, Scientific Development Associate

Here in Toronto, the MaRS Discovery District is a biotechnology research hub that was specifically developed to connect the science, business and finance communities.

If there is a biotechnology hub like this near you, it can be a great resource for your job search. MaRS frequently holds events and seminars that allow students and interested members of the public to learn more about all aspects of the biotechnology sector.  One series of lectures, called Entrepreneurship 101, is especially useful for getting a behind-the-scenes look at what’s involved in the operation of a biotech business.

Not in Toronto?  Never fear!  The Entrepreneurship 101 lectures are available for free online as webcasts.

This particular session, “Managing your Career - how to sell yourself and manage your career goals“, is of particular relevance for this blog. Teresa Snelgrove, an executive recruiter specializing in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector, and Frederic Sweeney, a scientist who left the lab to start a career in finance, both share insights into the job search and career development.

You can view the webcast here, and download a PDF of the presentation here (requires a free slideshare registration).

A webcast of a previous version of the same presentation can be viewed here.  You may also want to check out the full archive of Entrepreneurship 101 presentations.

Education, Resources, Resumes & CVs, networking caree, career, finance, networking, recruiters, video, webcast

When you’re applying for a  job in the biotechnology sector, one of the best ways to set yourself apart from the competition is through the knowledge of the industry you bring to the table.

If you’ve ever thought of taking your PhD into the world of high finance, or dreamed of starting your own company someday, then the free e-book, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to a Biotech Startup is a must-read — but understanding how all the different parts of a biotech company work together will help you in your biotech career no matter what you do.

No job exists in a vacuum. You may be applying for a job as a preclinical scientist, but if you understand how the work you do at the bench relates to the rest of the company — intellectual property, regulatory affairs, technology transfer and more — then you are in a position to deliver real value.

The Guide is a phenomenal resource for understanding how biotech companies are put together.  The author, Peter Kolchinsky, is a Harvard-trained virologist who finished his PhD and began working as an investment analyst in the biotech sector. The guide clearly explains how biotech firms are built from the ground up, beginning with an idea, and moving chapter by chapter through the business plan, legal issues, staffing, public relations, business development and more, all the way to raising capital and going public with an IPO. The chapters on drug pricing principles and clinical development are fantastic introductions to these fields for anyone exploring a career in health economics or clinical research.

The book closes with a brief note on networking, and I think the closing paragraphs are too good not to share:

“Knowing someone involves more than remembering their face and name. Well-networked people . . . find opportunities to interact with the same people on multiple occasions. Like a finger-drawing on a fogged window, a network must be traced and retraced or else it disappears.”

The best thing about the guide?  It’s free! You just need to register at Evelexa BioResources, a site full of information about biotech ventures, and you’ll be able to download it as a PDF.

Resources biotech, book review, clinical development, entrepreneur, finance, health economics, networking, startup

Here’s another great resource for your pharmaceutical job search: Career Opportunities in Biotechnology and Drug Development, by Toby Freedman.

Freedman has put together a solid resource for finding jobs and developing your career in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. At 409 hardcover pages, this isn’t the kind of book you can slip in a pocket to browse on the subway — it’s a comprehensive guide that I could see being an invaluable aide to finding your first job in the biotech industry.

Early chapters on resume writing and interview techniques, including informational interviewing, are brief but well-written and useful. If you’ve read a lot of career guides, these chapters probably aren’t going to teach you anything you haven’t heard before.  The real meat of this book is the industry-specific information that follows.

In an excellent overview chapter, Freedman explains the breadth of the industry, and summarizes the different product development pathways followed by therapeutic, nontherapeutic, and medical device companies.

Next, individual chapters, each about 20 pages long, cover a wide range of career pathways: drug discovery, preclinical research, project management, clinical development, medical affairs, regulatory affairs, quality assurance and quality control, operations, product development, business development, sales, marketing, and corporate communications. Chapters on executive management, legal affairs, finance, management consulting and even recruiting round out this comprehensive guide.

Each chapter includes ’snapshots’ of various roles and offers a thoughtful analysis of both the positive and negative aspects of a given job.  For example, in clinical development, Freedman notes that “Original and applied clinical research is exciting.  Outcomes are unknown until trials are completed, and each trial is unique. Your work is close to the market”, but “There is frequent pressure to meet constantly looming deadlines, and the objectives often seem to be ‘too much, too soon, with too little’”. When you’re just starting out, and trying to decide what path to follow, knowing the downside of a job can be very useful information.

Naturally, salaries and compensation are a matter for discussion, as is the potential for career development, and a look at how future trends might influence job security for each role is useful in today’s economic times.

Perhaps most usefully for job seekers, Freedman clearly lays out job requirements and typical pathways into the role, and offers tips that could be helpful for getting one’s foot in the door.  Descriptions of what it takes to excel in a role, and qualities common to good candidates are also helpful.

This guide isn’t cheap, and it isn’t very portable — but if you are looking for a career in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector, this book should be at your side.

Clinical research, Interviewing, Marketing, Medical Science Liaisons, Preclinical R&D, Regulatory affairs, Resources, Resumes & CVs biotechnology, book review, career, freedman, jobsearch

There is a secret weapon that can help you get on the inside track in your job search, and it’s free.  A wide variety of pharmaceutical trade journals cover every aspect of the industry from early-stage drug design all the way to marketing. Trade journals are basically news magazines with a very specific focus. They contain articles and advertising content that is highly targeted to specific industry niches.  For example, Applied Clinical Trials is focused on clinical research professionals and the challenges of designing and executing clinical trials, whereas Contract Pharma offers content specific to outsourced drug manufacturing.

Many trade journal publishers offer free subscriptions — all you need to do is fill out a form. A number of sites (like this one) allow you to quickly review and sign up for multiple journals.  However, if you don’t meet the publisher’s criteria for a free subscription, don’t despair.  Most of these magazines make their content available free online.

So, how can reading trade publications help you find your first pharmaceutical or biotech job?

1. In today’s tough economic times, companies aren’t interested in spending a lot of time and money on bringing people up to speed on the basics of their business. Reading the trades can help you understand what’s really involved in the careers that interest you.
2. If you use the trades to learn the acronyms and buzzwords, and familiarize yourself with key issues and new developments, you’ll be able to hold an intelligent conversation with professionals in the field and make a great first impression at networking events, informational interviews, and in cover letters.
3. Not only do trade magazines often include job advertisements, but they’re a treasure trove of company information that you can use to identify firms that might have unadvertised openings.
4. You can follow up with the authors of articles to build your network. Expressing your genuine interest in their article may give you an opening to ask for advice and referrals.

So don’t delay — read a trade today!

Informational interviews, Resources applied clinical trials, contract pharma, informational interviewing, trade magazines

Signing up for a formal academic program is one way to put yourself on the fast track to a career in pharmaceutical regulatory affairs.

The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) is a great clearinghouse of information.  If you’re interested in a career in regulatory affairs, it’s a great place to learn more about the role.  Membership isn’t cheap ($185), but it is significantly discounted for current students, and includes a subscription to Regulatory Focus magazine, discounts on educational programs, and access to networking opportunities. RAPS offers online courses that may help give you the knowledge you need to land an entry-level role and maintains a list of degree and certificate programs offered at academic institutions worldwide.

Their career information page includes a number of free articles about the regulatory affairs profession.  One of them explains what to look for if you’ve decided to sign up for an academic regulatory affairs program.

Regulatory Academic Programs: Deciding to Participate and Selecting a Quality Program (this is a PDF file.)

Here are 10 things the article suggests you look for:

1. A diverse curriculum, covering not just drugs but also devices, biologics, and foods and cosmetics.
2. A focus on the practical implementation of regulatory issues. Theory is one thing, real-world applications are another.
3. High-caliber academic staff with extensive, recent, real-world experience in regulatory affairs.
4. Instructional variety, incorporating not just lectures but case studies, multimedia, mock audits and team projects
5. Networking opportunities — a chance to learn and develop connections with your fellow students and instructors.
6. Convenience. Many programs can be completed part-time. Online courses can let you learn from home.
7. Flexibility.
8. Supportive administrative staff.
9. Affordability.
10. Reputation.  A certificate from “Joe’s Auto Lube and Reg Affairs Academy” won’t have the same value as successful completion of a program that’s known and respected by the industry.

Industry associations, Regulatory affairs, Training Education, industry association, RAPS, regulatory, Regulatory affairs

A thorough knowledge of good clinical practice is essential for landing a job as a clinical research associate, assistant, or coordinator.

Instead of paying a lot for an online ICH-GCP training program, you can learn what you need for free from these video seminars.  The site provides a series of lectures covering various aspects of the GCP guidelines.  It was designed to train physicians in South America and it’s affiliated with Pfizer and MIT, so you can trust what they tell you.  The only bad thing about it is that you’ll need to install RealPlayer (or the Real Alternative codec pack).

Here are the lecture topics:

• Clinical Research: An Overview
• Historical Development of International Regulations in Clinical Research
• Overview of the ICH GCP Guidelines
• The Institutional Review Board/The Ethics Committee
• Informed Consent
• Phases of Drug Development
• Clinical Trial Design
• Basic Concepts in Applied Statistics
• Publishing Clinical Trial Results
• Evaluation of a Clinical Research Site
• The Protocol as a Clinical Research Tool
• Trial Documents
• The Responsibilities of Conducting a Clinical Trial
• Clinical Supplies Management
• Safety Reporting Responsibilities
• Guidelines for CRF Completion
• Trial Monitoring
• Audit of a Clinical Trial Site
• Clinical Research in the 21st Century: Areas for Future Research
• ICIC: A Model of a Private Health Institution for Clinical Research

And here’s the link: Good Practices in Clinical Research.

Clinical research, Education, ICH-GCP, Resources, Training clinical, clinicalresearch, CRA, Education, GCP, ICH-GCP, Training

When you are beginning your job search, you need all the resources you can get. I’d like to recommend two great books that can help you get off to a great start.

The first is Put Your Science to Work, by Peter Fiske. Fiske himself has a PhD, and he has done a great job of putting together specific advice for science grads. This guide is not specific to jobs in the pharmaceutical or biotech sectors, and in fact Fiske encourages science grads to think broadly about how their skills can fit into a wide variety of careers. He explains that while graduate school studies may appear very esoteric and specific, they actually provides students with excellent training in a wide variety of transferable skills that are valuable in a wide range of business contexts. His guide helps science students to take a step back and evaluate their skills and experience in a broader context. His approach is encouraging and optimistic and I think many science graduates would benefit from his perspective on the job search. Well worth buying as a general career guide for those coming from a science background.

The second book I’m going to recommend is expensive, but well worth it for those considering a career in pharma. In fact, this book was part of my inspiration for launching this website. Careers with the Pharmaceutical Industry, edited by Peter D. Stonier, gives a detailed overview of a variety of different career opportunities ranging from medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, to pre-clinical and clinical research, sales and marketing, quality assurance, drug safety, regulatory affairs, medical information, medical writing and more. Each section gives background on different roles, including typical entry points and pathways for career development, as well as descriptions of typical responsibilities that give an idea of what “a day in the life” might be like for each position. Each section is written by an industry expert in the particular field. The book is written from a U.K. perspective, which may cause some confusion for North American readers as there are sometimes subtle differences in job titles and responsibilities in the U.S. and Canada, and the suggested resources, such as educational programs and industry associations are also U.K.-centric. Despite this drawback, the book is an excellent overview of some of the diverse opportunities available in the industry, and would be a valuable resource for those trying to decide what role they would like to play.

Resources book review, career, careerdevelopment, job, jobsearch, pharmaceutical