One of my favourite motivational speakers is Dave Howlett, a former pharmaceutical sales manager (Hoescht Marion Roussel, GenSci OCF) and corporate executive (Sciax Technology, the MAGNES Group) who now gives entertaining presentations on the arts of sales and networking.
Dave suggests that you should always wear a lapel pin as an aid to your networking efforts: “People look for points of commonality with you. Where you came from. The school your kids go to. Whether you own cats or dogs. Even the pin you wear on your suit gives people an opportunity to find out what you do for fun on weekends. That invites conversation and relationship-building.”
If you love science, then Made With Molecules is a great place to find jewelery, cards and gifts that express your interest and can provide an opener for conversation at conferences and other networking events, or help your thank-you notes stand out and be remembered. They’re made by Raven Hanna, PhD, a former molecular biophysicist who left the lab to share her love of science in a different way.
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.
Genentech is one of the world’s most successful biotechnology companies, and has been named to Fortune magazines “100 best companies to work for” for 10 years running. their human resources department has put together a series of videos about working at the firm.
This video, targeted primarily at students and other entry-level candidates, offers career advice for biotech job-seekers from a handful of Genentech employees.
Of course, right now, Genentech is flirting with acquisition offers from Roche, which may have human resources implications for both companies. But the advice in this video is sound regardless of what companies you target.
Clinical Research Associate jobs are in high demand, partly because many people think that becoming a CRA is a career pathway that will help them make money fast.
Are they right?
Applied Clinical Trials, a trade magazine for the clinical development sector, recently published its 2008 salary survey, which includes salary information for clinical research associates as well as other clinical careers.
According to the survey, independent CRAs earn more than anyone else in the industry — $115K on average — although it’s worth noting that as independents, they have to pay for their own benefits and the costs of marketing their services. Of course, there can be tax advantages to running your own business as well.
The mean salary for CRAs who weren’t self-employed was $76K.
You can read more about the survey at the Applied Clinical Trials website.
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.
If you love science, then Made With Molecules is a great place to find jewelery, cards and gifts that express your interest and can provide an opener for conversation at conferences and other networking events, or help your thank-you notes stand out and be remembered. They’re made by Raven Hanna, PhD, a former molecular biophysicist who left the lab to share her love of science in a different way.
