How to take transferable skills out of the lab and into a job

Science has a new article on their careers site about developing skills during your education that can transfer into a career outside of academia.  Communication, leadership, and management skills are highly valued in industry and public sector jobs but tend to get minimal attention during the average graduate or post-doctoral program.

“The quality that is hardest to find in the science policy world is the ability to write clearly and quickly,” says John Marburger, Washington, D.C.-based science adviser to President George W. Bush. “Communicating technical material in technical journals does not give you the skills to communicate to nontechnical audiences,” he says.

The article suggests some resources, such as the National Postdoctoral Association, that students and postdocs can turn to for help in understanding and developing these skillsets.  Some of the suggestions in the article will be familiar to readers of this blog — joining Toastmasters or relevant campus clubs, for example.  The suggestion to take charge of a lab responsibility, like radiation safety, as a way of demonstrating leadership is also a good one.

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You may have noticed that there’s been a bit of a gap in posting lately.  I’ve actually just started a new job myself, so things might be a little uneven until I get settled.  Thanks for your patience!

An affair to remember: jobs in pharmaceutical regulatory affairs

The Regulatory Science program at the University of Southern California offers a variety of graduate certificates, a Masters program, and a new Doctorate geared towards regulatory affairs professionals. In the Regulatory Science program, students learn how to guide medical products and foods through the complex regulatory and reimbursement paths required to bring them to market. Regulatory Affairs is an incredibly important part of the drug development process, and in a very real sense plays the key role in determining the success or failure of a drug development program. Ultimately, it’s a company’s regulatory affairs team that must make the case to the FDA that a drug is safe, effective, and deserves to be on the market.

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Can scientists solve the financial crisis?

Given the current financial crisis, becoming a quantitative analyst probably isn’t at the top of many “careers in demand” lists these days. But if you’ve ever been curious about how you might be able to put your scientist’s mind to work solving problems on Wall Street, check out this Science Careers podcast with finance exec Lee Maclin, director of research at Pragma Financial Systems. Or read about algorithmic trading and quantitative analysis at the Advanced Trading Quant Center… but if this is the career you’re hoping for, you might want to ‘hedge’ your bets until things get back on track!

Why job boards are a waste of your time

Posting a resume and replying to ads posted on job boards is a typical job-search strategy. Unfortunately, if you’re looking to start a new career in the pharmaceutical industry, it’s also a tremendous waste of time. Worse, it can put your privacy at risk and make you vulnerable to unscrupulous people who take advantage of the unemployed and desperate. To understand why your efforts aren’t worthwhile, you need to put yourself into the mindset of the employer — and then learn what the boards can do to help move your search forward.

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No science degree? No problem! Pharmaceutical career options for non-scientists.

A tough economy has many students seeing dark clouds on the horizon as they look forward to graduating into a tight employment market. A recent Boston Globe article discussed the drop in on-campus recruiting sessions and the challenges facing new grads.

Fortunately, not all sectors of the economy have been equally hard-hit, and healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotech companies continue to offer some good prospects. The Globe points out that opportunities in this sector aren’t limited to students with a science background:

• Political science majors are finding work in healthcare policy positions at think tanks, consulting firms, and within the government.
• Economics and business students are in demand at the larger hospitals and drug companies in management and financial roles.
• Sociology and psychology degrees open doors to counseling jobs at retirement and medical facilities.
• English majors with good writing skills can find work in corporate communications at pharmaceutical firms, insurance companies, and larger healthcare providers.
• Healthcare Information Technology is a steadily growing field taking job applicants from engineering, information sciences, and web analytics backgrounds.
• Pharmaceutical sales continues to be a reliable option with great long-term opportunities for liberal arts majors with strong interpersonal skills.