Finding a job in industry can be tough, so here are some tips to boost your chances.
Robin Orwant
Jessica Kirshner had always excelled in academic research. But just as she was finishing her postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School a couple of years ago, she received a job offer from a small drug company, Synta Pharmaceuticals, in Lexington, MA.
Without hesitation, she left academia. She hasn’t looked back since. During a panel discussion on careers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries last month at Harvard, Kirshner described life as a scientist at a small pharmaceutical company.
“It’s like a speeding train,” she said enthusiastically. “I think it’s exciting.”
The auditorium where Kirshner and other panelists spoke was packed with graduate students and postdocs—evidence the interest in industry careers. And that interest is reciprocated. In recent years, many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, large and small, have set up shop in the Boston area, hoping to take advantage of the rich talent pool.
Merck and Genzyme, for example, will be hiring hundreds of people over the next year or so. Merck hosted a daylong career fair last week at its new building next to Harvard Medical School, where its top scientists gave talks on their latest projects, to lure young academics. Smaller companies, like Synta, are hiring too.
Switching to industry can be enticing—starting salaries for those with postdoctoral experience can range from $65,000 to $75,000 a year—but the competition is fierce, especially in Boston. So researchers trying to decide which path to pursue after their graduate or postdoctoral work should make a choice based on what they really want to do and not on the misconception that landing a job in industry will always be easier than finding one in academia, says Jeffrey Hall, a recruiter for Stratacuity, a scientific staffing firm based in Portsmouth, NH. Still, he says the industry job prospects in the Boston area are good.
My cup of tea?
The first question any would-be industry researcher must answer is whether he or she is really suited for a career in industry rather than in academia. But that’s not easy because few academic scientists really understand what it’s like to work in industry, says Kirshner.
“There’s no way to know beforehand how different it is,” she says. She recommends talking to as many industry researchers as possible. Even getting tours of industry facilities could help young academics get a clearer picture.
A Harvard postdoc who attended another recent careers panel discussion at Harvard has investigated industry life by attending job fairs and seminars. Now she feels ready to take the plunge into industry. (She asked not to be named in this article because she is currently applying for jobs.)
She likes the idea of developing therapies that could one day help patients. “I’d like to know that what I did had an impact,” she says.
At the same time, she worries about the loss of freedom. In academia, she had a great deal of control over the type of project she pursued and how long she worked on it. In industry, however, she may have to drop a pet project and switch to something else in the interest of the company. “I don’t know how I will react to that,” she admits.
Such reactions to this different way of working may ultimately determine whether a person is suited for an industry job. “You have to get into a mindset where that doesn’t bother you,” says Kirshner. “It’s a team at the company, so if something needs to be done, you do it.”
In her own work as a scientist with Synta, Kirshner spends about half of her time at the bench and the other half at her desk or in meetings. As an outgoing person, Kirshner says she enjoys interacting with and managing people. But she admits, “When I can’t do bench work, I miss it a lot.”
Her experience might be quite different from that of a junior scientist at a larger company, where entry-level researchers may spend most of their time at the bench. Kirshner deliberately chose to work at a smaller company because she sensed she would be given more diverse responsibilities there.
“I wanted to be at a place where I would learn the most about how a pharmaceutical company works,” she says. “At a smaller company, I would be able to wear more than one hat.”
What it takes
To get into industry and succeed, it’s crucial to build and use your network of contacts so that your resume ends up in the hands of the right people at the right time, says Margaret Lee, the executive director of therapeutic area research at CombinatoRx, a biotech company in Cambridge. Lee, who worked for Ariad Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge before coming to CombinatoRx, says she got both jobs through personal contacts.
For young academic scientists, that could simply mean getting in touch with alumni from their lab who have gone to industry and who might be able to provide a lead or put in a good word.
To those who feel uncomfortable with all that networking, Kirshner says it’s just another thing you have to get used to if you want to make it in industry.
“When we interview people, we very much look at their communication skills,” which are important in an industry where teamwork is the norm, she says. “You don’t just get to sit at your bench and not talk to people. You have to interact.”
Finding ways to stick out from the crowd is key, especially in research areas where qualified candidates are a dime a dozen, says Hall. Just a few years ago, PhDs in molecular biology, medicinal chemistry, genomics, and bioinformatics could easily find industry jobs.
“Now people with those backgrounds are going to be hard-pressed to find anything,” he says. “There are so many of them out there.”
He says people with experience working with animal models, in pharmacology, cell signaling, toxicology, or analytical chemistry may have an easier time in the current job market.
But he cautions against tailoring research experience based on what’s hot. “The industry could change on you,” he warns. Rather, pursue what you enjoy and be open to new experiences, he advises. “Keep yourself as diverse as possible.”
Although Boston is a great place for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, Hall notes that some types of jobs may be more plentiful elsewhere. “You should be open enough to looking nationwide,” he says. The initial hurdle of finding a job in industry can be so high that it’s important to keep an open mind.
“The first job is the hardest,” agrees Kirshner.