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For those of you who don't know, BioJobBlog is powered by my company, which is called BioInsights.  Unfortunately, the BioInsights website redesign (that I announced in a post over the summer) has encountered a number of unforseen problems.  These include:  the web hosting service that housed the site going out of business and problems with backup files that contained the redesigned site.

Although GoDaddy is now hosting the old website (which is up and running), I recently learned that the website migration process disrupted e-mail service at the site.  I am pleased  to announce that the e-mail problems have been resolved and you can begin to fill up my inbox again!

I am planning to launch the new and improved BioInsights website some time in January, 2008.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.... Ah, the Internet...it's a beautiful thing!

Until next time....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!

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Preparing a resume and going through the interview process are a breeze as compared with salary negotiations after an employer has made you a job offer. Negotiating an acceptable salary is never easy. As a job seeker, you want the highest salary that you can negotiate based on your qualifications, years of experience etc. In contrast, your prospective new employer would like to hire you at a salary that is commensurate with your credentials and also consistent with industry standards and what similar employees earn at the company. After successful salary negotiations, both the employer and employee should be satisfied with the negotiated compromise that they reached (For those of you who have not realized it yet, all negotiations are compromises–neither party ever gets everything that they wanted at the outset).

So, when is it appropriate to discuss salary requirements during the job search process?

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I will be conducting career  development seminars at the annual FASEB meeting that is being held in Washington D.C. from April 28-May 2, 2007.  On Friday, April 27, 2007 I will be a participant in a pre-meeting pogrom day long event entitled the "Postdoctoral  Preparation Institute" which is designed to help postdoctoral fellows transition from their current positions to new ones in government, academia and industry.  During my time at FASEB, I will be presenting  job and career development seminars and participating in resume critiquing and writing clinics for conference attendees. So, if you are in town during the meeting, please drop in and say hello!

I hope to you all at the event.

Until next time....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!

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As many of you may know, I was, at one time in my career, a professional recruiter. I did not start my scientific career with the intension of becoming a headhunter –I sort of fell into it. While I was Chair of Biology at Middlesex County College I was asked by a recruiter to take a look at a Director-level job at a Boston-based biotechnology company. I went on a job interview but did not get an offer to join the company. However, I did strike up a “friendship” with the recruiter who brought the job opportunity to me.

During one of many phone calls she told me about the difficulties she was having finding qualified candidates for several job openings at her client companies. She described the positions to me over the phone and I told her that I thought I could help find her “right fit” candidates (recruiter lingo) for the jobs. It was a bit of hubris on my part, but unlike most scientists, I am a very outgoing, gregarious guy who likes to meet new and interesting people. That said, over the course of my career, I had assembled a rather large and eclectic network of scientific, academic and industrial contacts.

After a couple of well placed calls, I identified several highly-qualified candidates for two of her job opportunities. Surprisingly, two of candidates that I sent to her received job offers and subsequently accepted them! As result, I was $20 K richer and my career as a professional recruiter had begun.

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As reported in today’s edition (Feb.10, 2007) of the New York Times, a significant number of American jobs were created in healthcare, education and management consulting. Since 2001, approximately 1.0 million new jobs were created in management consulting, 4.5 million jobs were added to the healthcare sector and a whopping 13.3 new education jobs were added. In contrast, over the past six years, American manufacturing lost 17.2 million jobs and publishing and broadcasting and telecommunications lost 1.3 million and 1.0 million jobs respectively.

This is good news for those of you who have forsaken laboratory research and are seeking employment in the consulting, healthcare and education fields. Go for it!!!!!!!

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!

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I was teaching a class on "Start Up and Innovation" last week to a bunch of student enrolled in the SUNY-Stonybrook Biotechnology Certificate Program.  The discussion invariably came back to patents and the patent process. For some reason,scientists are absolutely fascinated by the whole patent thing. For those of you who love science but hate doing labwork, I suggest that consider a job as a patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  Sure, a patent examiner's job can be extremely tedious and boring at times but think of the power.  Imagine this....the future of a biotech company can actually rest on your decision to allow or disallow a patent application.  Think of the possible payback to folks who treated you poorly in graduate or high school for that matter.  Ah, the power is intoxicating.

Until next time....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!

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Doug Eisenstat over a JobBlog alerted me to the release of the Top 50- Most In Demand Jobs by the U.S. Department of Labor. The list is based on 10-year growth projections by the government's labor economists, so plenty of opportunity down the road in all of these.

Topping the list? 

1. Registered Nurses
2. Physicians and Surgeons
3. Sales representatives-all fields

The good new is that these three job categories are relevant to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.  As I mentioned in a previous post, career opportunties in biosales and biomarketing are plentiful.  Now, may be a good time to reconsider medical school or a career in clinical research.

Until next time.....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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In the January 2007 issue of Drug Discovery & Development, Ted Agres authored an informative article called "FDA's Sweeping Changes" that outlined reforms that are slated to occur at the agency. One of these is an amendment to the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA; which is up for renewal) to increase user fees for regulatory reviews. For those of you who are not familiar with PDUFA, it was passed in 1992 and it authorized FDA to collect fees from industry to hire additional staff to meet faster approval goals for Investigational New Drug (IND), New Drug (NDA) and Biological License Applications (BLA). Under PDUFA, user fees have grown from $9 million or 7% of FDA's drug review costs in FY1993 to ca. $ $280 million or more than 59% in FY 2007 which began on Oct. 1, 2007.  

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Most scientists have an inherent dislike and distrust of anything to do with marketing, advertising and sales. A good friend of mine (another Ph.D.) and I frequently joke about how the “less gifted and talented “students always migrated to careers in business as compared with we scientists. The mere mention of the word “sales” conjures up images of a smiling, glad-handing, salesman trying to sell cars at deceptively high prices. Like it or not, salespeople live or die simply on the amount of product they sell on a quarterly basis. That said, in today’s marketplace, it is easier to find a job in sales as compared with R&D.

Although there are similarities between traditional salespersons and pharmaceutical /biopharmaceutical sales representatives, i.e. they both have to sell as much as they can, the differences between these two types of salespeople are greater than you may think. First, unlike typical salespeople (where “on the fly”, high pressure, canned sales pitches are the norm), a pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical sales rep must know his/her product(s) ‘backward and forward”. This is absolutely essential when a rep tries to convince a physician to buy his/her company’s product(s) as compared with competing brands. Price is always a consideration but safety and efficacy are much more important than price when selling drugs. Physicians are notoriously price insensitive–they typically treat their patients with drugs that they have experience with and have confidence in regardless of cost. Consequently, a well informed, scientifically-minded sales rep ought to be able to sell more product(s) to physicians as compared with one who is not. Second, “becoming informed” requires an enormous amount of education and training. The sales training offered by biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical companies to their reps is intense and the competition to secure sales jobs is fierce. In the old days, the ideal sales reps were individuals with business backgrounds who had “some understanding” of scientific concepts. In stark contrast, today’s reps are typically undergraduate or graduate science

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The new CEO at Pfizer is contemplating new job cuts that may affect thousands of employees.  Also, sources close to the situation indicated that Pfizer will overhaul its drug discovery and development program so that the company can more efficiently discover and develop new products. These changes were not unexpected after the former CEO Hank McKinell ran the company into the ground and was rewarded with a severance package of over $200 million. Late last year Pfizer laid off hundreds of its sales representative to consolidate its sales force and cut costs. For you business minded folks out there, Pfizer is a case study in a company that expanded too quickly without a strategic vison or plan.  As I have noted previously, "bigger is not always better" in some situations.

Until next time....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!!

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The phone rings, you answer and hear- “Hello, this is Ms. Jones the Director of Human Resources at Acme Pharmaceuticals. You applied for a job several weeks ago and we would like to invite you in for a job interview. What dates would you be available to come in and visit with us”? After the adrenaline rush has worn off and your elation has dwindled to a manageable level, it is time to consider how to prepare for the big event. I offer some advice that you may find useful.

I highly recommend that when the HR director asks “What dates might you be available for the interview” you DO NOT respond with comments like “Any time” or “How about tomorrow”? Eagerness is an admirable trait but not in this case. It is important to know that this situation represents an opportunity for job candidates to gain some control over or power in the interviewing process. This can easily be accomplished leaving a prospective employer with the impression that you are “busy”. However, you must remember that there is fine line between “busy” and uncooperative or not interested! If you are given a choice of several dates, I recommend that you carefully check your calendar and schedule the interview on a date and at time that is most convenient for you, i.e. you do not have any pressing deadlines or any work-related issues that might heighten your anxiety levels. Once the date and times are firmly established there are few things that you ought to do to prepare for the interview.

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In general, a majority of scientists do not pay attention to their appearance or physical presentation.  I believe that this behavior is based on both functional and philosophical considerations.  First, because most scientists spend a majority of their time in laboratory settings, it simply does not make sense to wear "good clothes" to work.  Second, many scientists believe that the quality of their work rather than their appearance is all that matters.  Although these practices and assumptions may be useful for university settings, they are simply not acceptable in the industrial world.  In fact, in the real world "looks do matter". To that end, if you are looking for an industrial or non-academic job, I have several recommendations for you to consider when you go on job interviews.

Acceptable dress for job interviews is suits or sport jackets for men and business suits or dresses for woman. If you are wearing a dress, I recommend that it be conservative and one that is not sexually provocative. And guys, please make sure that the color of your shoes matches the color of your suit or sports jacket and pants (brown and gray do not work).  I recommend that all nose studs or rings be removed, men should not wear earings and all tatoos ought to be covered.  Also, I highly recommend that your hair is washed and that you are clean shaven (except men with beards or mustaches) and if you are wearing makeup (women) make sure that it is appropriate for a job interview (not clubbing). 

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After a rousing lecture on Good Laboratory Practices last evening, a bunch of M.S., Ph.D students and postdoctoral fellows in the New York Center for Biotechnology Certificate Program invited me out for a "drink". Not being one to pass up an opportunity for a drink and some intellectual bantering with students, we wound up at a nice bistro down the street. Of course, the drink thing may have had something to do with their case study presentations that will take place in three weeks but as usual the discussion turned to "how do I find a job after I graduate or after I finish my seemingly never-ending postdoctoral sojurn". I was surprised to learn (or perhaps not as observant as I ought to be) that many of the graduate students in the program do not want to do postdoctoral fellowships after they receive their degrees. Mind you, these are very bright students who are pursuing Ph.D degrees at places like Rockefeller University, Columbia University, NYU and Cornell! That said, these students kind of see the handwriting on the wall and have already determined that they do not want to pursue research careers (some of them physically shuddered at the thought). With this in mind, we began to collectively explore alternative career paths for Ph.D holders.I am sure that most of you have heard by now that medical school, law school and business school are alternative career options for scientists who have determined that they do not want to pursue careers in research. Although these career options may be appealing to some, they all take substantial amounts of time, money, and, at least, 2-4 more years of school! For many, the prospect of more school and an additional outlay of cash or acquired debt is not palatable. So with that as a backdrop, we embarked on a spirited, hour long discussion about less well known career possibilities.Here are some of the things that we came up with:

• Technical writing (science or medical)
• Business analysts (for venture capitalists or banking firms)
• Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology Sales
• Medical Communications
• Competitive Industrial Intelligence
• FDA investigator/reviewer opportunities
• Government Laboratory Positions (DOE, DOD and others)
• CIA
• Quallity Control and Assurance (may require more training)
• Regulatory Affairs (may require more training)
• Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology Marketing (may require sales experience)
• Business Development (may require sales or previous business experience)

Of course, there are many caveats and hidden requirements for many of these jobs. That said, I hope to begin to discuss them in future posts. In the interim, I welcome you to add your suggestions or comments to what I hope will be a growing list of job opportunities for Ph.D and non-Ph.D. holders alike.

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Your funding is winding down or your boss has just told you that the entire deparment will be rightsized in the next month to provide shareholder value. Yikes, you need a new job. What to do? Who to call? The first impulse of many folks in these situations is to head straight for their favorite mega jobboard sites like Monster.com or Career Builder.com. If you have ever visited these sites, you know that there are literally hundreds, maybe even thousands, of appealing jobs waiting for job seekers in any category. You begin to point, click, upload and send. You have literally sent out 50 resumes within the last three hours. Man, this is easy....I should have a job within a week. After all, who would not hire an individual with my talents and skills? Before you join the thousands of other scientists who have applied for the same jobs, you may want to consider a few things.First, a majority of jobs listed on these sites are placed by recruiters who are trolling for candidates for either real or imaginary jobs. Working with recruiters can either be a good thing or a bad thing. If you are just starting your career and are inexperienced, recruiters will not be able to help you....so don't waste your time. On the otherhand, if you are a member of the workforce and have several years of experience, working with a recruiter may be beneficial. This is because experience is the name of the game in our present economy. Employers retain recruiters to find "qualified candidates" who can step into that new job and bring value from day one. There is no time to train "new hires".Second, companies that post jobs on these job sites may or may not be hiring even though they say that they are! In many cases, companies routinely post jobs just to give the public the impression that everything is great at the company. Also, HR Departments like to pad their databases with as many candidates as possible so that when the company is actually hiring they can blast hiring managers with hundreds of resumes (HR people have to keep their jobs too!).Finally, online job applications are initially screened by candidate tracking software that use keywords to identify possible "right fit" candidates. If you failed to include the correct key words on your electronic resume you will likely not be considered for a position whether you are qualified or not. So it goes......Are online job searches worth the time? I cannot answer that question..... They are certainly emotionally satisfying, if nothing else. However, what I do know is that if online job searching is the only job hunting method that you are using, you may want to consider driving a FedEx truck in the interim.--------

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