BioJobBlog Surpasses the 2.0 Million Reader Mark!
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I started BioJobBlog in 2007 primarily as a means for me to express myself about life science careers and issue and challenges confronting the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical devices industry. That said, I never thought that BioJobBlog would ever amount to much; it was simply a vehicle for me to rant and rave about things that were important to me! It is a daunting challenge to begin a blog with no readers and then realize that 5 years later over 2.0 million unique readers have visited to read my thoughts and ideas about a wide breadth of topics.
I want to thank the readers who continue to visit BioJobBlog. And, I hope that what I have written over the past five years has either helped or induced you to think about issues in the life sciences industry. While I have no plans to stop blogging; my schedule is becoming increasingly challenging and I can no longer post articles as frequently as I have in the past. Nevertheless, I will continue do what I can to keep the content at BioJobBlog interesting, fresh and thought-provoking.
Please feel free to contact me with ideas, thoughts or comments about the blog (or anything else for that matter).
Thanks for supporting BioJobBlog!
Until next time...
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!
When I was a graduate student back in the dark ages, I took an advanced statistics course and then briefly worked in a laboratory where statistical analysis of data derived from animal models of disease (in this case the guinea pig model of tuberculosis) were essential. After leaving that lab, I developed an appreciation for the power of statistics (when appropriately designed according the laws of parametric statistics) and actually used statistical analyses of in vitro data for my PhD thesis. Unlike me, most of my contemporaries never understood statistics and thought that statistics can be used to manipulate data to confirm any hypothesis put forth by an investigator.
I suspect that most of us have been in the situation where a boss or an immediate supervisor asks you to take on another assignment. Given the state of the economy and the tenuous nature of most jobs, most employees believe that they have no choice but to accept the assignment despite the fact that it will likely cut into personal time or require overtime work. After all, saying no may be tantamount to a pink slip and collecting unemployment benefits. 
In many cases, people looking for 
There are a variety of reasons why the life sciences job market has been so dismal in recent years. First and foremost, there are too many applicants for too few jobs; employers are ignoring resumes/CVs that previously commanded face-to-face interviews. Second and perhaps more pernicious, is the notion among corporate executives and hiring managers that current graduates (both undergraduate and graduate students) have been catered to and are so academically untested that they bring little or no value to today’s fast-paced and demanding workplaces. While this characterization may or may not be warranted, it is a prevailing attitude that is likely hindering employment opportunities for recent life sciences graduates.
While many of you are happy just because you have a job, there are those individuals (deserving or not) who are going to “bite the bullet” and ask for a raise. This makes sense because over the past few years the cost of health insurance has gone up along with college tuition, gasoline price and a variety of other things while salaries have all but stagnated. Interestingly, only 9 percent of companies have put pay freezes in place over the past 18 months; a rate this is consistent with historical standards. That is down from the nearly two-thirds of companies that imposed pay freezes in January 2010. In other words, now may be a good time to ask for a raise as companies are trying to retain high value employees who presumably were too vital to lay off when companies were downsizing over the past three years. Sadly, merit raises (when they are meted out) have precipitously dropped in recent years from an average of roughly 4-5 percent to a paltry 2 percent on average today.
Fewer and fewer American college students are choosing to major in Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). This has been an ongoing trend in the US for the past two decades. However, within the STEM majors, the life sciences are faring the best. While I believe that the US needs more life sciences majors to remain competitive with the rest of the world, there are a 
In today’s tough economy, one of the more challenging things after graduating college or graduate school is finding a job. Many life sciences graduates are beginning to realize that skills and training that they received in college have not adequately prepared them for jobs in the real world. Furthering, “previous industrial experience” is almost always a requirement for most jobs at pharma and biotechnology companies. As many students ask me “How can we get previous industrial experience if nobody will hire us to get that experience?” .jpg)
I just returned from the AAPS meeting in Washington, DC and I was very surprised to learn that many graduate students and postdocs have heard of Twitter but don’t know exactly what it is or how to use it! Because of this, I decided to write a post that offered a step-by-step approach for using Twitter as a job search tool for life scientists who may be looking for jobs. However, much to my delight, I found a recent post on the 
Last week, BioJobBlog in association with 
Online degree programs have exploded in the past 10 years or so and are now considered to be a legitimate way to earn a second or third degree to enhance the chances of finding a job in a tough economy. Further, an article that recently appeared in the NY Times 
As scientists, we all subscribe to the notion that diversity is a critical component to the evolution of any species. While we this is a well known fact, the life sciences industry, like others, struggles with workforce diversity mainly in the area of research and development. For example the number of minority students—blacks and hispanics—who receive PhD degrees is miniscule as compared with their white counterparts. Graduate schools struggle to promote diversity in their programs but their efforts to date have been lackluster.
While big pharma companies continue to shed jobs, there are some indications that the biotechnology industry is beginning to pick up some steam. For example, Boehringer Ingelheim (both a drug development and biomanufacturing company) is planning a 
For the past few years, I along with many others have advocated the use of social media platforms (mainly Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) by life sciences companies. Despite a very positive beginning by companies like Novo Nordisk, Johnson and Johnson and others, the implementation of social media in the life sciences industry has been stymied by a lack of regulatory guidance by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and legal and commercialization concerns. While many believe that FDA guidance on the topic will be the panacea that they were waiting for, I personally don’t believe that it will make one bit of difference. That said, 
The tough job market and economy have caused lots of folks to consider changing careers to find gainful employment. While sometimes a career change is warranted, it may not be as easy as you think. With this in mind, there was a great article entitled
Last week, financial analysts and social media enthusiast were all a twitter (sorry I couldn’t resist) about .jpg)
As social media popularity continues to increase, more and more hiring managers and employers are using it to vet prospective job candidates. A little over a year ago, it was estimated that roughly 30% of recruiters and hiring managers use social media to screen job applicants. Anecdotal evidence suggests that today, this percentage may have swelled to as much as 70 percent! 
From time to time, I get asked by jobseekers about questions that interviewers are permitted to ask during a job interview. While almost everything is fair game, there are certain questions that interviewers are not legally permitted to ask. A post that recently appeared on the “Interns Over 40 blog” pretty much covers them all. 
Because of the challenging job market, I spend most of my time advising jobseekers about ways in which they can improve their chances of landing a face-to-face job interview. However, one of the trickiest parts of the whole job seeking process is negotiating an employment offer if one is extended. And, for whatever reason, there is a lot of anxiety, trepidation and misinformation surrounding the entire job negotiation process. That said, in her article 
It had to happen sooner or later and it did. There are now apps that jobseekers can download to their Apple and Android smartphones to prepare for job interviews. Gadget-savvy, Bob Tedeschi wrote a 
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Over the past several weeks, I have participated in various online conversations and discussions about the wisdom of getting a PhD degree in the life sciences. While the conversations have been wide reaching and, at times quite emotional, a common theme is beginning to emerge and I think that the time has come for me to weigh in on it. To wit, getting a PhD degree is not the best decision a person can make if he/she wants a guarantee of employment upon completion of his/her training.
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"Instead of crying and blaming China for producing goods at a lower cost for the whole world, countries like the US, for example, should realize that outsourcing most of the production is a big mistake".jpg)
I am not a big fan of top ten lists but I decided to take a look at the list compiled by Cecilia Capuzzi Simon in a recent article that appeared in the April 13, 2011 New Times Education supplement. Entitled
While R&D scientists and sales representatives continue to struggle to find jobs in the US at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, the competition is fierce to hire and retain pharma employees in emerging markets like China and India. Earlier this week, I posted a piece on big pharma’s continuing expansion of its R&D activities in Asia and the growing need for US-trained PhDs in this region. However, it appears that hiring and retaining pharma sales reps is a bigger problem in China and India for big pharma companies like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi-Aventis (SA) and Pfizer.
By now, most BioJobBlog readers are aware that internships (paid or otherwise) have become a prerequisite at many companies to secure a full time employment. While I think internships are a great idea to jumpstart a career, not all internships are created equal or worth it. Put simply, it is up to the prospective intern to determine whether or not the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Nevertheless, according to a report by the College Employment Research Institute three-quarters of the 10 million American students enrolled at four year colleges and universities will work as an intern before graduating. 
Believe it or not, employment opportunities are looking better in the life sciences industry. While this may be good news for some, the need for R&D scientists and sales representatives in the US is dwindling. The high cost and low ROI for R&D at most major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies has forced life sciences executives to outsource many R&D functions that previously had been performed in house. Likewise, the inability of companies to bring novel, new medicines to market has reduced the need for pharmaceutical companies to maintain large sales forces. Put simply, there aren’t enough drugs to be sold to warrant large numbers of sales people trying to sell them! Given this backdrop, now may be a good time for bioprofessionals in these areas to consider new job opportunities and possibly new career paths. To that end, this post contains information about several biocareer developments sites (created by me) that may be helpful to bioprofessionals looking for work or new careers. 
It’s a New Year but national unemployment is still hovering around 9.4 per cent. And, the unemployed will continue to face unusually harsh economic conditions when looking for new jobs. 
The $789 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed in 2009 included funding for the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act to promote the adoption of electronic health record (EHR) technology in health. Beginning next year, doctors and eligible medical providers can receive Medicaid incentive payments over a five-year period if they adopt a certified EHR technology platform and adopt so-called "five goals" established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.jpg)
I have been professionally critiquing curricula vita (CV) for scientists for the past 10 years or so. While some are better than others, they all tend to suffer from the same problems and mistakes. This is mainly because scientists, unlike many other jobseekers, are rarely taught the “ins” and “outs” of resume writing. 
While I typically don’t subscribe to practice of unbridled self promotion, I could not pass on the opportunity to let my readers know that BioJobBlog made the "Top 50 Blogs About Careers in Science.".jpg)
The fiscal year at most life sciences companies is drawing to a close, new budgets are being crafted and the holiday season is almost upon us. In years past, this time of year typically meant that it was bonus time for most pharma workers. Sadly, over the past three years bonus time has been replaced by layoff time. And, unfortunately the upcoming holiday season may not be joyous for many Pfizer and Roche employees.
Yesterday, Novartis, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical company 
There is no question that Facebook is the de facto social network that almost everyone uses. It has become an important source of personal information and is routinely used by professional recruiters and corporate hiring managers to identify right-fit job candidates.
With unemployment high and the economy showing little sign of improvement, finding a new job has become increasingly challenging. And, not surprisingly, the types of interview questions that hiring managers are beginning to ask prospective job candidates are becoming more intricate and complex. I found interesting
It is well established that many scientist are not particularly adept at social interactions and are notoriously poor at networking. Contrary to popular belief these deficiencies are not genetic and likely result from the erroneous notion that scientists don’t need career network to advance their work or careers.
I am sure that many BioJobBlog readers have heard the old adage that money can’t buy happiness. The corollary to this statement is that it [money] sure helps! However, in a 
I counsel a large number of foreign students as part of my career development activities. Over the years, I learned that questions regarding a job candidate’s personal information like nationality, religion, marital status etc are permissible and perfectly legal in countries other than the US. Consequently, I decided that it may be instructive for job candidates to learn what questions are acceptable and those that are not during a face-to-face interview for positions at US companies. .png)
Over 70 percent of hiring managers and HR professionals routinely use Google to find out more about prospective job candidates. While many jobseekers know this and do everything possible to expunge deleterious and compromising information from a Google search on their names, some don’t know that Facebook profiles are a routine target of all Google searches. Consequently, hiring managers may have access to some personal information (including photos) that may jeopardize a job candidate’s prospects. 
Life sciences employers ranging from academic institution to private sector companies are increasingly turning to telephone interviews as an initial means to screen prospective job candidates. While in many instances these interviews are perfunctory, they are conducted for two main reasons. First, the employer wants to verify that the information presented by the candidate in his/her curriculum vitae is correct and accurate. Second, and perhaps more importantly, to determine whether or not a candidate has sufficient oral communications skills that warrant the cost necessary to bring a candidate in for a face-to-face on site interview.
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While the layoffs at pharma and biotech companies continue, the good news is that fewer jobs are being lost in 2010 as compared with 2009. Despite the massive loss of R&D and sales and marketing jobs, many life sciences companies are beginning to hire again. In general, job opportunities at emerging growth public biotech and venture-backed start-ups appear to be growing while those at big pharma and big biotech are stagnant or shrinking. Specifically companies are 
More and more people are losing their corporate jobs because of the recession. The bleak job market coupled with diminishing opportunities for older, seasoned employees is forcing many to consider starting their own businesses to join the ranks of the self employed. However, before you take the leap, I highly recommend that you read Phyllis Korkki’s article in this Sunday’s New York Times entitled .jpg)
While attending the Advanced Learning Institute conference “Social Media and Pharma” earlier this week I happened to sit down next to Laura Lindsay, a member of Tarrytown, NY-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ corporate communications team. Not surprisingly, we struck up a conversation and I learned that unlike most pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies Regeneron is looking to hire 500 new employee over the next year or so. Yes, you heard it correctly: 500 NEW EMPLOYEES. The company currently employs about 1,200 people..jpg)
There is ample anecdotal evidence to suggest that using social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook may help to improve your chances of landing a new job. For example, a recent 
While most life scientists that I know have Facebook pages and profiles on LinkedIn, many fewer don’t use Twitter. Perhaps more troubling, many life scientists who have heard of Twitter aren’t exactly sure what it is. For those of you who may have spent too much time in the laboratory for the past two years, Twitter is a microblogging platform (limit 140 characters) that is taking the social media community by storm. Analysts predict that Twitter may become larger and gain a greater market share than Facebook; but I digress.
Ed Silverman who runs the Pharmalot Blog yesterday posted an 
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The recent economic downturn, coupled with the growing competition for jobs at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, has markedly increased the importance of internships as pre-requisites to gainful permanent employment. In the past, life sciences companies were willing to take a risk on promising new employees who did not possess any previous work experience. However, the glut of life scientists on today’s job market has empowered prospective life science employers to adopt a “let’s-try-them-out-before-we-hire-them” approach to employment. Like it or not, this is the way business is done these days.
Samantha Miller of the
Life sciences employers ranging from academic institution to private sector companies are increasingly turning to telephone interviews as an initial means to screen prospective job candidates. While in many instances these interviews are perfunctory, they are conducted for two main reasons. First, the employer wants to verify that the information presented by the candidate in his/her curriculum vitae is correct and accurate. Second, and perhaps more importantly, to determine whether or not a candidate has sufficient oral communications skills that warrant the cost necessary to bring a candidate in for a face-to-face on site interview. .jpg)
Governor Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center 
Talecris Biotherapeutics .gif)
As somebody who has been unemployed more than once, unemployment can be depressing, very frustrating and extremely worrisome..jpg)
I have heard from many jobseekers, who—despite many years of work experience— are having difficulty finding full time employment. During economic down turns many companies cannot or are reluctant to hire full time employees. However, this doesn’t mean that there is work to be done. Consequently, many firms look for part-time, temporary or contract workers to handle the work that must get done to maintain operations..jpg)
Twitter is arguably the hottest new platform to hit the social media scene is the past five years. Twitter devotees are convinced that anything is possible if the microblogging platform is used correctly. In today’s economy, the most pressing need for many people is finding a job. While Twitter is effective for branding, marketing and occasionally some witty intellectual exchanges, its usefulness for jobseekers has yet to be demonstrated. To that end, there was a recent instructional case study on TwiTip—.jpg)
The whole world is atwitter about Twitter (pun intended). One of the reasons why social media tools like Twitter are so effective is that information can reach very large audiences almost instantaneously.
Like it or not, writing a carefully-constructed resume or curriculum vitae (as resumes are known in scientific circles) is a vital part of any successful job search. Inexperienced job seekers tend to hastily craft resumes without paying much attention to format, style or content and then wonder why they can’t land job interviews. The best way to approach resume writing is to think of a resume as a work of art–something that requires a lot of thought, creativity and attention to detail. As one well-known professional recruiter and job search expert put it”Trying to find a job without a smart, well-crafted resume is like showing up for dinner at a fancy restaurant in a T-shirt and cutoffs. They won’t let you in.” .jpg)
While many of you may not know this, background checks are routinely run on prospective new employees at most companies and organizatons before job offers are extended. Like it or not background checks are increasingly being run on scientists because of the US anthrax incident that occurred soon after September 11, 2001. I want to emphasize that background checks on being run on ALL employees (not only scientists) before being hired..gif)
Another useful post for job seekers from Job Profiles.org..jpg)
Amber Johnson at .jpg)
I came across an .jpg)
By now, I think that most BioJobBlog readers understand that the job market for life scientists is lousy and that it isn’t likely to improve anytime soon. I know that many of you have spent close to 10 years training for a shot at an R&D job but the reality is that everybody needs to work to put food on the table—whether or not you find a job in your chosen profession. To that end, now may be a good time for those of you who are finding it difficult to land a job to consider one more year of training to get a certificate in a field that keeps you in science but not in R&D.
Using Facebook and Twitter to find jobs is becoming routine in many industries including healthcare. However, the life sciences industry is lagging behind most others when it comes to social media and recruitment. Nevertheless, many companies and academic institutions are beginning to realize that Facebook (FB), Twitter and other science social networks are good source of qualified candidates for those difficult-to fill job openings. 
Yesterday Pfizer announced that it would layoff 275 employees.jpg)
downward turn. Even the recession-proof pharmaceutical industry has taken a huge beating over the past year or so– and things seem to be getting worse! The biotechnology industry, which is highly dependent upon venture capital and private equity to remain healthy, is also trending downward and will be hit hard if the economy slides into recession. To make matters worse, the US Department of Labor recently released figures which showed projected growth (for 2006 to 2016) for the fastest-growing occupations in America (see below). Not surprisingly, scientists–industrial or academic– did not make the top 20 list.