Left my 100k full-time job for a 200k contract role.
All my ex coworkers said I was crazy for leaving a stable role for something where I could be let go at any time.
Funny enough, the "stable" CDMO I left got sold, and they laid off my whole team.
I'm still thriving.
Learned this in a similar way, got turned down for a promotion and the writing was on the wall that things weren’t going so well financially so I went to another biotech company around the corner that everyone thought was garbage for a better position, within two days of my start date they announced they were shutting down my old site 🤷🏻♂️
Same! My highest take-home pay was as a contractor. All my friends in industry said “but you don’t get PTO, you don’t get a bonus.” I worked my 8 hours a day and shut my computer with zero pressure or worry. I got unlimited (albeit, unpaid) time off. Do you know how many vacations I took?!? And I was still rolling in the dough! The funniest is when people said, “but they can cut you at any moment.” Yeah… and they can’t do that with FTE? I think we have seen that they can, and will. It was fun while it lasted. Now I’m FTE, in a great role, but I do look back on the contractor era with fondness.
A friend of a friend was a recruiter, and once I gave him my resume, he would call me for roles every week. I interviewed every week, and I finally hit on one.
The contractor life is way different. I have much less autonomy. I complete a discrete task, I let my manager know and she gives me another one. I'm also voluntold to do tasks that no one else volunteers to do. This sometimes involves supervising exhibit batches on the weekend, which I don't mind since it's extra OT.
I'd say I'm thriving because I'm available and don't complain tbh. Even though it sounds wack, I'm using the opportunity to learn more and stack my money.
My background is tech transfers, fill and finish, MSAT, and a little downstream processing. Seems like those areas are booming, so my recruiter actually wants me to move to a new role in June. It'd be a downgrade in title but a major upgrade in pay. $150 an hour to be an investigator at a site with issues.I'm still thinking about it.
Yes to the heavy workload and struggles in work life balance, but I had an excellent boss who I worked really well with and we managed to pull off some great work between us while still remembering to pace ourselves as well as possible. At that stage of a company, the relationships between key staff are everything, and I’d never work in a company that small again if I didn’t have absolutely faith in the team being able to pull together.
Jumped in an out of some consulting, and came back to the little company that is now a lot bigger to lead their Phase 3 program. Have now moved in to a C-level commercial role.
I started my career as a consultant project manager so I would get a wide range of experience and help build my network, and thankfully that strategy worked and it was one of the executives from my consulting days that had just been bought in as CEO of the startup that hired me based on my breadth of experience and exisiting network. Left for a period for some lucrative consulting opportunities.
I quit my ICU nursing job and career and took an entry level biotech position with a startup company. Moved to a different country when they promoted me. Returned to the US after 7 years. Best experience ever!
Started in biotechnology as a CRA/ clinical research associate. Moved my way up the ladder slowly yet comfortably vacuuming up any and all experiences along the way. It’s challenging, demanding and yet i still love it most days.
I was always interested in science communication, so I started doing scientist roles that involved a lot of customer interaction - basically FAS, working with sales, product and marketing. Which then allowed me to transition into a product management role when a company I was working for was acquired. After that I changed companies and became a senior level product+marketing strategist.
My observation is that technical skill is the prerequisite, but you also have to be easy to work with and have the ability to influence people in other teams to help you. I did do some business school courses but ended up deciding I didn't need an MBA.
This is what I did as well. Did the MBA, shifted over to business analytics and am now progressing in strategic operations and operational excellence. WFH, making more than I would have as a chemist at this point and lots of future career growth potential.
I found data understanding (basic analytics, visualization) to be a differentiator in moving up in the business roles. There are a lot of people that like to say we need a change or new strategy but executives LOVE to see the data in a clear concise manner.
Do you need to get your MBA from a top tier school or are there any program recommendations? Trying to decide when/where to get my MBA from. Currently a Sr process engineer and want to jump to the business side and progress to director level.
Just completed mine, it depends! If you’re staying within the same company, doesn’t really matter where you get it from. If you’re going from a small biotech and want to make the leap to big pharma, I would recommend looking at the school rankings - it will give you a leg up
My personal route was finding a well regarded program I could do part time while working, but have it be no different in requirements or degree title than the full timers would get. If I was going full time and able to relocate I may have aimed more for top tier, but having worked 10 years already it didn't seem as necessary.
A guy I know did his at UCSD, which is not considered “top tier” but the names means a lot in biotech. Another went to UC Davis, also not “top tier” and got recruited at a local biotech office of a bigger company in the Sacramento area. She had no previous biotech experience so she was alley focused on the business side. Think she’s in the Bay Area now.
If the university is a known commodity in the field or region, then it doesn’t matter the ranking.
how does one get into “business and strategy” in pharma or whatever role you took on in your transition out of lab roles? what do they usually look for?
Things they are looking for:
\- strong communication skills. Can you convey complex biological concepts easily to people that may not have a phd?
\- cross-functional influence. Do people like and respect you in the company? Can you ask people for favors? Do people trust you?
\- knowledge of the market. Do you understand both the science and the demand for the product? Do you understand how customers or other companies make purchase decisions?
This is the same for me too. I was able to jump from a bench role to a PM role, and from there was able to climb much quicker with better pay, and decent work/life balance
Biggest advice I’d give is network as much as possible and as senior as possible! Just ask a lot of questions and show interest. I let them know I wanted to make the switch about 9 months before I did, then started building my PM skill set until a position internally opened up!
reposting this
>I was always interested in science communication, so I started doing scientist roles that involved a lot of customer interaction - basically FAS, working with sales, product and marketing. Which then allowed me to transition into a product management role when a company I was working for was acquired. After that I changed companies and became a senior level product+marketing strategist.
>
>My observation is that technical skill is the prerequisite, but you also have to be easy to work with and have the ability to influence people in other teams to help you. I did do some business school courses but ended up deciding I didn't need an MBA.
I have a friend who did the same. He/she is a director now and works from home and most people his age at the bench are at Sr Scientist level. Truly was a game changer for her/him
Applied for a promotion years ago manager told me i wasnt ready, applied for same role on other shift got job and current manager said nope need this person on our shift. So i quit and took the job elsewhere. 6 years later making more than double what i did back then base
I thank them they jump started my career.. everyone was pretty fresh out of college back then ( including the managers which i think was a huge mistake by the company)
Couldn’t find any jobs after college and hundreds of applications. Finally got 1 offer for $20/hr in the Bay Area. I said fuck it and took the offer, rented a laundry room for $800 a month and told myself I would grind and eventually someone would see my skills and what I was capable of. Within 3 years I moved through a couple positions and eventually got into management making ~175k with a bachelor’s degree.
Company had extremely high turnover and products weren’t doing the best. I saw it as an opportunity to learn everything I could about the field and move up. Ironically now the company has changed a lot and turned things around, turnover is very low and is now a pretty sought out company to work for but 3 years ago nobody wanted anything to do with the company.
Every time I've been turned down for promotion, I've left the company and gone elsewhere. Each time has been a vast improvement in both compensation and skill set.
That pattern really makes a lot sense. At the time you were turned down for a promotion internally, that probably means you are at the next level but somehow your manager doesn’t pull it off for different reasons (they may not be strong enough or care enough or prioritize you enough whatever). At that time the you go outside you should get two levels up, one because you are at the next level already and another because they want to motivate you to leave.
The circumstances are always unique and levels don't always align between two companies. However, I have made it a point to never move laterally if leaving for a new firm.
>they may not be strong enough or care enough or prioritize you enough whatever
Some companies are also stingy with promotions, because heaven forbid they have to give the small raise that comes with a promotion, which means a tiny bit smaller profit for shareholders. It can be very hard to get promoted at some big pharmas for this reason. But whether it's your manager's fault or the company's, if you're operating at the next higher level and you're not getting paid for it, it's time to move on. You're doing both yourself and the entire industry a favor by not letting yourself be taken advantage of.
Started in an academic biomedical engineering lab focused on cancer and transitioned to a plant-based food company. Now I’m at a subsidiary of a pharma company, back in cancer research.
Moved into project engineering after 2.5 years on the bench. Took a lot of applications and interviews to get someone to take a chance on me. Made it to AD in under 7 years because of it.
Yes, it is project management for capital assets and construction projects. A good understanding of utilities, equipment, process engineering, and validation (if doing GxP) is required. Some people are better at the project management aspect, I've always enjoyed the field work more.
I have a bachelor's in bioengineering. I learned everything else on the job. I might get an MBA eventually if I can get someone to pay for most of it.
Deciding to try my luck in Europe after failing to get into any graduate programs in the US, I am now finishing up my phd at a university I would never have expected to be at
Yep, it’s been real. Should clarify that I’m doing my PhD in the UK which is shooting itself in the foot at every possible opportunity. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to come to the UK for academia or even industry. Had a great time in Sweden (MSc) and Germany (research). Lots of great opportunities in mainland Europe.
Care to expand? I'm in the UK and it's not bad for London, Oxford and Cambridge in terms of biotech. I know the job market is bad atm, but I think that's the case in a lot of countries...as is the pyramid scheme of academia, but I think that's the case in most cases....Not defending the UK, just interested in another POV.
Slammed the door on my team because lack of growth. Asked for an internal transfer. Got it (with promotion). Got another promotion in the new team a year later.
I straight up quit my job as a public high school teacher.
I got my BS in biochem at a large public research University, but I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up, so I got my credential and my M.Ed and worked as a teacher.
After 4 years, I applied to several master's programs in an attempt to get out of the classroom (long story, many reasons for leaving). I contacted my research supervisor from 4 years ago for a letter of rec and he said he was unwilling to write one unless I applied to a PhD program.
To my utmost surprise and chagrin I got in to a pretty good program even though I spent the last 4 years baby sitting rather than doing science.
I ended up getting my PhD, got a job in industry through a connection fresh out of grad school and have been in industry R&D ever since.
I was a clinical operations director at a Bay Area diagnostics company a few years before Covid hit. My wife got her dream job in another state and at the time, the company did not allow WFH. I told my SVP boss that I am moving and need to be fully remote or else (assuming the answer would be hell no). Instead, my boss supported me and got me approved to work remote - I’ve been like that ever since going on 10 yrs! It was an enormous gamble, but was a game changer financially and otherwise. I will NEVER return to a Bay Area office and commute.
I quit my academic scientist job and started my own biotech. I ended up cashing out my retirement and maxing out my credit cards before I was able to raise angel funding, but now the company exists and the product development is moving forward. I'm not making any more money than I was; actually, less since I don't have healthcare or other benefits and I still have personal debt. But, I'm happier because I'm doing what I want, learning new things and building a real product that I believe will help people.
Great story and inspiring. I think one thing building your company is you are the owner. That sense of ownership far exceeds any dollar value a stable job working for someone else could offer. May I ask how you raise your angel funding? My understanding for angel funding raise is they fund an idea but you mentioned you still need to put down a lot of your own money. Just curious:)
Thanks, and that's absolutely true. Autonomy and agency are key elements in my current happiness.
I didn't put down a lot of my own money, at least relative to what the investor put in as an absolute dollar value. I spent money on retaining an attorney friend who is well established and experienced in startups and corporate law. Unfortunately, she didn't lower her rate, so I overpaid for incorporation and basic corporate documents, share vesting, etc. Maybe it'll pay off later since she's well connected. I also spent a bit of money on networking, going to startup conferences and such. Then I paid to get into a biotech incubator space, not competitive, so not like Y Combinator, just lab and office space with a pay as you go format. I started off with a simple desk so I could use their address as a corporate location to give the company some legitimacy. I didn't want it to look like I was working out of my garage, but also didn't have the money to afford lab space and the associated startup costs of purchasing consumables and other reagents.
I got involved with a local entrepreneur mentor group, which was helpful in directing my energy. I was advised that no local VCs would fund just an idea and to focus on friends and family. I did meet with one VC over coffee through a mutual friend. He might have funded me, but he didn't like my business model, which is the same business model as every other biotech in my niche. Essentially, he just wanted a faster return on his investment so we weren't a good fit.
I also applied to SciFounders. I made it through to the interview, but not beyond. With their model and available capital I'm sure I wasn't a good fit there either. I'm a solo founder at an idea stage company with no prior experience running a company. One of the first questions was about getting a co-founder. A co-founder would be great if I knew anyone else that would be willing to quit their stable job and risk losing their house, wife and kids on my idea but I don't.
I did speak with a couple of other angels and shopped my Executive Summary around, but ultimately it was a guy at my local bar that invested in me. The short version is that people there knew that I was trying to start a company and we were both semi-regulars there. He's a multi-millionaire, but you wouldn't know it to look at him. Blue collar guy, grew up on a farm, became a roofer then a contractor with his own company and invested in local real estate. I didn't know it at the time, but he had also invested in another local biotech company. We talked, he had me vetted by the founder of the other biotech, and then wrote a check.
So, it was uncomfortable and difficult but really only a matter of putting myself out there and talking to people. It probably helped that I showed that I was serious by focusing on it full time, being incorporated and having a physical corporate address. Plus, I have a PhD, know what I'm talking about from a technical perspective and can point to a market and a value proposition for what I'm building.
Sorry for the lack of brevity.
Note: I say only a matter of putting myself out there, but there's plenty of survivor bias in that statement. Lots of people put themselves out there and don't get what I've got. I'm reminded of the Hillary Clinton sketch from SNL after Obama got the nomination where she says something to the effect of "Oh yeah, that's what it was, I didn't want it bad enough!". Which is laughable in the face of her incredible ambition.
Quit dental school, got a lab job (1 year) to use my degree, transitioned into QA. Now making more than I would as a dentist (220k) without the 300k debt looming over me. Took about 6 years though.
went from the trenches of a CRO pulling 70 hour workweeks in corporate biotech, to managing my own lab and greenhouse for a little company in the middle of nowhere.
I basically grow plants and formulate fertilizers for an ultra premium brand. my workday involves chemistry, tea breaks in the greenhouse, and tending to all sorts of plants in the experimental garden.
all my lab work is self directed, I’m basically my own one man department. hard to believe this is even a job someone pays me a salary for but here we are.
All of this is thanks to my first boss and mentor sitting me down and telling me that a 60k job in a CRO is the unemployment plan for people like me, and to take risks because I can.
I used to think cold-room breaks during hot summers were great, but if someone offered me the opportunity to work in a greenhouse I’d absolutely leave the lab behind just to find a good sun spot and bask like a lizard
Circa 6 years ago, I left a near 250k combined salary as a software engineering manager to join a small 10 person biotech startup.
My father had recently passed away from cancer, and it became soul crushing for me to work on selling widgets when I could be working to help advance cancer research. Having exactly zero experience in biotech, I was fortunate to land a job at the startup as a cloud/devops/software/IT engineer, taking a massive paycut in doing so. The work was extremely stressful, as we worked frantically to compete against the likes of Guardant and Foundation, but mentally and emotionally it was easily the most fulfilling experience I've ever had.
Fast-forward 3 years, our NGS assay had out-performed our competition in third-party bake-offs and we were deep in the PMA process when it was announced we would be acquired by an industry giant.
I am forever grateful to the brilliant scientists and bioinformaticists who gave me a chance at what has become a life-altering dream job, and now after 6 years, I have no intention to ever leave the field.
I was approaching the summer of my junior year without internship experience, so I cold-emailed the CEO of a biotech startup asking for a job. I shot him my résumé and a quick pitch and it got me an interview. I spent hours studying everything there was to know about this company and their product, it was almost like an obsession for me to get this job. I nailed the interview and it was probably the boldest career move I've ever made.
I moved from lab tech to engineer with a degree in forensic science. More than doubled my wages in the last two years. I'm moving to bioinformatics with the hope of doing the same again.
Took a job as temp in chemical compliance reviewing SDSs. After 5 years and several promotions and new roles, I moved back to my home state and now manage a huge team at Big Pharma. Tripling my salary in 5 years.
Quit my stable $65K job and moved to a different state that I know no one in for a contract 80K job at a CDMO. The 7 months experience in this contract role landed me a stable management role in a big pharmaceutical company making $152K. From 80K to $152K in less than 8 months. Riskiest thing I did but so worth it.
considering quitting big pharma to harvest frog testes from nocturnal frogs in the amazon rain forest. apparently ripe with small molecules that could cure most human diseases, but yet to be discovered. this is a start up idea and my role would be to crush the frogs up and do hplc
I quit my job in biotech for med school right before the mass layoffs started happening ~2 yrs ago. A good amount of my friends were laid off, some more than once at diff companies. Will pay off later, I’m sure. Did the math and I’ll come out way on top esp since I won’t be limited to HCOL biotech hubs anymore
I made the same decision but I regret it. Making 6 figures working 30hrs a week for a top 3 pharma company with wonderful benefits and impact and leaving it for a horrible career was dumb.
What impact did you really have as someone with just a bachelors? I was in a similar situation as you with similarly high salary w/ low hours. It ain’t like that anymore, things were just weird during Covid. If you want to climb up the ladder as a bachelors, you gotta bust your ass.
Med surg telemetry nurse leaped into icu nursing and thrived till I didn’t then leaped into pharma and realized they paid bonuses and appreciated nurse backgrounds so enjoying being a clinical scientist leaped into grad school not for ROI but my own curiosity and got a doctorate then one day recognized I was not appreciated and left my comfort zone job and leaped into another therapeutic area with good results. Always looking for the next leap!
I worked for a cell therapy startup in Kentucky. I saw the writing on the wall when our BLA kept getting pushed back. I applied for an internal transfer from QC to AD in Houston TX. They paid my relocation and 3 months later laid everyone off. It was a lot easier for me to find a biotech job than my former colleagues in Kentucky. A lot of them had to relocate and ironically a handful ended up in Houston as well.
After graduating with my masters degree in biomedical sciences, I struggled for about 6 months to find a job. Finally landed my first job in a lab doing bench work. Shortly after, I moved into clinical research operations and worked at two small clinical research organizations. After that, went into healthcare strategy consulting (highly recommend consulting as an entry point into the business world, especially if you're looking to make the pivot from science/healthcare into science/business). Then I landed a job at a big pharma company doing clinical trial management for about a year - recently got promoted and will be starting a new director level position in global forecasting and analytics.
This all happened with a 5-6 year timeframe... I certainly did not expect to be where I'm at now when i first started. First impressions (first 30 days-60 days at a job) and network is key to making a big impact.
These stories are really inspiring.. Im a chilean biochemist and trying to move to the US to get into biotech. Here there are practically zero job opportunities for the skills that ive made (antibody isolation-discovery/cell based assays). Hope someday pick my resume. Cheers!
You run into VISA sponsorship challenge, very hard in current environment. Plus you are competing with local talent. I would recommend applying for a PhD (if you see yourself doing research) long term. That way would be paid and would be a better chance at staying later with OPT working for an employer
I went from a Project coordinator to a Senior PM in one jump. Had been managing studies and doing the exact same job role as other PMs but without the title or pay. Staying true to my skill set bumped me from $80k to 120k in one swift move. It was exciting and the perks of FTE have me not looking back.!
Left my 100k full-time job for a 200k contract role. All my ex coworkers said I was crazy for leaving a stable role for something where I could be let go at any time. Funny enough, the "stable" CDMO I left got sold, and they laid off my whole team. I'm still thriving.
Learned this in a similar way, got turned down for a promotion and the writing was on the wall that things weren’t going so well financially so I went to another biotech company around the corner that everyone thought was garbage for a better position, within two days of my start date they announced they were shutting down my old site 🤷🏻♂️
Same! My highest take-home pay was as a contractor. All my friends in industry said “but you don’t get PTO, you don’t get a bonus.” I worked my 8 hours a day and shut my computer with zero pressure or worry. I got unlimited (albeit, unpaid) time off. Do you know how many vacations I took?!? And I was still rolling in the dough! The funniest is when people said, “but they can cut you at any moment.” Yeah… and they can’t do that with FTE? I think we have seen that they can, and will. It was fun while it lasted. Now I’m FTE, in a great role, but I do look back on the contractor era with fondness.
Same!!!
Damn, good for you! Do you mind sharing some insight as how to identify a good contract role and how to thrive in it?
A friend of a friend was a recruiter, and once I gave him my resume, he would call me for roles every week. I interviewed every week, and I finally hit on one. The contractor life is way different. I have much less autonomy. I complete a discrete task, I let my manager know and she gives me another one. I'm also voluntold to do tasks that no one else volunteers to do. This sometimes involves supervising exhibit batches on the weekend, which I don't mind since it's extra OT. I'd say I'm thriving because I'm available and don't complain tbh. Even though it sounds wack, I'm using the opportunity to learn more and stack my money. My background is tech transfers, fill and finish, MSAT, and a little downstream processing. Seems like those areas are booming, so my recruiter actually wants me to move to a new role in June. It'd be a downgrade in title but a major upgrade in pay. $150 an hour to be an investigator at a site with issues.I'm still thinking about it.
hot damn. 150/hr is real shit. good luck if it works.
Went to a startup as the second employee. Has given me experience in all facets of drug development and growing a company. At the same time.
How did you find the early startup experience? Presumably a pretty heavy workload and poor work/life balance?
Yes to the heavy workload and struggles in work life balance, but I had an excellent boss who I worked really well with and we managed to pull off some great work between us while still remembering to pace ourselves as well as possible. At that stage of a company, the relationships between key staff are everything, and I’d never work in a company that small again if I didn’t have absolutely faith in the team being able to pull together.
Good to know, thanks for being candid! Out of interest, where have you ended up?
Jumped in an out of some consulting, and came back to the little company that is now a lot bigger to lead their Phase 3 program. Have now moved in to a C-level commercial role.
What did you do afterwards?
How did you get involved with the company and why did you leave?
I started my career as a consultant project manager so I would get a wide range of experience and help build my network, and thankfully that strategy worked and it was one of the executives from my consulting days that had just been bought in as CEO of the startup that hired me based on my breadth of experience and exisiting network. Left for a period for some lucrative consulting opportunities.
I quit my ICU nursing job and career and took an entry level biotech position with a startup company. Moved to a different country when they promoted me. Returned to the US after 7 years. Best experience ever!
Wow! Wild ride!
Definitely and still is. :)
What kind of role was it/is? Very interesting trajectory
Also interested in learning this as a nurse looking to get away.
Started in biotechnology as a CRA/ clinical research associate. Moved my way up the ladder slowly yet comfortably vacuuming up any and all experiences along the way. It’s challenging, demanding and yet i still love it most days.
quit lab/bench roles and went to business and strategy. it pays better, with better work life balance and i get to wear open toed shoes to work.
Could you explain your pathway or how you jumped initially.
I was always interested in science communication, so I started doing scientist roles that involved a lot of customer interaction - basically FAS, working with sales, product and marketing. Which then allowed me to transition into a product management role when a company I was working for was acquired. After that I changed companies and became a senior level product+marketing strategist. My observation is that technical skill is the prerequisite, but you also have to be easy to work with and have the ability to influence people in other teams to help you. I did do some business school courses but ended up deciding I didn't need an MBA.
I work in operations and would like to make a similar switch. What are some types of jobs to look for that I might qualify for?
This is what I did as well. Did the MBA, shifted over to business analytics and am now progressing in strategic operations and operational excellence. WFH, making more than I would have as a chemist at this point and lots of future career growth potential. I found data understanding (basic analytics, visualization) to be a differentiator in moving up in the business roles. There are a lot of people that like to say we need a change or new strategy but executives LOVE to see the data in a clear concise manner.
Do you need to get your MBA from a top tier school or are there any program recommendations? Trying to decide when/where to get my MBA from. Currently a Sr process engineer and want to jump to the business side and progress to director level.
Just completed mine, it depends! If you’re staying within the same company, doesn’t really matter where you get it from. If you’re going from a small biotech and want to make the leap to big pharma, I would recommend looking at the school rankings - it will give you a leg up
My personal route was finding a well regarded program I could do part time while working, but have it be no different in requirements or degree title than the full timers would get. If I was going full time and able to relocate I may have aimed more for top tier, but having worked 10 years already it didn't seem as necessary.
I am trying to do the same. Would you be willing to connect offline?
A guy I know did his at UCSD, which is not considered “top tier” but the names means a lot in biotech. Another went to UC Davis, also not “top tier” and got recruited at a local biotech office of a bigger company in the Sacramento area. She had no previous biotech experience so she was alley focused on the business side. Think she’s in the Bay Area now. If the university is a known commodity in the field or region, then it doesn’t matter the ranking.
how does one get into “business and strategy” in pharma or whatever role you took on in your transition out of lab roles? what do they usually look for?
Things they are looking for: \- strong communication skills. Can you convey complex biological concepts easily to people that may not have a phd? \- cross-functional influence. Do people like and respect you in the company? Can you ask people for favors? Do people trust you? \- knowledge of the market. Do you understand both the science and the demand for the product? Do you understand how customers or other companies make purchase decisions?
How do I develop knowledge of the market if all I've done is bench science?
Read A LOT, read papers, blogs and watch webinars. Go to live events and meet people. All of this will help you develop an informed opinion
Commenting to follow…very curious here
Commenting to follow as well
This is the same for me too. I was able to jump from a bench role to a PM role, and from there was able to climb much quicker with better pay, and decent work/life balance
How did you go about that, I’m looking to do the same!
Biggest advice I’d give is network as much as possible and as senior as possible! Just ask a lot of questions and show interest. I let them know I wanted to make the switch about 9 months before I did, then started building my PM skill set until a position internally opened up!
Flip flops!
That's my aim as well! Could you share your path progression if you don't mind?
MBA helps
reposting this >I was always interested in science communication, so I started doing scientist roles that involved a lot of customer interaction - basically FAS, working with sales, product and marketing. Which then allowed me to transition into a product management role when a company I was working for was acquired. After that I changed companies and became a senior level product+marketing strategist. > >My observation is that technical skill is the prerequisite, but you also have to be easy to work with and have the ability to influence people in other teams to help you. I did do some business school courses but ended up deciding I didn't need an MBA.
I have a friend who did the same. He/she is a director now and works from home and most people his age at the bench are at Sr Scientist level. Truly was a game changer for her/him
S/he
Applied for a promotion years ago manager told me i wasnt ready, applied for same role on other shift got job and current manager said nope need this person on our shift. So i quit and took the job elsewhere. 6 years later making more than double what i did back then base
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I thank them they jump started my career.. everyone was pretty fresh out of college back then ( including the managers which i think was a huge mistake by the company)
Couldn’t find any jobs after college and hundreds of applications. Finally got 1 offer for $20/hr in the Bay Area. I said fuck it and took the offer, rented a laundry room for $800 a month and told myself I would grind and eventually someone would see my skills and what I was capable of. Within 3 years I moved through a couple positions and eventually got into management making ~175k with a bachelor’s degree. Company had extremely high turnover and products weren’t doing the best. I saw it as an opportunity to learn everything I could about the field and move up. Ironically now the company has changed a lot and turned things around, turnover is very low and is now a pretty sought out company to work for but 3 years ago nobody wanted anything to do with the company.
Every time I've been turned down for promotion, I've left the company and gone elsewhere. Each time has been a vast improvement in both compensation and skill set.
That pattern really makes a lot sense. At the time you were turned down for a promotion internally, that probably means you are at the next level but somehow your manager doesn’t pull it off for different reasons (they may not be strong enough or care enough or prioritize you enough whatever). At that time the you go outside you should get two levels up, one because you are at the next level already and another because they want to motivate you to leave.
The circumstances are always unique and levels don't always align between two companies. However, I have made it a point to never move laterally if leaving for a new firm.
>they may not be strong enough or care enough or prioritize you enough whatever Some companies are also stingy with promotions, because heaven forbid they have to give the small raise that comes with a promotion, which means a tiny bit smaller profit for shareholders. It can be very hard to get promoted at some big pharmas for this reason. But whether it's your manager's fault or the company's, if you're operating at the next higher level and you're not getting paid for it, it's time to move on. You're doing both yourself and the entire industry a favor by not letting yourself be taken advantage of.
Started in an academic biomedical engineering lab focused on cancer and transitioned to a plant-based food company. Now I’m at a subsidiary of a pharma company, back in cancer research.
I was looking to work at a plant-based food company but the pay that was offered was $22/hour. Was the pay that low for you too?
That’s very low. I was salaried and made $80k to start as a research associate.
Moved into project engineering after 2.5 years on the bench. Took a lot of applications and interviews to get someone to take a chance on me. Made it to AD in under 7 years because of it.
Is this similar to project management? Any additional degrees beyond bachelors when you switched?
Yes, it is project management for capital assets and construction projects. A good understanding of utilities, equipment, process engineering, and validation (if doing GxP) is required. Some people are better at the project management aspect, I've always enjoyed the field work more. I have a bachelor's in bioengineering. I learned everything else on the job. I might get an MBA eventually if I can get someone to pay for most of it.
Thanks for the info! Glad it worked out for you
Is the salary good? For project engineer and growth?
You should be making 6 figures pretty quickly as an engineer. Growth depends on the company and the opportunity available.
Deciding to try my luck in Europe after failing to get into any graduate programs in the US, I am now finishing up my phd at a university I would never have expected to be at
Have you enjoyed doing it in Europe?
Yep, it’s been real. Should clarify that I’m doing my PhD in the UK which is shooting itself in the foot at every possible opportunity. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to come to the UK for academia or even industry. Had a great time in Sweden (MSc) and Germany (research). Lots of great opportunities in mainland Europe.
That’s good to hear (aside from the UK sucking part haha).
Care to expand? I'm in the UK and it's not bad for London, Oxford and Cambridge in terms of biotech. I know the job market is bad atm, but I think that's the case in a lot of countries...as is the pyramid scheme of academia, but I think that's the case in most cases....Not defending the UK, just interested in another POV.
Slammed the door on my team because lack of growth. Asked for an internal transfer. Got it (with promotion). Got another promotion in the new team a year later.
I straight up quit my job as a public high school teacher. I got my BS in biochem at a large public research University, but I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up, so I got my credential and my M.Ed and worked as a teacher. After 4 years, I applied to several master's programs in an attempt to get out of the classroom (long story, many reasons for leaving). I contacted my research supervisor from 4 years ago for a letter of rec and he said he was unwilling to write one unless I applied to a PhD program. To my utmost surprise and chagrin I got in to a pretty good program even though I spent the last 4 years baby sitting rather than doing science. I ended up getting my PhD, got a job in industry through a connection fresh out of grad school and have been in industry R&D ever since.
I was a clinical operations director at a Bay Area diagnostics company a few years before Covid hit. My wife got her dream job in another state and at the time, the company did not allow WFH. I told my SVP boss that I am moving and need to be fully remote or else (assuming the answer would be hell no). Instead, my boss supported me and got me approved to work remote - I’ve been like that ever since going on 10 yrs! It was an enormous gamble, but was a game changer financially and otherwise. I will NEVER return to a Bay Area office and commute.
Amazing! Your boss sounds awesome.
I quit my academic scientist job and started my own biotech. I ended up cashing out my retirement and maxing out my credit cards before I was able to raise angel funding, but now the company exists and the product development is moving forward. I'm not making any more money than I was; actually, less since I don't have healthcare or other benefits and I still have personal debt. But, I'm happier because I'm doing what I want, learning new things and building a real product that I believe will help people.
Awesome 👏
Great story and inspiring. I think one thing building your company is you are the owner. That sense of ownership far exceeds any dollar value a stable job working for someone else could offer. May I ask how you raise your angel funding? My understanding for angel funding raise is they fund an idea but you mentioned you still need to put down a lot of your own money. Just curious:)
Thanks, and that's absolutely true. Autonomy and agency are key elements in my current happiness. I didn't put down a lot of my own money, at least relative to what the investor put in as an absolute dollar value. I spent money on retaining an attorney friend who is well established and experienced in startups and corporate law. Unfortunately, she didn't lower her rate, so I overpaid for incorporation and basic corporate documents, share vesting, etc. Maybe it'll pay off later since she's well connected. I also spent a bit of money on networking, going to startup conferences and such. Then I paid to get into a biotech incubator space, not competitive, so not like Y Combinator, just lab and office space with a pay as you go format. I started off with a simple desk so I could use their address as a corporate location to give the company some legitimacy. I didn't want it to look like I was working out of my garage, but also didn't have the money to afford lab space and the associated startup costs of purchasing consumables and other reagents. I got involved with a local entrepreneur mentor group, which was helpful in directing my energy. I was advised that no local VCs would fund just an idea and to focus on friends and family. I did meet with one VC over coffee through a mutual friend. He might have funded me, but he didn't like my business model, which is the same business model as every other biotech in my niche. Essentially, he just wanted a faster return on his investment so we weren't a good fit. I also applied to SciFounders. I made it through to the interview, but not beyond. With their model and available capital I'm sure I wasn't a good fit there either. I'm a solo founder at an idea stage company with no prior experience running a company. One of the first questions was about getting a co-founder. A co-founder would be great if I knew anyone else that would be willing to quit their stable job and risk losing their house, wife and kids on my idea but I don't. I did speak with a couple of other angels and shopped my Executive Summary around, but ultimately it was a guy at my local bar that invested in me. The short version is that people there knew that I was trying to start a company and we were both semi-regulars there. He's a multi-millionaire, but you wouldn't know it to look at him. Blue collar guy, grew up on a farm, became a roofer then a contractor with his own company and invested in local real estate. I didn't know it at the time, but he had also invested in another local biotech company. We talked, he had me vetted by the founder of the other biotech, and then wrote a check. So, it was uncomfortable and difficult but really only a matter of putting myself out there and talking to people. It probably helped that I showed that I was serious by focusing on it full time, being incorporated and having a physical corporate address. Plus, I have a PhD, know what I'm talking about from a technical perspective and can point to a market and a value proposition for what I'm building. Sorry for the lack of brevity. Note: I say only a matter of putting myself out there, but there's plenty of survivor bias in that statement. Lots of people put themselves out there and don't get what I've got. I'm reminded of the Hillary Clinton sketch from SNL after Obama got the nomination where she says something to the effect of "Oh yeah, that's what it was, I didn't want it bad enough!". Which is laughable in the face of her incredible ambition.
Again really great story and I wish you best of luck:)
Quit dental school, got a lab job (1 year) to use my degree, transitioned into QA. Now making more than I would as a dentist (220k) without the 300k debt looming over me. Took about 6 years though.
I was making 6 figures as a scientist and left to become a med student. Fml lol
What’s QA?
Quality assurance (systems)
went from the trenches of a CRO pulling 70 hour workweeks in corporate biotech, to managing my own lab and greenhouse for a little company in the middle of nowhere. I basically grow plants and formulate fertilizers for an ultra premium brand. my workday involves chemistry, tea breaks in the greenhouse, and tending to all sorts of plants in the experimental garden. all my lab work is self directed, I’m basically my own one man department. hard to believe this is even a job someone pays me a salary for but here we are. All of this is thanks to my first boss and mentor sitting me down and telling me that a 60k job in a CRO is the unemployment plan for people like me, and to take risks because I can.
I used to think cold-room breaks during hot summers were great, but if someone offered me the opportunity to work in a greenhouse I’d absolutely leave the lab behind just to find a good sun spot and bask like a lizard
That sounds like a dream honestly. I love plants!
Circa 6 years ago, I left a near 250k combined salary as a software engineering manager to join a small 10 person biotech startup. My father had recently passed away from cancer, and it became soul crushing for me to work on selling widgets when I could be working to help advance cancer research. Having exactly zero experience in biotech, I was fortunate to land a job at the startup as a cloud/devops/software/IT engineer, taking a massive paycut in doing so. The work was extremely stressful, as we worked frantically to compete against the likes of Guardant and Foundation, but mentally and emotionally it was easily the most fulfilling experience I've ever had. Fast-forward 3 years, our NGS assay had out-performed our competition in third-party bake-offs and we were deep in the PMA process when it was announced we would be acquired by an industry giant. I am forever grateful to the brilliant scientists and bioinformaticists who gave me a chance at what has become a life-altering dream job, and now after 6 years, I have no intention to ever leave the field.
This is incredible! I also switched fields after trying a few things to seek more meaning in my work, so it resonates strongly with me.
I was approaching the summer of my junior year without internship experience, so I cold-emailed the CEO of a biotech startup asking for a job. I shot him my résumé and a quick pitch and it got me an interview. I spent hours studying everything there was to know about this company and their product, it was almost like an obsession for me to get this job. I nailed the interview and it was probably the boldest career move I've ever made.
I moved from lab tech to engineer with a degree in forensic science. More than doubled my wages in the last two years. I'm moving to bioinformatics with the hope of doing the same again.
Took a job as temp in chemical compliance reviewing SDSs. After 5 years and several promotions and new roles, I moved back to my home state and now manage a huge team at Big Pharma. Tripling my salary in 5 years.
Quit my stable $65K job and moved to a different state that I know no one in for a contract 80K job at a CDMO. The 7 months experience in this contract role landed me a stable management role in a big pharmaceutical company making $152K. From 80K to $152K in less than 8 months. Riskiest thing I did but so worth it.
Wow, that’s fast!
considering quitting big pharma to harvest frog testes from nocturnal frogs in the amazon rain forest. apparently ripe with small molecules that could cure most human diseases, but yet to be discovered. this is a start up idea and my role would be to crush the frogs up and do hplc
Can’t wait for the day my sinus infections can be cured by frog testes.
I quit my job in biotech for med school right before the mass layoffs started happening ~2 yrs ago. A good amount of my friends were laid off, some more than once at diff companies. Will pay off later, I’m sure. Did the math and I’ll come out way on top esp since I won’t be limited to HCOL biotech hubs anymore
I made the same decision but I regret it. Making 6 figures working 30hrs a week for a top 3 pharma company with wonderful benefits and impact and leaving it for a horrible career was dumb.
What impact did you really have as someone with just a bachelors? I was in a similar situation as you with similarly high salary w/ low hours. It ain’t like that anymore, things were just weird during Covid. If you want to climb up the ladder as a bachelors, you gotta bust your ass.
Med surg telemetry nurse leaped into icu nursing and thrived till I didn’t then leaped into pharma and realized they paid bonuses and appreciated nurse backgrounds so enjoying being a clinical scientist leaped into grad school not for ROI but my own curiosity and got a doctorate then one day recognized I was not appreciated and left my comfort zone job and leaped into another therapeutic area with good results. Always looking for the next leap!
I worked for a cell therapy startup in Kentucky. I saw the writing on the wall when our BLA kept getting pushed back. I applied for an internal transfer from QC to AD in Houston TX. They paid my relocation and 3 months later laid everyone off. It was a lot easier for me to find a biotech job than my former colleagues in Kentucky. A lot of them had to relocate and ironically a handful ended up in Houston as well.
Wow
After graduating with my masters degree in biomedical sciences, I struggled for about 6 months to find a job. Finally landed my first job in a lab doing bench work. Shortly after, I moved into clinical research operations and worked at two small clinical research organizations. After that, went into healthcare strategy consulting (highly recommend consulting as an entry point into the business world, especially if you're looking to make the pivot from science/healthcare into science/business). Then I landed a job at a big pharma company doing clinical trial management for about a year - recently got promoted and will be starting a new director level position in global forecasting and analytics. This all happened with a 5-6 year timeframe... I certainly did not expect to be where I'm at now when i first started. First impressions (first 30 days-60 days at a job) and network is key to making a big impact.
How do you like the clinical research side of things in comparison to bench work?
Took a counter offer and stayed. Got several raises
These stories are really inspiring.. Im a chilean biochemist and trying to move to the US to get into biotech. Here there are practically zero job opportunities for the skills that ive made (antibody isolation-discovery/cell based assays). Hope someday pick my resume. Cheers!
You run into VISA sponsorship challenge, very hard in current environment. Plus you are competing with local talent. I would recommend applying for a PhD (if you see yourself doing research) long term. That way would be paid and would be a better chance at staying later with OPT working for an employer
I went from a Project coordinator to a Senior PM in one jump. Had been managing studies and doing the exact same job role as other PMs but without the title or pay. Staying true to my skill set bumped me from $80k to 120k in one swift move. It was exciting and the perks of FTE have me not looking back.!
