Career choices involve making very individual decisions
decisions, The goal of this talk is to set the stage
for thinking about those decisions by providing some general observations based on the
experience of the two contributors. This includes >20 years combined in academic medical
research institutions and >20 years combined in industry, working in research and
development, business development and consulting in both big pharma and small biomedical
startups.
Since it’s impossible to provide more than an overview in 15 minutes, participants are very
welcome to follow up with additional questions or for any help we can provide with networking
by using the phone/e-mail contact information provided.
1
2
30,000 foot view of industry’s role in innovation and who invests at different
stages of converting new knowledge into new products. The balance among
investor types varies somewhat from country to country but is generally
similar in those with free market economies.
Early investment in knowledge is typically provided by society through the
vehicle of government or charitable foundations. The bulk of funding is
aimed at “confirm and extend” research to expand a particular area of
knowledge, although some programs try to stimulate high risk/high reward
research or early proof of principle testing for a new product concept.
Whether initial discoveries/ideas come from basic research done in
p y they
y require
q
investment of time and funds
academic institution OR company,
to reduce them to something that performs reliably in the hands of nonexperts.
The focus of this talk will be on how companies deal with both the scientific
and “other” questions needed for market success and what type of career
opportunities
pp
that offers. Although
g our p
personal experience
p
is largely
g y with
US companies, variation among them is substantial and probably no less
than differences across companies from different regions of the world.
3
Over the last approx
approx. 30 years
years, job growth has been greater for PhD scientists in industry than
in academia.
Everyone has heard the horror stories about layoffs and downsizing in industry during the
recent economic downturn. However, data from a Batelle study released in early May suggest
that the bioscience industry is still a good place to be. The following report comes from the
FiercePharma e-newsletter
e newsletter of 5/5/2010:
3. Pharma pay beats private-sector wages
By Tracy Staton
Are you above average? Well, a new survey from Battelle, presented this week at BIO, may
not be able to g
gauge
g yyour individual worth. But it can tell yyou whether yyou're making
g as much
moola as the average pharma worker.
The Battelle report looked at employment in biosciences and found some heartening news:
Despite hard times that have claimed many jobs in Big Pharma, the overall biosciences sector
has posted strong job gains. Employment growth in the biosciences actually outpaced
overall U.S. employment growth from 2001 to 2008, with job growth over that period
amounting to 15.8 percent. That's more than four times the overall growth rate for the
private sector, which amounted to 3.5 percent.
Bioscience wages also put overall private-sector pay to shame. Sectorwide, the average
annual wage came to $77,595 in 2008, up from $70,959 in 2006. Bioscience pay beat out the
overall private sector by $32,366 on average.
But here's the bottom line for you pharma folk: The average annual wages per employee in
drugs and pharmaceuticals amounted to $93,378 in 2008. That's more than twice the
4
Although the differences now are not as pronounced as they were 20 – 30 years ago
ago, there is
still some truth to the following descriptions of how research differs in large research
institutions vs. large companies:
Successful academic research tends to be driven by the interests of the individual investigator
and to explore a given area in great detail, seeking to increase basic understanding in an openended manner.
manner Since results are unpredictable
unpredictable, directions may need to change
change. In general
general,
failure to achieve originally defined Specific Aims in the expected time frame has relatively few
consequences as long as the research results continue to be fundable and publishable and to
add to the basic pool of scientific knowledge with broadly defined societal benefits.
Successful corporate research tends to focus on moving as rapidly as possible toward a
marketable product
product, because profits are ultimately necessary to continue to attract funding
from investors/shareholders (earlier stage companies) or sales to customers (mature
companies). Scientific directions are usually driven by market needs, and milestones must be
set and achieved in a timely fashion to avoid running out of capital or reaching the market too
late to be competitive. New scientific discoveries need to be kept confidential until they can be
protected by patents.
5
As with all generalizations,
generalizations the generalizations given in Slide 5 are only partially true and
doorways are growing in what used to be a very solid “wall” between universities and industry.
Exploratory “blue sky” research goes on in many companies and NIH is increasingly funding
goal-oriented “translational” research in academic institutions.
Academia is becoming more interested in interacting with industry and industry is becoming
more interested in acquiring new ideas from academia or from small companies, rather than
having to do all of the discovery work in-house.
6
Many skills that are part of academic training have significant value in industry as well
well.
7
A job is something you do to get paid
paid. A career is a job that challenges and excites you most
days. Which do you want?
8
If you’re
you re looking for a career
career, it’s
it s important to think seriously (and honestly) about the things
you like and do well, since you will usually be most successful in those areas.
While gaps in expertise can be overcome by formal or informal training, taking a position that
requires you to spend the majority of your time on activities you dislike or that don’t use your
strengths is usually a recipe for frustration on the part of you and your employer.
9
Yes you can do anything for a while if you have to
Yes,
to, but what do you enjoy enough to find
satisfying long term?
NOTE: Answering this question does NOT mean you have to stay with the same position
forever. In fact, that’s quite unlikely in today’s economy. Rather, it means being able to identify
the common denominator skills and capabilities that you can successfully apply to different
positions as your career path evolves over time!
10
Type of industry matters because typical product development timelines and product lifetimes differ considerably,
with therapeutics and some types of equipment often having much longer timeframes than diagnostics or devices.
Company size matters because job growth, type of positions available, and company culture vary dramatically.
The (Long Term) Jobs Trend is Better at Smaller Establishments (May 10, 2010 By Scott Shane)
Because the recession has been quite severe, a lot of the recent discussion of employment has focused on the time
period since the recession began in December 2007. As you no doubt know, over that time period, the jobs picture hasn’t looked pretty in
businesses of any size – small, medium, or large. But if we look at the jobs situation over a longer period of time – since 2000 – the pattern
is different, particularly across businesses of different sizes. In the figure [see link below], I have plotted the number of people employed in
small, medium, and large establishments relative to their level in December 2000, using data collected by Automated Data Processing
(ADP). ADP reports monthly numbers on employment in small (1-49 employees), medium (50-499 employees) and large (more than 499
employee) private sector establishments that use its payroll services. The substantial job loss from the recession in all sized establishments
is clearly visible in data. Employment in March 2010 is well below what it was in December 2007 when the recession began. But two other
trends are visible in the data. First, large establishments have shed the most jobs over the past decade, followed by medium-sized
establishments. In March 2010, establishments with 500 or more workers employed only 84.3 percent of the people that worked for them in
December 2000 and establishments with between 50 and 499 workers employed only 93.6 percent. Second, during the period between the
last recession and the current one, small establishments added a lot of jjobs. So many,
y in fact, that theyy currentlyy employ
p y 103.5 ppercent of
the workers they had in December 2000. We have to be a little cautious about drawing conclusions about companies from these data
because establishments are not firms. The U.S. Census explains, “an establishment is a single physical location where business
transactions take place and for which payroll and employment records are kept,” but firms are “groups of one or more establishments under
common ownership or control.” ….In March 2010, only 16.4 percent of private sector workers were found in establishments of 500 or more
people, while 38.5 percent were found in those of between 50 and 499 people, and 45.1 percent in establishments with between 1 and 49
people. Despite these caveats, the ADP numbers show an important trend. Over the past decade, employment has shifted from larger
establishments to smaller ones. Despite the decline in small establishment employment that has occurred during the recession, more
ppeople
p work in small establishments than did so in 2000. The same cannot be said about medium or large
g establishments.
About the Author Scott Shane is A. Malachi Mixon III, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University.
http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/05/long-term-jobs-trend-smallerestablishments.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SmallBusinessTrends+%28Small+Busines
s+Trends%29
11
In earlier stage companies
companies, which are usually also smaller companies
companies, in
in-house
house emphasis
tends to be on research and early development activities. Their goal is typically to reduce
scientific/technical risk by demonstrating that the company’s core
invention/innovation/technology can be implemented in at least prototype format and is likely to
effectively and safely meet market needs. Later stage functions such as toxicology testing,
clinical testing and manufacturing of prototypes are often contracted out to more specialized
firms until the company has better defined exactly what types of specialized expertise will be
needed and whether it will be more cost-effective to perform those functions in-house.
12
Although positions in new or small companies are seen as being more risky
risky, positions in all
types of companies carry risk of some kind.
Questions to ask yourself are which type of risk(s) you are more comfortable taking and how
much control you may have over the risk factors in these different settings.
13
A complete listing is impossible but the indicated link contains an excellent sampling of the
wide range of positions available in the general biomedical/life sciences industry.
14
The process of moving from a new idea or product concept to market is often perceived as a
linear, one-way street, but there are many feedback loops where people with scientific and
technical skills are needed just as much as in the early discovery/basic research stage.
15
Because of the wide range of activities needed and feedback loops that occur in real life
product development, project teams are used to move efforts on a given project/product
forward. Since their membership is quite diverse, this means you will need not only relevant
technical expertise but good teaching skills to help other team members understand what you
believe needs to be done to move the project forward and why.
16
The working unit in most companies is the project team,
team but team activities may be structured
and managed in different ways.
Hierarchical – traditional, more academic or military style, with decisions made by head of each
group who is an expert in that area
Matrix style – see Slide 18
Each company also has its own personality, and it’s important to understand what that is since
you may be more comfortable with one type than another.
17
Matrix organization (matrix management)
This organizational type assigns each worker two bosses in two different hierarchies. One
hierarchy is "functional" and assures that each type of expert in the organization is well-trained,
and measured by a boss who is super-expert in the same field. The other direction is
"executive" and tries to get projects completed using the experts. Projects might be organized
by regions,
regions customer types
types, or some other schema
schema.
18
In the U
U.S.,
S there is a new grant program for small businesses that is aimed at helping move
ideas and investigators from academic/research institutions into small businesses. See slide
22 for links to details of this SHIFT program, which was announced by NIH in March 2010.
19
Companies may not have your ideal job just waiting for you – itit’ss up to you to identify a place to
start and then help make it into a satisfying and rewarding career. Finding that match will bring
the most value to your employer, which is good for them too!
20
Anyone who’s
who s a cytometrist has already demonstrated that they can learn new things on the
job, work across multiple disciplines, and communicate with non-specialists.
What represents your “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” is defined by you. Maybe it’s
knowing that a life-saving product has moved forward because of your contribution. Maybe it’s
lots of money in the bank. Maybe it’s a combination of both. Whatever it is, your career and
success are what you make them.
them So go for it -- talk to friend and colleagues about different
possibilities and don’t be afraid to try something new!
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