Career Advice for Surviving the 2024 Biotech Job Market
By Rick Welch, CMC Executive | March 7, 2024
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I knew that 2022 and 2023 were bad years for Biotech and Pharma. However, it wasn’t until I spoke to a friend late last year, saw a LinkedIn post from a friend and former boss who has decided to consult full-time, and then read this article in Fierce that the breadth of the issue really sunk in. Things are really tough out there.
I’ve survived through several downturns in my career, and I always try to look for opportunities to move into growth areas in the field. Here are a couple of lessons I have learned may help people who are looking for the next opportunity and trying to find their way through this downturn.
Start with the data.
Make a list of the skills, accomplishments, new things learned, etc., for the last 5 to 10 years. I recently helped a younger colleague review their last several years, they were surprised how much they had accomplished and learned. Afterward I realized that I had not done this self-review in depth since 2007, the year I joined LinkedIn, and performed my own self review. I compared that list to my resume and LinkedIn profile and was shocked at how out of date they were. Which leads to lesson two.
Keep your public profile up to date.
This sounds like common sense. However, despite all of the news about social media not everyone uses it to advantage, failure to update my LinkedIn properly being a case in point. In science, it is vital to be constant in updating your public profile because reputation is key. In the past it was all Experimental Biology, AICHe, and TIDES; but now, new groups for Gene and Cell Therapy or RNAi or mRNA are constantly popping up.
Network
This means going beyond just social media networking or industry groups. Biotech industries form around hubs, and these localities want to support Biotechnology so they frequently have groups associated with local governments to support and provide forums for these growth industries. Maryland has BioBuzz, the Boston and Bay areas have their own. I don’t attend BioBuzz as often as I used to, but I have friends and associates that go back 20+ years that I still run into when I do attend. Half of my new opportunities over the last 30 years came through personal or professional connections. Which leads to my final comment.
Move into “new” areas and join new groups.
In my prior job I only presented at three or four industry meetings over a 13-year period. I always had a reason not to present or attend the meetings; I am already traveling a lot, I don’t need to go to these meetings anymore, etc. In 2021 I made a move to a related area, large molecule to siRNAs and started attending meetings again, five (5) in the last year alone. In doing so I have renewed old contacts, made new ones, and reignited the fun of learning new things.
All this seems simple, obvious, the reality is that it is work and like all work needs constant attention. If current forecasting is correct and Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals are getting ready for a comeback then this is the time to begin preparing for that next opportunity, either in your current company or in a new one.
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