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Category: Personal Perspectives

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We're excited to start the career development discussion with women in pharma.

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  • Explore is a beginner's guide to drug development, how pharma works, and the expansive array of job opportunities or career options.
  • Toolkit contains tips and tricks to applying for positions in pharma/biotech. 
  • Pharma Life highlights some useful resources to help you advance in multiple aspects of your personal and professional life.
  • Moms Corner elevates some of the unique challenges faced by working moms.
  • Perspectives archives our stories and our guest posts.

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Last week, at the NIH Career Symposium, I was a panelist in a session on global public health careers. Public health is getting a lot of attention now, especially among scientists who desire tangible impact. The other panelists worked in government public health agencies, and I was the only panelist in the pharmaceutical industry. Here, I share my notes from preparing for the session and some thoughts after the discussion with attendees.

drug vial against blue background
Public health includes access to medicines. Photo by Artem Podrez
...continue reading "How to Transition into Public Health … in the Pharmaceutical Industry?"

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This week's guest post is by Avani Shahlenis. She and I were colleagues in the same department several years ago at Genentech. When she announced that she was leaving the company, I was interested for her to share her "why." On this blog, we primarily focus on getting into and thriving in careers in pharma. However, I think it's relevant to think about what we gain from our pharma experiences to transition out as well. Here is Avani's unique story.

Photo by Brett Jordan
...continue reading "Why I Left Pharma – A Journey of Personal Transformation & Healing to Courageously Act on My Purpose – Guest Post"

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For Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows navigating their future career paths, Dr. Christa Heyward's journey so far is an inspiring reminder of how unconventional experiences can make someone a phenomenal pharmaceutical industry candidate.

She graciously let me interview her for this blog over an extended phone call. Our conversation meandered quite a bit, though I did start off posing the following questions:

  • What attracted you to industry and how did you decide to pursue a career in industry?
  • What are your current responsibilities as an Investigator at GSK?
  • Are there key similarities and differences between working in industry and in academia?
  • Has anything surprised you about working in industry?
  • What were the experiences in your background that have been useful as you tackled your first job in industry?
  • How can PhD students or postdocs prepare themselves for a position in industry?
  • Any application or interview tips for PhDs who are interested in pursuing an industry career?

Read on to see how we tackled these questions and many more. 

Dr. Christa Heyward, Immunologist, Investigator in Discovery Science. Photo courtesy of Christa Heyward
...continue reading "Getting Your First Pharmaceutical Industry Job: Advice for Ph.D. Scientists from Dr. Christa Heyward"

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This is a guest post from Qalbaq, a virtual marketplace for career advising. Michelle and I have not utilized the platform ourselves so cannot provide any personal endorsement, but it may be a resource for those seeking advice. We asked them to provide a guest post that highlights the type of career advice that a marketplace user might receive. They offered to interview a career advisor who works in our pharma/biotech industry.

What's the best way to transition careers into the biotech industry? Unless you have a great network of mentors already set up, many times, you don't even know what you don't know. Who do you reach out to for help? When do you reach out to them? Where can you find an everyday professional to answer your questions? We sat down with Biotechconsultant who successfully transitioned into a biotech career to pick her brain about practical strategies that helped her make it. 

Sign "This way" and arrow on wooden fence
Sometimes, you don't even know what you don't know when it comes to transitioning careers. Photo by Jamie Templeton
...continue reading "How to Transition into a Biotech Career: Industry Insider Shares Tips"