#6 Why PhDs will always achieve success in the biotech industry
Hello everyone,
Welcome to my website and my 6th blog post.
In this blog, I will discuss why I think PhDs are best suited to succeed at diverse job positions in the biotech industry (management and R&D).
My opinion is based on the knowledge I gathered from a discussion with a business developer in the Danish biotech industry. His story made me realize, what the biotech industry looks for in a job applicant, and why PhDs will always find better job success in the biotech industry than anywhere in academia.
Biotechs in Europe cluster around specific areas
Let the business developer be named Mr. A, and the company he worked for is ZYX Pvt. Ltd. Mr. A was in his initial years of research when he heard one of the professors he knew was starting a company to develop drugs against critical diseases. The professor had extensive knowledge, sheer determination, and ideal leadership capabilities.
Therefore Mr. A joined the company to develop an innovation that, according to him, had a more significant impact on society. The investors were happy with the team, the leader, and how they faced challenges to meet deadlines. However, their drug failed in clinical trials. The company survived for over 8 years, raised massive investments, and employed more than 100 people. But the company had to shut down. Everyone lost their jobs.
This might be the company's end, but not for the employees.
The founders started a new company, the employees in ZYX got placed in other companies, and Mr. A is now a Biotech Industry Business Developer. Mr. A started as a lab researcher with no background in management and now serving in a management position. HOW COME?
Because the biotech industry asks for scientific knowledge and personal skills like:
1. Project Management
2. Technical / Medical writing
3. Communication and liaising
4. Effective presentation
5. Networking skills, and
6. Knowledge about the biotech business industry
Therefore, even though ZYX Pvt. Ltd. failed, the employees had valuable knowledge and experience, which made them lucrative hires for other companies. On top of that, Mr. A made good networks during his tenure, which gave him an excellent job relatively quickly. Mr. A’s networking skills, scientific knowledge, and industry knowledge helped him get the bio-business developer job.
You can appreciate that the biotech industry always asks for Personal Skills and Personal Experience. But academia asks for publications. Yes, your skills matter, but if you don’t have GOOD PUBLICATIONS, nothing matters.
ACADEMIA judges a person INDIRECTLY (through a publication). INDUSTRY has a more DIRECT CONNECTION. ACADEMIA respects you through your PUBLICATION. INDUSTRY respects your PERSONAL SKILLS and NETWORKS. A failure in industrial output might not dramatically impact your career.
Since industrial jobs are about personal skills, every PhD would succeed in this market. Because PhDs are trained in scientific knowledge, multitasking, collaborative work, and high-risk project management.
But what PhDs also need to understand is that besides scientific knowledge, they need to NETWORK amongst the biotech professionals. Learn the skills mentioned above from an industry perspective:
1. What is industrial project management?
2. What are industrial presentation skills / investor pitching / digital communication?
3. What is biotech industrial business development?
Additionally, if you can build a good network during your PhD, people will prefer you over others for an entry-level position. This is because your NETWORK has seen you grow over time. Thus, they would have more confidence in you as a person to work with than any new applicant. That’s the power of networking.
50% OF BIOTECH JOBS IN DENMARK ARE OFFERED THROUGH NETWORKING. It will be the same in India and other parts of the world.
So don’t lose hope if you don’t have publications. Move to industry and create a more significant impact on society.
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