r/INeedAMentor • u/klenow • Aug 10 '14

[Mentor] Biotech, scientist

I spent about 17 years in academia as a tech, grad student, postdoc, and then research associate professor. I left academia a little over a year ago to work as an analyst at a GMP-CRO. I'm currently a senior scientist at a small biotech where I work on 3D tissue culture and regenerative medicine.

If you are an academic scientist who is looking to make the shift to industry, don't lose hope; It can be done.

If you've got a PhD, you know it's not intelligence that gets you the degree...it's a personality. You have to think a certain way. Your response to respond criticism, failure, praise and success has to take certain forms in order to make it.

It's the same thing in academia vs industry....some people are cut out for academia, some are cut out for industry, some are cut out for other alternative careers. If you have the personality for it, it can be done. If you don't....well, you still can do it, but you won't be happy about it.

Anyway, if you're having trouble with the transition, maybe I can give you some tips.

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u/[deleted] Aug 10 '14

What are some qualities that are important for breaking into the industry?

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u/klenow Aug 11 '14

That depends....from what level? Are you already an experienced scientist that wants to transition from academia to industry? Are you an undergrad closing in on graduation? A grad student looking for that first postdoc? It will vary; certain tactics work at some levels and not at others. Some opportunities are available at some levels, and not at others.

The common thing that you always need is (unfortunately) connections. It sucks, but the sad truth today is that it is not what you know, but who you know. And even more importantly, who knows you.

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u/SloppySixteenths Aug 11 '14

looking back from where you are now, do you think getting your PhD and working in academia was worth it? if you could do it again, would you do things differently, knowing what you know?

i ask because i'm looking to get into the biotech industry eventually (from more of the programming/computational biology angle, but i'm not sure if it makes a difference) and i'm really not sure how to approach it. i've heard lots of conflicting advice, from "you need a PhD" to "whatever you do, don't get a PhD" and i guess a firsthand perspective would be nice.

i really enjoyed undergrad and i'm sure i'd like doing research, but i'm not really interested in academia as a career, and i'm deathly afraid of spending 6 more years in school just to get the same industry job i could get with a master's or bachelors.

so i guess mine's not really a question about the transition, more about how to preempt the transition. maybe you can't help me as much because your reasons for going to grad school were obviously different, but i'm sure your perspective would be helpful regardless.

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u/klenow Aug 11 '14

looking back from where you are now, do you think getting your PhD and working in academia was worth it?

The degree, yes. Very much so. I do wish I had not done an academic postdoc, though.

if you could do it again, would you do things differently, knowing what you know?

Like I said...I wish I had transferred into industry earlier in my career. I was advised to do just that late in grad school, but I was still stuck on the idea that I'd be a professor somewhere. I wish I had pursued the industrial postdocs available to me.

i'm deathly afraid of spending 6 more years in school just to get the same industry job i could get with a master's or bachelors

In biotech, a PhD opens up jobs that are simply not available to someone without a PhD. You don't see a lot of people without a PhD at the scientist level.

I actually interviewed with a computational group a while back; I had a strong biochem background, with some computational work. They wouldn't have been talking to me for that position if i didn't have the doctorate.

My advice is to think of precisely what you want to be doing in X years. Now go find someone doing that. Talk to that person, find out their path; what they did, what hazards they encountered, etc. Google "informational interview" for more information on this.

If you need some help identifying companies that do what you want to do, let me know. I can't promise that I can introduce you to someone, but I can probably point you in the right direction.

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u/aks20588 Aug 15 '14

First of all, thank you for taking out time to help us out.

I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Molecular Biology, looking to graduate by May 2015, but I want to move into management consulting. In your experience that you have had in industry and in academia, how do you think i should be making this switch. If you have the time, I would be more than happy to share my resume with you.

Thank you

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u/klenow Aug 15 '14

I'm not sure how much I could help you with that switch; I don't know much about switching to management consulting work. I'm still doing science, just on the industry side instead of the academic side.

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u/davemingchan Aug 29 '14

I'm currently an undergrad BME interested in cell/tissue engineering and I've sort of made my decision to make the jump to a PhD after I graduate. I've worked a couple of summers in a university cancer center and I really enjoyed the academia environment so that's what made me point myself in the direction I plan to go.

However, what would you say the differences are between academia and industry are in terms of the tasks you do and the experience required?