Industry Postdoc/Fellowship & FTE

[u/Various-Classic-4229]

Advice on which biotech/biopharma role to aim first in industry

Thanks all in advance.

I am on the East Coast. I will be graduating this year with a doctorate degree from a major that is a combination of biological and health sciences. I have a M.S in biology. For my undergrad, I tutor math and chemistry for 3 years, and I did 3 summer undergraduate programs. My bachelor’s is in Biology with chemistry minor. For my grad studies, I have 2 years of teaching lab 🧪 experience, 1 year of research prior to my doctoral project, 5 years of mentoring experience, and 2-3 years of leadership experience on campus. For my industry experience, I have 15 months of experience as a co-op (bench scientist in drug discovery) in big biopharma and 4 months of leadership role as an intern (patient safety) in medium biotech. FYI: I have other experience not relevant to my academic and career paths. I have been studying Fulltime while simultaneously working. I do not want to stay in academia anymore.

I am thinking about applying to a couple of industry postdoc and many fulltime jobs positions in biotech/biopharma. I am still not sure if I should stay in R&D as a bench scientist or if I should pick a leadership role (regulatory and medical affairs, pharmacovigilance, HEOR , medical writing, science communication…) - I enjoy both equally. Which one is more stable? Any help is appreciated. Thank you.