I assume that many of you reading blogs on Bio Careers are recent grads or grads-to-be, and are scanning trade journals and websites looking for that plum position.
How is your job hunt going?
Author :
Maida Taylor
I assume that many of you reading blogs on Bio Careers are recent grads or grads-to-be, and are scanning trade journals and websites looking for that plum position.
I am at the other end of the job seeker spectrum… what is euphemistically called a senior, mature, highly experienced applicant, and have sometimes been rejected because I am “over qualified.” I think that means that I am past my “use by” date. I don’t think I am the victim of age-ism, and I am full well aware that candidates across the entire age spectrum are suffering repeated rejections for a variety of reasons.
What I have learned this year (and I am at my one year anniversary in seeking a full time job) is that being asked to interview is great, but that steady paycheck is not offered at the end of every interview. In the past I was “headhunted” and recruited for all three of my pharma posts. But the last company I worked for was acquired, and my division was closed, and so I have become the hunter. Gone are the days of generous relocation packages, signing bonuses, productivity bonuses, and the like. It is now a buyers’ market. Firms are hiring contract workers for fixed terms with no benefits and in taking these kinds of offers, you can only hope that the short term position will turn into a long term job.
I attended symposium earlier this year on drug discovery and development, and during the lunch break, I sat at a table of eight. To my left sat a PhD chemist, who appeared to be of my vintage, and unemployed. Across from me was a 30 something PhD microbiologist who had attended UC Berkeley and MIT, also unemployed. Next to him sat a researcher who related how her husband, also a highly qualified bioscience grad, was recently laid off. Throw a rock, and hit someone looking for work.
A report released on Feb. 8, 2012 from the California Healthcare Institute, BayBio and PwC, says that the California bioscience juggernaut has slowed, owing to a number of changes. The entire sector has contracted with a loss of 2.3% of life science jobs. Life science employment in California is now at the same level seen in 2006.
According to a blog posting by Amy Ritter (http://blog.pharmexec.com/2012/02/10/shrinking-economy-hits-california-biosector/ ) job losses are not evenly distributed across all areas. The downturn has hit academia and the device industry harder, but with some increase in biotech jobs.
For California, the top three reasons for the job contraction are cost cutting, the overall business climate, and expanded new operations outside the state. Companies are delaying projects and hiring. My colleagues and I have seen that recently. You might go through several interviews with a company supposedly poised for substantial growth and then the line goes dead. The screener likes you. The recruiter likes you. HR likes you. The CEO likes you. But the position is put on hold. Perhaps the business prospects failed to materialize. Perhaps the clinical trial data were less than robust and prospects for an FDA NDA approval dimmed. Your hot job then disappears, shrouded in the misty fog drifting in over San Francisco Bay.
Job seekers are also suffering because biotech firms are suffering from a lack of funding. Investors and banks are holding back. No one can get funding for expansion or development right now. You have to show robust revenue to get financing, but if you had robust cash flow you might not need a loan. It is a real Catch 22. This phenomenon is true across all sectors of the economy.
What have I learned this year?
1. Talk to recruiters. They are your friends. They make money by putting you into a job.
2. Consult with a resume consultant. They can coach you on how to embed key words into your resume that will help make your resume pop up during mechanized screening which many large firms are using now.
3. Post your resume on all pertinent job boards, and refresh the resume weekly (yes, weekly) to keep it at the top of the resume pool.
4. The best sites for me have been;
• www.biocareers.com (our host)
5. Job hunting is a job. Assign specific times each week to devote to your search. I look at postings on Tuesday and Friday
6. Organize your job search. Keep a file of all applications, phone calls, and interviews. Maintain contact with the recruiter or HR and reiterate your interest (without being a pest). Call or email 1-2 weeks after your initial interview, and at 1-2 week intervals thereafter. I had a series of interviews for a job and, after hearing nothing for a month, I assumed I was out of the running. With nothing to lose, I decided to send an email to the interviewer. I was gratified to learn that deliberations were still ongoing, and that I was still being considered. “Ongoing” is much better than being out of the running.
7. I was told repeatedly there is little use sending a resume to an on line posting. I was told that people rarely if ever get called to interview. Not entirely true. I have been called more than a half a dozen times in response to sending my resume to a posting one of the above sites.
8. Many jobs are filled with candidates who are referred through personal connections. See a job you like on LINKEDIN? Look for a connection at the company and reach out to anyone you might know who works there. They may be able to get your resume off the bottom of the pile or may be able to act as a reference. A letter of recommendation coming from someone inside the company may carry more weight than one from an unknown third party.
And even though it is unseasonably warm today here in San Francisco, and I would like to come down with a severe case of spring fever, I am compelled to review job websites for new postings. I will then update my resume, and hope for a lucky break (and a better economy). Big pharma is considering “insource-ing” jobs back to the USA owing to a number of factors. More on that next time…
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