HOW TO OBTAIN AN ENTRY-LEVEL POSITION IN
THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY WITH A MASTER’S DEGREE
Written by Sabina Vejzovic
From the very beginning, right after deciding to study science, the academic career seems to
be fixed: bachelor’s, master’s, PhD, and probably a series of post-docs afterwards. But this path
is not made for everyone. It’s a field, full of ups and downs, that often results in high frustration
levels. Besides a deep personal interest and an immense sense of curiosity, a career in science
requires an enormous amount of luck and mental resilience to attain success, which is often
defined as becoming a professor at a well-known university.
During my 5 years of studies, I met
a lot of students who were far from
possessing all these required attributes. Nevertheless, they continued
their studies despite their obvious
dissatisfaction. Why did they do that?
From my point of view, the university does not offer enough information about paths outside of academia.
These alternatives are often not easy
to find, especially if you do not know
what to focus on. Continuing a PhD,
on the other hand, is often much more
comfortable. If you stay in an already
familiar institute, sometimes an informal chat with a PI is all that is required.
PhD students are sought after in quite
high numbers and with the university
as an employer, the students remain
in their known environment. Going
down this road only because it is the
most traveled is definitively the wrong
20 | NEUROMAG | July 2016
reason to pursue a PhD. It results in
frustration, regret, and makes you
feel like you wasted years of your life
when finding a job afterwards turns
out to be much harder than expected.
Nowadays, a PhD in the life sciences
does not open all doors to big companies like it did in the past. Job openings
at these companies are quite rare and
often require years of industry experience.
I knew from the get-go that my academic career would end with my masters. I never saw myself as the scientist seeking answers to questions that
no one has asked before. Truth be told,
I always wanted to become some sort
of manager as I love to organize and
coordinate. However, I did not want to
work in any random company; for me
it was of utmost importance to enter
into a business that aims to improve
the world, even if only a little. Medical
research was the area I wanted to participate in so that I could help improve
living conditions all around the world.
The advice I got in high school was
that if you want to become a manager,
it is better to focus on your field of interest rather than on management
alone. The thought goes, “It’s easier
to obtain management skills than the
other way around.” So I went for biochemistry and I have yet to regret it.
After finishing my biochemistry studies, I continued with neuroscience for
reasons of personal interest. During
this time, people already started asking me, “Where do you plan to continue your PhD?” Upon hearing that I
would not do a PhD, people’s reactions
were varied: some were stunned,