Industry Research Careers

In a few companies the job titles are analogous to the professor hierarchy in academia. In other companies, they have created more descriptive titles for researchers. You must do your homework regarding the company by searching their website, their publications, LinkedIN and UCSFConnect entries and by talking with your contacts. Here are some common titles:

• Scientist titles:
  • Associate Scientist, Scientist, Junior Scientist, Senior Scientist, Principal Scientist
  • Scientist I, Scientist II, Scientist III, Scientist IV
• Other titles:
  • Senior Scientific Researcher
  • Postdoc

For additional job titles and descriptions check out MassBioEd's Departments and Job Descriptions in a Biotechnology Company.

Good question! Find out by completing the AAAS's My Individual Development Plan Assessment Tool, which OCPD co-created. Answer three assessments and it will calculate and compare your skills/interests/values responses to key factors for 60 different career paths within 20 different career categories that are options for you as a scientist (including consulting!). Click on the image to the left to see a sample report.

Read articles on making the transition published by Nature and Science.

This article looks at how to break into biotech and includes some case studies.

Should you do an industry postdoc?

When deciding between a postdoc in industry versus academia, there are many factors that must be considered, for example, the best way to break into industry, whether you might be closing yourself off from academia, resources availability at a company, and salary. In this article, Laura Bonetta discusses these issues and more. If you want to know what a postdoc industry might be like, check out this article by Beryl Lieff Benderly from ScienceMag and consider reading more from Grace Wong about why you should “consider post-doctoral training in industry.”

• Read "Industrial Postdocs: The Road Less Traveled" and "Big Pharma Ramps Up Postdoc Programs", both from ScienceCareers.
• Read stories from Industry Postdoctoral Scholars and Postdoctoral Program leaders, and view a list of industry postdoc programs from AAAS/Science Business Office feature.
• Find information about particular Bay Area industry postdoc programs - Genentech, Amgen, Gilead, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at NASA Ames Research Center.
• A list of other industry postdoc programs - Roche, Pfizer, Regeneron, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Merck, Takeda.
• The twitter handles that promote postdoc job opportunities sometimes include industry postdocs; e.g., The Postdoctoral. Some twitter handles that are disease specific list industry postdocs among the offerings, here is one:  IDDjobs is infectious disease dynamics related jobs.

See TheLabRat.com and BioPharmaGuy.

How are startups different from established companies?

Scitable by NatureEducation says “Large companies tend to have more funds available, are often more stable, and hire people with a wide range of skills. Small companies are often looking for very specific skill sets to complement their small teams.” If you are thinking about working in a startup, here's 7 things you should know. Is a job at a startup right for you?

Many companies hire interns, which can help boost your skills, although this isn't a requirement for getting a position in industry. 

Here is a list of some of the internships available:

• Amgen
• Becton Dickinson and Company (BD)
• Boeing
• Genentech
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Merck
• Novartis
• Biotech-careers can be used to search for internships

• Biospace
• Ernst and Young: Global biotechnology reports
• LinkedIN
• Women in Bio (WIB)
• Women in Life Sciences (WILS)
• Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)
• UCSF Startup 101
• UCSF Investment club
• UCSF Biotech Connection Bay Area (BCBA)
• Big3Bio – Boston, San Diego, Bay Area biotech and pharma industry news
• Xconomy

Here are some tips to get started.  You also want to look for available jobs on a Job Board. Here are some resources:

• OCPD Job Board, Health and Life Science Opportunities for UCSF Students and Postdoctoral Scholars
• Sciencecareers
• Nature, includes listings all over the globe
• Sciencejobs
• Biospace
• BioCareers
• HigherEdJobs
• Chemical and Engineering News
• Monster
• Medzilla
• The Scientist
• MassBio
• San Diego Biotechnology Network
• Fiercebiotech
• Fiercepharma
• Indeed
• Pharmiweb, includes jobs in Europe, Asia, the UK
• Hire Life Science
• Cell Career Network
• FASEB Careers
• Biology Jobs
• New Scientist, includes the UK

OCPD has more resources to help you with your job search on our Organizing a Job Search Outside Academica page.

**these are meant to serve only as examples. Actual job listing may be closed.