Eli Lilly and Regeneron Tips: How to Find Your First Biopharma Job Right Out of College
May 19, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Even a cursory scan through job postings for biotech and pharmaceutical companies will show that a lot of the jobs are at the PhD or MD level, as well as the master’s degree level. But are there jobs for individuals with bachelor’s degrees in this powerhouse industry?
You might be surprised.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
For simplicity, this article will mostly focus on technical jobs, as opposed to business, sales and administrative jobs.
And the answer to the question, “Are there jobs for individuals with bachelor’s degrees in biopharma?” is, of course, yes.
The top 10 global biotech and pharmaceutical companies together employ over 886,000 people. Of course, some of those people in the technical areas have bachelor degrees.
U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly employs 37,925 people. “We are a large company and have many opportunities for college graduates with just an undergraduate degree,” says Janice Chavers, Lilly’s director of Global HR and Diversity Communications. “Although several are STEM-based, there are a wide variety of other possibilities from communications to sales.”
A quick look at Lilly’s site reveals plenty of jobs requiring a PharmD, MD, or PhD, but many that note, “Masters or bachelors level degree in health sciences (RN, RPh, PA, NP, etc.) considered if five or more years clinical and/or medical information experience in relevant therapeutic area is present.”
But you will also note jobs, such as one in the Data Sciences and Solutions department that calls for a bachelor’s degree.
Experience Counts
Any recent graduate with a STEM degree who has no technical work experience is likely to have difficulty finding a job in biopharma, but potentially not more difficulty than finding work in any other area of science, whether at a contract research organization, healthcare system, or academic research laboratory. This isn’t new and it at least one reason so many universities and colleges push internships. While internships do a pretty good job of laying a foundation of technical education, the broader practical skillset needed on most technical jobs can be harder to come by.
If a graduate’s heart is set on working in the pharmaceutical industry, a longer-range plan might be to gain experience at a university or hospital-based research laboratory.
“While we have career paths for graduates right after college, we hire for many positions that require relevant experience,” says Angi Calkins, executive director of Talent Acquisition at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown, N.Y. “We’re more interested in prior experience that translates into required skills for a job in biotech/pharma than the specific organization where a candidate worked. Relevant experience doesn’t necessarily change a career path, but it may allow a new employee to start at a higher level there.”
And Regeneron, like many companies, offers internships or is specifically looking to recruit recent graduates. “Regeneron values starting relationships early by fostering the next generation of talent right out of college,” Calkins notes. “Our University Relations Recruiting Team targets specific yet varied degrees, mostly in STEM areas. A majority of jobs for college graduates are available in our Industrial Operations and Supply (IOPS) facility in Rensselaer, N.Y. and in our Preclinical Manufacturing & Process Development (PMPD) group in Tarrytown, N.Y. We offer other entry level opportunities across our corporate functions.”
Understanding Levels of Expertise
It’s important that graduates are self-aware enough of their education level and abilities to understand what types of jobs they might be qualified for within different sectors. At all research institutions, whether hospitals, universities, biotech or pharmaceutical companies, research is usually directed by someone at the PhD or MD level (sometimes both). For individuals with bachelor’s degrees in science, the duties may vary from institution to institution. Below are some very broad examples.
University- and Hospital-Based Research Laboratories
These are typically small, run by a single PhD working off grant money, often with a stable of one to a dozen graduate students who are conducting work in the laboratory. Often one or more research assistants, who can be undergraduates to individuals with bachelor’s or master’s degrees, handle day-to-day laboratory operations that range anywhere from cleaning glassware to conducting experiments to ordering supplies.
Depending, again, on abilities, and perhaps even more on the researcher who is running the laboratory, duties for the grad students range from doing all of the grunt work to conducting your own research projects and writing papers under the supervision of the researcher.
Contract Research Organizations (CROs)
A CRO provides support for biopharma companies, often as outsourced work for conducting clinical trials. CROs come in many different sizes, from small specialty firms to large international firms such as Quintiles , Covance and Parexel .
Anecdotally, CROs appear to offer many more opportunities for STEM graduates with a single undergraduate degree than biopharma companies.
A quick scan of Advanced Clinical’s job offerings at www.advancedclinical.com suggests that many of these jobs are available for candidates with bachelor’s degrees, although, as is often the case, they also want several years of relevant experience.
Biotechnology Companies
Both biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are so varied that generalizations are difficult, but relatively young startup biotechnology companies often employ primarily PhDs or MDs along with some employees who have bachelor’s or master’s degrees in support and technician positions. These startups are usually very small with only a handful of employees.
On the other hand, Genentech is considered to be the first modern biotech company, founded in 1976, and it currently employees over 12,000 people with a wide range of skills. Genentech currently has 450 jobs listed on its web site.
Pharmaceutical Companies
As should be clear by now, pharmaceutical jobs come in all shapes and sizes and the companies hire a very broad range of individuals. Looking at a company the size of Johnson & Johnson that employs 126,500 people, certainly some of those positions are at the bachelor’s degree level.
It’s worth keeping in mind that pharmaceutical companies, generally speaking, are not only in the business of drug development, but in the business of drug manufacturing and sales. Job candidates with STEM degrees may be targeting drug development positions without thinking much about the manufacturing end, which requires different levels of science experience to handle anything from quality assurance to clean room activities and management positions.
“Graduating students need to do research on all possible options before they decide what is best for them,” says Eli Lilly’s Chavers, “and what is available upon their graduation. For some, it may be a CRO or a university. There are many paths into companies such as Lilly. We want people who come from a variety of educational and work backgrounds as they bring diverse thinking into our business—and diverse thought leads to innovation.”
Bachelor’s or Master’s and What Matters Most
Clearly, every HR executive interviewed for this article indicated that experience matters, pretty much wherever one can get it. Don Tinker, a senior associate in Life Sciences for Hobson Associates, an executive research firm, notes that in the nine years he has been making placements in biopharma companies, only two people had less than a bachelor’s degree. He does say, however, “When you get to some of the technical positions, outside of marketing, sales, business development, executive level, and you’re in lab positions, there has been an emphasis on master’s degrees.”
Often in sales positions or technical support, a technical degree is very desirable. Tinker says he’s seen a big change in that since about 2012, “when we really saw a shift, a strong preference for someone with a bachelor’s in chemistry or biology or a strong background in science for a sales position as opposed to someone with a liberal arts degree. They want someone who can answer questions much more easily by having the educational training, formally, as opposed to, “I don’t know, but I’ll talk to a tech person and get back to you.’ It makes them sound more knowledgeable, makes the company sound more knowledgeable, and saves time.”
Tinker recently surveyed a small group of vice presidents that manage sales teams in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Oregon. He asked a seemingly simple question: At the end of the day, when you have completed the interview process and have two to three equally qualified candidates, how do you decide which one to hire?
Tinker summed up their responses: “If you put a person with a bachelor’s next to a person with a master’s, all things being created equal between the two, the hiring authorities in the survey I just did, are going to go with the person they’d want to have a pint of beer with.”
Tips on Getting Hired for that First Life Sciences Job
BioSpace asked biopharma hiring managers their tips for job candidates who recently graduated with undergraduate degrees. Here are some of their responses.
“Do your homework,” says Eli Lilly’s Janice Chavers, director of Global HR and Diversity Communications. “Check out Lilly.com and the careers section to gather as much information about Lilly as you can so you are prepared. Talk to friends, alumni and even current employees for perspective.”
Angi Calkins, executive director of Talent Acquisition for Regeneron says, “Don’t jump at the first job that comes your way. Students with STEM degrees are in the driver’s seat in the current economy, and don’t need to settle for an immediate job offer. Pharma/biotech companies are not always the first on campus, so be patient and use due diligence to find the right role.”
Chavers adds, “Ask questions. Arrive prepared with questions about Lilly, training and development, and advancement opportunities. Ask about the job expectations and responsibilities.”
And echoing the sentiment regarding having experience, Calkins says, “Complete internships to gain a practical understanding of what it is like to work, [which provide] opportunities to build relationships and a head start on learning what areas you want to focus on.”
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