Posted by: Nikkilina
Posted on: Sun, Oct 03, 2010, 7:51 pm CDT

So Jade Ed had asked me to talk about my time at Pfizer. Unfortunately it wasn't a very long experience. I graduated last May, and two weeks later started my job as a contractor at Pfizer. In October the merger with Wyeth went through, and, since I worked in St. Louis, I, along with pretty much everyone else, was let go at the end of the year. That being said, I loved it!

I found that the easiest way to break into industry was to start out with a contract from a staffing firm. It gives the company a chance to evaluate you without paying for benefits. I was fortunate enough to have benefits through my husband's work, so I didn't mind not having them as a contractor. Being in industry was a huge change from being in academia. I had an expense account, and as long as my purchase was under a certain threshold value, I was free to order whatever I needed without having to go through managers. It made life a lot easier to know that if a company had a product that might make my life easier, I could just get it. Another thing that was interesting was the level of collaboration. We were able to work with people from different departments and parlay their expertise into very strong experiments and develop new methodologies rather quickly.

One thing I was surprised about was the lack of PhD level scientists. Many of the colleagues had bachelor's degrees and 20+ years experience, or had earned a Master's degree while working at Pfizer. I really expected there to be lots of PhDs, but mostly the younger scientists had them.

Posted by: Brian Krueger, PhD
Posted on: Thu, Sep 16, 2010, 7:24 pm CDT

I just want to get paid a lot of money to tell people what to do :P

Posted by: Suzy
Posted on: Thu, Sep 16, 2010, 6:10 pm CDT

Brian- you are interested in Pharma? I recall that Genentech always makes the list of best places to work:
http://www.gene.com/gene/about/diversity/awards.html

The Pharma industry always seems to go through periods of instability where people get laid off in large numbers and spending is drastically cut. I think Abbott is a good company but there is always a lot of negative chatter about Pfizer on the Biotech Rumor Mill http://www.biofind.com/rumor-mill

If you want to be in the midwest and do human clinical research, maybe check out Eli Lilly. Also- not sure if you are into agriculture but Monsanto is a good choice. They have something like 7000 PhD's, I think I was told. They have so many buildings that even the employees need to look at a map to find them.

Roche is in Indianapolis and I think it would be a very good company also.

California has Amgen. I have heard they are fantastic to their employees. On site daycare, dry cleaners, cafeteria with hot food, and a gym. They make it easy to work late hours.

I think with Pharma, you should apply everywhere and see where you get interviews. The big companies are not necessarily that bad because usually you'll be in a small group focused on your thing so you won't feel like a lost sheep. I think you want to go to a company that is established and has a wide enough portfolio so that if the project were cancelled, you would be able to move to another group easily. When the economy is bad, the small companies will struggle more than the big and it is more likely you could be downsized out of a job.

Does your boss have contacts in the Pharma labs? I would highly recommend using them to get in the door. If he knows people at Genentech, go for it. The pay will be higher to balance the cost of living and anyway, California is fucking awesome. Why not live there a few years and then go to the midwest? San Francisco is one of the best cities I've ever partied in (Vegas of course, is the other) and since you don't have kids yet, you might as well try it out.

I'd move there in a heartbeat. In fact, if you get the job at Genentech, I might hit you up to get me in the door.

I can write about big vs. little biotech but from the perspective of life science companies (research tool suppliers).

Maybe I can find someone to write an article on pharma for LabSpaces. Let me see what I can do.

Posted by: Suzy
Posted on: Tue, Sep 14, 2010, 7:18 pm CDT

Hi Geeka! Welcome to the discussion!
I actually was going to say NEB also. I know almost nothing about them but they have excellent products. They are one of those companies that you always trust the product to work without question.

I met someone from NEB at a conference this summer and she used the "arm-touch" move on me (I talked about in the recent blog). Totally threw off my focus. Made me think "there must be something I need from that company..."

Anyway- yeah, I would like to sit down with people from NEB and hear about their management style and approach to science and how they decide on new product development.

Re: Promega: Do tell!

Posted by: Thomas Joseph
Posted on: Fri, Sep 03, 2010, 6:48 am CDT

Roche. I use their products (equipment and reagents) the most. However, when the Nikon confocal guys come by for a visit, it's always a good time. They're probably the smartest guys I've talked to and they know more about confocal then I ever will! If I could spend the afternoon picking their brains, I would!

Posted by: Suzy
Posted on: Fri, Sep 03, 2010, 12:39 am CDT

I can understand that. I think the salaries are generally higher to match the higher cost of living. But I don't know how it is for academics and salary.

Posted by: Suzy
Posted on: Thu, Sep 02, 2010, 12:44 am CDT

Too many hurricanes. And shipping costs would go through the roof.
San Diego is a better choice when it comes to location and science.

Posted by: Thomas Joseph
Posted on: Wed, Sep 01, 2010, 2:56 pm CDT

Their products are pretty good. I used their EZ:TN transposon for part of my dissertation (which never actually made it INTO my dissertation). They used to share some in-house protocols with me which made life a lot easier in the lab. Matter of fact, I was just looking for one of them ... can't seem to locate it at the moment. :(

Posted by: Thomas Joseph
Posted on: Wed, Sep 01, 2010, 2:16 pm CDT

I do not work in biotech, however ... if I were to work for a Biotech company, I think I'd like to work for Epicentre. I've always had good dealings with them and have had many a discussion with Fred and Hank, their main tech support gurus.

Posted by: Genomic Repairman
Posted on: Wed, Sep 01, 2010, 12:37 pm CDT

Can you give an idea as to the recruitment process, do you contact companies directly or go through a headhunter?