By Deepshikha Mishra On January 15th, 2019, I got the chance to attend the Bayer/Rutgers iJOBS meeting. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet and interact with global team leaders and to feel the work culture inside the Bayer company. The global team is comprised of Dr. Libia F Scheller, Global Head of Cooperative Groups and Strategic Alliances and Global Medical Affairs Oncology; Dr. Edio Zampaglione, Vice President of U.S. Medical Affairs; Dr. Heather Goolsby, Deputy Director, WHC Marketing; and Dr. Svetlana Babajaynan, Medical Director of US Medical Affairs Oncology. Each member of the team gave a brief overview of the Bayer company and the pipeline of its key products in the market. One of the most helpful parts of the site visit was the presentation about opportunities for PhDs in pharma and strategies for getting a job. Dr. Scheller also delivered a highly informative presentation and gave insights about getting an interview call from pharma company and how to nail it. Some of the key points that she highlighted is to conduct self-inventory by identifying your strengths and weaknesses beforehand. One of the ways by which a person can improve weaknesses and sharpen their strengths is by asking their friends and colleagues. Sharpening your skills and qualities is a crucial and dynamic step toward obtaining and keeping your pharma job. In her words “whatever you are good in, sharpen it”. Emphasis was also placed on the importance of aspirations and possessing the qualifications to obtain them. A person cannot achieve anything if they don’t have a desire to pursue it. Having desire for a certain position or job profile can only be fulfilled if they have the necessary qualifications. Adding additional technical skills before applying is highly recommended and mentors can be extremely helpful in this. Technical skills make a person eligible for the job, whereas transferable skills increase the chances of getting the job. A job in a company is significantly different from a job in academia, as it demands people skills along with laboratory skills. Project management qualities over individualistic research approaches, as well as teaching skills. Honing transferable skills and properly highlighting them in a resume is a must. A perfect combination of transferable skills and technical skills will make any candidate a golden asset. Creating a tailored resume that is specific, and highlights required skills for the specific position advertised is essential. Just like shoes one size doesn’t fit every foot, therefore having only one resume will fail to fit all job opportunities. A large proportion of jobs are filled internally through personal recommendations inside the company. There are only limited chances of getting success by applying online. As an outsider to a company, networking is key to getting a job recommendation. The pharma world is a small one and people know each other. Making contacts and connections with recruiters and employees through LinkedIn can be leveraged for a chance of getting recommended for a position. Attending local and national conferences where many pharma companies attend also helps in developing these contacts. Doing internships, externships, and shadowing also helps in developing close connections with those inside the industry. Identifying and developing a focus for the type of job a person wants makes the whole process comparatively easy. Apart from being a research scientist, positions in the field of medical science liaison, information officer, and sales lead are very exciting and plentiful. Communication is a necessity in corporate America. Taking additional public speaking classes could significantly help in improving communication. Very often, the job requires the education of doctors or team members through a presentation about potential clinical trials. Taking a complex situation and simplifying it is quite effective for communicating your information to a wide variety of audiences. Team player is a very crucial skill and every person in the team brings different skill sets and experiences. Often times some of the experiences while growing up gives an upper hand in professional front and helps in a better understanding some of the problems. Dr. Scheller pointed out that ethnicity is one of the major advantages when working with a global team. A variety of pharma products are developed by keeping unique health problems faced by people of a different country of origin in mind. In terms of a global team, being of a different ethnicity also helps in understanding the challenges faced by patients and demands of one of these target audiences. Women’s health is also one of the biggest thrust areas of Bayer and the company is continuously developing multiple products for the betterment of women health. Being aware about the company’s focus areas of the current financial year is also advantageous during the interview. After getting the job, the pressure to keep up can often times be overwhelming. Dr. Scheller also gave some tips on some of ways to survive in the highly competitive environment, focusing on leadership, integrity, flexibility, and efficiency skills. Finally, networking internally and building trust among colleagues helps in the long run. Check list for preparing for the interview
- Research the company’s history.
- Know the products well.
- Know the competitors of the company.
- Research the person interviewing you.
- Read press releases.
- Make a list of thoughtful questions to ask.
- Know the answers of usual questions such as “where do you see yourself in next 5 years?”
- Send a follow up email after interview.
Take home messages:
- Be sincere and prepare
- Tailor your cover letter and resume
- Possess the ability to handle multiple projects at a time
- Develop collaborative skills
- Consider internships
- Make a thoughtful list of questions for recruiters
- Leverage your ethnicity in terms of the global team
Image: Dr. Libia F Scheller presenting the overview of Bayer This article was written by Dr. Deepshikha Mishra. Edits and contributions were made by Dr. Eileen Oni, Huri Mücahit and Tomas Kasza