Boost Your Career in Biotech: Breaking Free from an Industry Rut | Expert Tips

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A professional with nearly eight years of experience in a small R&D company is feeling stagnant due to a lack of relevant projects, limited promotion opportunities, and a recent grant rejection that hindered potential career advancements. Despite confidence in their skills, they express concerns about their resume and networking capabilities, particularly in transitioning to a biotech or biomedical role, which aligns more closely with their interests. The discussion highlights the importance of networking and building contacts in desired industries, suggesting that engaging with professional societies and working on standards can facilitate connections that may lead to new job opportunities. The conversation also touches on the scarcity of technical jobs outside of specific sectors like defense, oil and gas, and finance, emphasizing the need for proactive career development strategies.
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I've been working at a small R&D company for almost 8 years since my PhD. The things I do are not particularly related to my thesis research. I've had some projects of my own that went fine, but mostly I've ended up working on co-workers' stuff. Being a small place with a capricious promotion policy I've had the same title this whole time, which also doesn't look great on the ole resume. Now a gov. grant that I was really excited about that could have lead to good new opportunities has been turned down. I think I would like to transition into a biotech/biomedical related job (i.e. much closer to my personal interests), but opportunities to publish and get to conferences have been slim.

So I am feeling rather stuck. While I have confidence in my skills I'm not sure I look that great on paper, I have virtually zero contacts in the biotech world, and I'm not sure how to proceed. I think I have reached the limit of my professional growth at this job due to circumstance, company size, etc. Now what?
 
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Who knows...but at least you're Dr. Not a quark, so you're better off than most. :)
 
Not sure if this is too much of a personal question but I'll ask anyway. What kind of work do physics PhDs do in R&D, or at the very least, what do they do in your field/job? The majority of the posts in this section are basically about technical jobs being scare and them being even rarer outside of defense, oil & gas and finance, which is why I am interested in what you do. :-)
 
Yup, defense work. Largely driven by military fads and half-hearted attempts by Pentagon brass to be hip to new technology trends.
 
The solution is to network. Cultivate contacts among other industries where you might like to work. Join a few societies, work on standards, things like that. Then, you'll be able to meet the sorts of people who can help you write your own ticket.

Eight years is enough to get you started if you have the degrees...
 

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