Medical Devices & Pharma Industries

BaaLamb

Hi all,

I'd love some advice from people who may be working in the pharma or medical device industries. The advice is not for me but for my husband.

My husband has a background in R&D and quality. He was made redundant in 2008 and went back to University to do a PhD in the hope of making himself more employable in industries such as med device and pharma. His PhD was quite specialised (as they invariably are) and was awarded from a well regarded scientific institute in the south of Ireland. He has subsequently completed 4 years of postdoc research at the same institute but his contract is up shortly and the rules of the institute prevent renewal. He has been job hunting since approx February with very limited success. A few interviews but mostly he has been met with silence or is told they're not interested because he doesn't have any experience in the pharma / med device industry.

Just today we learnt that he didn't get a job he had done two interviews for, two main reasons were no medical device experience and no experience with a particular type of metal. The lack of experience in both these areas was obvious from his CV and we are baffled as to why they went through 2 interviews anyway. The rest of the feedback was very, very positive. Anyway I digress a bit. My question is this, what the hell can the poor man do to get a leg in the door of pharma or med devices? He is applying for jobs all over the country at this stage, he is not being picky about salary or grade as he is willing to start at junior level if that is what it takes, his CV has been looked at by a specialist career advisor, he has had professional interview advice, he is doing an online course in Six Sigma in his own time and generally killing himself to find work in the area. My worry is that he is older (50) and perhaps that is counting against him more than anything else.

I'd really, really appreciate it if anyone has any thoughts, tips, leads or anything to say really as we are very demoralised. In addition to his contract ending I've just been made redundant so it is really critical that we get something sorted soon.

Thanks in advance

bonyn

Do a course like this one..

http://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/medical-devices/training/introduction-to-iso-13485-medical-devices/

Personally I wouldn't spend eur1k unless I was guaranteed the job

BaaLamb

Do you work in either industry at all? We've looked at the getreskilled course but it is also very expensive unless you are unemployed which he isn't just yet. I just wonder will a course like this be enough to bridge the lack of experience divide? I mean he has loads of relevant experience but just not in the pharma / med device sectors.

jive

Get him to read up on ICH guidelines and learn about GMP + GDP - manufacturing and documentation. Tell him to mention that although he comes from an academic background he has knowledge of the applicable guidelines as well as cGMP + cGDP. This will help him bridge the gap between academia and industry despite not having industry experience.

Part of it might be he is over qualified for certain positions so make sure he exudes enthusiasm and demonstrates a willingness for the role even if he just sees it as a stepping stone to something else in industry.

Honestly for manufacturing roles etc. a lack of experience should not count against him, not sure if that would be the type of role which would suit him but if he's willing and able he'll progress quickly enough amongst many inexperienced graduates who would generally fill those roles. Demonstrating an interest in industry would be the main piece in my opinion, otherwise there's the fear he's just waiting on a certain job in academia and they'd end up recruiting again sooner rather than later.

Edit; don't bother with some half-baked courses, he has more than enough education at this stage.

BaaLamb

jive wrote: »

Get him to read up on ICH guidelines and learn about GMP + GDP - manufacturing and documentation. Tell him to mention that although he comes from an academic background he has knowledge of the applicable guidelines as well as cGMP + cGDP. This will help him bridge the gap between academia and industry despite not having industry experience.

Part of it might be he is over qualified for certain positions so make sure he exudes enthusiasm and demonstrates a willingness for the role even if he just sees it as a stepping stone to something else in industry.

Honestly for manufacturing roles etc. a lack of experience should not count against him, not sure if that would be the type of role which would suit him but if he's willing and able he'll progress quickly enough amongst many inexperienced graduates who would generally fill those roles. Demonstrating an interest in industry would be the main piece in my opinion, otherwise there's the fear he's just waiting on a certain job in academia and they'd end up recruiting again sooner rather than later.

Edit; don't bother with some half-baked courses, he has more than enough education at this stage.

Thanks for that advice. He has actually been doing some of the free online courses on GMP so I'll encourage him to continue with that. He'd be most interested in the R&D type roles but he has also applied for stuff like QC analyst but he hasn't got experience of doing HPLC so that seems to rule him out for many of those positions He has been doing loads of reading up on the various regulations etc. but what else he should read / do to demonstrate an interest in the industry?

PCeeeee

Not to be discouraging but I have never seen anyone with that kind of profile hired in manufacturing. He would, as I'm sure he recognises himself be much more suited to an R&D role.

I work in R&D for a multinational med device company and we have recently hired a number of PhD's. They would all have their PhD's in a precise area we are currently interested in and selected with an eye to the value they can add immediately. That would be key, if your husband can identify someone hiring in an area that he has experience it gives him a chance. I know that sounds obvious but its probably true.

We are still hiring. I can pm you a link if you'd like?

BaaLamb

Yes please I'd be delighted.

jive

BaaLamb wrote: »

Thanks for that advice. He has actually been doing some of the free online courses on GMP so I'll encourage him to continue with that. He'd be most interested in the R&D type roles but he has also applied for stuff like QC analyst but he hasn't got experience of doing HPLC so that seems to rule him out for many of those positions He has been doing loads of reading up on the various regulations etc. but what else he should read / do to demonstrate an interest in the industry?

R&D roles are harder to come by, I suppose my advice would be to accept any QC / QA or manufacturing roles until a suitable R&D role comes up. Ireland is very much a manufacturing hub more so than R&D although R&D does exist to some extent, more so in med device followed by pharma followed by biotech.

Manufacturing roles in biotech are geared towards graduates whereas that's typically not the case for med devices or pharma so if he really is interested in med devices then I would advise to steer clear of manufacturing in that case and aim for a QC / QA role which would be much less mind numbing. The salary wouldn't be much better at entry level but at least there'd be some job satisfaction given he has a PhD.

Honestly if he has a good grasp of ICH guidelines he's fine. Particularly the ones pertaining to the area he's interested in entering (med devices).

BaaLamb

jive wrote: »

R&D roles are harder to come by, I suppose my advice would be to accept any QC / QA or manufacturing roles until a suitable R&D role comes up. Ireland is very much a manufacturing hub more so than R&D although R&D does exist to some extent, more so in med device followed by pharma followed by biotech.

Manufacturing roles in biotech are geared towards graduates whereas that's typically not the case for med devices or pharma so if he really is interested in med devices then I would advise to steer clear of manufacturing in that case and aim for a QC / QA role which would be much less mind numbing. The salary wouldn't be much better at entry level but at least there'd be some job satisfaction given he has a PhD.

Honestly if he has a good grasp of ICH guidelines he's fine. Particularly the ones pertaining to the area he's interested in entering (med devices).

I know I probably sound like Mrs Negative here but he has been applying for QC/QA stuff with no success. They all seem to want minimum two years pharma / med device experience too. Are there really that many people out there with a technical background and 2-3 years experience? We're just not sure what to do next, as I said we kind of hit rock bottom yesterday after the news that he'd done two interviews and apparently performed well but it was lack of med device experience was one of two reasons for not getting the job. I mean they knew that when they first got his CV so it seems like a really weak reason.

GalwayGrrrrrl

I used to work in a Pharma head office in the U.K. A huge amount of our workforce started as Business managers (reps). You start off as a GP rep, then a hospital specialist then would be ready for a role in head office. Admittedly this wasn't in the manufacturing side but it would get his foot in the door and on the list for internal vacancies. The rep job involves a lot of travelling and socialising with doctors at conferences etc.

Sugar Free

OP are you and your husband based in or around Dublin?
Is he determined to work on the manufacturing side?

ianobrien

OP, I'd be focusing more on the Technical Services side of things, rather than manufacturing. I know where I am they want PhD for tech services and if the PhD isn't exactly in the same field, the skills learned during the PhD (problem solving, distilling to root problem, presentation skills, managing multiple trains of thought / projects) are easily transferrable. They take biochemistry PhD's mainly but some organic chemists, analytical chemists and even inorganic chemists have been taken.

Also, I wouldn't get too disheartened. I gave up counting the number of PFO letters I've gotten. I know there are opportunities in the Midlands

BaaLamb

Sugar Free wrote: »

OP are you and your husband based in or around Dublin?
Is he determined to work on the manufacturing side?

He was actually focused on the technical side rather than the manufacturing side. We're down south but have been looking at jobs all over the country with the exception of Dublin. Main reason for avoiding Dublin is that it is too expensive and we're worried we wouldn't find anywhere to live.

BaaLamb

ianobrien wrote: »

OP, I'd be focusing more on the Technical Services side of things, rather than manufacturing. I know where I am they want PhD for tech services and if the PhD isn't exactly in the same field, the skills learned during the PhD (problem solving, distilling to root problem, presentation skills, managing multiple trains of thought / projects) are easily transferrable. They take biochemistry PhD's mainly but some organic chemists, analytical chemists and even inorganic chemists have been taken.

Also, I wouldn't get too disheartened. I gave up counting the number of PFO letters I've gotten. I know there are opportunities in the Midlands

Thanks for the response and encouragement. He's looked at jobs in the Midlands but thus far no joy. He is focused more on technical type roles but to be honest at this stage he'd pretty much take a job wherever he can get it within either pharma or med device or indeed any other sector that needs his type of skills. His PhD is not strictly chemistry but more Materials science based I suppose.

ianobrien

BaaLamb wrote: »

Thanks for the response and encouragement. He's looked at jobs in the Midlands but thus far no joy. He is focused more on technical type roles but to be honest at this stage he'd pretty much take a job wherever he can get it within either pharma or med device or indeed any other sector that needs his type of skills. His PhD is not strictly chemistry but more Materials science based I suppose.

If it's material science I'm thinking Intel would be a good fit. You could live out the Mullingar side and commute in.

BaaLamb

ianobrien wrote: »

If it's material science I'm thinking Intel would be a good fit. You could live out the Mullingar side and commute in.

Thanks Ian, I put that idea to him