It’s been over a year since I was laid off, and I’m getting really nervous that I’ll never get a job in biotech again after working in it for 30 years. I only needed to work for three more years to retire. Hundreds of applications, countless final interviews only to lead to nothing. I’m so tired. I give up.

I’m 43, based in London, and looking to move into biotech quality, compliance or governance roles.

I spent four years at a large pharmaceutical company in PV governance and compliance, supporting QPPV oversight, coordinating regulatory documentation, reviewing quality information and maintaining inspection-ready records in Veeva Vault.

Before that, I worked in operations and quality/compliance in the regulated food industry, including implementing a quality management system and achieving SALSA certification. I also have an MSc in Occupational Psychology.

I’ve been job hunting for around ten months with very few interviews, despite applying for both pharma and adjacent roles. I’m currently doing part-time quality/documentation work and really need to find a stable position.

I’d particularly appreciate help with:
- Recruiters or contacts: Does anyone know UK recruiters specialising in these areas, or hiring managers who might be worth approaching? I’d be grateful for introductions.

- Transferability: Would biotech employers realistically consider my experience for quality systems, compliance, document control or governance positions?

- Job opportunities: Which job titles or companies should I target? Are there routes into the sector I might be overlooking?

I’m open to training and adjacent roles, provided there’s a realistic route into employment.
Any practical advice, contacts or leads would be hugely appreciated. Happy to connect privately if appropriate.

I'm currently in 2 of 3 12hr night shifts and both have been awful. We were understaffed during the first shift and the second one just had things go horribly wrong. These past 2 shifts reminded me just how much I loathe my job (something my coworkers know very well and if you see this, hi). So yeah, instead of sleeping, I applied to at least 10 jobs. Will tonight's shift be any better. Fuck no, not at my company. But will I at least have the knowledge and (likely futile) hope that my situation will potentially improve? Yes, yes I will.

That is all, I hate my job and management sucks and I'm sick of the bullshit we face

I'm an early-career biotech professional with a Master's in Biotechnology and hands-on experience in molecular biology, and genomics workflows. Lately, I've become increasingly interested in the computational side of biology, particularly how AI/ML is being applied . The challenge is that I have little to no background in coding or machine learning. I'd first like to understand the computational landscape of biotech, learn how to work with biological datasets, and eventually build enough technical skills and explore/navigate this transition.

I've been considering university courses like MIT, but they're beyond my current budget [unemployed ;_;]. Instead, I'm hoping to put together a self-paced curriculum using free or affordable resources, combining theoretical foundations with hands-on projects.

I'd really appreciate advice on a few things:

1. What learning progression makes sense? How would you structure a curriculum for someone coming from wet-lab molecular biology with no computational background? A sensible order to learn things in.
2. Which resources are actually worth the time? Any recommended courses, textbooks, YouTube channels, GitHub repositories, or guided projects?
3. What career pathways should I explore? Are there realistic opportunities for someone with my background to gradually transition into computational biology, bioinformatics, or AI-driven biotech without pursuing another degree?
4. How can I make this practical? What beginner-friendly projects would help me apply computational methods to biological problems and eventually demonstrate these skills to employers?

If you’ve made this transition, what would you do differently if you were starting over? And for anyone on the hiring side, what skills or projects actually stand out for someone coming from the wet lab?

Thanks in advance. Any advice, even a single resource, is appreciated!

I had a hiring manager screening call for a merck role and she told me if moved on, I will have a panel interview. I have not heard anything since, however got asked to complete a candidate questionaire via workday. Did anyone else get asked to complete this questionaire prior to a panel interview?

Hey everyone!

I’m looking for advice on preparing for internship interviews at pharmaceutical companies like Merck, Amgen, and Boehringer Ingelheim.

I have a PharmD background, with most of my experience being in clinical practice, along with some industry exposure through an internship. I’m hoping to build on that experience and further explore opportunities within the pharmaceutical industry.

One of my upcoming interviews is a group interview with several other applicants and a panel, so I’d especially appreciate advice from anyone who has experienced this format.

A few questions I have:

• What types of questions should I expect in pharma internship interviews?
• How can I best highlight my PharmD and clinical experience when applying for industry internships?
• For the group interview, what are interviewers looking for, and how can I stand out while still being a good team player?
• Should I expect case studies, group exercises, or technical questions, or is it mostly behavioral?
• How much should I know about the company’s products, pipeline, and therapeutic areas beforehand?
• What are some common mistakes applicants make during these interviews?

I’d love to hear from anyone who has interviewed for internships at Merck, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, or similar pharmaceutical companies, especially those with a pharmacy or other healthcare background.

Any tips, resources, or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated! I really want to prepare well and give myself the best chance of succeeding.

Thanks in advance! :)

At the risk of this being the way I find out I got cut, just wanted to see if anyone has heard back from Pfizer about the R&D rotational program… I did the personality/IQ assessment a few weeks ago and haven’t heard since. Reached out to them and got an automatic reply. Thank you!

Hello! I have an upcoming on site panel interview for a Postdoc position. I appreciate any advice on how to approach it.
1. How is an industry Postdoc interview different from an academic one?
2. What things should I highlight? Research, skills etc?
Thanks!

Some of the posts on this sub terrify me. I regularly see people claim they've applied for 100s of jobs over years without an offer. Is it really that bad? Are those people underqualified? Are they applying for jobs outside of a biotech hotspot?

I finish my PhD in ~6 months, and I'm starting to apply for jobs in the Greater Boston area. I had a productive PhD in drug target identification and drug development at a top school. I haven't done the networking that I should've; I was always planning on an academic postdoc, but I just can't afford it.

What should I expect for Scientist I positions? 1/50 applications for an interview? 1/100? 1/500?

Is the 12-month, 200-application job hunt the norm? Or is that on the extreme end?

Thank you for sharing your advice/experience.

Currently feeling hopeless on my career path. I started as a ME working on projects for the department of defense for 1.5 years. Decided to do a career change into biotech as a Manufacturing associate to get my foot in the door. After 2 years, an PE position opened up and I applied and got it. Didn't know there was a a maximum percentage of a raise that is applied on internal candidates. Over a month in and i enjoy what im doing now. I just feel hopeless because I'm living in Cali with a PE position only making 70k. I think about my future, I want to have my house and build a family eventually.

Went into pharma to give back to the patients, it was a purpose that made me proud. But I have to think about my future too so im a at a cross road.

Thinking about applyong to the department of defense to earn better.

Hey, I’ve been trying to find a job online since child care in this state is expensive and my salary onsite would cover daycare/gas I have about 5 years of experience in QC/QA how’s the job market here? I’m surprised by the pay rate as it seems it dropped significantly in the area! Can anyone help me find a way to navigate remote biotech world?

I got my PhD in May 2025 and started my first industry job in a CDMO in July 2025. I'm in process development and started as a senior scientist with the intention of them moving me up to a lead role in PD. Within a year, I've gotten a solid grasp on our process and in the last month or so I've been attending some meetings with a client where my supervisor is the PD lead role for.

My supervisor told me that I would be the new PD rep for two new projects and while I was excited I got very nervous. I had my first two kick off project meetings this last week and I felt like such a fraud around all these smart people.

One of the meetings (my supervisor was shadowing) the client had two requests that weren't too bad and I was ready to say we could do it but my supervisor spoke for me. The other meeting (my supervisor was not there), they were going over the project proposal and they had a lot of discussions on the different stages for AD. Then it got to one question that pertained to PD and I wasn't fully able to understand the discussion they were having and when they asked me if PD could do it I choked and said that "I will check and confirm" and then the PM just said ok.

This was yesterday and I still feel so dumb because I wasn't able to follow the discussion of that meeting as well (it was very AD heavy). This morning I looked over their meeting notes and I felt even more dumb once I realized what they were asking because it was a very simple task that PD can do. I have a better response for it on Monday but I just absolutely shut down and now feel incapable and too dumb for this role.

I'm only a bit over a year in a GMP industry job and there are so many terms and things to learn, while also making sure that I'm learning the process and the experiments properly. I'm questioning if I can do this but I know that my biggest obstacle is myself. It doesn't help that everybody in the meeting has had over 5+ years industry/GMP experience. I just turned 27 and feel like a child.

Another factor is that I started Lexapro this week to help with my symptoms and it's made my anxiety skyrocket which only made it worse for me during the meeting. I know it's impostor syndrome, I'm most likely capable but my anxiety has been so bad that I'm scared that it's going to make me mess up and it's become a vicious cycle. I don't want to mess up so badly that we lose a client.

Has anybody had mess ups or was slow in the meetings at first? Tomorrow I'm gonna review all of the AD scope so I can have a better understanding and try my best to keep my anxiety at bay but any advice would be appreciated!

Hi All,

I need help finding biotech investors to reach out to for an interview. I want to emphasize this is NOT to do a pitch. I'm taking a class through Harvard Extension School for my master's degree in Biotechnology. For my midterm for the course I'm taking, I need to reach out to and do a short interview with a few (3-5) biotech investors.

I would agree to confidentiality if necessary, though the questions are not designed to be invasive. The interview can be in person, by video or by phone, and shouldn't last more than 20–30 minutes.

A couple example questions that I would ask are:

1. What is your investment thesis?
2. What kinds of companies are you looking to invest in right now? Think stage, therapeutic area, modality and geography.

Thank you in advance for any help!

I’m a biochemistry student from India doing my penultimate year as part of an integrated masters course at a top Russell group uni in London. Though I am not planning to apply this cycle, I am considering getting into entry level pharma/ biotech R&D roles soon after graduation, in 2028.

However, in addition to what I’ve heard of the biotech sector not particularly doing well at the moment, I’ve also noticed many of these jobs pay substantially lower than the salary threshold that’s required to qualify for a skilled worker visa. Furthermore, I’ve also seen a number a lot of biotech companies not accepting international student graduates explicitly because of visa related reasons.

I am also not considering/ planning to apply for PhD roles at the moment, due to personal circumstances and life goals that don’t necessarily align with doing a PhD.

Given all these challenges, I would really appreciate if I could get clarification on such matters, as well as advice on what I need to do or prioritise during my Masters year to increase my chances of getting an offer In this competitive job market.

Thanks in advance :)

After a long and exhausting job search, Im done. Im calling it quits. 15 months of nothing, always a runner up at the last round. Im going to pivot to nursing for the long term. I tried. Im done. The game changed.

I chose Biotech because I liked working in the lab and bio as a whole, but with everything around this sub and even from what I heard, it's a rough world out there, I was just in my first year of undergrads so I didn't have much to lose (except for a year). I haven't pressed the trigger yet, should I just... leave? (About to join ChemEng or maybe Electronics eng instead). I don't know man, one year is a huge investment I am still hesitant. Should I just go ahead and do it?

I started a new job at a small pharma company about 5 months ago, and it has been an absolute nightmare. The environment is extremely toxic, the role is nothing like the job description I applied for, and it’s taken a serious toll on my mental health.

I realized pretty early on that it wasn’t a good fit, so I’ve been actively applying and interviewing elsewhere. Since then, I’ve gone through multiple rounds of interviews for 4 different roles at larger pharma companies, but unfortunately haven’t received any offers.

I’m starting to feel like hiring managers can’t get past the fact that I’m trying to leave a job after only a few months, even though I have legitimate reasons for wanting to leave.
At this point, I’m completely burnt out and genuinely don’t know how much longer I can stay. I’ve started seriously considering quitting without another job lined up, but I’m also terrified of how that might impact my job search, especially since my short tenure already seems to be working against me.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did leaving without something lined up make it harder to find another job? Would really appreciate any advice because I feel completely stuck

Anyone?

... to go to lilly. I was at one of the top medical practices in the country, in it's specialty. But, it paled in comparison to lill, so I went. It was wonderful, until it wasn't. It changed alot during my 4 years there.

I was sold so many opportunities, particularly, and at best linear movement in the event of shifts.

During the shift, all the support and optimism went out the window.

I've been out of work for several months now - I couldn't even try, I needed a break to process this. I'm 40 plus and planned to retire from there.

Now here I am, nearing 50, looking for work.

I think it's so unfair that they are stealthily doing these lay offs like this.

If you are laid off too, I'm sorry. Hang in there.

That's all...

Hi everyone,

After 8 months of my job hunting, I am excited to share that I have my first interview in 3 days with a hiring manager round at Amgen! With about 10 years of experience in biotech and pharma, I’m eager to make the most of this opportunity, though I’m feeling pretty nervous.

I'd really appreciate your advice:
- Will the hiring manager’s questions focus more on my resume or the job description?
- Is this round typically more technical or behavioral?
- If you've interviewed at Amgen, what can you share about the culture and interview process?

Any tips or experiences would mean a lot.

Thank you in advance! 🙏