I am in pharma but I am thinking moving out of the industry because of low pay. But I feel promotions are faster here (director in 10 years), there's less competition, and a good wlb is a given in the industry. Would love to hear thoughts from people who made the move away from biotech/pharma industry or in a similar position as me. Do you like it there?
I was on the academia track closely associated with pharma/biotech. Left for tech earlier this year. It's so much better. Better pay, better growth. Don't have to worry about funding or the shitty state of the industry.
The claim that tech has smarter people is laughable at best. Wonder what happened to all the Silicon Valley biotech disruptors? They are still selling genealogy kits based upon a 30 year old technology while we are developing real cures. Or Watson Health and their bullshit AI? Wait for the wall street hyped Tech sector to implode. Then we will see how valuable this SQL skill really will be.
Sour grapes can't get into tech. 🍇 Btw, how's the patent cliff going? You think you can merge yourselves out of a fundamentally broken business model? I heard job stability has been 'awesome' (sarcasm intended btw) in biotech/pharma despite the fact we have been on the best economic boon in the last few years. Btw I heard offshoring chemists to China/India was a great cost saving move. Sucks to be the PhD grads in that field. You guys can't even get drugs to the market in a reasonable time. Insilico (AI startup in pharma using DL) will prob trash you guys. Be prepared to go the way of AOL in 5yrs!
Haha, we will see the AI startups in 5 years. Silicon Valley funders have no clue what it takes to actually do science. That's why they can't deliver anything other than social media and advertising platforms. Hope you get your autonomous cars rolling by then which were supposed to be out 5 years ago. Not looking very good for Uber and Waymo otherwise despite the AI.
Can you expound what “low pay” is for you? Perhaps a breakdown of your TC would be beneficial as well.
Senior in biotech/pharma: $100-150k. Director (M2) in biotech/pharma: $250-350k(???) Senior in tech, tier 2: $120-200k Senior in tech, tier 1: $200-400k You make 2x as much for same YOE. Our skills are transferable across industries. Nobody gives a shit if you are great at cell based assays, or toxicology or whatever shit you specialize in. NOBODY FUCKING CARES.
Transferrable does not mean more valuable. Right now you are just in a hyped up sector. It will change quickly when it becomes obvious that Uber and Waymo are way overvalued
Wow from your comments, you are a mean person @Udi. What makes it even more surprising is that it comes from you when you yourself moved industries. High TC doesn't mean more value or better skills. The money you earn has inflated your ego, just like the other 80% of blinders. I agree with Gilead, tech salaries are hyped. But everyone has their own preferences. Someone may want more money as a priority, others may want to focus on whatever they are passionate about, or may want to stay in a particular sector/company for their own reasons like wlb, stability etc. Imagine if everyone started moving to one sector, who would be researching cancer drugs. Trust me, drug research is more complicated than creating that web app (I have done both). Let's not pull each other down. We are all mature adults, aren't we? Let's do help with whatever information we have to assist each other grow and pursue what they want. Peace ✌️
I'm a fluffy bunny at work so on blind I show my true colors. It's tough love, but people can't handle the truth. Yes you spent 5-10yrs of your life on your dead end career. It happens. Move on. Google sunk cost fallacy. All my friends who moved our of science are fucking happy even if they're working for some 'lame' company with 'boring' work. You knows who's unhappy? Those who remained. Hey, if you want to stay and find 'meaning' in your work, by all means do that. I have enough competition from disgruntled PhDs, and I don't need more intelligent and motivated people to crap up my space.
I was admitted to a pharmacy school but I changed my mind to Biomedical Engineering. After completing my Master from top 10 eng Uni I found out I love the biotech and analytics. I got an internship from the company I work for now as Data science/ ML and afterwards I was offered a job as Data Scientist & I am actually learning ML concepts to earn more money in the future. Even tech companies getting involved in healthcare now such as IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple... interesting project management and stuffs. You can do it with the right mind. Good luck
Moved from medical device industry to tech. Overall very happy. Generally people are smarter (ie SQL is a de facto skill, not pivot tables). Generally younger coworkers & the ability to move fast (less govt red tape). You are correct on WLB, but I personally felt bored and that much of my work in my old industry was meaningless. I feel that much less often since moving industries.
Thanks, very helpful. How did you make the transition?
@Viren I would like to know how you made the transition as well. I am currently in the healthcare big data field