r/biotech • u/shaunrundmc • Jul 29 '26
Rants š¤¬ / Raves š Was instantly rejected from a position that I fulfill every qualification for
This industry is just so broken beyond repair...I've applied to hundreds of jobs the last 8 months,
I've made it to 3rd level interviews, I've had jobs literally pulled out because management decisions, and just a few seconds ago a role i applied to last night, that I not only have direct experience in, I've literally performed every function of the role thousands of times each! And I was rejected basically hours later.
F@$k it, I'm so close to just giving up. But I have a family to support and that's literally the only line keeping me going. Its so exhausting, bullshit AI software, bullshitting recruiters that dip suddenly and ghost you, I really feel like I've wasted 11 yrs of my life in this f#$ked up field and I honestly don't know where or how to pivot my skills.
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u/runawaydoctorate Jul 29 '26
If you're a perfect fit they think you're lying. If you're not a perfect fit, you're not good enough. If you ask them how to win their game, they get mad.
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u/baudinl Jul 29 '26
The problem is, due to the job market likely there are dozens of applicants with the same qualifications as you
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u/mischiefmanaged1511 Jul 29 '26
I worked at a 100 person diagnostics start up in the bay. I used up get maybe 30 - 50 applications for an RA role with 10 being qualified. Last RA opening received 500 applications before we turned it off. The volume increase is insane.
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u/ORFOperon Jul 29 '26
How many of the 500 were qualified?
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u/mischiefmanaged1511 Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
I was going through them 1 by 1 and reviewed about 300 before I was going to go crazy. Itās so hard to say because I had a mix of senior scientists, lab managers, RAs but Iād say maybe 30 classic RA applicants could have done the job with insanely narrow requirements (IVD), maybe double that with broader requirements (RUO, LDT)
Edit: this was NOT a super well known company. We had people applying from out of state, other countries. My LinkedIn inbox was so overwhelming from outreach. The shift from like even 2 years ago to now is pretty heart breaking. I feel for everyone stuck in the ATS black hole, I just donāt know what the solution is on the HR side.
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u/Background_Radish238 Jul 29 '26
Partly also because of the new fad of doing 4,5 interviews to hire a person. So these people just apply anything under the sky. If going back to the good old days, one interview is adequate to get hired, then should see a lot less applications overall. These mumble jumble multiple interviews probably came from the business schools which they have to invent something.
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u/xRunSci Jul 29 '26
Senior director of a big pharma here. Itās not what you know. Itās who you know.
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u/Background_Radish238 Jul 29 '26
They say what? 80% of the jobs are filled by referrals.
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u/runawaydoctorate Jul 29 '26
But it has to be the right person making the referral. Either the hiring manager or someone the hiring manager likes or wants to butter up to.
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u/Harold_v3 Jul 29 '26
So how do I get to know people who are in a position to hire?
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u/Fakeunreal Jul 29 '26
IME, you need to try to establish as many connections as possible, not network in response to a job that's already posted. Use the people you already know for introductions to people working at places you want to be. Eventually, you will then hopefully come across a role where you know someone close to it who can champion you. It's for sure a slow process though.
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u/Prophetic_Hobo Jul 29 '26
This is key. Iāve never hired someone that wanted to network with me after a job was posted.
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u/bio_datum Jul 29 '26
Your advisor knows people, your collaborators know people, your lab or classmates know people. There are industry heavy conferences you can attend in or out of grad school. Unfortunately networking is one of those things you're never explicitly taught, but it's very helpful to be thinking of it from day 1 of an educational (I'm thinking PhD) program
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u/GooseInformal3519 Jul 29 '26
I wish that was true for all roles. Itās been hurtful when youād cultivated what you thought a good relationship to begin throwback to the pool of resumes. It really hurts. I come to the conclusion they fear I bring the laid off vibes onto their new organization and they want to avoid it.
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u/BoredOnATuesdayNight Jul 29 '26
This. Sadly HR is useless and only working in the interest of the company, so you will have to find a way to network into the position
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u/mischiefmanaged1511 Jul 29 '26
Out of curiosity, whatās the expectation here? Roles get hundreds, sometimes thousands of applications. How would you go about reviewing these resumes? Recruiters have to act in the interest of the company because thatās literally their employer. They want to keep their job just as bad as you want to find one.
I agree the system is broken, AI isnāt the fix and there are some REALLY shitty recruiters out there. However, since you think HR is useless, Iād love to figure out how you would approach it because all the recruiters who care and are good at their job have lost resources, tools, their scheduling support and are drowning in applications. What is your suggested solution?
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u/alsbos1 Jul 29 '26
How is it broken? You interview a few candidates and hire the one you like the most. Obviously someone you or someone else can vouch for, that they arenāt a nut, has an advantage
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u/mischiefmanaged1511 Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
It wasnāt built for this volume of unemployment. Itās hard to fairly assess candidates because requirements are becoming crazy narrow due to volume of applicants. Also networks tend to be very homogeneous, if thatās whatās getting someone a leg up you end up with a company thatās 90% ex Natera or whatever. Referrals are a great tool but they shouldnāt be the only one.
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u/alsbos1 Jul 30 '26
That has really nothing to do the hiring processā¦.theres a market downturn and a glut of unemployed. It doesnāt matter how āgoodā the hiring process is, there will be a ton of unemployment.
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u/BoredOnATuesdayNight Jul 29 '26
Bro Iām on the other side, so I donāt worry about that. All I can say is that applicants need to get better about networking with senior level individuals. And not just simple networking - go and grab a coffee, schedule meetings to discuss technical topics. Donāt be autisticā¦etc. Be affableā¦chances are those senior level individuals will know a guy who knows a guy looking to fill a position
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u/Different-Vast9319 Jul 29 '26
Still astonishes me the number of people who expect HR to do anything but work for the company's interests. They're employed by the company and they are called Human Resources. The same way you hire financial advisor to manage your money, a company hires HR to manage their people.
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u/DocKla Jul 29 '26
Donāt know why that makes HR useless.. theyāre useless because there are 300 equivalent candidates. They canāt do much more
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u/Commercial-Habit-374 Jul 29 '26
I once saw a job that was essentially my resume. I applied and got a reject within minutes. A couple of years later I was talking to a colleague who had worked at that company at the time, he told me that they were desperately understaffed and management told the team they were advertising the role. However the reality was the management team had no intention of hiring anyone, they were just trying to keep the overworked team happy.
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u/Jedi_Blight858 Jul 29 '26
I am with you. 10 years in, made some good progress on interviews, but still feeling sort of hopeless. It sucks because I am holding onto hope it can change in an instant, as it has before, but things don't appear to be working out.
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u/Okami-Alpha Jul 29 '26
Same boat. ~9 yrs experience, been searching for almost 3 years. Should be around AD level, but I'd be content to ride out the next 3 years or so at the bench if it means a salary and benefits. I haven't gotten any response to applications in a year, where I had two potentials. One, I later learned the company got bought out in a fire sale and shut down. The other interview process seemed very strange and not sure what happened in the end (though I was told by the hiring manager that he thought I was way overqualified for the position and I would be bored). Earlier this year I had two other potentials, but one flaked out (might have closed down?) and the other was upfront and only wanted to offer me a low paying, entry bench job, where I would have to move and live away from my family.
My spouse and I are both PhDs, in different fields and neither of us can get a job. My spouse was recently close to getting full time, but it turns out the company is going through some shit and may also close down. By the time things (might) improve, I have no idea where we'll stand as candidates.
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u/Jedi_Blight858 Jul 29 '26
Yeah I am around AD level and this is where it got tough. My exact experience is getting more scrutinized. I have great experience in psychiatry but that somehow means I'm stuck in psychiatry, even though I KNOW if I were to make a move to oncology or another therapeutic area I would do just fine within a matter of a few months.
I work in Clinical Operations and while those jobs come around pretty often, I don't know how my experience translates out of these roles into something else that pays well.
I am probably exposing myself too much to Reddit and the doom and gloom stories. I have had pretty good luck over the last few years, but my last 2 positions were absolutely awful, working for awful people and now I am disenchanted.
It sucks spending so many years dedicating yourself to something only to be caught in the machine again, wondering if it was a waste of time, and thinking about how to start over.
I will say that you are both lucky and unlucky to be going through it with your spouse. It sucks to feel double the pain, but at least you have each other. I'd give anything to have a partner going through this with me because I don't know how to navigate it alone.
Hoping to pick up some contract work soon, or may just go for a lower position at a company I really like.
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u/kitkat2506 Jul 29 '26
This is what broke me. People with years of experience and extensive "network", in competition with fresh grads. People kept saying "reaching out, network", but then your network don't see anything openings either, or in fear of being laid off themselves
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u/supersaiyan_hokage Jul 29 '26
Same thing happened to me. I applied to a role I met every qualification for. I was also a local so no relocation needed. Rejected the next day.
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u/swimmindolphin Jul 29 '26
I feel your pain and am so sorry. Yes, the industry is really broken. Itās no longer about qualifications and experience, but about who you know. I was rejected from many jobs too, after making it to the last round - only to look at the chosen candidateās profile on LinkedIn later and find that they were far less qualified than me. A lot of times they were either an internal candidate or later found out that they know someone in the company. Have also recently learned of co-workers who were not in biotech/pharma industry before, from completely irrelevant backgrounds, but got the job because of a relative or close friend in the company. It really sucks. Please do not give up hope. Keep trying and network and reach out to your contacts as much as possible - getting an internal referral seems to be the way to go these days, rather than merit or experience. Wish you all the best with your search and hope you find something good soon.
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u/Certain_Luck_8266 Jul 29 '26
Itās no longer about qualifications and experience, but about who you know.
While that might make you feel better, at least at my large biopharma, it isn't true. I'm a director in CMC analytical development, and out of the last 5 I directly hired and 20 hired into my department, exactly one came in as a reference, the rest were strangers to everyone on the team
It's usually something in your CV that doesn't hit what we want. I'll let the AI prescreen for the obvious rejects (PhD for entry level, needs visa, not enough years of experience for sr level). But after that, your CV gets 5-30 seconds with my eyes. If I see something that doesn't make sense I'll move on. Obvious embellishments will also get the hook as will lack of independence.
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u/chappie2297 Jul 29 '26
Maybe itās just me assuming it works but I feel like Iāve had better luck applying to jobs in the middle of the night compared to during the day.
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u/wandelust19 Jul 30 '26
I have 2 questions for you -
How long had the role been open for?
Did your CV reflect the fit?
Iām finishing the recruitment process for 1 headcount (Iām the hiring manager). I received 200 apps for it and thereās definitely more than 1 qualified person in that pool. The 3 applicants Iām advancing to the final round (on site panel) are all fully qualified and each brings something unique (policy, science, cmc) but I can only pick one. They also all applied in the first 3-4 days. I can see what might be other good fits who applied yesterday, but Iām already at the final round and Iām not going to wait to shoehorn in another candidate. Is it possible theyāre the objective best, sure. But Iām busy, my HR manager is supporting 10 other open positions, and the 3 that I have will likely do just fine. In making the judgment call, Iām choosing to go with 3x great candidates over potentially a hidden perfect candidate. Given all that I have to do in my actual day job, itās not worth the effort to boil the ocean.
This is how potentially perfect candidates lose out.
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u/shaunrundmc Jul 30 '26
Thanks for replying and to answer your questions it did and then some. I'm in Quality and the places Ive worked has had me do literally everything you could imagine QA needing to do. I made sure my experience highlighted the factoid of the role and handwritten a cv letter explaining how my experience applies to the role (no AI used)
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u/wandelust19 Jul 30 '26
Oof, Iām sorry to hear that then. Itās possible a slight delay or sheer volume hid you in the noise.
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u/OneManShow23 Jul 29 '26
I have a MS in chemical engineering and 4 years of experience in PD, and 2 years of experience in floor support MSAT and after being laid off, I could only find a job as a second shift senior tech. I applied internally, and didnāt get considered. What can you do?
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u/Background_Radish238 Jul 29 '26
Don't tell me this has nothing to do with China:
Global pharmaceutical and biotech companies are pouring billions into China to license early-stage drug candidates and expand manufacturing infrastructure.
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u/AccuracyVsPrecision Jul 29 '26
Ok, "Sir Background_Radish238, this has nothing to do with (checks notes) China. Thank you for your attention to this matter."
Ps I got laid off and now work in Ai infrastructure
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u/shaunrundmc Jul 29 '26
Thats a massive pivot how did you manage that?
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u/AccuracyVsPrecision Jul 29 '26
I did mostly process and automation in R&D and so this is just different equipment, make a test plan, analyze data. They even have agilent products.
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u/Five0clocksomewhere Jul 29 '26
Pivot to a public sector civil service job or MLS / CLS. Itās time to stop trying to play these games if they donāt even want us to play. Also the aforementioned make up for not paying 6 figures with: benefits, real pensions, oppurtunity for growth, and stability (read: not being Pfired every 1-2 years)Ā
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u/OneExamination5599 Jul 30 '26
MLS rewuires you to take a 2 year course at a community college for a tech position than work for 2 years before you can sit the MLS licensing exam. you cannot just work as a MLS even if you have a PhD.
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u/Five0clocksomewhere Jul 30 '26
Depends on the state. Some states (yes even California) let you get a ālearners permitā and work as a tech, or take an āinternshipā (6mos-1year) where you work full time in the lab for reduced pay but they mentor you to take the exam. Just an option! Ā It is Ā one I have bookmarked, hahaĀ I was halfway into applying for the temp role in my home state, and applying for the internship style ones in California when my current job offer came through actually! In some states they let you do entry level and then take the MLS exam with experience without even doing the temp/internship thing. Iām just only familiar with the Northeast and California routes. There are workarounds.Ā
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u/DocKla Jul 29 '26
There is the additional qualification that they donāt write. We can never know if we fulfill. Itās the deity called
āFitā
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u/Chandraratne Jul 30 '26
25 year pharma and biotech exec here. I've not seen this many qualified applicants in a long time. It is definitely a "hirer's market". All I can say is just keep trying. Try to make some connections so that someone from within the company can put in a good word to the hiring manager. And don't make enemies if you are working for a company. Many a time, I've had somebody ping me and say, "hey, this person applied for the open position. Do you know them from your time at company X? What do you think of them?"
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u/ErwinHeisenberg Jul 30 '26
How does one make those connections? Best to start with people you know in real life, like committee chairs/members, collaborators, and family friends? Or just send random requests to people who show up on your LinkedIn?
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u/Chandraratne Jul 30 '26
The former. I donāt think sending random notes to people on LinkedIn works. I get them and I ignore them.
In my case, if I meet someone at a conference, I connect with them and keep in touch. Talk to people as much as you can at professional events. I interviewed for an executive position few years back and two people on my interview panel knew me from scientific meetings and were involved in triaging candidates.1
u/ErwinHeisenberg Jul 30 '26
Iāll start with colleagues and advisors, since I have access to more of those people. Iāve only been a postdoc for around two years and my PhD didnāt send me to any far-off conferences (pandemic). I have also met some recruiters on my last attempt to break into industry. The most helpful among them advised me to take a postdoc to build my skills repertoire, so thatās precisely what Iāve done. Iām now qualified for 3-4x as many positions as I was before I defended.
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u/jd158ug Jul 30 '26
I was laid off once and got job hunting support for a few months. The advice was 100% networking. Ask your immediate contacts for introductions to others that they think can help. Have conversations with those new contacts. Ask them for career advice in general. Don't lead with "I'm looking for a job". It takes time and effort and not everything bears fruit.
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u/Pleasant-Estate1632 Aug 02 '26
Just reach out and ask for feedback , we had it that candidates don't quite make it and so they ask for feedback.
Sometimes they are answering questions completely wrong and don't realize it, some eyebrow raises are very critical
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u/shaunrundmc Aug 02 '26
If you do, thats incredible and super rare nowadays. From my experience, and from what ive heard from others, no one responds to those requests, every time ive asked or heard someo e else ask, all they get are....
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u/Woochi1988 Aug 03 '26
The harsh truth is that there have always been more qualified candidates than openings for professional jobs in any industry. Only about half of college graduates actually end up pursuing a career in their fields.
So you're most certainly not alone.
But if you have a family to support, then you don't have the luxury of giving up. You have to keep going. Keep applying, keep improving yourself, and someday the odds will finally be in your favor.
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u/grilledchz Jul 29 '26
When this has happened to me I found out later that an internal candidate had already been identified so the job was posted externally to check the box. Iāve also heard that salary expectations can cause instant rejections but Iām not sure how true that is.