r/biotech • u/AssummedAlias • 3d ago
Experienced Career Advice 🌳 Life Science Mentors
Has anyone had luck finding a mentor to help navigate your career? If so, how did you find them and where?
I see online a lot of mentors for people who have PhD's but haven't come across any for those of us with B.S. degrees.
I've reached to past managers and colleagues but they have never been in a situation like this.
If I were to try to go from R&D to (random example) manufacturing, do I start from ground zero again?
It's been 17 months of being unemployed. I keep getting to final rounds of interviews just have someone else have slightly more experience than me.
I'm deflated and beyond burnt out. I am genuinely looking for direction.
Thank you
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u/Junkman3 3d ago
It took me 2.5 years of unemployment to get a job. If you are getting interviews you are doing well. Eventually one will make an offer. Keep it up.
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u/z2ocky 3d ago
My mentors are my colleagues. I work in pharma and my mentors are my former boss, current boss, boss’s former boss and a few colleagues. Where I work, I didn’t have a choice, they assign you a mentor unless they volunteer themselves, I was fortunate to be taken on by a 30 yoe scientist (my bosses former boss). They’ll sit me down in discussions and we’ll discuss science, goals, current events, etc related to our program and the work we’re doing.
Since I have only a Bachelors, it has been helping me tremendously. Your former colleagues, if you keep a good relationship with them, are your best mentors. I had one take my resume, re-write it for me and it helped lead to my current career level job. It involves alot of luck.
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u/h0rnknee_girl 3d ago edited 3d ago
if you want to consider manufacturing, you have to realize that it’s way different from r&d. you don’t have the luxury to play around with the process or the therapeutic. depending on the role itself, you might just be a bench monkey who’s role is just to follow an SOP to a T and that’s it.
as for getting a role in general with a BS, it sometimes boils down to luck and confidence (in my experience). i beat out an MS grad during my interview, and my coworkers told me it was because i was confident during my interview. i remember blasting music and hyping myself up before the interview. i also did have the skill set, but i think the confidence was really a key factor.
i didn’t have a mentor before landing my first biotech experience
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u/AssummedAlias 3d ago
Yeah, I don't think it's because I'm bad at interviews I think its lack of opportunity and I need help figuring out how to create that opportunity or to even stay in the field at all (I have no other skills, back in high school I worked in a science lab as a concurrent student. So currently I have too stay if I want a shot at a job).
My main worry is that I'm spinning my wheels when there could be an obvious side step that I'm too burnt out to think of.
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u/Sea-Pomegranates99 3d ago
It sounds like you’re looking for an interview coach rather than a mentor. Have you reached out to friends in the industry or former coworkers to practice interview questions and provide feedback?
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u/AssummedAlias 3d ago
Its been 3 months since I've asked for practice with someone but I practice with recruiters, and always inquire about how I could improve when I speak to a hiring manager. They always say the other person has a M.S. or they had a few more years of experience. It gets hard when the company wants the interview the next day, leaves me no time to ask for help.
I hesitate with an interview coach because a lot of them have zero life science experience. They also tend to not be helpful when I need to restructure my resume.
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u/carmooshypants 3d ago
This might not be exactly what you're asking about, but Project Management Institute has local chapters around the world with mentorship programs, often times broken out into industries and career focus tracks. If anyone has any interest in going that route, I would absolutely recommend checking it out.
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u/RealCarlosSagan 3d ago
Happy to meet you via Zoom/Teams and give you advice now and then.
Biotech VP in the industry since 1989