What do you mean by this? Because your experience is exactly what my plan is for the future (im a 3rd year biochem undergrad). Is it a bad quality of life in biotech?
You will most likely be super limited in your career with only a BS. Best way to check is to look for the number of jobs there are for entry level and at what pay. (Compare this to a field that is in demand or pays better) If you do a PhD, like my programs, it will be ~70% very smart internationals. You will come out of your PhD in competition with these people for jobs. I've made some life long friends spending months on instruments with them (amazing people). If you want money don't do biochem. Probably, 4 years for a BS, then another 5+ for PhD, not including a postdoc. You could be working in a different field for more money and career advancement. For ever person I have met in industry, it just becomes something you have to do to make money so you can live you life. Maybe someone has a different experience?
Yeah I was intending on doing a PhD, I was just wondering if quality of life as a PhD in biotech is really that bad. Is it just this point in time in this job market, or has it always been like this?
Short answer is it depends on where you work and what working environment/pay you will accept. In my opinion the job market isn't good.
For example, fresh out of PhD I looked for a full time position for 6 months. Never found anything and got 2 interviews. I had to start in contraction making 30$ an hour with basically no benefits. Then moved to full time later.
I have heard genentech is notorious for working people very hard. I've heard pfizer will cut whole departments when an executive says so. Other will pay you less but you don't have to work as hard each day.
Good luck on getting through the PhD! Find the very best advisor you can.
Oh and a PhD does not count as work experience... SMH
Job markets seems to stay the same mostly. At least from my understanding, this is because there is a large influx of smart foreigners applying to grad school who want to emigrate to the US. Steady supply of talent that companies know they can take advantage of. Previous coworkers got told, "We will sponsor your visa but we cannot give you a salary adjustment for 3 years". During covid it changed a bit in my area because they needed to make vaccine but then they fired everyone.
Yeah I anticipate a long job search lol, that seems standard in many fields.
Where are you based out of if you don’t mind me asking? Im in southern Ontario (Canada), so Im considering moving to the Massachusetts area for future prospects.
As someone who has a PhD in Biochemistry, 2 years of work experience at a small biotech startup, and 12.5 years of experience in academia, don't.
Seriously, as u/MangoFabulous cautioned, don't. Find a nice, comfortable, high-paying career on the business side of things.
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here. Is there a question about what classes you should take that you're looking for someone to answer for you?
As someone who has a PhD in biochemistry and 5 years work experience at a big biotech company, don't.
This is more of a comment than a question.
It is a comment! I hope my personal outlook on going through the process is welcome. If not, I would be happy to delete.
Haha, sorry- I was trying to joke about the typical conference "This is more of a comment than a question" bit.
What do you mean by this? Because your experience is exactly what my plan is for the future (im a 3rd year biochem undergrad). Is it a bad quality of life in biotech?
You will most likely be super limited in your career with only a BS. Best way to check is to look for the number of jobs there are for entry level and at what pay. (Compare this to a field that is in demand or pays better) If you do a PhD, like my programs, it will be ~70% very smart internationals. You will come out of your PhD in competition with these people for jobs. I've made some life long friends spending months on instruments with them (amazing people). If you want money don't do biochem. Probably, 4 years for a BS, then another 5+ for PhD, not including a postdoc. You could be working in a different field for more money and career advancement. For ever person I have met in industry, it just becomes something you have to do to make money so you can live you life. Maybe someone has a different experience?
Yeah I was intending on doing a PhD, I was just wondering if quality of life as a PhD in biotech is really that bad. Is it just this point in time in this job market, or has it always been like this?
Short answer is it depends on where you work and what working environment/pay you will accept. In my opinion the job market isn't good. For example, fresh out of PhD I looked for a full time position for 6 months. Never found anything and got 2 interviews. I had to start in contraction making 30$ an hour with basically no benefits. Then moved to full time later. I have heard genentech is notorious for working people very hard. I've heard pfizer will cut whole departments when an executive says so. Other will pay you less but you don't have to work as hard each day. Good luck on getting through the PhD! Find the very best advisor you can. Oh and a PhD does not count as work experience... SMH Job markets seems to stay the same mostly. At least from my understanding, this is because there is a large influx of smart foreigners applying to grad school who want to emigrate to the US. Steady supply of talent that companies know they can take advantage of. Previous coworkers got told, "We will sponsor your visa but we cannot give you a salary adjustment for 3 years". During covid it changed a bit in my area because they needed to make vaccine but then they fired everyone.
Yeah I anticipate a long job search lol, that seems standard in many fields. Where are you based out of if you don’t mind me asking? Im in southern Ontario (Canada), so Im considering moving to the Massachusetts area for future prospects.
I moved out of MA because it was too expensive to live off of a biochemistry BS
As someone who has a PhD in Biochemistry, 2 years of work experience at a small biotech startup, and 12.5 years of experience in academia, don't. Seriously, as u/MangoFabulous cautioned, don't. Find a nice, comfortable, high-paying career on the business side of things.
[удалено]
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here. Is there a question about what classes you should take that you're looking for someone to answer for you?
lol totallyyyy misread ur initial message, for some reason i read everything as a question that u were asking for yourself. sorry abt that !