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by **S. Poppo** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 5:47 pm

Hello, I had posted earlier regarding a PhD opportunity that I decided to pass.
I'm currently finishing my BSc(Hons) degree in a biomedical field, and have decided to take on an MSc in Post-genomic science to further my knowledge on the field. In my location there is a few good Pre-clinical, drug discovery companies, and my intention is to market the MSc in terms of computational drug discovery. However after this degree I'm intending on taking a part time Msc in Drug discovery at a top university, My intention is to familiarize myself thoroughly with the industry.and to undergo the Msc whilst searching for an entry level position/during an entry level position.
Now that I explained the situation my question is:
1- Is this a good plan for securing employment.
2- Will the second Msc appear to be redundant or seen as lateral progression instead of my intention to further my understanding?
3- Would a PhD have been a better option taking into account I have no industrial experience?

Thank you in advance and appreciate any comments good or bad.

by **P.C.** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:14 am

If you want to familiarize yourself thouroughly with industry then consider, particularly if you do not know people well in the industry;
1) Doing some detective work and finding the names and phone numbers of people in industry in the area you think you want to work in.
Call them directly on the telephone, and ask them for a few moments of their time, to make some direct inquiries about the state of the job and career path. Try to meet as many people in that industry as possible and get face to face time, for coffee.
Read up on this and related sites about how to network and really network: get in the face of real people (in a nice way.).
2) In academia go to a program with strong industry ties.
3) Focus on learning to approach and develop a network of friends and associates in the industry or area you want to work in, sooner, rather than later in your career formative years.

by **Dave Jensen** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:31 am

S. Poppo wrote:Hello, I had posted earlier regarding a PhD opportunity that I decided to pass.
I'm currently finishing my BSc(Hons) degree in a biomedical field, and have decided to take on an MSc in Post-genomic science to further my knowledge on the field. In my location there is a few good Pre-clinical, drug discovery companies, and my intention is to market the MSc in terms of computational drug discovery. However after this degree I'm intending on taking a part time Msc in Drug discovery at a top university, My intention is to familiarize myself thoroughly with the industry.and to undergo the Msc whilst searching for an entry level position/during an entry level position.
Now that I explained the situation my question is:
1- Is this a good plan for securing employment.
2- Will the second Msc appear to be redundant or seen as lateral progression instead of my intention to further my understanding?
3- Would a PhD have been a better option taking into account I have no industrial experience?

Thank you in advance and appreciate any comments good or bad.

Hello S.

PC provides you with some good information-gathering advice. You need to do that.

In a general sense, your dual Master's degrees would be seen in one of two ways. Painted correctly, it could look like a plan you had to develop yourself in a given area of expertise. However, without explanation from you (a personal introduction, a well written cover letter, etc) it may appear to position you as someone who couldn't get a job and wanted to just continue the "easy life" of academic education.

Dual degrees, whether BS or MS, need to be seen as a part of an overall career plan. I second the motion from PC who suggested it be a program with strong ties to industry. Not only that, but take up a subject matter if you do a thesis project that is of strong interest to the local group of companies in your area. Make sure, as stated before, that you've really networked the heck out of this and know the topic areas that will enhance your job-seeking credibility.

Dave Jensen, Moderator

by **S. Poppo** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 8:18 am

I will definitely start to network with some companies nearby and have obtained some telephone numbers to call on the upcoming new year. Thank you for the advice. Regarding the employment prospects of Post-genomics and drug discovery what is everyone's opinion? Does industry have a need for trained scientist for these positions at an MS level? and what are the career prospects and finally financially what salary range should I expect to find?

Thank you in advance everyone and have a good entry to 2013

C.M

by **Dave Jensen** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 9:33 am

S. Poppo wrote:I will definitely start to network with some companies nearby and have obtained some telephone numbers to call on the upcoming new year. Thank you for the advice. Regarding the employment prospects of Post-genomics and drug discovery what is everyone's opinion? Does industry have a need for trained scientist for these positions at an MS level? and what are the career prospects and finally financially what salary range should I expect to find?

Thank you in advance everyone and have a good entry to 2013

C.M

Hello,

There will be fair to good employment prospects for you in this field with an MS. We don't get into salaries here because they vary so differently between regions, company types, etc.

Dave

by **Ana** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 9:30 am

I think something you need to clarity is what type of job you eventually want in industry. You hesitate between doing two masters or a PhD but these degrees lead to very different jobs in industry. Once you know what job you want, you'll be able to decide what training will help you get there.

by **S. Poppo** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:19 am

Ana wrote:I think something you need to clarity is what type of job you eventually want in industry. You hesitate between doing two masters or a PhD but these degrees lead to very different jobs in industry. Once you know what job you want, you'll be able to decide what training will help you get there.

First of all thank you for the replies.
My reasoning for not having gone straight into a PhD is that at the present moment is that I do not want to risk going for a non-industry relevant PhD just because it is interesting science and therefore affecting my future prospects for a bad decision. I am very interested in early phase drug discovery and would like to enter industry in a entry level position where I would get a greater insight Into the process so I can pick my thesis according to a more realistic career aspiration. I would of course like to find an industry sponsored PhD program eventually as that would be the best case scenario in the future. But until then id like to get sufficient work experience and a greater appreciation of how industry works.

If anyone has any insights or comments I appreciate them good or bad.

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