Jobs as research scientists are what recent emigres from academia usually spend their first few years doing in private industry. These positions are typically very hands-on and require relevant skills obtained during the grad student and postdoc years. In a Catch-22 situation, prior industry experience may be required (or very helpful) to get these jobs.

This page is heavily slanted toward the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. If you work in another scientific sector (e.g chemistry, physics, mathematics), please send any useful industrial links that you know about to mtbrown@geocities.com.

Information and Advice:
Bio Online. A comprehensive site "for information and services related to biotechnology and pharmaceutical research, development, and manufacturing. The site combines resources of biotechnology companies, biotechnology centers, research and academic institutions, industry suppliers, government agencies, and non-profit special interest groups." Includes a corporate profiles database that contains hundreds of companies.

Look BeforeYou Leap: Tips for Academics Considering Industrial Careers. In this essay at the HMS Beagle web site (access is free but requires registration), Chris Edwards explores the differences between the academic and industrial workplaces and cultures. Interesting reading for those at a fork in the career road, e.g. academic postdocs considering the leap to industry.

Making the transition from Academia to Industry. Informative essay from Women in Cell Biology.

A Transition from NIH Postdoctoral Fellow to Industry. by Nicholas Gantenberg.

Bio Online Career Discussion Forum. Web-based discussion forum moderated by a biotech recruiter. Ask questions about careers in the biotech industry, including nuts and bolts queries about resumes, networking, interviewing, etc.

Your Career in the Sciences. Series of useful articles by biotech recruiter Dave Jensen. Topics include "The biggest career hazards--and how to avoid them," "Networking 101," "15 hot biotech jobs," and "The right answer to tough interview questions."

Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). Trade organization of the biotechnology industry. List of member companies (numbers in the hundreds). This site has way too many cookies!

Biotechnology: the choice for your future. On-line career information booklet from BIO. Has career descriptions of various jobs in the biotech industry. Emphasis is on jobs requiring a bachelor's degree or less.

Medzilla Salary Database. Find out what different jobs pay in the biotech industry. You can add to the database by entering your own salary too.

ChemLinks. Chemical, pharmaceutical , and biotech companies on the Web. Over 1000 companies are listed.

Job Listings:
BIO Job Center. Job listings for biotech companies throughout the U.S. that belong to BIO. Usually has listings from about 40 companies at any one time.

Bio Online Employment Listings. Positions in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

Medzilla. Biotech recruiter's site with job listings. Searchable. Also includes articles on various job-related topics.

Science Professional Network. The on-line job listings of Science Magazine. Searchable.

Cell "Positions Available." On-line job openings from Cell. Searchable.

Coming soon:
A guest essay from a young physicist who has just embarked upon a career in industry.

Special Section: Biotech companies in the Seattle area.