bioProcessUK Career Opportunity Workshop, Newcastle, 21st February

Students attending the bioProcessUK Careers Opportunity Workshop angrily dismissed industry claims of a “skills shortage”. The students criticised industry for failing to advertise jobs, failing to respond to applications and for forcing those interested in bioscience into other fields.

This first bioProcessUK Careers Opportunity Workshop of 2008 was held in Newcastle upon Tyne during February. The workshop was attended by almost 40 undergraduate and postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers in bioprocessing-related subjects as well as 10 representatives from the UK’s bioprocessing sector.

The workshops are one of several initiatives coordinated by bioProcessUK to address the lack of skilled candidates available to the sector, which was identified in a bioProcessUK survey as one of the biggest challenges faced by companies. The other initiatives are: bursaries for the bioProcessUK annual conference which gives students the opportunity to interact with the bioprocessing industry, the Bioprocessing Research Industry Club, Collaborative R&D awards and the Centres of Excellence programme to ensure that training capacity is built.

Students discuss ‘How to market yourself to industry’

At the Newcastle Careers Opportunity Workshop the students heard from employees of three bioProcessUK member companies – Avecia, Covance and Eli Lilly – and from an academic and the BBSRC. Additionally, the students participated in roundtable discussions about careers in the bioprocessing sector with the industry representatives.

The speakers discussed their careers to date as well as offering advice on careers in the sector. The BBSRC discussed the wide range of schemes available for industrial training opportunities. The presentations were followed by roundtable discussions on applying for work permits, opportunities in academia, marketing yourself for a job and industry-academic collaboration.

The industry representatives suggested that there were several ways that a student could market themselves to a company during the application process. First, to ensure that the CV is up-to-date, brief, includes all relevant experience and is targeted to the company. The CV should be accompanied by a cover letter that is also targeted to the company and explains how the candidates key attributes are applicable to the opportunity. Candidates should prepare for the interview: not only for the standard questions but also they should be able to demonstrate knowledge of the company, at least a basic understanding of what the role will involve and of key terms relevant to the industry, for example good manufacturing practice (GMP), and good laboratory practice (GLP).

At interviews, candidates were advised to demonstrate their personality and communicate their understanding of the industry and how their experience is relevant to the opportunity. It is also important for candidates to demonstrate their soft skills, such as presentation skills, and experience. If asked to give a presentation of their research, the industry representatives advised that it should be presented at a high level and that the candidate should be able to answer questions from interviewers whose knowledge is more limited.

Candidates were also advised to use their university careers services to get their CVs checked and for practice interviews. The one thing that all the industry representatives suggested was crucial for candidates that are looking to stand out form the crowd was relevant experience from industry. This could be gained as part of a sandwich course or work experience programme.

When asked by a student “what if my skills are not directly applicable for the job?” the industry representatives said that the skills learned during research demonstrated that the candidate had an aptitude for bioscience and that many techniques were transferable.

A student presenting back to the group about skills

The industry representatives suggested that candidates should speculatively apply to companies, either by sending targeted letters and CVs to the human resources department, or to contacts at the company in the relevant area.

bioProcessUK gave an overview of the currently available work permit schemes and promoted the Highly Skilled Migrant programme as a potential opportunity for overseas candidates to find employment in the UK.

The academic workshop discussed how candidates could get the relevant experience, how they could find funding and where academic opportunities were promoted.

The most contentious issue of the day was the industry’s belief that there is a skills shortage and that there are not enough bioscience graduates and PhDs to fill positions in the sector. This, coupled with a comment from one industry representative who said that most opportunities were not advertised and were filled through contacts, did not impress the students - many of whom have been seeking jobs recently.

Alex Brooks from the BBSRC discussing skills with students

One student said he had taken a postdoc after his PhD because he could not find an industry opportunity. Many students said they had applied for opportunities advertised in New Scientist and had not heard back from the companies involved at all. Another said they had former colleagues that having failed to find a job in bioscience had instead taken accounting and banking jobs and thus essential skills and training are lost to the sector. This definitely contradicts the industry view that finance jobs are pulling people away from bioscience and suggests that the sector’s failure to communicate is pushing candidates away from the sector.

The students also criticised the lack of job advertising by the sector – described by one as ridiculous for a sector that claims to not have enough candidates. The students said that they mainly found out about job opportunities through New Scientist, and infrequently through department notice-boards. There was a strong feeling that the bioprocessing sector needs to do considerably more to let potential candidates know about opportunities. Suggestions included: better dissemination to relevant university departments and informing university careers centres.

As many jobs are only available through contacts, the students suggested that unless industry wanted to be seen as an “old boys club” like academia it should do more to reach out to potential candidates through events such as these workshops and through greater interaction with bioscience departments across the country.

The students welcomed bioProcessUK’s announcement that it would soon be launching a careers portal, but given the current record of companies in the sector wondered whether companies in the sector would bother to use it.

Two questions that remained unanswered at the end of the day, and which could be the focus of future Careers Opportunity Workshops are: what skills does a specific job require? And, what subject is best to study as a PhD to prepare for a career in industry?

There was also a suggestion that bioProcessUK needs to disseminate information about its workshops and annual conference more widely.

The next bioProcessUK Career Opportunity Workshop will be held in London in June. To register your interest in attending please contact Meng Xu.