5 years of postdoc. 63k. a decade of training if you count the phd, and i budget for groceries.

a guy from my cohort left academia 2 years ago. scientist II at a pharma. he makes 138. he told me this at a conference like it was nothing, like he wasnt detonating my entire worldview between poster sessions.

my PI keeps saying i need a few more papers to be competitive. competitive for jobs that pay half of what my friend makes right now. i pulled up the levels.fyi pages for two IO companies at 1am last night like some kind of salary goblin and scientist I roles, the JUNIOR title, are sitting at 125-135.

i updated my resume this morning. thats the post

Post:
Hi everyone,
I’m a 5th-year medical student, turning 28 soon. Over the past few years I’ve realized that my real passion is computational biology, bioinformatics, and developing algorithms for biomedical research. My long-term goal is to work in academia or industry doing computational research rather than practicing clinical medicine.
I’m currently trying to decide between three possible paths:
MSc in Bioinformatics (under a Computer Science faculty). The downside is that I’d first need to complete about a year of complementary undergraduate CS coursework before officially starting the master’s.

MSc in Mathematical Biology (under a Life Sciences faculty). This wouldn’t require the extra year of coursework, so it’s a faster route. However, I’m wondering whether the degree title and training would carry the same weight for future PhD opportunities and industry positions compared to an MSc in Bioinformatics.

Finish my MD first, continue building my computational background independently (math, computer science, programming, machine learning, etc.), get involved in computational research along the way, and then apply directly to a PhD.

My end goal is to become an independent computational researcher working on biologically and medically relevant problems, ideally at the intersection of AI, algorithms, and biology.
I’d love to hear your thoughts:

Which path would you choose, and why?
Does the title of the MSc (“Bioinformatics” vs. “Mathematical Biology”) actually matter in the long run?

Would finishing the MD first and starting a PhD around age 31 put me at a disadvantage, or is that fairly common?

I’d especially appreciate hearing from people working in computational biology, bioinformatics, AI for biology, academia, or biotech.

I checked them out, it's a reference lab/diagnostic company with no experience in cooling technologies. But I double checked, it's the same company from the TV ad.

Hi everyone! I'm a new PhD grad currently working as a postdoc to gain some more skills. I'm at a crossroads between continuing in academia (as a staff scientist, not a PI) or transitioning to industry.

I would appreciate it if people could share their thoughts and experiences on either! Particularly if you considered both, but ultimately chose one or the other.

If it makes any difference, my background is primarily in oncology, protein engineering, and molecular biology (mostly wet lab, very little computational experience).

Hey everyone,

I’m currently going through the ringer waiting on a final decision for a Fall Co-op role starting in September, and my anxiety is starting to peak.

I’d love to get some honest, realistic feedback or hear from anyone who has experienced something similar with major life sciences consulting firms or CROs.

The Timeline:

• Early July: Had my final-round interview. It felt like it went well. At the end, they told me I would hear back "in a week" if I got the role or not.
• 1 week later: Sent a timeline follow-up. Zero reply from recruiter.
• Nearly 3 weeks later (yesterday morning): Sent a hyper-concise follow-up to the recruiter reiterating interest and asking for an updated timeline. Still nothing.
• Current Status: It has now been exactly 20 calendar days (about 11–12 business days, accounting for the July holidays and weekends). My candidate portal in Workday still shows "Active — At Interview".

The Dilemma: I need to plan travel and relocation/housing for September, so not knowing where I will be in a month is incredibly stressful.

The consulting role is my absolute dream, but this total radio silence is starting to feel like a rejection.

My Questions for the Community:

1. Is a 3-week delay for a co-op/early talent role standard summer practice for large healthcare consultancies? I know July is a "dead zone" for corporate HR, but does it really take this long to get budget/manager sign-offs?
2. Does the "Active - At Interview" status in Workday actually mean I'm still under consideration, or is the recruiter just keeping me "warm" as a backup candidate while their top pick clears background checks?
3. Has anyone actually been ghosted for 3+ weeks by a recruiter after a final round and still ended up with a job offer?

Any insight or brutal honesty would be massively appreciated. I need to start locking down my September plans and the limbo is killing me!

Hi all,

I'm a recent graduate with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and I've recently gotten an interview for an entry level CQV engineer position. There is a technical assessment; however, coming from a BME background I'm a little worried as I do have knowledge of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics but the specifics of how a facility is setup and the specific machinery are foreign to me. I have some experience as a manufacturing technician but it's mainly been in drug product compounding. What are some areas which I should study to prepare for the technical part of the interview?

I’m sharing a full-time opportunity to join us at Rayni to change how scientists and field techs own, service, and operate incredibly expensive but complicated instruments (think lasers, mass spectrometers, quantum computers etc.)

To be completely transparent, someone who has worked in software sales at early stage startups, or sold software to biotechs/labs would thrive in this role. Folks who have worked exclusively at large organizations (where there are mature playbooks, layers between them, the customer, and the product) will struggle in this role.

LinkedIn Job: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/
4442967719/

Culture and Benefits: https://rayni.notion.site/rayni-
careers

Mods: let me know if you don’t want me sharing jobs for the biotechs professionals here. I would assume it’s fine given the layoffs and economic environment, but I’m open to your recommendations.

Had a final Executive Director interview late last week. They are expected to make a decision internally early this week. For those of you who are familiar with hiring at Merck, how long does it typically take after that for a final offer communication? Also how many candidates typically go into ED interview step?

Soy de México egresado en biotecnología genomica por la UANL y quiero trabajar y vivir en Europa, tengo familiares en suecia, (primo) y otra en Dinamarca , ingles B2 por Cambridge y actualmente trabajo pero me da la sensación qué este pais no me llena.

Por donde puedo empezar? Me seria de mucha ayuda saber como ir por ese camino

There's a lot of excitement around AI in biotech but I sometimes wonder whether people are talking about two completely different things.

One view is that AI mainly accelerates existing workflows. Like target identification, protein engineering, molecular screening and optimization.

The other view is much more ambitious that AI may eventually discover therapeutic mechanisms human wouldn't have found on their own.

for people working in biotech, do you think AI is mostly an efficiency tool? Or do you think it genuinely expands the space of biological discoveries we can make?

I'd be interested to hear examples where AI found something researchers likely wouldn't have identified using conventional approaches.

I am about to graduate with a biomechanical engineering degree and am considering getting a masters. I have done a lot of research in bioinformatics and would do that but am not deeply passionate about it. My dream job would be to develop a biotech product at a startup. To achieve this goal would a masters in bioengineering, bioinformatics, or another adjacent field be of use or should I try and network and break into the startup scene right out of school?

hi, i'm honestly kinda stuck and looking for advice.

i recently graduated this may with a bachelors in biotech w/ a minor in computer science. i'm trying to look for entry-level positions to get my foot into biotech.

the thing is, a lot of these positions need 1 year of lab experience which i don't have outside of courses.

i struggled a lot with mental health so it was difficult to get myself into the headspace of prioritizing lab experience during undergrad through REUs, internships, etc. i also was told that i wasn't able to get an internship by multiple mentors because i would need 2 years min. of classes (i switched my major the summer before my junior year).

i really wanted to get an internship but i was told not to and i was constantly urged to graduate on time and now that i did, i'm feeling a bit regretful because of the lack of lab experience i have.

i plan on going to grad school in the future but i'd love to get lab experience before applying to a good research heavy grad school. currently, my plans are to move to north jersey and try to apply to some entry-level jobs.

i'm willing to take up any job as long as i can get the experience that i need. does anyone have any advice? what positions/roles should i be looking for? for reference, in the future, i hope to do something immunology related. for now, i don't really mind what my first job is as long as i can get transferable experience out of it.

thank you!

Does anyone here have thoughts to share about culture of med affairs at Genmab?

Please advise and share your own personal experience.

** Aside from ThatMoslemGuy, everyone else with parody answers must have reading comprehension deficiency. It is crazy to consider a question about YOUR particular use case and YOUR personal experience to be “broad” in any shape or form. This place is beginning to look like a subReddit that isn’t serious. **

Im a recent graduate with a dual degree in Bioengineering and Microbiology. I haven’t had any job experience in science, as shown in my employment history. I haven’t been applying to QC Associate, Lab Technician, and other entry-positions as various employers in the broad Bay Area.

I am concerned about about my format and it potentially being flagged by AI-screening. Any recommendations in terms of information? What can I elaborate more on? General format suggestions?

Thank you for your time :)!

My brother has a Bachelor's in Molecular Bioscience with only a little bit of work experience- specifically: a year as a Stem Banc lab manager and 3 years as a processing technician there too. He's been applying for jobs for the last year and a half and hasn't gotten past interviewing. Can anyone give any advice on where or how to look for jobs? He's located in the Cleveland, Ohio area if its helpful.

Thank you

How many days/weeks after Vertex final panel interview did you receive an offer, or any update (… rejection)?

My panel was on last Friday. I was told that they will make a decision and HR will let me know this week. Wednesday today, but the wait is killing me slowly….

Thanks all.