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Strategy boutique? How do you feel the recognition of the firm (assuming it is somewhat small) will play out in your future plans?
Life sciences and pharma management consulting, which does only strategy, no operations work. In the space we are well known so it's not too much of a concern.
Hi...I'm working for a Big Pharma based in the Northeast ( one of Merck/J&J/BMS) in a Corp Fin role and I am 1 year out of college.
I am thinking of tying to get into a small sized Pharma consulting firm like yours in about a year (I will have had 2 years of experience by then.) The reasons I want to make this transition are:
Even though I like my work, it is mind numbingly boring sometimes.
I would like to earn a bit more than what I am making right now.
I want to create a better profile for B School apps.
Background: Graduated with top grades and ECs from an unknown school in the Northeast. I've done pretty well at work, and I have been staffed on several strategic projects for the company, albeit in a Finance (not Strategy) role.
What could I do to make this transition? (I was looking at IMS Health - I don't know if they count as a boutique or not)
Thank you,
When I think of IMS I think more of their reports and Rx level data than I do their consulting arm and I can't say I've run into them. For lateral hires people either have stellar resumes e.g. corp dev at an acquisitive company, corp strat, IB or have a referral. I'd reach out to people that are in boutiques as well as looking at the consulting arms of Big 4 firms, as they tend to be hiring aggressively. Be knowledgable and try and do sexy work, if you're at BMS try and work with immuno-onc, if you're at Merck then try and do work related to acquisitions. I'd also try and get a sense of who the players are in the boutique space, see who goes to BIO and who ponies up for ad space in Fierce Pharma.
What are your goals from here? What are common paths those from your level take after their time as an AC / BA is up?
I plan on making consultant then reevaluating. I enjoy what I'm doing and there is no real impetus to leave. For people that have left corp dev/strat are the big draws, with an outside shot at PE, IM or VC.
Thanks for taking the time to do this! What made you choose boutique as compared to a larger, generalist firm?
How much of your project is scanning the literature vs. interviewing providers/physicians vs. running your own analyses on client data?
How much are you traveling?
I chose a boutique for cultural reasons,mi had great fit and enjoyed the area. I've always liked pharma and couldn't imagine having to get staffed in some of the areas that generalist firms cover.
Looking at literature/client provided data takes up the bulk of my time, I do speak to KOLs frequently, but that's very project dependent.
The firm has a travel as needed model so not often surprisingly.
Who would you consider the top 3-5 life science boutique firms?
It's too area dependent to say.
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