How to transition from biology to market/equity research (in life sciences)?
Hey guys,
I'm hoping I can get some information on what kinds of jobs I could use as a launch point to enter the business (I'm specifically thinking market/equity research or M&A) arena from a biology background. I got my B.S (Biology). in 2016 and I have been working at a state university's medical school doing vaccine R&D for ~8 months. Prior to this, I was a lab tech at a small industry company; I was only there for about 4 months.
The reason that I'm thinking I want to switch to market research is that I really am passionate about the end goal of my work (bringing relief to disadvantaged populations), but the scope of my work is too narrow for my liking. From what I understand, in market/equity research, I would have the opportunity to use my science knowledge to contribute to valuations of biotech/pharma companies and their products to help determine if they would be worth investing in/acquiring (please correct me if I'm wrong). I think it would be really cool to work in M&A in the life science industry.
I applied for a position at another large medical school in my state that has a department called "technology ventures" and they seem to do exactly what I'm interested in pursuing. I just put in my app and contacted the hiring manager directly this past Friday so I'm still waiting on that, but assuming that this doesn't pan out I wanted to see if there were suggestions for other places/job titles that I can look for. I looked at Becton Dickinson, GSK, and Sanofi, but didn't really see anything that fit what I'm looking for. There were some "marketing associate" positions, but they seemed more like sales jobs.
Would sales be a good jumping off point? Or is that a totally different direction than what I described above? I don't know much about the business career paths... Also, I started taking undergrad business courses at my CC this semester to get my feet wet. I'm currently taking Accounting I and Macro-econ.
Anyway, if anyone could point me in the right direction I would really, really appreciate it.
Thanks!! JD
If doing a post graduate degree in finance or business isn't an option I would personally start in life science consulting. There are lots of boutiques (in the US and Europe) that focus solely on this space and their priority is hiring people with the science background. They then teach you (or you pick up) the business and finance skills. From that you can pivot to banking/finance but it will most likely still be in the medical science/healthcare space (so either boutiques such as Leerink or the Healthcare groups at BBs, EBs e.t.c).
Two examples of people I know who took this path:
Guy who worked at a life science consulting boutique with me. His path: MEDICAL SCIENCE PHD -> LIFE SCIENCE CONSULTING BOUTIQUE -> EQUITY RESEARCH AT CS
MD at a reputable European boutique I know. His path: PHD + RESEARCH -> CONSULTING -> MD IN THE CORPORATE FINANCE DIVISION OF THIS BOUTIQUE
Thank you for the suggestions. I'll definitely look into life science consulting. I was considering an MBA, but at this point I don't know if it will be worth it for me with the experience I have now. I have been told conflicting things about pre-MBA work experience so I'm still weighing my options.
MBA is a good idea but not at this stage. Get 3-4 years experience (as mentioned, ideally in consulting if you can't get straight into the finance), focus on finance based electives in your MBA then pivot to finance. There's honestly no rush. Finance will still love the healthcare/life science sector 5 years from now
One healthcare-specific bank I know has a specific ER internship for candidates completing an advanced life sciences degree...looks like they convert full time as well from what I've seen.
Which bank is this if you don't mind me asking?
Leerink
Hey - I'm currently doing my PhD in Psychiatry and working as an ER associate. You'd be surprised how courses like Health Technology Assessment can really bridge the finance/medicine gap. Send me a msg if you want to chat more.
Biology degree & some accounting experience. equity research?? (Originally Posted: 08/09/2017)
I graduated from University of Rochester with 3.68 GPA and planned on becoming a physical therapist upon graduating. I worked as a PT assistant for a year and took GRE so that I could get into graduate program for PT. I did my best on the test and got 332 but I was ultimately rejected from all the schools that I applied to. The rejections didn't hurt because I actually had no passion for it from the beginning. So after wasting some good money, time, and effort, I started to look at other professions that I might be interested in and soon landed a full time job at a small public accounting firm. There I learned a few things about paying taxes for small companies and also preparing balance sheet and other financial data. After working close to a year at the firm, I realized that I liked working with numbers and that this is something that I would like to do for a living. As I did some more exploring on the web related to accounting and business, I found this site and it finally led to make this post. I know that I'm at a terrible disadvantage in terms of competing with others to get a job in the finance market but I'm willing to almost give my life if I have to. So my question is, if I could have any chance at landing a job in equity research position at a biotech/ healthcare company, what would be the best plan of action for me now? Although I did some research on my own, I still don't know enough to make a sensible plan to follow. Should I take CFA exam while I build career doing more accounting work at the firm? Or maybe I should do something completely different (like looking for an internship position at the biotech/ healthcare company). I will obviously do some more research on my own but if you could give me any sort of feedback, it's tremendously appreciated!!!
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