Considered a Career in Product Management? Perhaps You Should…

I spoke with Iris about her transition from academia to product development, her current role and what she thinks ultimately helped her land a job in industry. She’s got some awesome perspectives on this last point, so enjoy…

What was your motivation to leave academia? 

I did a molecular biology PhD, specifically focused on the role of miRNAs in cervical cancer, both in terms of their potential to drive carcinogenesis, but also as possible markers in cervical screening. 

My doctoral training therefore had translational elements to it, even though the lab work was heavily molecular biology-focused.

Although I enjoyed lab work, I knew from an early stage that an academic career wasn’t right for me. 

The competition in academia was fierce and I started to grow tired of that culture. I was keen to find something else that provided more job security, and would not be dependent on me applying for grants every few years to sustain my income. 

Furthermore, I observed the work that my PhD supervisor was doing on a day-to-day basis, and knew that a principle investigator role wouldn’t be right for me. 

I wasn’t averse to taking a postdoc position or two, because I enjoyed running my own research projects, but when the opportunity arose to take a step into industry, I decided to go down that road instead. The increased stability it could provide and the fact that I didn’t want a faculty-level job, meant that in the long-run, postdoc positions were not the best choice for my career aspirations. 

How did you transition into product development?

A few years ago, whilst I was still doing my PhD, I attended a BCF career event in the Netherlands. BCF are an online career platform for life science professionals, who organise annual events in The Netherlands and Belgium. 

At this event I learnt about a number of companies and the types of jobs I might consider. Roles like data scientist, R&D specialist, and industrial postdoc, were all things I thought about. 

Around the same time, I also began a little introspective work. Asking myself things like, what do I like doing, what don’t I like, and why? From this I knew, that although I work well on my own, I enjoy working in a team and solving problems through interacting with others, so this shaped much of the job opportunities I went on to explore. 

During this time, I also researched more about potential employers in my local area because I wanted to stay in Amsterdam, and I started to build up a portfolio of companies I was particularly interested in. 

This included MRC Holland, which has a reputation for having a great work culture. The company is a university spin-off from the 1980s and now employs around 100 people. It maintains its original science-focused culture, which was particularly appealing. Also, it’s in a great location in the city (which happened to be an added bonus for me). 

So when a vacancy came up there in product development/management, I went for it. Unfortunately, after having been invited for an interview, I didn’t get the job. But when a similar position came up a few months later, I’d already made contacts at MRC Holland and had gained important application experience. 

I applied a second time and this time got the job, which was thrilling. At the time I had written and almost submitted my thesis, so I was pretty much finished with my PhD when I started, although I still had to do my defence. 

How does working in product development differ from working in academia? 

My current role involves a lot of research, which is not totally dissimilar to the work I was doing in academia. 

To clarify, I’m not doing lab-based research anymore, running experiments in the academic sense. My work now is all about developing new products or improving existing ones, so research entails literature research (how is this product used, do customers encounter any problems), finding out why something isn’t working/gives problems and fixing it. 

Even though I’m not at the bench anymore, I still use much of the expertise I gained in molecular biology during my PhD, in the work that I do now. 

I still work on my own most of the time (as I did as a PhD student), but I also interact a lot with others from different departments who can help with specific projects, more so than I ever did in academia. I really enjoy having my own responsibilities within this team effort approach. 

My work is focused on product management, where I review products in the context of our customers who use them, and address technical issues as needed.

For diagnostic products, the projects I’ve been working on involve obtaining and maintaining CE certifications (a mark of health, safety, and environmental protection standards within the European Economic Area). This is very different to the work I was doing as an academic researcher. 

All the training I get is on the job. There are a lot of processes and procedures I need to learn about, which I pick up as I go along. In industry, you need to follow these protocols and there is limited flexibility around this. This is distinct to academic research, where everything is less ‘controlled’ by external stakeholders and everyone is doing their own thing. 

Project planning is more rigorous too. We plan projects at the beginning of the project, throughout, and at the end. The company has large departmental planning meetings too and personal goals of each employee are discussed at the beginning, mid-term and end of year, to ensure milestones have been met, and all projects are on track. 

Similar to academia, I have a manager who, like my academic supervisor, makes themselves readily available to talk to if I’m facing challenges on a particular project. Next to that, my direct colleagues are also very knowledgeable and always willing to help. 

It’s a bit early to talk about career planning in too much detail with my supervisor, as I’ve not been in post for a full year yet. But the narrative about what I would like to do and how I see my progress in the future, is something I feel I can talk openly about and will have a chance to do in a more official capacity at the end of the year. 

What advice do you have for research trained scientists who are looking to secure their first job in industry? 

I learnt a lot during the application process for industry jobs. Essentially, I learnt how to play the game to eventually win, but it took trial and error on my part. At times it was tough, but in the end, I came out stronger and more confident. 

So, I learnt through my errors. Some of which seemed very small things at the time that I didn’t consider relevant, but when I addressed these issues, it really seemed to help. 

For example, I started mentioning that I analysed data by writing my own codes and this often attracted attention, even if the position had nothing to do with data analysis or bioinformatics. It demonstrated a set of important strengths, things like problem solving, analytical thinking, and communication with computer scientists etc. It’s important to realize that your skills might be translated into other skills too. 

Also, the academic lab I worked in used an electronic lab book system and was managed according to LEAN principles (a project management system that encourages continued improvement and respect). Although I considered these somewhat basic details, they resonated with commercial sector employers.

Name dropping also helped. If I knew someone who works or worked at that company I tried to find a way to mention it, even if I don’t have a direct contact to that person. But somehow it seemed to create common ground. I don’t think it necessarily has to be a person, it could also be a conference, a technique, or whatever.  

Moreover, I learnt to turn my perceived weaknesses into strengths. For example, I have a broad educational background (BSc in Integrated Life Science – biology combined with physics and maths), MSc in Forensic Science, and a PhD from an oncology research lab. I was very self-conscious about this diverse training, and always had the feeling that I had to justify it in the academic community. During the job searching process, however, I turned it into a strength. I used it to demonstrate that I could pick up new things easily and can communicate with all kinds of specialists. 

I didn’t have an (industry-based) mentor, but in hindsight I see how this could have helped. Looking back, I didn’t feel as if I had the time (or indeed the need) for this. But I don’t think that was a good choice, and I probably should have made more effort to seek out a mentor at the time. 

Since working at MRC Holland, I’ve now had the opportunity to see the hiring process from the other side, and I’ve spotted common mistakes made by prospective applicants. 

The first is in cover letters. Many lack a concrete motivation for why they’re applying a specific role, and how it fits to what they would like to do. It’s incredibly important to get your motivations and positive attitude across in applications. 

Long CVs are a problem too. Anything more than two pages it too long. In product development positions for example, the only publications you should include are those that are directly relevant to the products/technique you’ll be working on. Otherwise there’s no need to include them. 

More important things to highlight, include techniques used (if relevant to the role you’re applying for), your knowledge background (again if relevant), your project management skills including other things you’ve managed (e.g. organising a symposia), and any industry experience you might have. 

Before you write your application, it’s important to reach out to others who have a similar role to the one you’re considering applying for – through an informational interview. They will help you know what the job is all about and provide some insider knowledge. 

In my current role, I’ve actually seen candidates turned down who might have been very suitable, but because we had the feeling that they were actually looking for something else (but didn’t know themselves) they weren’t hired. It’s therefore critical to understand what the jobs you’re applying for actually fully involve, and to communicate this awareness in your applications. 

Lastly, it’s important to get an idea of what you want to do as early as you can. Spend some time investigating and thinking about your future, it could be some of the most important time you invest during your PhD! 

Brilliant advice from Iris on what she learnt during the academic-to-industry transition process. Some truly invaluable insights into some of the pitfalls to avoid when preparing applications. If you’re interested in product development/project management as a career, pop any queries you may have in the comments below.

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