How to Get a Job After a Biology Degree in Canada
Choosing to major in biology during undergrad opens you up to a world full of interesting science and discovery. Biology is one of the most popular choices for a STEM degree, as the focus of your degree can vary so widely, from molecular biology to plant sciences, there is no shortage of interesting topics to explore and valuable skills to gain.
But now that you are done school and are in the real world you may be asking yourself "how do I get a job with all of this knowledge I just gained?"
That is where this article comes in to help. This article will go over what jobs you can get with a biology degree, what skills are important to highlight to employers on your resume, how to gain experience before graduation, where to find jobs, and how to stand out when applying.
What Jobs Can You Get With a Biology Degree?
During your degree you learned many fundamental and advanced topics in biology. Below are a few common routes people take based off of their interests. This part of the article can serve as a jumping off point for further research into these specific job functions. A great litmus test is to read and learn more about the day to day responsibilities and activities that each of these streams are involved in.
Research and Development
Common R&D Job Titles: Lab Technician, Associate Scientist, Research Associate, Lab Technologist
Scientists who work in the research and development arm of a pharmaceutical company are often involved in aiding with the discovery of novel pharmaceuticals to treat diseases. These scientists do the deep work associated with discovering and validating new drugs before they go to trial.
If you are someone who loves being on the frontier of science, who loves conducting experiments and working with many different teams and disciplines, being an R&D scientist at a pharma company could be for you.
Regulatory Affairs and Quality
Common Regulatory Affairs Job Titles: Regulatory Affairs Associate, Quality Assurance Associate
Scientists who work in regulatory affairs or in quality assurance are often those who work with governing bodies or agencies that your pharma product has to get approved by. Your role here is to make sure that the products that you are delivering abide by and meet the standards set by the government to protect consumers.
If you are a detail oriented person who likes to work through complex processes often with external people, this position could be for you.
Manufacturing and Production
Common Manufacturing and Production Job Titles: Bioprocess Associate, Manufacturing Associate, Production Supervisor
Want to be the person who actually mass produces life saving medicines? Manufacturing and production roles could be of interest for you then. These roles are filled by scientists who control the processes for making the drugs that R&D develops.
If you are someone who likes to work through complex physical problems and who likes to be precise, then working in manufacturing is for you as the health of patients around the world relies on your management of your product line. Remember there can't simply be a "bad batch" of life saving medicine, don't let that stress you out though.
Sales and Marketing
Common Sales and Marketing Job Titles: Pharmaceutical Sales Representative, Marketing Associate
Scientists who work in sales and marketing are the ones that help get products into patients' hands. They work with physicians and hospital groups to keep them informed on the latest developments with your company. These positions often involve travel and a willingness to put yourself out there to meet new people.
If you are someone who loves communicating cool science rather than being on the bench, then this could be a role for you.
Building the Skills to Get These Positions
Now that you have an understanding of the broad categories of job positions you can get with your biology degree in the pharmaceutical industry, let's talk about how to build up skills to make you an even better candidate.
In this competitive pharma job market it is often not enough to come in with your degree. You often need lab skills to back up your technical knowledge. We're going to break this down into three sections, soft skills, technical skills, and certifications or courses.
Soft Skills
Collaboration: Being able to work well in teams is going to be critical in the pharmaceutical industry. Depending on your role you will have to work across or in parallel with other research teams and departments towards complex project goals. So being able to work well and communicate well in a team is critical for your success in the pharmaceutical industry.
Critical Thinking: The problems you are going to be solving in the Canadian pharmaceutical industry are complex and multi-faceted. Being able to critically think is going to be your pathway to success. Within your ability to critically think you will have to make important decisions quickly and under pressure.
Resilience: Throughout your career you are going to have setbacks and hard times. Especially due to the cyclical nature of the pharmaceutical industry. Being resilient is a good trait to have and develop as you will not be as bothered or weighed down by setbacks, short timelines and the high pressures that are associated with working in this industry.
Technical Skills
Laboratory Techniques: Having a good grasp on specific lab techniques related to your specialty is going to be critical for working in the pharmaceutical industry. This really applies when you are in the research and development department at your company as that is where all of the bench work takes place. Being good at these skills will set you above the rest in your field, especially if the lab techniques you learn are difficult or highly sought after.
Regulatory Knowledge: The pharmaceutical industry is heavily regulated due to its products having a direct impact on the health of patients. Knowing the regulatory environment of Canada's pharma industry is going to be key to success, especially if you are planning to work in regulatory affairs. This skill will involve a lot of reading but once you know how these systems work, there is no taking away that knowledge from you.
Data Analysis: Understanding and applying data analysis is another great technical skill to bring to the table for many of the sub fields of the Canadian pharmaceutical industry. In R&D you will be working with massive data sets from the research you will be doing on different compounds or biologicals, or if you are further downstream working in clinical trials, you will have to make sense of the patient data collected from those who are testing out your drug. With the rise of AI and machine learning, understanding and applying data analytics is a huge key to success in the pharmaceutical industry.
Certifications and Courses
When considering working in the Canadian pharmaceutical industry there are a couple of courses and certifications that can help you show your competence to potential employers.
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP): Courses in GMP cover the quality systems and compliance with Health Canada. This is great content to understand for those working in manufacturing, quality assurance, or regulatory affairs.
Regulatory Affairs: There are some courses out there that can brush you up on managing relations and preparing submissions to Health Canada. For those working in regulatory affairs for the first time, these courses will provide practical knowledge for your first position.
Technical Writing or Science Communication: Writing well will take you far in life even outside of the pharmaceutical industry. Knowing how to present and communicate complex scientific ideas and intellectual property is a critical skill to have and can even open doors to specific careers in scientific writing.
How To Get Experience Before Or After Graduation
Having some level of experience in the lab or in specific workflows can give you a serious leg up over your peers when it comes to landing that first pharma job.
If you are reading this before you graduate, this will be much easier as being on campus will present you with many opportunities to gain some skills. When it comes to gaining some bench experience or lab management experience, being an undergrad research assistant is a great way to gain some practical experience without having to leave your university campus.
These positions are easy to find, as many of the faculty in the biology department will have a lab website that will take undergrad submissions. This work will be free but you will gain a wealth of experience to jump start your career.
For those that want to get experience over their summer months, internships can be a great way to gain experience and get paid. While these positions are often competitive they are some of the best ways to gain critical experience and make connections.
You can check out our internship listings here on our site.
Where To Find Job Postings
If you are already on the hunt for a job, you don't have to look much further than our own website. There is a reason it is called Biotech Jobs Canada.
We post fresh positions from every biotech, pharma, and medical device company in Canada. There is bound to be a job for you on our site so head on over to our career page to check us out. It's totally free to use.
How to Stand Out When Applying
The job market is competitive in the Canadian pharma industry. You will need to have a strategy in applying to get the highest ROI and number of interviews.
While it is tempting to spam out as many resumes as you can at as many companies as you can find, it is more important to be selective and only apply to positions you are reasonably qualified for or truly want.
Key Rules to Increase Your Success
1. Don't apply to anything older than a week. Applying to fresh jobs guarantees that your resume is at the top of the pile. There are many stale job posts out there that aren't looked at. You can use our site to filter posts by most recent, and we even delete posts older than 30 days to keep things fresh and relevant.
2. Make sure your resume is ATS friendly. ATS software is widely used, and understanding how it reads your resume is key to getting your resume read by a human. We have a whole guide on this that you can read here.
3. Write your resume well. In addition to having your resume be ATS friendly, we recommend that you are intentional with what you include. Try to keep your resume as relevant as possible for the positions you apply for. The reader should be able to understand within 10 seconds what your experience is and why you should get an interview. Be explicit with the skills and outcomes you have achieved in your past experiences, don't make anyone guess.
4. Connect with people on LinkedIn. This can be a nice touch especially if you do some extra outreach to the hiring manager. Remember that when you are applying to a job you are a salesman for yourself, so put yourself out there because many others won’t.
Conclusion
Hopefully this post gave you enough insight into what it takes to land a pharma job with your biology degree. Getting your first professional position is an incredibly exciting experience and I hope that this post can have some positive influence on finding the job of your dreams.
Keep your head up, don't get discouraged, and show the world how great you are.