Small Biotech vs Big Pharma

[samman1994]

Hello everyone,

So I've come across a potential dilemma, that I was hoping to get some feedback on. 

I have a 3 potential offers that may be lining up soon, and just recently obtained the details regarding the jobs themselves (in regards to benefits, wage, etc.). Initially, I had already decided just on interest which job I wanted, but now with this information, it has caused me to question my decision a little bit (note: no official decisions have been made yet). 

So I have a potential job offer from a big pharma company, and a small biotech company. One is 50 employees, another is over 500.

The small start up offered me around 40k/yr, with  benefits in the future. From reading online, and just from discussions, there is not too much room to grow however within it. It appears most people become somewhat stagnant in the job, with some raises here and there, but nothing big for the most part. I like it because it is an R&D position, and I very much enjoy the research this company does, and it is very similar to what I was previously doing, what I want to do, and a bit of what I will be doing in my future PhD program (it is a protein formulation company, I'm looking to go into structural biology). I will also get the opportunity to work with a wide array of assays and instruments. This may or may not be great (being a jack of all trades means more work, but more experience too). It is also a company that does services, so every months project will be different. This means experience with different projects, and having to approach different problems with different techniques. 

The big pharma company is offering me 45k/hr with benefits, but also stocks of their company as well. This is manufacturing position, dealing with making specific T-Cell lines from human blood/tissue samples. It appears to be primarily just following protocol for the most part, not too much innovation. There does appear to be quite a bit of room for growth in the manufacturing sector itself however, with the potential to transfer over to the R&D sector of the company as well (which does sound very interesting). This is a little bit outside of my field, but will slightly relate to my future career/PhD program as well (I will gain great experience in expression with mammilian cells and Tcells from this, which will be important for structural biology). This is more of a focused job. I'll probably be doing the same thing over and over again for my remainder here (primarily just focusing on T-cell protein expression), using the same instrumentation over and over again. 

There is of course a huge cultural/financial difference as well, but that is a whole other topic. The most important part is however, I only plan to work here for less than a year before I start my PhD. I have the potential to delay my PhD by a year, if the job is really good and I see real potential for growth. Due to the time however, room for growth isn't my biggest factor (I could theoretically come back after my PhD to the same company). Initially, I was going to straight up pick the protein formulation job just because it sounded so cool, and was an R&D position (everything I was looking for basically). But the big pharma opportunity for room for growth, big name boosting my resume for after my PhD program, and the extra salary and stock bonuses make the big pharma position sound very interesting. 

I wanted to hopefully have your opinion on what you guys think is the best choice of action? Are stocks for big pharma companies overrated? Is the extra 5k salary and resume booster not worth getting a job you won't be super happy with? 

One final factor, that may or may not be important. My commute for these 2 jobs is immensly different. The small start up will be around a 30 minute drive (so 1 hour a day). The big pharma company will be a 1-2 hours drive a day (so 2-4 hours a day of driving). But again, for me, salary, opportunity, interest, and resume building is the main priority in the job I choose. 

Thank you ahead of time as always!

Edited October 25, 2017 by samman1994

[Sigaba]

31 minutes ago, samman1994 said:

But again, for me, salary, opportunity, interest, and resume building is the main priority in the job I choose. 

Go with the "big pharma" job. I've worked in a now defunct R&D lab that was essentially a start up for a multinational consumer and business electronics firm. 

Your focus on your own goals above all else will wear thin very fast, especially with a team that small. (And if that firm is led by true believers...)

IRT your commute, is the true cost the time of your drive or the distance you drive http://newsroom.aaa.com/auto/your-driving-costs/ and the hidden costs of parking? (If you get to park for free, the cost to park is coming out of your paycheck.)

[TakeruK]

Based on what you say your priorities are and the fact that you're just looking for some source of income / resume building while you wait for grad school, I'd also say to go with the Big Pharma (BP) job over the small biotech (SB). For each of your priorities:

Salary: It sounds like BP wins in this category, however, I'd say 5k/year for less than a year isn't a big difference. To me, the valuable part is the benefits (in particular: health insurance and retirement) and the stock. It would depend on what these are, but either way, the compensation for BP is equal to or better than SB. I would say that the commute is an important factor though, as that will cost you money and time. Are you able to move closer to work if you get the job?

Opportunity: I think both offers would have similar benefits. SB will give you the chance to learn a lot of different skills. BP, being in line with your future research interest, might provide a post-PhD opportunity for you. Since this is a <1 year job, I'd say go with BP because grad school will also give you a chance to learn lots of skills. If you decide against going to grad school later, for whatever reason, you can always move onto a different job if BP doesn't provide what you need.

Interest: This is subjective and it sounds like SB is more interesting to you than BP. Nothing really for me to say here though.

Resume building: Thinking about post-PhD positions, your main credential will be your PhD, not whatever you did for a year before your PhD. So I think the exact nature of your work for this year won't matter as much (i.e. it won't matter too much that the BP job will provide less skills training). But having the BP name can help you get other similar jobs. In this category, I'd say the better resume-building position is the one most similar to your potential non-academic job interests beyond your PhD. That is, if you want to work for places like SB after graduation, then maybe SB is a better resume builder. Note that in my opinion, grad school will provide experiences more like SB than BP, so if you want to work at SB-like places after PhD, you can probably use your grad school experience to show that you'll fit into the SB-like culture, no need to have been at SB before grad school.

Finally, one last thing: in grad school, there will be fun/great times and there will be sucky times where you'll think---wow, I could be doing something else in industry and while I may still not like it, at least I'll make better money / have good benefits / etc. But it's also easy to have the "grass is greener on the other side" mentality. I think having experience in something like a BP company can help dispel that. Either you will really like it and it will help guide your goals in grad school. Or, if you find out that you actually don't like working at BP at all, it will dispel the "greener grass" myth and help motivate you when grad school gets tough.

[samman1994]

Thank you for the reply guys! So to help answer some questions:

1) It would be financially a disaster to  move. Almost all places require a 12 month lease (I'd only be there for maybe a little more than half that), and right now, I pay 1500 for a 1 bed, over there it would probably be somewhere around 18-23k for a one bed. So there would be no way for me to move closer to either job. 

2) They both have important contributions to my future PhD and post-PhD program/career The SB more so than the BP. The SB overall will probably be more along the lines of what I would like to do after my PhD, the BP would be something more along the lines of what I could do for some quick cash. The main difference is though, the SB is R&D, which is what I want to do after PhD, the BP is manufacturing, which I have zero desire to do after PhD (my entire reason for a PhD is so I can go into R&D). So it very well could be the R&D of BP will be closely related to my PhD, but that will not be what I will be working in, and thus the skills I gain will not be R&D skills, but almost purely instrumental/technique. Whereas the SB, will provide all that plus R&D experience. In a way, you are correct, the SB will be very similar to my PhD experience. So just in regards to experience, both jobs I think will provide opportunities for work after my PhD. 

3) Interest is purely because 1) I want a career in proteins and drug formulation and 2) I want R&D. SB is both of those. BP is a manufacturing position dealing with human samples and cells. BP is also usually just doing the same thing over and over again. I think the work the company does is really cool, but just being a cog in the machine instead of the engineer of the machine doesn't interest me all that much (again, this is why I'm pursuing a PhD, exactly to avoid falling into this manufacturing redundent worker position) 

4) This is sorta a hard one to speculate. On one hand, I do think the R&D of BP is cool, but I don't exactly know what it entails because I won't be in it. In another hand, the SB position isn't "exactly" what I want to do either. I think it has interesting research, and is a good start, but I think its vision is a little too small for my tastes. The SB is more of a contract service, solubilizing and assisting in the drug development process for drugs already in the clinical trail stages to help it get passed along quicker. Cool and all, but I want to be the one actually desiegning the drug itself. In those regards, I'd imagine my eventual career would probably be in BP. From my understanding, SB usually focus on a one small thing, develop it, then goodbye everyone (unless its a service like this one). BP develops multiple different drugs repeatedly, which is sorta what I'd like. Other than that though, you are correct, in regards to the time I'll be working, the experience won't be as important as the big name behind it probably. 

5) As much as grad school may suck, I don't think I'll ever have that ideal again. I've been looking at the job industry now for 3 months continuously. With my degree, there is absolutely no way I can get my dream job. All the jobs I could get now, are at best former shadows of what I truly want. My dream career is to be a head scientist developing some drug to cure something. However, it would be working with protein therapeutics, or small molecules targeting proteins.  I have no desire to ever work in manufacturing or QC, only in R&D. 

I've had a job (my undergrad research), that I loved. I've seen the lows of research, and its highs. I've felt what its like to have a job you love, and I don't think I can go back. Yes, I may be a bit naive since I haven't fully gotten a job in the industry yet, and my perspective may change, but I don't think I could ever have a job that I wasn't fully invested in or didn't fully love. Hence, why I don't really want manufacturing or QC. I think if I were to make a top 3 list of the most important factors to a happy and successful life, having a job you love would be in it. I don't think I'd ever truly be satisfied or happy without getting my PhD (in regards to job opportunities for BS vs PhD). The grass is green on the other side with a BS in my field, but it's not green enough for me (from what I've seen). 

My biggest question still stands however, the prospect of happiness or the better offer? At this point it seems evident that BP is the better choice outside of interest. High salary and big name will help after my PhD. However, to me, it does sound kinda boring. Theoretically, the SB could be all hype with nothing to show for, and the BP could turn out to be super cool. So for now, its just the ideal prospect of happiness, but BP overall appears to be a better deal for me in the long run. At the end of the day, I'll only be miserable for less than a year, so its not too bad if the job ends up sucking. Thanks again!