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The life science industry focuses on studying living organisms and their interactions with each other and their environments. This industry plays a crucial role in advancing healthcare and biotechnology. Here’s an overview of the life science industry along with the types of career paths you can have in it!
Biotechnology involves using biological systems, organisms, or derivatives to develop products and technologies for various applications. Biotech companies tend to be smaller, and working on new and innovative science! This sector is great for life science majors as well as data science and computer science majors. Career paths in biotechnology include:
The pharmaceutical industry focuses on developing and manufacturing drugs and medications for treating diseases and improving healthcare. These are big companies with names you may have heard of, like Pfizer, Biogen and Bristol Myers Squibb. Pharmaceutical companies employ college graduates with almost every kind of major – life sciences, statistics, IT, public health, business and marketing, amongst others. Career paths in pharmaceuticals include:
This sector involves designing, manufacturing, and marketing medical devices and equipment used in healthcare settings. Medical devices are things like complex programmable pacemakers, deep brain stimulators and vitro diagnostic products, such as reagents, test kits, and blood glucose meters. This is a great career path for engineers, science majors as well as those with other quantitative majors. Career paths in medical devices include:
The Life Science Industry is made up of businesses focused on beginning life saving medicines and medical devices to patients. There are many industry professionals working on the business side of the industry, helping scientists to bring the advances made in the lab, to patients in hospitals and at home.
Business Development can be a rewarding career path for business majors or even for science majors. You will be responsible for bringing in new clients, creating stronger relationships with existing ones, and outlining strategic opportunities that help your company to grow.
In the marketing department, you will be tasked with promoting the products, services and technologies of your company. You would be increasing awareness of and facilitating access to the new healthcare solutions that your company makes.
These professionals help companies share information to internal and external audiences. They are a critical part of the company’s brand and the awareness of all the initiatives the company is spearheading.
In this career path, you will be tasked with listening to patients, families and care partners to understand their needs and concerns. This often helps to change the way we develop medicines, and to make pharmaceutical products more able to meet real patient needs.
These professionals help to manage the resources, costs, and investments at the company, and ensure sustainable growth and profitability. This department usually employs finance professionals as well as accountant and many other quantitative majors.
Investors in life science start-ups are responsible for everything from extensive research to determine the validity of the science,, the company’s possible strategic advances and future products, and the risks involved if the product doesn’t work.
IT professionals help companies to create a solid IT foundation for operations, and are critical to efficient, secure information delivery. A reliable and secure IT infrastructure is important to companies creating new, innovative products and services for all of us.
Talent acquisition (HR) professionals work to identify and attract talented and qualified people for the company. This is one of the most important departments at a company, since talent is one of the life science industry’s most valuable resources, and is also one of the biggest drivers of business success.
As you can see, there are many career opportunities available for young people interested in science, healthcare, and technology. These careers require a combination of scientific knowledge, technical skills, and interdisciplinary collaboration to address complex challenges and drive innovation.
We need to grow the pipelines of talent entering the life science industry for several compelling reasons. This industry is poised for significant growth in the coming years, driven by advancements in technology and increased demand for healthcare solutions. This growth translates into a wealth of opportunities for aspiring young college graduates to make meaningful contributions and shape the future of healthcare, and biotechnology.
Moreover, the life science industry offers you competitive pay and benefits, making it an attractive career choice, and a rewarding and financially stable career path. Whether you’re passionate about developing life-saving drugs in the lab, about making sure healthcare and drug development is equitable or about taking on the business challenges in a fast growing field – the opportunities within the life science industry are limitless.
Project Onramp summer internships will help you explore one – or a few – of the career paths outlined above. In this exciting and fast changing field, there will be new career paths evolving all the time and it is impossible to capture the diversity of opportunities you will have. Exploring the industry in the summer can help you to unlock your own potential, contribute to groundbreaking discoveries, and positively impact global health. Most importantly, it will give you a network of new professional contacts (and possibly friends) you have worked with in the summer, and who can serve as guides as you navigate your own career journey!