If you're a doctor considering leaving clinical medicine, or simply wondering what else you could do with your medical degree, the pharmaceutical industry can feel surprisingly difficult to understand. You may have heard of Medical Affairs. Perhaps you've come across job titles such as Medical Advisor, Medical Science Liaison or Medical Director on LinkedIn. But what do these people actually do? What other roles are available? And, importantly, which pharma jobs specifically

If you're trying to get a job in the pharmaceutical industry, one of the first things to understand is that “pharma” is much bigger than pharma companies. There’s Big Pharma. Small and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies. Biotech. CROs. CDMOs. Medical device companies. Diagnostics companies. And plenty of companies that sit somewhere between these categories. This matters when you’re job searching. If you only search the career pages of the biggest pharmaceutical companies, yo

Over the past year, I’ve spoken to more people from the public sector who are considering pharmaceutical careers than at any other point in my career, and it isn’t difficult to understand why. The public health landscape in the US has been through enormous disruption. Under the Trump administration, federal health agencies have faced workforce reductions, restructures, funding uncertainty and major changes in how the US engages with the global health system. For people who bu

I’ve been working in scientific communications for over 20 years, both agency and in-house, and I still pause slightly when I say that out loud. Not because of the number itself, but because of what it represents. I’ve seen the role change a lot. What I didn’t expect was to feel nostalgic for 2018. Especially not now. 2026 was supposed to feel like a forward step. Instead, it already feels heavier than expected. The job market is tighter than it was even a year ago, and that’

Over the past few years, hiring has changed dramatically, and many candidates haven’t realised just how much. AI-driven screening, one-way video interviews, automated shortlisting tools, and algorithm-based application filtering are no longer fringe practices. They’re now embedded across many large organisations, including pharma, biotech, consulting, and tech. Companies such as Roche and Nestlé Health Science are just two examples where candidates are increasingly encounteri

Let’s be honest, Santa’s not the only one keeping receipts this year. The biopharma world has been… a lot , so here’s who’s getting mince pies and who’s getting a lump of coal: 🔥 Naughty List: Companies that seem to restructure every six months just to remind everyone who’s really in charge. The ones quietly relocating everything to “cost-efficient hubs” while pretending it’s a “strategic transformation”. The so-called “global” companies that think scheduling an HR screenin

The life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors are undergoing seismic change. Breakthroughs in AI-driven drug discovery, digital therapeutics, and patient-centric care are pushing companies to hire beyond the traditional “PhD plus bench experience” mold. At the same time, organisations across sectors are realising that talent from adjacent industries often brings fresh thinking, user insights, and agility. This isn’t just theory; it is happening now, with high-profile leaders

Most of us expect performance reviews to point out things like project management, timelines, communication: the usual areas you can tighten up with a bit of focus. This year, my development feedback wasn’t about any of that. It wasn’t something I could fix with a course or a checklist. It was about passion, or more accurately, the fact that people couldn’t see mine anymore. That stopped me in my tracks. For the five years before this role, I was consistently one of the top p

I got blindsided once, and never again. That experience changed how I looked at every org chart, budget review, and “strategic update” that came my way. Since then, I’ve been able to spot every reorg months before it’s officially announced. The signs are always there if you know what to look for. So if you’ve ever been caught off guard by “surprise” org changes, listen up. You might not be able to stop a reorg from happening, but you can stop yourself from being blindsided b

I’m not the most spiritual person out there, but I do believe we’re shaped by our experiences, the good, the bad, and the “what the hell was I doing there?” moments. That includes our jobs. It’s easy to look back on certain roles and think, that wasn’t right for me or I got nothing from that experience. But honestly, it’s all about perception. Whether something feels like a waste or a win depends on what you choose to take away from it. Sometimes the job you had wasn’t mean

Nothing haunts me quite like the job titles corporate actually approves with a straight face.These aren’t April Fool’s jokes. These are...

It’s spooky season in pharma again, and over the past few years, I’ve shared some of the most horrifying (and hilariously relatable) tales from our world. From haunted meetings to ghosted job apps, here’s my Halloween Corporate Biopharma Collection , three stories of survival, satire, and self-awareness in the lab-coated jungle: 🧠 What a Horror Movie Can Tell You About Life and Work When Speak No Evil meets corporate culture — what happens when we ignore our instincts at wo

Somewhere in HR land, a hiring manager just screamed into a pumpkin spice latte. Spirit Halloween Costume: The “Perfect Candidate”...

I’ve noticed something about people who move to Switzerland, particularly extroverted Americans. They often find it really hard to settle. And honestly? I get it. Making friends as an adult is difficult. When you’re younger, you’re surrounded by opportunities to meet people: school, uni, sports clubs, after-school activities. Friendship just happens. But as adults, life takes over. You’ve got work, bills, kids, and a limited amount of energy left at the end of the day. You’re

Switzerland has a reputation for high salaries, and it’s true, the paychecks here can feel pretty generous compared to other countries in...

Thinking of buying a house or apartment in Switzerland? First of all: congrats, it’s one of the biggest purchases you’ll ever make, and...

Breaking into pharma or biotech from academia, med comms, or consulting can feel like trying to crack a secret code. You know you’ve got...

When the Trump administration fixates on autism, whether through debunked claims about vaccines causing it, or now with the latest scare...

For decades, the US has been the holy grail for ambitious scientists and pharma professionals. Big pharma HQs, cutting edge biotech hubs,...

Picture this: you’ve got a vacancy for a highly specialised role , let’s say Scientific Communications Director . A job that demands...