YOUR CAREER

Being a consultant in Scitaris requires solid scientific knowledge on drug development as well as a good understanding of the corporate and financial inner workings of pharmaceutical/biotech companies. Since my academic background did not deal with either of these subjects, first months in the job entailed a lot of learning with a relatively steep curve. The necessity to catch up on knowledge, while also completing my assignments was likely the most difficult challenge at the start. Another difficulty I faced was moving to a new city and apartment, which required more time and effort than I originally thought. Arranging a new apartment when starting a new job is no small task.

While both academia and consulting are demanding lines of work, sometimes requiring long working hours, project deadlines are much shorter in consulting. Therefore, one needs to develop an awareness of time management and prioritization. In the beginning, I found it difficult to identify which papers to read or not to read. As I developed a sense of which information is essential for the question on hand, I got better and faster at sorting out publications and deciding how much time to dedicate on each. Another important difference between academic and consulting work is the type of presentations we employ to communicate our work. During my time in academia, I tended to present with minimalistic slides, which only showed a limited amount of data and were focused on conveying the main message. Indeed some elements of this minimalistic style are required for presenting as a consultant too. However, consulting slides tend to be much busier with more text and data, since they also serve bookkeeping purposes for us and the client. Adjusting to this new style structuring and presenting slides was a challenge I enjoyed tackling in my first months as a consultant.

There are certainly many challenges of transitioning to consulting job, which are going to differ from person to person. I believe most of these challenges to be highly rewarding with potential to translate into other areas. Overall, I think Scitaris provides a supportive, respectful and fun environment for new hires to tackle such novel issues, while learning about different aspects of consulting and pharmaceuticals sectors.

"Skills-wise, attention to detail, the ability to understand what is essential and what is not, and how to structure and communicate your work in an understandable way to the client. Knowledge-wise, while you will learn a lot on every new project, having a good understanding of pharmacology, and the basics of drug development will help immensely to get up to speed quickly."

Starting a first job outside of Academia and straight out of my PhD was scary for me: I was worried about whether I fit in and provide value in a new and unfamiliar setting. But Scitaris turned out to be a very friendly place to work. The competitive and selective hiring process resulted in a team of extremely talented and well-rounded individuals who are a real pleasure to work with and to learn from. Everyone also seems very approachable, even at the highest level. The learning curve upon joining was steep: from an immersive boot camp-like onboarding to client-facing meetings only a few weeks in – but there was support and guidance at every step. The nature of work we do at Scitaris and the company culture of analytical rigor create an exciting and challenging environment uniquely suited for highly educated people with a passion for science.