Consultant looking for med chem position. 35+ years experience at major Pharma plus Academia. Responsible in large part for 2 drugs on market. Ran a group of over 20 people.
I am at a crossroads in my life and about to be laid off at 60. I would like to keep going and it would really help me financially. But I get the feeling that there is just nothing out there for a Ph.D. organic chemist to do at this age. I know this is an increasingly common situation and wonder what others in similar straits have done in their post-layoff existence.
Readers, any thoughts? Continuing to be a consultant and/or starting one's own medicinal chemistry company are my two ideas; unfortunately, I don't think they will solve Anon5:21's financial concerns.
Patent Examiner, high school teacher?
ReplyDeleteSome places hire directors, but I always wonder the likelihood of hiring outside the company for one of those positions vs. internal promotion. Would be curious the outcome for Anon in 6+ months.
ReplyDeleteFDA reviewer, toxic waste contractor.
ReplyDeleteTechnical advisor are a law firm. Not for the faint of heart,
I have always felt consultant was a space filling title on a resume used in an unsuccessful attempt to cover up unemployment.
Don't get sick until you turn 65 and can sign up for both parts of Medicare.
It is the curse of a very highly skillful and intellectually demanding field. As long as this trend (unemployment of chemists) continues, there won't be any revival of drug discovery process. We should be employing all the chemists and making molecules after molecules and screening them than depending screening flat molecular libraries that are spit out by combinatorial machines. One day people like Anonymous will be in great demand as we fail to train and nurture such kind of skill set! I have a friend of 45Y old who is a college professor and not able to find a position in Industry for 7-8 months as he wants to pick some industrial needs and give a fresh breath to his research. Let me know if you know any such positions in Industry, so that I can pass on!
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