Hi guys,

I work in project management the past 7 months but came from more of a tech background in my degree which I graduated this year.

Before I got into project management (construction, life sciences) I had an offer from Emerson (automation graduate programme), I went for the other role as a result of circumstances.

Thinking back, I kinda wish I went for automation. Nonetheless, I’ve still learned a good bit in my current role but if I was to make a quick switch, what would be the best route?

I posted about this yesterday and someone gave me a really good lead but I just want to get a broader sense of my options.

Education could be an option but I’ve just done two degree back to back (I don’t know how much more education I have left in me).

Anyway, if someone could point me in the right direction or share their experience (particularly those not from an engineering or sciences background) that would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I'm currently finishing up a project in my pharmaceutical course and as a component need some insight from an industry professional. I was wondering if anybody in a manufacturing or laboratory analyst role might be willing to take a few minutes to answer a few questions?

I have five simple questions so hopefully shouldn't take long - if you're willing to help I can PM on the questions to answer whenever you're free? Have a great evening!

Hi all,

I am looking into courses I can do while I work to break into pharma, despite have a BIS degree and a project with Novartis relating to AI and ML in the supply chains, It looks as though I need another degree.

I'm looking to start as soon as possible so I have looked at courses on springboard for January. I found this one in Cork (this is where I am based) and I currently work as a project scheduler.

Does this seem like the kind of course that can get me into CSV/CQV or even automation? If not, does anyone know what course on Springboard with a January start could give me the best chance? https://springboardcourses.ie/details/14349

Even better if you know of some companies that might take someone with my background and train me up. I would be willing to take a salary cut if that was the case.

Thanks for reading this and any feedback you may have.

Hoping to move to Donegal next year and wondering what kind of salaries are paid in the likes of Abbott, Medisize, Zeus, Randox etc. Currently working in Dublin in Pharma operations with 8 years of experience and want to prepare myself for the salary cut. Thanks

Has anybody here done this year long training course through the College of FET in Cork? considering registering for the February intake and looking for any opinions or feedback on the course? Good, bad or indifferent feelings all welcome. Thanks

Hey guys,

I've 5 years experience in various QC labs for med devices/pharma and environmental testing labs and having recently started a new job in another QC job I realise I'm getting quite sick of labs, does anyone have any advice what would be a good route to pivot to in future? Have an interest in service engineer jobs for lab equipment but don't see much out there atm. Would like to be Galway based ideally but would take a mobile job either

Hi

Was just wondering if anyone knows how long in general is the Regeneron recruitment process,

I have submitted an application almost a month ago and on myworkdays my application status changed about a week ago to "Application Reviewed" but I have heard nothing so far.

Just hoping someone might know if this is normal or do I give up on this application?

Thanks in advance.

Hey folks

I have a online supervised assessment scheduled with Pfizer for their graduate programme on Thursday. Could anyone give me pointers on what exactly the assessment involves? Will it be complex problems or is it just simple questions to show you're competent? If anyone has any examples of the format of the questions asked themselves I would appreciate it. Thank you!

Has anyone done an interview for a manufacturing operator role recently? What kind of questions did they ask?

Edit: posting for a friend with no previous pharma experience. Thanks.

Hi I'm doing a biomedical science degree in UL and the degree is not registered with CORU Is there any way to be accepted for CORU by doing masters or anything

Hey community, I’ve been following recent post about interviews and processes among pharmaceutical companies in Ireland, which were the questions you were asked in an interview for a full time roles in CSV area? Also I wish to know the salary range for limerick for this position, I have 6 years experience in validation and as CSV Lead in other country.

Hi! I'm finishing my MPharm degree in Finland and was browsing job opportunities in Europe. What is the market for pharmacist working in a community pharmacy in Ireland? How about in the pharmaceutical industry job market? Is there significant over or underemployment in the field? Is it needed to complete an internship period in pharmacy to gain legal requirements as a community pharmacist (as in many European countries) or are you able to work as a pharmacist right after graduation?

Thank you for your time!

I was just wondering for ppl that have already done it, what type of questions come up, are the maths questions hard? And how is it supervised online,through camera?

A friend of mine has been offered a gig working as a self employed contractor for a well known project management company based at a large pharma site in cork. He doesn’t have a choice but to go self employed meaning all he gets is an hourly rate that isn’t great considering it’s self employed with no benefits, holidays, bonus etc… he still has to do exactly as he’s told in terms of the work and be onsite a certain of days. It’s sounds shady to me, I mean it sounds like he’s an employee without any of the rights that would bring. They gave him details for a company to do his tax too separately. It does seem like this role is constantly needing to be filled so probably tells its own story. Has anyone any experience with a setup like this? He’s a knowledge worker too btw and not an engineer. I get why an engineer on a huge rate would setup as an independent contractor but can’t understand an office worker having to do it. Thoughts?

Morning all,

I'm currently contracting out for a Biopharmaceutical company located in Cork, in Ringaskiddy,

I'm looking to go to an accountant to get a Pension, AVC's and Tax sorted out,

Can anyone give me the lowdown on their personal experience with optimising/improving finances?

Looking to make the most out of my money and try and get a future fund set up.

TIA.

Hi all,

Need some advice. I moved to a QA role earlier in the year. I was based in CQV engineering and now I support on the CQV deviation side of things.

I have been in the position for long enough that I feel I should be proficient. However, over the last 2 months I have been massively suffering with burn out. The deviations are never "straight forward" (like a few I have help others out on in the past) and I barely manage to meet deadlines down to the wire. If I take annual leave, my work is not progressed until I am back, essentially losing out on a weeks progress to closure of the deviation.

I have had to start putting in time at home and on the weekend off the clock over the last 2 months just stay on top of the work and make sure deadlines are met. I find myself clocking out at the end of the day to go home, have dinner and log back on to progress paperwork. And of course there is a new project opening up just as the old one closes.

I am at the stage where I am considering quiting outright without another job lined up (never done this before, I dont have enough experience in industry to garuntee a new job). To put this into perspective, in my previous role at the same company, I regularly put in extra hours and felt (and was told by management) that I worked hard and was good at my job. That feels like nothing compared to this.

I am saleried at 38hrs a week and I would conservatively put myself at 60hrs now. I am not staying clocked in at these extra times. With this amount of work and travel times ontop of it, i am barely functioning outside of work. No time to be with my family or anything I enjoy.

It has been brought up by my manager that my projects are late (not overdue, just down to the wire in terms of closure). The culture surrounding deviations at my company seems to be do everything to close on time (there is always another deviation to progress).

I would love some advice (even harsh advice) from outside the work environment :)

Hi there, I am a recent graduate from an Irish university trying to go into the Irish biopharma / medical device market. My current targetted roles are QC roles and production operators/technicians.

Currently I have close to 200 applications and only 1 interview calls, so I suppose there might be something wrong here.

Please do feel free to roast my resume (it's totally fine to be brutal, I would really appreciate them), give any suggestions, or just general tips for other redditors who might visit.

Edit: Thanks a lot for anyone that I missed to reply, lowkey did not expect it was that bad since I paid a professional resume writing service. Damn my money 🥲. But it's still open for you all to give feedback to :D

https://preview.redd.it/izkuec045cwd1.png?width=2483&format=png&auto=webp&s=b1ad015f97278ff24b70c616441d4e5189d98e39

https://preview.redd.it/3tux99z35cwd1.png?width=2483&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c3309f1ab9237efb2b7075f042a88fcf1268a31

Hi all,

I've been working in food safety for the past 3 years (2 as a lab analyst and 1 as a senior lab analyst) in an accredited testing lab.

I'm having a great deal of trouble getting into the pharmaceutical side of things - the job I have is nice but I feel like I've peaked in my development here and need a challenge.

I've previously gotten interviews with recruiters, but they were a lot less interested after I mentioned I didn't have GMP experience, even though I have 3 years of running the machines in question (mostly UHPLC/MS/MS but also others) and the necessary paperwork. I've also taken part in validations, verifications and method development.

I have a BA in medicinal chemistry.

Is the issue that I'm looking for too much money? Typically I ask for around 52-54k, which isn't too far off my current salary, and I feel is an adequate salary for someone who would need some time to get up to speed in a similar, but still new industry.

If anyone has done something similar or has any advice on how to get in, I'd appreciate it greatly

Business grad - worked for a year in Supply Chain for a food manufacturer and I‘be been in Planning for a Construction company for the past year. The stress and hardship is unreal. I want to make a move to Pharma/Medtech/Med Devices)

I’ve been thinking of taking a pay cut and starting with a contractor as a Product Builder with the intention of moving up along internally and potentially starting into a Springboard course in January.

I didn’t enjoy Supply Chain previously but not sure what it’d be like in the Med Device field - that’s assuming I could get in. I think I’d like to go down the Supervisory route, but I know a lot of people go into Quality Tech-Engineer etc.

I’d be taking a 10k pay cut and going to a 12/24 month contract but I think it’d be worth it in the long run.

Am I mad?

Just wondering if anyone has done / currently is doing this MSc in UCC:

https://www.ucc.ie/en/mscips/

I am a physiotherapist who is hoping to transition into a career in the pharmaceutical industry and see this as an ideal way to do so, especially as it offers a paid work placement.

I am not exactly sure what role I would like to go for but seems like it can be a good way to get your foot in the door in a company and transition from there.

Any thoughts / feedback welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone! Hope that someone can give me some useful advice or share a success story.

I applied for a manufacturing technician role at Abbott in Kilkenny and managed to get an interview. Thing is I don't have any experience with repairing industrial machines or doing maintenance. I do have 1 year experience as a production operator and I have level 7 technical degree in automotive industry.

Even tho, reading the job description, I feel tham I am underqualified for this position, I believe that I have all the necessary skills and knowledge that I can transfer to this job and become a good technician.

I am having a battle- my gut is telling me that this is a good opportunity, but my mind is holding me back to go in for the interview.

Any technicians here know what kind of technical questions they might ask me?

I would love to hear some inspirational stories, if ye have any :D

All the best!

Does anyone know whats up with the eli lilly recruitment ? I have been trying to apply since 2022, despite having worked in exactly the same job specifications, I got rejected since 2022 for all the profiles, be it devices, labelling, cmc or publishing. Baffling that they always have a vacancy for the same positions and still keep rejecting my cv, is the ATS system at play? One recruiter said on linkedin they do the cv screening manually.

Any suggestions or tips would be helpful.

Regards

Hey! I was invited to attend a panel interview with Bristol Myers Squibb for the role of Information Specialist. It's a communications/marketing role. I was wondering if anyone's attended a panel interview and if you have, what type of questions they asked you (or if you have specific questions, that'd be great to know too). Also, how was your general experience?

Currently have 3 years experience, 2 years as a QC Micro analyst and 1 year as a senior QC micro analyst. Currently earning 42k per annum is it worth moving?

Have 2 job offers. Similar pay, CQV would have good bit of overtime though. I enjoy tech transfer more but like being on site. I reckon CQV experience would help going into tech transfer down the line though.

I was told it's very rare to get offered a fully remote tech transfer role and I should jump on it.

What do you guys think?

FYI I have 5 years experience in mfg and tech services/ops.

Hey all!

I’m hoping to get some advice on making a move into the pharmaceutical industry, and would really appreciate any insights or tips from people who've been through something similar!

I’m 29, with a BSc in Biochemistry and 4 years of experience in a hospital lab working in clinical chemistry. While I've gained a lot of skills in lab techniques, quality control, and analysis, I’m ready for a change. To be honest, I’m feeling pretty burnt out from the stress and politics in the public health system and want to explore a new direction.

The problem is, I’m not exactly sure which area of pharma would suit me best. I’m open to roles in R&D, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, clinical trials—or really anything that could be a good fit for my background. I’d love to hear:

1. How to position my lab experience and biochemistry degree to be attractive to pharmaceutical companies.
2. What entry-level positions or certifications I should target that could help me break into the industry.
3. Tips on networking or connecting with the right people in the pharmaceutical field and if this is necessary
4. Whether additional education (like a Master’s or certifications) would be necessary to be competitive [I'm currently pursuing my Master's]

I’m feeling excited but also a bit lost, so any advice or personal stories would be super helpful! Thanks in advance for your help! 😊

I was wondering if anyone had any idea on the progression of Myworddayjobs applications, I applied for a position and the application status was “in review” (in blue) for a few weeks and now it’s progressed to “application reviewed” (in green). It has been like this for a week now, is this a good progression or bad ?

Thanks in advance.