At NIBRT’s 2017 Careers in Biopharma event, graduates and professionals met with top life sciences employers to discuss the career opportunities in the sector.
The Irish biopharma sector is enjoying a particular high point right now. With a $10bn investment over the last decade and a predicted 8,400 jobs to be added to the sector by 2020, it is, in short, a dream for both employers and professionals.
This past weekend (29 April), Careers in Biopharma – the recruitment event of the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) – brought the two ends of the recruitment ladder together.
This proved valuable, not only for those graduates and professionals seeking work in the sector, but for the employers themselves, who used it as an opportunity to get a feel for the talent pool.
“When people are coming through in huge volumes, we get the opportunity to interact face to face … That initial contact with people is hugely valuable for us and helps us in making decisions for hiring,” said Stephen Rose, talent acquisition director at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
The face-to-face element of the event had an impact on the talent side of the equation, too, as it gave attendees scope for seeking some measure of guidance on personal career progression.
“We get to see the kinds of graduates that are there, the people with experience, what opportunities we can offer to the people that are there. And we have the opportunity to have face-to-face interaction, and help and guide a few people along the way,” said Gary Collins, MSD’s director of operations for biologics.
While at the event, we spoke to a number of attendees who were actively seeking work in the biopharma sector, many of whom were moving into it from other areas. Supporting this latter group is one of the reasons NIBRT hosts the Careers in Biopharma event.
“We started running this event four years ago in response to the very strong demand from the biopharmaceutical industry for new graduates, and also for people with experience and people from other sectors who want to cross-skill into the exciting world of biotech,” said Killian O’Driscoll, NIBRT director of projects.
In a sector going through such a ‘robust growth phase’, there will no doubt be many more events like this one over the coming years.
