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I’ve heard most people starting at IQVIA, learning a lot but terrible culture and work life balance and then moving over to pharma. I’m not sure how many people do the reverse
Went from CRO to Pharma and there would have to be a huge pay increase (unlikely) for me to go back. I learned a ton and I’m grateful for the learning opportunities but I was definitely over worked and under paid.
I think this will resonate with most of us who came from CRO to Pharma
I’ve never done the move but I’ve considered it in the past. Majority of what I’ve gathered online is that most of the people do not recommend the move as the work-life balance is not so great in CRO/CMO etc. This is due to the fact that you will definitely learn a lot because you will wear many different hats and the project moves faster. However, the reverse move is more recommended.
I've done both, and my particular experience is that yes - I am happy having moved from inside pharma/biotech to a CRO.
The sponsor I worked for started out alright, but as they grew and COVID hit, they started running us ragged to the point that they lost a LOT of good employees pretty quickly. I was contacted by small/mid-sized CRO and left the sponsor to work there. It was challenging, but provided some incredible experience and opportunities to help build a team and processes.
Due to RIF layoff with that CRO, I had to find another position relatively quickly and went to one of IQVIA's competitors in their FSP division. I actually love it at this CRO (at least on the FSP side - can't speak to the full-service side) because my client and team are great and they have RTO/flexible schedules along with a solid work/life balance. Only reason I'm in the market right now is because this role is below my skill level and there won't be opportunities to advance with my FSP client for quite some time.
In summary: yes, I have been happier with my last 2 CROs than I was with a particular sponsor. However, this is very situation-dependent.
Tx for the responses. The job market sucks so bad not sure if I need to take a CRO job as a plan B but sounds like it’s not fun in CRO. But may pay the bills
It definitely wasn’t the worst.
You’re looking at a huge array of different types with different personalities.
Even though I was over worked and underpaid it was a really good experience (and a good time) and I made some great connections that led to my next two positions at sponsors.