u/Decthorw

For background - I started my career with a BS in Biology and worked as a research associate/associate scientist in academia and pharma over 7 years. Had the opportunity (mostly luck) to pivot into Product Management and Product Marketing in flow cytometry which is where I have been for the past 5 years.

I was laid off 3 months ago (2nd layoff in 3 years) and decided to try pivoting out of flow cytometry and into a marketing role within health tech or even just tech - the flow world is small and I felt that my career would benefit from having experience outside of this realm for the inevitable layoffs I will experience in the future.

Leaned on my network and was able to get 2 referrals for roles at tech companies where I made it pretty far into the interview process, but was ultimately rejected due to my flow background and lack of experience. Decided to make another version of my resume where I positioned myself as a technical product marketer (with any mentions of flow cytometry kept to a minimum) and received way more interest/recruiter screenings. Got ghosted MANY times but it was at least encouraging that I was getting initial screenings, and it really gave me a chance to refine my STAR examples as well as the "tell me about yourself" type questions.

Ultimately ended up with 2 offers, both remote: PM at another flow cytometry company (lol) 160k and PMM at a pharma data analytics company 150k. Decided to take the data analytics PMM role even though the offer was 10k less, because they aggressively pursued me and increased the salary band for the role knowing I already had an offer in hand, I enjoy marketing, the managers seemed very invested in my success there, and I felt like it would set me up for an eventual move outside of biotech/health tech if that's what I wanted.

My takeaways were mostly what I see posted here every other day:

• Rely on your network for referrals (easier said than done, I know)
• Tailor your resume to the role you're applying to
• Provide outcomes of your actions on your resume, don't just list your skills and responsibilities
• Have 3 or 4 solid STAR examples
• Prepare a 30s summary of your background, why you're looking to change roles, and why you specifically you want this role

Happy to answer any questions to help those who are currently looking for roles, I know it sucks right now.