Just finished my PhD (genetics/microbiology, focused on multi-omics and ML/AI). Been targeting biotech/pharma roles, made several final rounds, no offers.
Now choosing between offers:
- Staff bioinformatics (academia) - same institution, different lab and domain. I can be productive and learn a lot
- Data scientist (oil/gas) - big company, AI + chemical modeling
- small biotech startup - small team, not that exciting
Blunt question: If I leave biotech now, is it hard to come back? My long term goal is to be in industry and simply do R&D that's interesting.
Feels like:
- Staying academia = safer but slower
- Leaving bio = higher upside but risky for re-entry
- They all have similar pay, with academia obviously slightly lower
Do biotech hiring managers penalize people who step outside the field?
Would you stay in bio even if it means academia setting, or take the industry detour?