The call came one week after the first interview. I had a job offer in industry, and I would start in two weeks! The next two weeks were a frantic attempt to get ready. I bought a car, as I would have to commute. I bought a new wardrobe since my free reagent t-shirts and jeans did not quite fit the business casual style held in industry. I read the information provided by the company website. I reached out to all the friends that were already in industry (just a handful of them) to get the inside scoop. After two weeks, I had prepared myself as much as I possibly could, leaving myself feeling completely unprepared.
That Monday, I dressed in my new clothes, drove to work in my new car, and spent the morning in orientation. After orientation, one of my new colleagues showed me to my new office where a new laptop was waiting. Soon after, the “IT guy” showed up to set it up for me. Boy, was I impressed. I had my own office and I had my own laptop. In academia I had a desk next to a bench, shared a computer with another person, and considered myself lucky! My colleague also informed me that my new boss would not be in the office until later that week due to business travel. For the next three days, I would have to figure out by myself what I needed to do. This was a rather rude awakening to one of the realities of industry. No longer was I the student, but now I was the expert. That’s why I had been hired.
I started trying to figure out how to use Outlook so that I could read the pile of e-mails that accumulated quickly in this new setting. I also started reading SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), Clinical Protocols, and other documents and jotting down every new acronym I came across. By the end of the first week, I had 3 pages full of them, but most of them remained a mystery as to their meaning.
Thus, I had the first of many Dilbert moments: “Corporatese,” the language spoken in corporations, was used in this environment, and I did not speak it. Not only did I not know what most acronyms stood for but, if I did, I still did not understand what they meant. For example, I quickly learned that EDP meant Early Development Plan, but what exactly was it? What was a New Molecular Entity or NME? PK? IR? It was further complicated by the fact that acronyms stood for different things. PD could be either Pharmacodynamics, which related to a compound, or it could stand for Pharmaceutical Development, a whole department. GLP could be either Global Leadership Profile or Good Laboratory Practices, the first one being standard “Corporatese,” but the second one being rather critical in my particular function.
Of course, “corporatese” extended beyond acronyms. All of the sudden, terms such a “metrics,” “timelines,” “vetting,” “value added,” and “deliverables” became part of my new vocabulary.
Along with a new vocabulary, came the meanings associated with those new words. For once, “timelines” actually meant something. In academia, I would provide general timelines: “I should have that data in a few weeks.” Now, I had to give an actual date for a “deliverable,” be it a report or a Power Point presentation, and had to meet that timeline. In academia, the only timeline that really mattered was the grant timeline. During those submission times, everyone in the lab had to be ready to pitch in, and the PI was under a lot of stress during the “Crank time.” In industry, I found out, it was “Crank time, all the time.” Furthermore, there were meetings just to discuss timelines.
Indeed, there were lots of meetings. We had group meetings where we shared data, like in academia. We also had departmental meetings and seminars. We had meetings where outside vendors presented new technologies. Then came the team meetings to discuss project updates, timelines and issues and risk assessment meetings. Meetings to discuss contracts, and meetings to sign contracts. We had meetings to plan meetings. At first, the meetings were fun. I felt part of a team where my opinion mattered and my expertise was needed. After a while, though, there were so many meetings, I did not have much time to work on those “deliverables” and meet the timelines. I had to learn to prioritize and manage my calendar better.
The best way to prioritize, I found out, was to compare activities to your goals and objectives. I had heard those terms before in academia, but did not have the faintest idea what they meant. Now, I had to establish at the beginning of the year what I would accomplish based on the goals of the company. The good thing was that at the end, I could put a check mark next to all the goals completed. While I must confess that it took a while to adjust, as a goal oriented person, I find this process rather comforting.
What I find most comforting, though, is to be in the company of good scientists. Regardless of the many Dilbert moments, the Corporatese, and the pressure of timelines, I was very impressed with the rigor and quality of the science and the availability of state-of-the-art technology. Coming from academia, where industry is frequently seen as subpar in quality, I was a little apprehensive. Soon enough, my fears were put at ease as I got to know my colleagues and their passion for science.
During my time in academia, I always made it a point to have a lunch break and share with friends. “Lunch is sacred,” I used to say to my fellow graduate students and postdocs. The first week in my new job, I started having lunch with two colleagues. As the department was expanding, every time a new scientist joined, we invited them to our lunch table. The years have passed, and the lunch group still eats together. Some members have moved on to other opportunities, new ones have joined our group. Rarely do we all come to lunch, as many of us are in lunch meetings or finishing some deliverable to meet a timeline. But there is always somebody to join for lunch where we can discuss anything and everything. We talk about science, work, the Phillies game, the management meeting, last night’s episode of American Idol, more science, more work, more life. As I prepared to write this article, I asked the lunch group to provide their experiences (over lunch of course). We all pretty much had similar comments about our first industry impressions. We were overwhelmed with the “Corporatese” and the meetings but mostly, we were impressed by the science and pleased to be a part of this great community of scientists, all working towards the same goal of helping patients.
