Is this the end of the science geek?

The evolving role of the scientist

The life sciences industry is changing and the role of the scientist is evolving. A broader range of both skills and expertise are required to meet the new challenges that the sector presents. As such, scientific experts in silos are no longer meeting the needs of the industry.

In the past, scientists working in the industry were expected to know their discipline inside out. Scientists were specialists who dedicated their careers to gaining a deeper and richer understanding of their particular scientific niche. If you were a microbiologist, for example, you would know everything there was to know about a particular microorganism. If you were a biochemist, then the knowledge of an equally specific metabolic pathway might have demanded your entire professional focus.

Candidates with business acumen are at an advantage

The bespectacled, white-coated, lab-bound scientist with unkempt hair and shoulders hunched from too many sessions over the bench is a cliché, of course. But if you now ask the executives and strategic leaders of any life sciences or pharma company you will find this is far from the talent profile now in demand.

Following a recent series of interviews with over one hundred organisations based in the USA that included pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers and research testing and medical laboratories, an interesting theme emerged. The skills needed today and in the near future still require a strong STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) background, yet there is also an evolving need for their use in combination with other disciplines. Simply having a degree in biological sciences and a narrow field of specialisation won’t be enough to be successful. The report notes: “The findings suggest that there is an absolute need for professional hybrids – individuals who have the skill sets necessary to link scientific knowledge with business acumen to advance a product or technology through its life cycle.”

The conclusions from the report are clear. Life science graduates who lack the capacity to integrate business and science will be at a distinct disadvantage, while those with attributes such as communication and team-building skills will most likely get a second interview.

At Hays, we are seeing a trend towards the generalist over the specialist in markets across the world. Pavlina Volfova, Hays Business Unit Manager in Central Eastern Europe, discussing skills trends in her area, notes, “In my experience, companies are increasingly recruiting smaller numbers of people with wider competencies, especially those with business skills. My colleagues in the region are experiencing the same. It is clear that firms are looking for candidates who are multi-taskers.” This pattern is replicated across the life science industry disciplines and not just in the pure sciences. It would appear that there is a merging of desirable candidate traits towards broad functional experience and the ability to communicate and integrate with internal and external partners.

My colleagues in the USA have also noted the rise of company culture as an important factor in shifting the emphasis from employing candidates on the basis of in-depth, specialist skills and experience to employing them to ensure a ‘cultural fit’. This is particularly prevalent in the big pharmaceutical companies.

Develop your soft skills to remain relevant

A solid STEM background will always be the basic entry ticket for a successful scientific career in the life sciences industry. However, the goal posts are shifting. While biologists, chemists and other scientists, experts in the empirics of life, must retain and nurture these hard skills, they must also acquire softer skills if they are to remain relevant.

Are you a life scientist who is successfully bridging the gap between the nuts and bolts of laboratory work and the business of bringing products to market? Have you ever been considered a geek? Have you, perhaps, been coaxed from the benches and into the boardroom on your path to acquiring softer skills? If so, we’d love to hear your story.

Join the conversation in our Life Sciences Industry Insights Group.

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