Industry Perspectives from Lauren Celano (Propel Careers) & John Brothers (MassBioEd)
Event recap by MCS Career Advisors Caroline Rende & Meaghan Shea
Massachusetts remains a powerhouse for life sciences, but 2026 is undeniably tough especially for students and recent grads seeking a first industry role. In our virtual fireside chat, Lauren Celano (Co-Founder, Propel Careers) and John Brothers (Senior Director, Workforce Development Strategy, MassBioEd) offered a candid, practical look at what’s driving the slowdown and what early-career candidates can do right now to stay competitive.
Below is a recap for anyone who missed it, with the most actionable takeaways pulled from the conversation
Why the Market Feels So Hard Right Now
The speakers emphasized that today’s tight hiring environment isn’t just “in your head”—there are structural forces squeezing companies, especially startups and R&D-heavy teams:
- Funding uncertainty and risk aversion across early-stage biotechs, leading to tighter headcount decisions and longer hiring pauses.
- Layoffs and consolidation of roles as teams push to “do more with less,” often leveraging automation and AI where practical.
- Program and funding disruptions: Several government-related funding streams and renewal decisions have created real uncertainty for early-stage biotech planning (e.g., SBIR uncertainty; some disease-area grants not renewed).
For ongoing context on workforce reductions, see the Fierce Biotech Layoff Tracker (2026)
“MA Is Still a Major Hub”—How to Compete for R&D Roles
Massachusetts remains a powerhouse life sciences ecosystem, but the bar for entry-level R&D roles has risen sharply. Lauren shared a striking reality check: for some R&D roles, it’s common to see hundreds of applications per posting. From there, only a small fraction are screened, and even fewer invited to interview for the one spot available.
What helps you stand out anyway?
- Tailor every application.
- Customize your resume to the job—mirror the skills, keywords, tools, and outcomes the posting emphasizes.
- State your impact clearly (problem → action → result).
- Learn the industry language.
- Understand and use terms like “target discovery,” “translational,” and “biomarkers” to frame your experience accurately.
- Don’t downplay leadership and soft skills.
- Teaching, mentoring, running a student group, or leading a committee all signal maturity and teamwork.
- Make agility and collaboration visible
- Show how you learned quickly, worked cross-functionally, and contributed to team outcomes
If Not R&D… What Else Can a PhD (or Advanced Degree) Do?
A major theme throughout the talk centered on how your career doesn’t have to be a straight line, and many students don’t realize how many roles value deep scientific training.
Examples discussed included:
- Clinical research and clinical operations–adjacent roles
- Translational/biomarker research
- Drug manufacturing and CMC
- Quality roles (QA/QC)
- Patent-adjacent pathways (e.g., technical specialist; patent law track) — strong “patent wall” activity signals ongoing innovation
- Medical affairs / MSL and medical writing
- Technical specialist roles supporting platforms/tools (e.g., training others on instrumentation)
- Data science and analytics-adjacent roles
- Consulting
- Health economics and market access (pricing/reimbursement)
Bottom line: Think broader. You may find a better fit sooner if you stay open to adjacent pathways that value your scientific depth.
The Skills that Matter Most
Lauren noted simply “being a really nice person” can make a difference. She went on to describe nice as:
- Collaborative
- Reliable
- Easy to work with under pressure
- Respectful across differences
The speakers noted it is good to be seen as a “solution bringer.” Hiring teams notice candidates who can say:
- Here was the issue.
- Here’s what I did.
- Here’s the impact.
A lot of people can describe problems. Fewer can show how they moved something forward.
Show your impact clearly! Don’t assume a recruiter will infer what you did because you worked in a famous lab or on a known project.
Be explicit about:
- What you worked on
- What tools you used
- What results you generated
- What decisions your work supported
“I’m applying and hearing nothing back”—what to do in the next 60–90 days
Offering practical feedback, the speakers recommended:
- Seek advice early
- If you’re applying broadly and hearing nothing, don’t keep grinding in isolation.
- Diagnose the bottleneck
- Is it your resume? Are you aiming at the wrong level? Are you applying to roles misaligned with your skills? Are you targeting the wrong mix of companies?
- Build community
- Job searching is psychologically brutal. Staying connected helps you persist and improve faster.
Lauren also recommended her podcast, Propelling Careers –useful for staying current on roles, language, and market trends.
Networking That Feels Doable
Not surprisingly, networking emerged as a strong recommendation, especially necessary during a difficult job market.
A particularly useful reframe for students:
- While you’re a student, your role has a clear endpoint—so it’s normal and expected to do informational interviews.
- You’re not “asking for a job.” You’re gathering market information and learning how people got where they are.
Strategies to get started:
- Schedule one informational interview per week.
- Share your interests so others can keep an eye out for you (empower your network).
Where to show up — Consider attending Boston area groups and organization events such as:
- CIC Venture Café on Thursdays
- LabCentral events
- Boston Chapter of Clinical Research Professionals
- MassBioEd programs and convenings
- International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE) — Boston is the largest chapter
- Women in Bio Greater Boston
- Association for Women in Science
Specific Guidance for International Talent
The speakers were direct: international talent is essential to the ecosystem, and it’s an especially stressful climate.
Key guidance they shared:
- Leverage affinity communities (many of these exist, such as e.g., Boston Taiwanese Biotech Association, Spanish Scientists in the USA (ECUSA), etc).
- Aim first for roles tightly aligned with your training to ease entry (then broaden into other areas such as PM/operations as experience grows).
- Know your options: F‑1 OPT with STEM extension (up to 3 years), O‑1 requires substantial documentation; plan early and keep copies of papers/presentations.
- Be transparent about sponsorship needs—misrepresentation will surface and wastes time for everyone.
- Consider global options (e.g., roles in Switzerland or other hubs) and pathways that eventually bring you back to MA with experience.
- For deeper dives, see relevant podcast episodes from Propel Careers (e.g., Episode 53 mentioned in-session).
Hybrid/Remote Reality & Geographic Flexibility
Benchside R&D is in-person, but many non-lab roles (medical writing, clinical ops, data, quality, some tech specialist roles) can be hybrid or remote. Tip: When you search a company on LinkedIn, if you see employees spread across locations, it can be a hint that the company supports hybrid or distributed work.
Other regions are investing in biotech (e.g., CA, TX, AZ). Early-career candidates with geographic flexibility often land opportunities faster.
Industry Reality Check (Coming from Academia)
Students often ask what’s different. The speakers highlighted:
- Structured schedules (being in the office around 8am is common).
- Accelerated timelines; multiple projects at once.
- Highly cross-functional—chemists, pharmacologists, clinicians, and biostatisticians collaborating closely.
- Teams are aligned on delivering therapies; people aren’t trying to sabotage you. Focus on efficiency and patient impact.
AI, ATS & Your Resume: Be Clear and Explicit
Students asked about AI screening and “beating the ATS.” The key points:
- Use the language in the job posting. If you did T‑cell immunology, say “T‑cell immunology.” If you used flow cytometry and ELISA, list them plainly on your resume.
- Where relevant, highlight credible AI/ML or computational tools (e.g., cheminformatics for chemistry roles).
- Larger companies may lean more on AI-enabled screening. Recruiters emphasize candidates should focus on clarity and alignment not “gaming the ATS.”
One reassuring note: Lauren shared that in her recruiting work across many companies, she has not personally used AI as a blunt instrument to automatically screen people out. The bigger risk is simply being unclear in your documents or not aligned with the job.
Internship & Early-Career Timeline Notes
Internships can be one of the first things companies cut during downturns, but the speakers noted that some internship postings may cluster later in the season (*February–March). Keep a close watch in that window. *A special note on this timeline is that many undergrad internships (e.g. Pfizer, Novartis) open in the fall.
Advice for internship and entry-level searches:
- Don’t stay vague (“I just want to be a researcher”).
- Choose a focus: disease area, modality, company size, stage, geography—then build a target list.
- Network into your list rather than applying cold everywhere.
- Before career fairs: research attendees, plan your approach, and practice a simple pitch.
A sample pitch framework they modeled:
- Who you are (level/program, concentration/class year)
- What you’re curious about
- Why you’re here (learning the ecosystem, exploring impact)
- One concrete interest area (disease, platform, type of work)
Takeaways to Hold Onto
- The market is tight, but the ecosystem is still strong. Competition is the primary shift.
- Your edge is clarity: target roles, explicit skills, and measurable impact.
- Soft skills and leadership signals are differentiators.
- Networking is essential and can be small, structured, and sustainable.
- Careers are rarely linear; getting started matters more than finding the “perfect” first job.
