Companies of all kind of branches are repeatetly hiring consulting companies in order to either receive support for the companies‘ management in business strategy development and/or with the developement and implementation of certain projects if the company needs to outsource expertise.

Known big management consultancies like BCG, McKensey, etc., which do consulting for all branches and topics, are popular for high income and a lot of travelling, but are also known for high level of work and stress. Nevertheless, it enables to build up a great manifold network and to gain knowledge and expertise for various industries and markets in a short time. There are also smaller management consulting companies which are specialized on certain branches and topics. Furthermore, there are also so called “boutique” consulting companies, which are only specialized on consulting for one topic or branch, such as the pharma/healtcare/life science branch. The smaller the company is that you start at, the more tasks and responsibilities you will be exposed to at entry level position.

Key topics for consulting are e.g. digitalisation/IT implementation, business strategy development, human resources, sales, marketing, pricing, customer relations management, change management, reorganisation, supply-chain-management, innovations and growth, mergers and acquisition, and sustainability.

Key topics for pharma consulting are e.g. product life cycle management, pricing and market access, business unit strategy, market analysis, commercialization, product launch strategy and management, forecasting, implementations of new health care regulations.

Job Positions:	Analyst, Consultant, Senior Consultant, Principal Consultant
Skills:	Analytical & strategic skills, intercultural communication, stress-resistance, quick understanding, customer focus

 

Links with further information Analyst / Consultant:   The Science Careers guide to consulting careers for Ph.D. scientists: https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2014/09/science-careers-guide-consulting-careers-phd-scientist List and ranking of consulting companies: https://www.brandeins.de/magazine/brand-eins-thema/consulting-2019/interaktives-ranking-und-bestenliste Consulting--The Career Path Not (Oft) Taken: https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2002/12/consulting-career-path-not-oft-taken  https://phdcareerguide.com/career-information/consulting/

^{Source: Gramlich, P., Bodewits, K. (2018). PhD! And, next? A guide for natural- and life scientists. Munich: NaturalScience.careers https://www.brandeins.de/magazine/brand-eins-thema/consulting-2019/interaktives-ranking-und-bestenliste    https://www.iqvia.com/de-de/solutions/research-and-development/consulting}  

Entrepreneurship comprises the process of setting up, launching and executing a new venture. During your scientific research and discoveries, original ideas might arise and the plan evolves to translate these into services or products. As launching a new service or business brings along some risks and demands full time commitment, it is crucial to firstly critically evaluate and prepare the business idea: is there a market need and commercial potential, do you have the required skills or do you need further resources, do you have a business plan and forecast, what kind of founding is required and how can it be secured, how would you approach networking and marketing?

As an entrepreneur, you mostly start off rather small and can either be self-employed or work as a freelancer or as a company founder. You may start your own business firstly as the only employee, which includes tasks from decision making as CEO to the simplest administrative functions of an assistant. Also, you might decide to get started together with a few other people as co-founders, whereby every person covers an expertise relevant for the offering. Depending on your company's business focus, the need for funding will greatly differ. While some service companies manage to start off self-financed, businesses with technological innovations need to raise a lot of money. One can receive information regarding funding possibilities through chambers (e.g. IHK), start-up organizations, credit institutes and venture capital firms, among others.

Starting your own business is very time consuming and rather non-profitable at the beginning, but, if well prepared, it can be very rewarding long term in regard to the motivation of successfully running your own thing and generating greater profit than as an employee.

Job Positions:	Company Founder, Freelancer
Skills:	Self-management & organisation, creativity, business understanding, networking, financial management

 

Links with further information Freelancer:   naturalscience.careers/the-self-employed-scientist/ Entrepreneurship Job Simulation: https://intersectjobsims.com/library/ wellabe.recruitee.com/o/entrepreneur-in-residence-business-development-manager-mwd Company Founder:  naturalscience.careers/the-self-employed-scientist/

^{Source: Gramlich, P., Bodewits, K. (2018). PhD! And, next? A guide for natural- and life scientists. Munich: NaturalScience.careers; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurship  https://phdcareerguide.com/career-information/entrepreneurship/}