An FDA Job Fair Is Coming To A Town Near You
12 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // April 30th, 2008 // 10:01 am
No sales reps need apply. But the agency hopes to fill more than 600 new positions and more than 700 others that have gone begging. Such as? FDA officials say they want biologists, chemists, medical officers, epidemiologists and statisticians as part of a “multi-year hiring initiative.”
“It takes a large pool of talented people for the FDA to protect and promote the public health,” John Dyer, the FDA’s deputy commish for operations and chief operating officer, says in a statement. “Each month there is a delay in bringing critical staff on board impairs the agency’s ability to fulfill this mission.”
The effort is a result of legislation and initiatives, such as the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 and the Import Safety Plan, which are designed to improve reviews and oversight, a national sore point following numerous scandals over such products as Vioxx and Heparin.
And so the FDA is holding job fairs across the country - even in Germany. Here’s the schedule. Moreover, the agency says it has a new fast-track program - qualified candidates could be on the job in as little as three weeks. No word, though, on whether this includes the commissioner’s job, even though FDA commish Andy von Eschenbach still won’t say how much money the agency needs to do its work.
Tom
You’d think their first recruiting stop would be New Jersey. The Garden State has an abundance of newly-unemployed biologists, chemists, medical officers, epidemiologists and statisticians with no place to go.
Chris
I would imagine that the pay rate would be a shock to most of these people. Also, it would not be surprising if they were not funding relocation expenses.
Nathan
On the hand, it’s nice to see someone who wants to hire scientists. It seems like all we hear about now are layoffs.
On the other hand, I agree with Chris. I haven’t looked into an FDA job, but I have looked into USPTO jobs. The pay scale is at least a 30% cut from industry levels and they do not offer relocation expenses. But at least it’s a job…
Jack2
I thought about looking for a job with the FDA before, but I don’t want to live in or near DC.
Jack2
Career Info:
http://www.fda.gov/jobs/default.htm
Pay Scale:
http://www.employment911.com/asp/federal-pay-scale.asp
Example: Pharmacologists run from GS-9 - GS-15. That corresponds to
GS-9*: $38.8k - 50.5k/year
GS-11**: $45.0k - 61.1k/year
GS-12**: $56.3k - 73.2k/year
GS-15***: $93.1k - 121.0k/year
*major in an appropriate biological, medical, veterinary, or physical science, or pharmacy, which includes at least 30 semester hours in chemistry and physiology and 12 semester hours in pharmacology.
**GS-11(GS-12 for some research positions): PhD. or equivalent doctorate or advanced law deg
***Candidates also need additional amounts of either specialized experience or directly related education to qualify for higher graded positions. The amount of additional experience or education required depends on the grade of the position.
Justice in Michigan
I’m on it.
Jack2 - You might get to live in or near Beijing.
Nathan
Yep, that confirms it. It’s about 30% less than industry pay rates. If they want to hire qualified people, they are going to have to pay competitive salaries. But in this job market, they may find enough people….
Phed-Up
Great chance to improve the quality of the industry and maybe have some fun doing it. Imagine how diligent you’ll be and what scrutiny you’ll apply!!!
Justice in Michigan
Happened to read an NYT summary of this this a.m., which was written:
“The agency, which has more than 10,000
employees, plans to make the hires by October. The agency
wants to fill more than 600 new positions and refill more
than 700 others.”
Besides the slight differences in numbers (who cares), this means FDA ends up with a net gain of 100 jobs in FTE terms.
Huzzah for FDA reform!
Justice in Michigan
OK. so I’m lousy at second grade math. Indeed, we get 600 new jobs. Assuming anyone takes them, and more people don’t leave in the meantime.
Alex H.
Some Big Pharma HR depts are trying to dump their higher paid and experienced (can you say: older) employees, sometimes deploying unethical and/or illegal methods. Not only would these experienced employees be a reservoir of talent, they also have long memories: they would know all the tricks and evasions used in the past by the dicey drug companies that did them wrong. That’s a potentially promising pool of applicants for FDA, insiders all.
Patriot01
Does anyone know how the hiring is going? Have some positions been filled or do candidates have to wait until Oct. 2 to find out?