Hammerfall 3.0: Week 5 Report

  Period:  13 January to 20 January

Positions applied to:  I applied to 4 positions this week.  Total jobs applied to/opportunities investigated are 60 unique positions (more on this below)

Note 1:  It used to be that Sundays were the big day for job openings to be published.  Not anymore; if I search on positions posted "in the last 24 hours" on Sunday and early Monday, nothing comes up - and by nothing, I mean a big "0".  

Note 2:  Federal holidays curtail position issuance as well, at least in the US.

Note 3:  I have started looking at the big corporate sites.  Locations are much more limited (generally, based on where major plants are).  Even then, not a lot of positions available.

This week effectively represents the first full month of looking for a new job.

Rejections:  I was rejected for 3 positions (11 total rejections).

Conversations:  I had one screening call with a recruiter for a position which although not in Old Home, is significantly closer. This is a recruiter that has the exclusive listing to the position (instead of the ones that try to "pick off" a non-exclusive position by just presenting a candidate).  The position sounds like a fit and the recruiter is submitting me for consideration; I should know more by Monday afternoon.

I also have an on-site interview for this coming Monday for a position in New Home. As a practical matter, I would define this potential position  as a step down/lateral move position with less career development potential and less money.

I checked in with my former employer.  It sounds potentially promising and I have been asked (again) to reach out in the event that I have an offer.

Finally, I have a pre-screen for a position on Tuesday.  This would definitely be a step down in position but at a large biopharmaceutical company, which has its own set of pluses as well.

Job losses:  This week in my industry, Lonza announced  for a site closing 218 job losses (interesting, Lonza has only owned the site since 2017 and no longer considers the site commercially viable), ~ 60 jobs losses announced at Allakos (ironically, I had applied there:  this explains that), Dewpoint Therapeutics announced 18 job losses, Ikena Oncology announced 20 job offers for a total of 316.  Adaptive Therapeutics announced layoffs without numbers; they previously also conducted layoffs not once but twice in 2023.  Bayer has also announced "major managerial layoffs" but has given no numbers.  PMV Pharma announced 30% layoffs but no numbers.

Of note, several of these companies still have pretty big war chests: Allakos still has $171 million, PMV has $229 million, Ikena has $175 million.  All are looking at pushing their cash runway into mid 2026, 2.5 years away. 

This certainly seems to suggest that, any news to the contrary, early stage Biopharmaceutical and Medical Device companies see a very limited path to funding in the next two years.

Mood:

In what a complete lack of confidence building, there have been almost no jobs released this week.

My major check source is LinkedOut.  For 4 days running there no new jobs listed for Quality or Program Management in New Home or Old Home (or remote jobs).  Indeed and Glassdoor were not really any better.  Even for the rest of the week, they have been coming out it dribs and drabs - perhaps one or two total for the entire US for management in Quality Assurance or Project Management.

Yes, fair to say Monday was a federal holiday.  And also fair to say that my search to date is for particular locations.  But almost nothing released?  That sounds a lot like the industry is not in a recovery mode.

Interestingly enough, if I had Software Quality experience or Construction Management experience I might be a stronger case (in case you are wondering, Software Quality is really nothing like Biopharmaceutical Quality so no dice there).  For construction project management, they all (rightly) want some level of experience.

This market reminds me a lot of the 2009 job market. That year, I applied to 210 different positions over a three month period to reach the final stage at three employers and get an offer from a single employer.  At this rate I appear to be well on that track, although the availability of positions may hamper that.