Expert: Michael Anisfeld - 3/27/2007

Question
QUESTION: How valuable would the following course be in the pharma industry, how good of a job would one get?

http://www.dit.ie/DIT/study/graduate/courses/chemvalid.html
ANSWER: The course looks tremendous, and Barry will give you value for money. After, your M.Sc. credentials should set you up very nicely for a career in the pharma industry world-wide.

PS: We have no similar courses in the USA.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for reply,

If I got this qualification and seeing as im not a usa citizen do you think it would be easy for me to get sponsership from a company in the usa with it.

what kind of jobs and salary would I get and where are most pharma companies in america east coast or west or all over?

Answer
Your citizenship is not an issue in the pharmaceutical industry, it is however an issue in getting a visa from the US Embassy.

While the US pharma industry will welcome you with open arms with these qualifications, I doubt that it will extend its arms to sponsoring you for a visa (for which you would be on you own).

Salaries for these positions, for a person with this degree and a couple of years under your belt should be about US$ 130-150,000.

2/3 of the US pharma industry is in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia (east coast); 2/3 of the US biotech industry is in California (and rest of west coast); 1/2 of the US medical device industry is in California and 1/4 is in Minnesota (don't ask why!) - all these folks would welcome you with open arms.

Good luck in your efforts - I did this 30 years ago, from UK, and I am still here, loving it.