Getting into the pharmaceutical industry (clinical) in NJ, where there many pharmaceutical companies and many, many SAS programmers, is virtually impossible without pharmaceutical (clinical) experience. This is a classic Catch-22 situation. However, there are a few ways to get into the industry.

But first some fundamental requirements for working in the pharmaceutical industry. These are: You are well educated, you are not a SAS beginner, you speak and write English well, you have good communications skills, you are a good team player, you work well under brief periods of pressure towards difficult deadlines, you are not afraid to ask questions, and you are a self-starter.

Ways of getting into the industry include:

1. Have an "Angel." Do you know someone in the industry who could make a strong recommendation on your behalf? This could be a friend, relative, or mentor who is in a position that allows him or her to "pull some strings." There is nothing wrong with this approach, especially if you quickly become an asset. If you meet most of the above requirements you will certainly fit in and become an asset in a short period of time.

2. Work for a clinical research organization ( CRO). CROs perform clinical studies or segments of clinical studies under contract for pharmaceutical firms. They work with a wide variety of pharmaceutical companies and varied SAS requirements. Your experience here will probably grow faster that at a full-blown pharmaceutical firm because there will be less programmers and more work. Pressures at a CRO will most likely be greater, too. But, you will be gaining invaluable pharmaceutical experience.

Some NJ-based CROs include:

Quintiles (Not sure if the NJ office (Cranford) does programming) Covance (Princeton area) PharmaNet (Princeton area) Pharmaco (Princeton area) Advanced Biologics (Lambertville)

3. If you have skills beyond SAS (Oracle, DB2, etc.), find an ancillary position in the industry which would allow you to get your foot in the door. An example may be found at -

http://seeker.dice.com/seeker.epl?rel_code=1102&op=2

4. Find an agency that may be able to get you into the industry. This won't be easy but if you have more to offer than most SAS programmers the agency might be willing to take a chance with you. Exuding strong confidence in yourself and your programming abilities is important here. Look at DICE.COM for an agency.

Most SAS positions in the pharmaceutical industry are filled through the HR department. And it seems today that most of these requirements are simply passed on to agencies. The HR departments and agencies work with very little latitude (they demand clinical experience) which is why having a personal contact at a pharmaceutical firm or agency would be a great advantage.

Good luck,

Jules Bosch

-----Original Message----- From: sasuser [mailto:meera126@HOTMAIL.COM] Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 10:49 AM To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: internship - pharmaceutical companies..help..

I have work experience on Unix/C/sybase/SAS with financial industries. As the market is down, there are not job openings with financial industries ,so I am looking for a career change.

Are there any pharmaceutical companies that hire people ( who have IT experience but no pharmaceutical industry experience) for internship or train people who wants to enter into pharmaceutical field as an IT programmer??

Any useful leads are welcome. thank you.