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Career support for students, researchers and career changers.

Who this page is for

Students, graduates, doctoral researchers, postdocs and career changers with fewer than two years inside the pharma industry. Everything priced on this page is priced for that starting point. If you already have two or more years in the industry, a different page applies to you, and it is linked further down.

Where you actually stand

The first industry job is the hardest one you will ever get. The people you are up against are not better qualified than you. Many of them simply did an internship at a company that later had a vacancy, or knew someone who passed a CV along before the posting went live.

Your CV is probably written for academic readers. A hiring manager reads for something else: what you can do on a Monday morning, in a regulated environment, inside a team that has deadlines. Publications carry far less weight than your supervisor implied. Method, ownership and evidence that you finish things carry far more.

Around 27 to 30 per cent of vacancies are filled without ever being advertised. At entry level that share is lower than it is further up the ladder, but it is real, and it explains why applying through portals can feel like posting letters into a well.

What I bring to it

17 years in recruitment. 14 of them in pharma and CRO environments, the most recent 9 at Bayer AG and the 5 years before that at ICON and Syneos Health, two Global Top 3 CROs. I spent those years on the company side of the decision, which is the reason I can tell you how your application is actually read rather than how the advice columns say it is read.

Book a free 20-minute call →

CV and LinkedIn rewrite

Your CV rewritten for industry readers and for applicant tracking systems, with the academic record translated into the vocabulary a pharma hiring manager uses. One to two pages, pharma keywords, transferable skills moved to the front, a 30-minute call before I start and one revision round afterwards. Delivery within seven working days.

The LinkedIn version adds a full profile rewrite and a keyword strategy. That matters more at this stage than it will later in your career, because recruiters looking for junior candidates search by keyword rather than by name.

CV only €149 net. CV and LinkedIn together €249 net.

Book a free 20-minute call →

Coaching and consulting

LAUNCHPAD is the programme written for this group. Four 45-minute consultancy sessions, a target employer map, and an application toolkit that includes a cover letter framework. Between sessions you have eight weeks of messaging support, so the questions that come up on a Tuesday do not wait until the next call.

The sessions cover where to aim, how to read a pharma job advert honestly, how to translate a thesis into industry language, and how to answer the interview questions that catch first-time industry applicants out.

LAUNCHPAD €1,290 net, or three monthly instalments of €430.

If you want one conversation rather than a programme, single 45-minute sessions are €199 net for students and doctoral researchers, and €249 net for postdocs.

Book a free 20-minute call →

Reverse recruitment

Reverse recruitment means the search runs with you rather than around you. I look for roles that are a strong or very strong match, including ones that are hard to find from the outside, and I discuss each of them with you. Nothing is submitted anywhere without your consent for that specific role.

You also get a target company list of the organisations worth networking into, guidance on how to do that networking, and the message templates to do it with. I do not present you to employers and I hold no mandates from them, so there is no role I need you to take.

Tier 1 is the tier for this group. It runs at three depths.

TARGETED, four weeks

Positioning workshop, an ATS-readable CV, a cover letter framework, a LinkedIn rewrite, a curated target company list and a briefing on the DACH pharma market. The active search runs for four weeks. €2,295 net.

MANAGED, eight weeks

Everything in TARGETED, plus intelligence on named target companies, interview preparation before each round and evaluation of any offer that arrives. The active search runs for eight weeks. €3,650 net.

DEDICATED, twelve weeks

Everything in MANAGED, plus preparation for assessment centres and case studies, and continuous availability until you sign or the engagement closes. The active search runs for twelve weeks. €4,950 net.

Book a free 20-minute call →

If this is not your level

Two or more years inside the pharma industry, up to senior management, puts you on the page for professionals and managers. Lead, Head of, Director, VP or C-level, or a search you need kept confidential, puts you on the page for directors and executives. Each page carries the pricing for that level.

Frequently asked questions

I have no industry experience at all. Is any of this worth it for me?

That is the situation these prices are set for. The work at this stage is mostly translation: taking a degree, a thesis, a lab rotation or a placement and stating it in the terms a pharma employer recognises. That is a solvable problem, and it is the one that keeps otherwise strong candidates out of the first shortlist.

Can I pay LAUNCHPAD in instalments?

Yes. Three monthly instalments of €430 net, instead of €1,290 net in one payment. The programme content is identical either way.

Is the fee tax-deductible?

For most people in Germany it can be claimed as Werbungskosten or Fortbildungskosten in the income tax return, because the money is spent to secure employment. If you have no taxable income yet, a Verlustvortrag can carry the cost forward to the year you start earning. I am not a tax adviser, so check your own case with one.

Do you apply for jobs on my behalf?

Only inside reverse recruitment, and only role by role. I find the role, we discuss it, and I prepare and submit a tailored application in your name after you consent to that specific role. In LAUNCHPAD you run the applications yourself and I prepare you for them.

A first conversation, twenty minutes, free

No script and no obligation. A straight read on where you stand and which of the three routes on this page, if any, is worth your money.

Book a free getting-to-know call