As individuals look at roles, many times, they think singularly about what they have done specifically and how this translates into future opportunities. They may focus only on their lab skills, i.e. cell culture or ELISA development, and think the only jobs suitable to apply for are research based ones. While this sometimes may be the case, there are various types of roles in which these foundational laboratory skills could open up tremendous opportunities for those willing to think outside of the box. Certainly, if you have been immersed in a 100% lab based research role for the last few years, transitioning into a semi lab based or non-lab based role can seem daunting, but it can also be exciting for those willing to take the plunge. Finding ways to utilize your passions and also your "transferrable skills" such as communication, writing, organizational ability, networking, and leadership, can lead to very exciting career paths that seem customized to your strengths. Below are a few thoughts on how this could happen. I should note that since one of my passions is keeping and developing stellar scientific individuals in the life sciences industry, I find this topic very important.
If you are someone who enjoys keeping track of projects, are seen as the "go to" organized person, can see the big picture, enjoy working with people from different departments, like taking meeting minutes, preparing notes for follow ups and may use the sticky note feature on your mac, then looking for roles in project or program management may be a very interesting career path for you. Not only would you be able to build upon your scientific experience, but your keen organizational skills would make you a great fit here.
If you are someone who really enjoys communicating scientific information to people (with scientific and non-scientific backgrounds), and who can see both the big picture and dive into details, then a role in patient advocacy, public relations, technical / applications sales, or scientific communications could be worthwhile to explore. If you like talking with people and get excited about making deals happen, then business development / sales career paths could also be worth learning more about.
If you love writing about scientific details and perhaps if you have artistic predispositions, then explore careers in medical communications or marketing.
If you thoroughly enjoy reading patents and writing down very specific scientific details, and are extremely detail oriented, then perhaps you should explore the career path of a technology specialist or patent agent.
Making the leap from a fully lab based role, into a non-lab based role such as these above, does not always happen overnight. But, if you can start to identify your strengths outside of your solely hardcore scientific skills, you can start to initiate the process. Proactiveness on your part will go a long way toward your career happiness and success.
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