#Uptake1000 is a commitment from Uptake Strategies to inspire the next generation of pharma and biotech leaders by supporting 1,000 graduates over ten years to begin their careers in the industry.

This specialist healthcare consultancy is playing a key role in introducing the next generation to our industry through its partnership with In2scienceUK, its exciting week-long Pharma and Biotech Academy programme and its in-house graduate scheme.
  
If you are in the business of finding a new job, particularly at graduate-level entry, it can start to feel like all job adverts are requiring the impossible: years of experience, six Olympic gold medals, fluency in four languages and Marvel Universe-level superpowers. Sound familiar?

Searching for a job in the post-COVID-19 market is more competitive than ever, and the graduate job market is even more so. Today’s qualified and eager graduates are facing one of the most challenging employment situations for many years, with on average 80+ applicants for every job advert and some graduate employers receiving over 650 applications per vacancy.

Roughly 90% of students graduate with a non-vocational degree, which unlike vocational degrees, such as medicine or dentistry, do not lead to a specific career. Therefore, graduates with non-vocational degrees often struggle to know which kind of job is right for them and are often unaware of the different industries that take on graduates each year with a variety of skill requirements.

Take a pharmaceutical industry professional for example; one might assume they have an academic background in biochemistry, medicine or pharmacology when this isn’t always necessary for a career in pharma. A quick check across the Uptake Strategies’ team members reveals a wide variety of backgrounds, with degrees in foreign languages, business, architecture, marketing, fashion marketing and English, as well as some more conventional biochemistry and science degrees!
Members of the Uptake Strategies team feel fortunate to have found careers within the fascinating and rewarding pharmaceutical industry that contributes to improving peoples’ health and lives globally. Some of its most senior directors started their careers through pharmaceutical graduate schemes over 20 years ago, therefore #Uptake1000 is a serious commitment to inspire and support 1,000 graduates into the industry over the next ten years. It is looking to achieve this ambitious target through three different initiatives.

In September, the third annual Pharma and Biotech Academy was held virtually, with over 50 undergraduates, graduates and postgraduates interested in a career in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry attending over four days.

Led by senior members of the Uptake Strategies’ team, together with industry experts from some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, the academy aims to provide students with an insight into the industry including sessions on R&D processes, key therapy areas, industry trends for innovation, regulations, clinical research and funding, pharmaceutical strategy development and multichannel marketing, to name just a few. The week ended with an MBA-style case study exercise to help the students apply their new-found knowledge and skills.

Most importantly, participants were able to explore the variety of roles that our industry has to offer and gain some all-important industry contacts.

The Uptake Strategies graduate scheme provides another opportunity to support young people to start their careers within the industry, and in the last few years a total of 20+ talented and ambitious graduates have been taken on by Uptake Strategies.
The programme is structured over two years with a mix of on-the-job experience, peer-to-peer learning and coaching with senior managers. Successful graduates will gain exposure to client projects with the world’s largest pharmaceutical and biotech companies across a range of therapy areas and leading brands, as well as being allocated to complete chosen training programmes, sponsored by Uptake Strategies.

The graduates have the opportunity to go into a range of roles including:

• Project and client management
• Marketing/strategy consultancy
• Management/business
• Finance
• Design
• Quality control
• HR.

The most recent addition to the #Uptake1000 commitment is a partnership with In2scienceUK, a charity that aims to unlock the potential of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and promote diversity and inclusion in the sector to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of STEM-based industries. As previously mentioned, the graduate job market is a tough environment. Young people from low-income backgrounds in particular face challenging barriers when pursuing careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). With salaries in STEM being 20% higher than other sectors, this helps young people progress to better-paid jobs and economic stability.

The partnership arrangement includes delivering workshops, virtual academies and mentoring support, all of which allows Uptake Strategies to ensure that more young people from under-represented backgrounds have an opportunity to gain a strong understanding of the opportunities available within our fascinating industry.

Inspiring the next generation of successful pharmaceutical leaders is something close to the heart of Uptake Strategies. Talented, enthusiastic and resilient young people are out there and ready to step into and flourish within the industry, and Uptake Strategies is dedicated to making that happen through #Uptake1000.

Mollie Robinson is Senior Account Executive at Uptake Strategies

Maxine Smith is Director, at Uptake Strategies