Marketing yourself isn’t selling out. It’s smart science.

The call lasted ten minutes. My manager was apologetic. HR was professional. Two weeks later, I lost my badge access to the top-20 biopharma company where I’d spent five years leading digital transformation initiatives.

I got lucky. Three months later, I’m starting a new role developing AI products for go-to-market strategies at another biopharma company. That’s exactly what I want to do. Since July though, I’ve watched colleagues with impressive credentials struggle in ways I didn’t. MDs. PhDs. People with decades of experience and expertise I still aspire to.

Why some people are bouncing back faster

Sure, I work in a hot area. But the researchers, medical science liaisons, and clinical operations leaders I know aren’t struggling because they chose the wrong field. They’re struggling because of how they present themselves.

I came into pharma from consulting and health insurance, switching from IT to marketing. Without traditional credentials, I couldn’t rely on pedigree. I had to learn to market myself from day one.

Job searches are uncomfortable, stressful, and urgent exercises to reestablish economic security for ourselves and our families. When you have been laid off during a major industry shake-up, like what pharma is going through now, it is almost impossible to think differently about what is next and how to get there. The boat is rocking enough. 

The missing skill: Marketing yourself

Here’s what most pharma professionals don’t want to hear: if you're a scientist or physician who spent your career in pharma, you probably see marketing as something other people do. Marketing is what the commercial team does. And don’t even mention sales. If marketing feels uncomfortable, sales is downright distasteful.

In a job market where your advanced degree, ten years at [insert impressive company name here], and "proven experience" are the same credentials 300 other people have from the exact same wave layoff, how you present yourself matters as much as what you’ve accomplished. The prevailing wisdom tells you to list your credentials in formats designed for conformity, but your resume and LinkedIn are making you invisible. 

Build a portfolio, not just a resume

The solution is structural. Stop leading with your resume. Create a professional portfolio and use that to get your foot in the door. 

I'm talking about a vertical, phone-optimised, visually engaging document that treats your professional story like the premium product it is. Think of it as your personal brand's landing page, not your CV. 

Here's what makes it work:

• Scannable in 30 seconds, memorable for 30 days. Everyone reads on their phones. Your old 8½x11 resume forces zooming and squinting. A vertical, high-contrast layout reads naturally on a phone.
• Show capability, not credentials. Resumes list roles. Portfolios show impact. Demonstrate how you navigated complex matrixes, negotiated insurmountable challenges, or translated across functions.
• Strategic brevity. Measurable results. Highlight three to five accomplishments with quantifiable results. One slide per win. Focus on what you solved, how you solved it, and the impact you had.
• Intentionally incomplete. If you reveal everything upfront, they have no reason to call you. Leave hiring managers wanting more.

Your goal is to be the one in a hundred who makes a hiring manager stop and think, “I want to learn more.”

Use AI as your career coach

If you’re worried you can't craft something like this, that’s where AI can help.

Open ChatGPT or another generative AI tool and try this prompt:

“Act as an expert pharmaceutical recruiter. I need to differentiate myself in a market where everyone has similar credentials. My background includes [brief description]. Help me identify 3–5 major achievements that demonstrate my ability to navigate pharma’s unique challenges, like cross-functional coordination, regulatory complexity, and scientific rigour. I’ve attached my resume. I want you to work with me collaboratively by asking me clarifying questions about the problems I solved and the complexity I navigated, not just the roles I held. I’m going to use what we come up with together to put together a professional portfolio that will differentiate me beyond just my resume and LinkedIn.”

Then, actually begin working together. Treat your AI like a thought partner. Don’t accept its first answer. Push it, clarify, adjust. When something doesn’t sound like you, tell it why. Iterate. It will help you find patterns in your experience, uncover what’s compelling, and translate your achievements into stories that demonstrate capability, not just credentials. Most importantly for pharma professionals, your AI will push you out of your comfort zone to market (or, I dare say, sell) yourself in new, more effective ways.

The market reality

I’m sharing this because the pharmaceutical job market is brutal right now. For eighteen months, we’ve seen one layoff after another. During COVID-19, capital poured into pharma and companies hoarded talent, making us feel essential.

Now, the correction is here and we’re watching accomplished colleagues in the prime of their careers struggle to break through. The pain is real. The anxiety is justified. The frustration about getting filtered out by an AI screening system is universal.

Design your job search like a scientist

I can’t fix the job market or create new roles. But I can share what worked for me.

Think about this like science. You’ve identified a problem. The traditional approach doesn’t work. You’ve reviewed the literature. Now, it’s time to hypothesise and run an experiment.

You already know your control group: the traditional resume, slow networking, the #OpenToWork badge. You’re living that control now.

So, run your experiment. Build a portfolio. Use AI as your collaborator. Present yourself as someone who solves problems, not just someone who held positions. Give yourself permission to market yourself as boldly as a breakthrough therapy.

Start your job-search experiment

Pharma is full of brilliant, purpose-driven people. We just need to break ourselves free from the idea that our credentials will speak for themselves. In today's market, they won't.

Be proud of what you do. Tell your stories the way they deserve to be told. I know they’re impressive. Marketing shouldn’t be a dirty word. It’s the bridge between your capabilities and the opportunities you deserve. Get out and sell yourself.

Pharma has never rewarded those who simply follow the playbook. We’re an industry where we challenge assumptions, push boundaries, and harness creativity to change the game. 

Your job search should reflect that.

Start your experiment today.

About the author

Tom Barry is the founder of Signal + Pattern, an independent advisory practice helping biopharmaceutical companies and their strategic partners rethink go-to-market strategy and accelerate digital innovation. He brings more than a decade of healthcare and life sciences experience, including five years leading enterprise digital transformation at Takeda. Through Signal + Pattern, Barry now advises both biopharma organisations and the SaaS providers, consulting firms, and creative agencies that serve them on navigating the complexity of commercialisation with strategies rooted in human-centred design, data-driven storytelling, and practical operational change. Recent work includes repositioning SaaS platforms for life sciences growth and guiding global teams through next-best-action and field force transformation initiatives.