Editor’s note: Each Wednesday, WRAL TechWire features a story highlighting the NC Bio Jobs Hub initiative. Go to the Bio Jobs Hub for more stories and info on life sciences job opportunities made possible by NC’s workforce training initiatives.
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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – After a 25-year career that included 60-plus hour weeks in the restaurant and automotive sales industries, Chris Carver knew it was time for change.
“At 44-years old and a new father, I knew it was time for a career change that would allow me to spend more time at home with my family,” said Carver.
He began applying for jobs with no luck. “Not one call back. I received nothing but ‘thanks for applying’ emails,’” Carver explained. It was in speaking with his friends that he became interested in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Image: Christopher Carver and family.
“My wife and I have quite a few friends and family in the biopharmaceutical industry and after many conversations with them, the skill set I have developed over my 25-year career seemed perfectly transferable,” said Carver. “Couple that with the huge potential for growth in this area, great benefits industry-wide and a schedule that would be much more conducive to family life in comparison to my previous careers, the move was a no-brainer.”
His connections in the industry also suggested that the best way to get in the door at biopharmaceutical companies was to earn the BioWork certificate.
Taking his friends’ advice, Carver enrolled in Wake Technical Community College’s online BioWork certificate program in January. He completed it in April and was employed by May. Today, he is a full-time manufacturing associate in downstream purification with KBI Biopharma at the company’s new contract manufacturing facility in Durham.
New to the industry, the lessons he learned in the BioWork course have been critical to his success.
Thinking about career change? Here’s how BioWork program can help change your life
“From the details on how to properly gown before entering a cleanroom to how a chromatography column works, it all provided me with a detailed and diverse foundation to enter this industry with confidence that my prior experience and newly acquired knowledge will lead me to a long and successful career,” he said.
Carver’s new career lines up with what drives him, which is the ability to help others. While he achieved this goal in his past career in restaurant management and automotive sales, he finds his work today even more satisfying.
“In this industry, I get to be of service by making potentially life-saving treatments that will have a deeper impact on the recipient’s lives than a hot meal or a new car ever could,” he pointed out. “To be part of something that will make someone’s life better or enable them to live a longer, healthier life is truly a meaningful line of work that I plan to do for the remainder of my working years.”
To learn more about careers in the biopharmaceutical industry and biomanufacturing, visit the Bio Jobs Hub.
