clutchcargo

Good Morning from the soon to be snowy East Coast,

Do any of you folks work at Genentech?

I am a Biotech person and have an interview coming up and was hoping for some thoughts about these folks.

They are considered the real leader in the industry (though Amgen has larger sales) and it would be good to hear some first hand experience.

Thanks

ptype

Depends what dpt your plannin on working for ! My friend works for them here in northern califorina. As long as you have a well written resume and a biotech BA your in the door!

joefarts

I dont work for them diricetly, but I have done work with them in the past. I work for a mechanical/electrical engineering company and we did a lot of work on there new campus. And from my experience, they are good people

cambos2k

my friend works there and he thinks there great.

clutchcargo

Thanks for the replies.

You guys are up early.

For background I work in Regulatory Affairs, have a BS in Biochemistry and an MBA and have been working in Biotech for nearly 20 years.

arrrmand

chalk up another one whose friend works for them. he's in IT support and has been doing it for a few years and loves the job. says the people are good and the hours aren't that bad.

can't speak for the science majors though

2wheelsmoker

Someone in a high-level position at Genentech was sharing some information with me the other day. I was thinking about applying for a position there and though they really are a great company to work for and a shining star in that space, there is something to be wary about. Most if not everyone at Genentech is ambitious and won't think twice about screwing someone over to move up the ranks. People I know have had first-hand encounters with sabotage and complacency that led to big problems. So even though it's great to work there, keep in mind that it's really cut throat and you need to be too to survive. It's not a pretty game but once it's in place, it's hard to replace.

I decided not to go interview there because I got a sweet offer elsewhere.

S2020

I have a few patients who work for them. Everyone loves working there.

00S2K01S4

I worked there from 1992 to 1999. I still have friends working there. The culture is campus-like and the work ethics are great depending on the department. I left because of the politics and wanted to try IT (I have a science degree) during the internet boom. Anyways I'm back in biotech working for Abgenix in Fremont which was just bought by Amgen earlier this year. Unfortunately, the Abgenix culture has been slowly changing to the Amgen culture. I think Genentech would be a great company to work for. They seem to care for the employees more than Amgen does. Both companies have great benefits. However, I prefer working for the smaller biotech companies. Good luck.

73Zero

I've been working at Genentech for close to a year now. Compared to some of the other places I've worked at (Electronic Arts and Applied Biosystems, to name a few), this place just ROCKS! They really seem to care about their employees, and the benefits are excellent. I do agree about the "politics" here...but you gotta think that there's politics at practically every workplace out there. Again, comparing the politics (I've witnessed at other places) against what I've seen here, I think I've chosen the lesser of two evils.