S03-E09 Jose works at Genentech

Jose works at Genentech. Jose grew up in the Bay Area and went from working in restaurants to a career in biotechnology. Hear about how Jose enrolled in a community college program, completed an internship and now has a career at one of the biggest biotech companies. Jose talks about what he is most passionate about at work and how you can work towards your dream career too.

The Talking Technicians podcast is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program.

Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation.

Join the conversation. If you are a working technician or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org.

Links from the show:

The Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC): https://micronanoeducation.org/

City College of San Francisco Biotechnology Program: https://www.ccsf.edu/degrees-certificates/biotechnology

Genentech: https://careers.gene.com/us/en/home

Episode Web Page: https://micronanoeducation.org/students-parents/talking-technicians-podcast/

Transcript

Peter Kazarinoff  0:02  
From MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, this is Talking Technicians. The podcast about technicians: who they are, what they do, and where they come from. I'm your host, Peter Kazarinoff. I teach technicians and engineers that Portland Community College. In each episode, you'll meet a working technician and hear their story. That means real interviews, with real technicians, about real jobs. At the end of each episode, you'll hear actions you can take if you want to be a technician too.

In this episode, you'll meet Jose. Jose works for Genentech and South San Francisco. Jose, welcome to Talking technicians.

Jose  0:51  
Thanks, Peter. I'm glad to be here.

Peter Kazarinoff  0:53  
Jose, Genentech is in South San Francisco. Is that where you live to?

Jose  0:58  
I currently live in Berkeley.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:00  
You live in Berkeley, and did you grow up in the Bay Area? Or did you move there?

Jose  1:05  
I grew up in the Bay Area.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:07  
And you grow up around Berkeley or some other part.

Jose  1:11  
Yeah, Berkeley.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:13  
So maybe then we'll hop into your work. So you work at Genentech, what's your job title? And what do you do day to day?

Jose  1:22  
So I currently work for Genentech as a manufacturing quality assurance. A typical day like for me is I perform batch production record review. I lead and assist with discrepancy investigations, as well as interact with interdepartmental contacts, and review and approve control documents for Genentech.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:44  
How long have you been with Genentech for Jose? 

Jose  1:47  
About a year and three months?

Peter Kazarinoff  1:49  
So do you have an idea of what kind of the ballpark salary is for a job as a technician? Somebody working in the biotech industry? Like you do?

Jose  1:59  
Maybe in the lower 50?

Peter Kazarinoff  2:02  
And what part of your work Jose, do you feel like is most exciting? When you get up in the morning, what are you most excited to do at work?

Jose  2:10  
The investigations. That's definitely more of like, okay, it's more hands on, we have issues and analyzing any discrepancy takes more time, and I get to learn a lot more. So that's the most exciting part for me.

Peter Kazarinoff  2:27  
And when you mentioned investigations, Jose, what kind of investigations are you talking about?

Jose  2:34  
So an investigation would be somewhat of a so we have production going on inside the production building a leak, just, you know, there's a leak going on inside? So we need to assess that particular event is a discrepancy? What product quality impact will it have to the product? So it's following a decision tree for us to analyze what the impact will be to the product? If anything like this occurs down the line.

Peter Kazarinoff  3:04  
Jose, do you work in a team? Or do you mostly work alone at work?

Jose  3:08  
Mostly alone, but if any investigation, you know if I have to investigate we work in a team?

Peter Kazarinoff  3:16  
And do you work with other technicians? Jose? Are there lots of different job roles like scientists, engineers that you also work with?

Jose  3:24  
I work with engineers, I work with technicians, I work with quality, and I work with quality control.

Peter Kazarinoff  3:29  
And Jose what kind of communication tools do you use at work? And what kind of communication tools do you use? With those people that you work with?

Jose  3:40  
We stay - we communicate with each other quite often to be honest. We collaborate, we present. I think, honestly, presenting is the biggest skill we do here. You know, we're always presenting our work. We're always meeting we have to work together. And that's pretty much how I feel about it. 

Peter Kazarinoff  4:02  
Jose, what does it feel like giving presentations at work?

Jose  4:07  
Okay, actually, I've been presenting for two months straight. So it, you're going to be really informed number one, about what's going on inside the production line, you are going to learn how to present better, and it's sort of exciting, but sometimes it can be a little bit overwhelming, when there's a lot of issues or a lot to work with. But overall I like presenting and it allows me to learn a lot more about what's going on on the floor on the manufacturing floor.

Jose, do you remember what it felt like your first day at work at Genentech? What did it feel like walking in the doors the very first day of work there.

So little intimidating. Because I came from USDA where I was a lab eight this role was quite more advanced than where I was at. So the first day I was like, Oh my gosh, okay, gave me a lot of work. But I'm ready for it. And now only, it was a little bit intimidating because I've never worked in a group of I'm sorry with a group of people that were so experienced. And right now I work with people that have over 25 to 30 years of experience and being the newest member there. I definitely feel a little bit intimidated. But today, I'm good. I feel good.

Peter Kazarinoff  5:33  
Jose, you mentioned that you came from the USDA. Now that you're at Genentech, are there any opportunities for professional growth?

Jose  5:42  
Absolutely. Yeah. You there's so much room to grow at Genentech. Like we're currently right now in manufacturing, quality assurance, and I'm reaching out to different departments clinical lot this position, that's where the product is assessed for any issues before it's released into the market, or commercial lot this position. That's another area investigations, engineer positions that you could transition from quality. And you can also move forward with quality control opportunities there. Yeah, you have a lot.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:21  
Jose, do you work shifts? Or do you work a regular nine to five schedule at Genentech?

Jose  6:27  
I work. So we have two different schedules. So we have a 7am until 9pm, four days a week. So I we're about 1415 hours, four days in a row. So it's not a regular, you know, show.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:44  
And Jose, you mentioned what the ballpark salary would be for working as a technician in the biotech industry. But what about other benefits like retirement or health insurance? Are those things included when you work at Genentech?

Jose  6:59  
So my current role with Genentech, I am a contractor. So the technician role, when I mentioned that to you, it's more of the lab aid for this role, particularly it's more in the high 90s. That's currently where I'm at. And with benefits. When you are a contractor, that third party that comes in and hires you, you will be paying for any benefits. But when you are a direct hire with Genentech, yeah, there's a lot of benefits. And that's where I'm trying to get.

Peter Kazarinoff  7:35  
Jose, let's talk about how you got to where you are. Now, you mentioned that you worked for the USDA, what was your work experience before your current role?

Jose  7:45  
Before my current role, I worked at a restaurant. And during that time, I was like, Okay, I need to make a change. I need to see where what I truly like and how I how I could get there. So I began by working by attending the City College in San Francisco, where I completed an internship, I completed that internship, I moved for I worked at USDA, I got the opportunity to write an abstract and publish an abstract as an intern. And I was there for about two years. And that's where I am currently today at Genentech.

Peter Kazarinoff  8:24  
Jose, you mentioned that you went to community college, how did you find out about that program and know about careers in biotechnology?

Jose  8:34  
So one day I'm like, Okay, I'm Berkeley, and I'm looking up online, let's see, where can I where would be the best place for me to research to go to school to kind of involve myself in biotechnology. So I typed that in on Google. Okay, oh my gosh, I saw the biotech program at City College. And the difference between this program versus the other programs is that they have a lot of the machinery for you practice conduct experiments, which separated different community colleges from this one where you would be getting way more hands on experience, and all these skills that were required in the biotech world they provided for you. So you would be leaving this college with all the skills that you required that you would not even gain from a four year university.

Peter Kazarinoff  9:23  
Jose, besides those technical hands on skills that you mentioned, did you learn any interpersonal skills are also sometimes called soft skills that you use in your job today?

Jose  9:35  
Yeah, definitely networking, communicating, collaborating. I find those to be really important. I have noticed myself that when I collaborate when I network, like you know, get to know everybody I have I feel like I have been climbing that ladder. extremely quick. So yeah, definitely.

Peter Kazarinoff  9:58  
Jose, what was the hardest part of your community college program when you went through it?

Jose  10:05  
Chemistry, chemistry was tough. I didn't have any background with chemistry and coming in, it definitely felt a lot of work was coming my head my way. So that was a little bit challenging. And time management. That's one thing that I was like, Man, I'm going to take six classes or get straight A's. And then I realized, Wait, okay, I need to slow down, I need to understand the workload, I need to understand how I could do best, but definitely chemistry and time management.

Peter Kazarinoff  10:41  
And you mentioned that there was an internship component to your community college program. Can you describe that a little more? What does it mean to do an internship while you're at community college?

Jose  10:52  
So in the beginning, when I started the program, I looked at the PDF file of the curriculum. And when I saw that internship, I already knew that it was going to be very beneficial. So I completed the biotech lab assistant certification. So in order, in order for you to complete that certification, you would have to go through an internship program. So how did I get there? So the City College in San Francisco has a particular program where you will, you'll mimic a presentation, you'll have two mentors, that will help you find an internship, that way, you can progress into maybe getting hired at that position. So for me at USDA, and at City College, I, you know, conducted and I was researching all day, and like, Okay, let me see where, where I could go if someone will offer me an opportunity. So I reached out to the USDA, and after reaching out to maybe like four or five different biotech companies, they actually reached out to me and offered me a an interview. So once I completed that process, I was there for about six months. And that portion was more of me getting hands on having the experience that I needed to really understand what it's like to work in a biotech department. And that internship actually led to where I am today, because during the time I actually wrote an abstract presenting my work, which I had no experience in there. And yeah, the internship is, I feel like it's almost mandatory, it would be a good way to go. And it's the catalyst to get to where you want to be.

Peter Kazarinoff  12:46  
Jose, how did your life change after you graduated Community College? What was different for you, to when you started?

Jose  12:56  
It changed so much. Oh, my gosh, I felt like I was working in the actual field that I wanted to, I saw my career take off, like it never did, honestly. Like, I was presenting constantly. I was writing constantly. And I felt like my life became a facilitate, you know, it became much easier. I was actually working in the field that I wanted to. And I felt more motivated to continue and, you know, had to work the career that I wanted to be ultimately. So yeah, for that two year program, I feel very competent.

Peter Kazarinoff  13:35  
Jose, what's something unexpected about working in the biotech industry, that you only learned after you started?

Jose  13:43  
Expect to make mistakes a lot. And it's okay to make mistakes. That's the only way you're going to grow. I went in there thinking like, oh, my gosh, I have to make sure all my experiments are accurate. I have to make sure that everything's on. But you know what, that expectation will soon kind of be more clear. I did try my best every single time. And that's one thing that I felt oh my gosh, like, you know, I don't think anyone makes any mistakes in the lab or, you know, anything that I felt that if I would make a minor mistake, I would pretty much lose my internship but know that they're very understanding.

Peter Kazarinoff  14:25  
Jose, you transitioned careers, you went from working in restaurants, going to community college, and now working in biotechnology. What advice would you give current students or people who want to transition their careers and work in an industry like you>

Jose  14:42  
Technical writing, that's very significant. So make sure your reading skills are pretty good. Research for an internship, begin with an internship. You'll really know what it's like to work in the biotech field. You'll get a hands on if this is really what you want to do. And network Networking with everyone in the biotech world will really allow you to expand your opportunities. have maybe two mentors, you know, talk to a few people that have gone through it already, and they can help you get where you want to be faster. Stay consistent. You know, that's very important.

Peter Kazarinoff  15:20  
Jose, do you have a final call to action? For folks that want to join the biotechnology workforce? What would you tell them to get started,

Jose  15:30  
Have a plan ready. You know, go through your go through the program and be like, Okay, this semester, I'm going to take care of all this classes. And be sure that you know, everything's getting done. Make sure you reach out to your mentors. Make sure you open up yourself different opportunities. You never know what you know who you might meet, that could take your career to the next level or help you land where you want to land.

Peter Kazarinoff  15:57  
Jose, thank you so much for sharing your story with me, both what you've done professionally, and then your community college experience and for being on Talking Technicians.

Jose  16:08  
Yeah, no problem. I'm ready.

Peter Kazarinoff  16:10  
Please keep in touch.

Jose  16:13  
Anytime.

Peter Kazarinoff  16:20  
Talking Technicians is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program. Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation. Join the conversation: If you are a working technician, or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org. We're always looking out for great guests to share more stories with you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai