Hiring FAQs

• Our Founding-Partners strove to create a firm that empowers all team members. As examples of this mindset, we normally ask the most junior team member on every case to provide the updates and summaries of their case during our company meetings, many entry-level Analysts have presented to clients within their first month or two, and Analysts have led small projects.
• Similarly, we like to empower all team members to write their own blogs and develop a thought leadership position. Team members regularly develop their own unique content, based on their own interests. Junior team members publish under their own names and do not ghost write DeciBio blogs for our senior team members.
• "Intrapreneurial" team members are involved with various management (operations, marketing, finance, recruiting, culture/social, etc.) opportunities within DeciBio. These kinds of opportunities are invaluable for anyone who will lead DeciBio or another company some day!

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• We actively support each employee in discovering and charting their unique path. This path could include any thought leadership niche the employee is passionate about, so long as it falls within DeciBio's mission.  
• The entire team receives ongoing transparency regarding the cases in our pipeline, often before a project has even been proposed.  Thus, employees often flag their interest in a particular case, though the management team generally has a sense of team members' interests already. Management also factors in team members' interests, when selecting whether or not to propose or undertake a project. Ultimately, timing is usually the most constraining factor with respect to team allocations, but we do try our best to accommodate interests.
• That being said, we encourage entry-level team members to remain open-minded towards a broad spectrum of cases, as these “reps” greatly improve a team member's understanding of our work and help the team member refine their true interests.  Some team members have been surprised to see their interests change over time or following new experiences.

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• We strive for a 50-60 hour work week. Compared to the firms we directly compete with (typically, top-20 management consulting firms), we strive to provide the most exceptional work-life harmony.  We expect team members to recharge over the weekend.
• Our management team monitors the consulting team's hours, to keep a pulse of the team and to help individuals when necessary. It also tracks team happiness via a monthly survey pulse. And, Harmony metrics are included in our firm's most important OKRs.
• Our active Culture Committee is always brainstorming new ideas for the collective team and individuals. In particular, we host two team retreats each year, to boost bonding. Likewise, our management team regularly collaborates, to support team members individually. Our management team is obsessed with the team's happiness and DeciBio's culture.

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• Devotion to our employees, individually, and our collective culture
• "Intrapreneurial" opportunities to write your own story and shape our firm's trajectory
• The deepest expertise in some of the most complex niches
• Passion for business and science
• See "Why DeciBio?"

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• Our team, including our Partners, is always excited to get to know our new hires. We are eager to meet for coffee chats, and we plan social events to help everyone acclimate.
  
  Additionally, the following initiatives help new hires learn our Consulting trade:
• We primarily focus on the “apprenticeship model." New hires are immediately “learning by doing” to the extent that many have presented to clients within their first month or two. To facilitate this process, new hires are paired with a Training Manager on their first case(s). The Training Manager is expected to take a management role in showing the new hire "the ropes" and helping them succeed.
• For formal training, new hires work on an elaborate mock case, to gain hands-on experience with the most fundamental skills and workflows. New hires also have access to our training library and complete a training checklist.
• All employees are paired with a Career Mentor, to help the new hire navigate our firm, their career, their content development initiatives, etc.

• The most typical case structure might include one Partner, one Manager, one Associate, and one Analyst.
• Our average case lasts approximately 4-5 weeks.  Thus, our team members' knowhow expands quickly, via a lot of "reps."

• Our project work spans North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Australia ⁠— and in that order. 
• As strategy consultants, we can do our work from anywhere.  In fact, only a small percentage of our clients are based in Southern California. Pre-COVID, an Analyst might travel for one night every month or two, for client presentations or conferences. 
• Additional travel opportunities may arise. For example, senior team members might travel more frequently for conferences and business development purposes, if they enjoy these opportunities. We also sponsor an “Intrapreneurship Program” that provides employees an opportunity to travel almost anywhere in the world.

• Our increasingly diverse client base includes:
• Many Fortune 500 research tools and diagnostics companies and a growing number of Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies
• Many mid-market companies
• Various startups, from well-funded to seed-funded

• The best part of consulting is that there is no “typical day.”  Every case is unique, and team members often work on a different aspect of a case and apply different skill sets at any time.  Outside of case work, team members also have opportunities to manage internal initiatives, participate in team social events, and meet up for many "coffee chats."
• An Analyst’s day consists of various tasks such as: sourcing primary research interviewees, leading interviews with KOLs, conducting secondary research, making slides (even "blanking a deck"), analyzing data in Excel, summarizing case findings, participating in case team meetings, and generally cracking the case!

• For employees who are authorized to work in the United States, we regularly sponsor visas and green cards, on a case-by-case basis.
• Ever since our founding, we have believed that such sponsorship is critical to the diversity and quality of our team.

• DeciBio is consistently recognized for having the deepest expertise in our areas of focus.
• Our projects regularly cover complex technologies.
• We believe that having passionate team members (devoted to the science) is critical to our long-term success.

Though every candidate is different, here is generalized advice:

• Develop business “street smarts” / instincts as well as air-tight thinking about complex strategic problems. In all your thoughts and verbal communications, drive to the “so what."
• Continuously read everything you can get your hands on, and continuously learn from new people!  (This includes finding business news sources you enjoy and staying abreast of life science news and your favorite companies.)
• Find what you’re passionate about in the business world as well as in the life sciences world, and own it like a CEO.
• Take charge and lead — but with finesse. Take or create any opportunity to obtain hands-on business experience or leadership experience in any scrappy or hands-on way. Become an "intrapreneur." Maybe even consult in your free time, pro bono. 
• Consider using probability to your advantage: apply to hundreds of firms.  These iterations, in and of themselves, can become educational experiences.  Progress is iterative. Proactively seek informational interviews towards self-improvement and building bonds (not towards simply getting a job at that company).
• Seek and acquire regular public speaking / presenting skills of any kind.