As the recruiting season kicks off, I get inundated by LinkedIn requests to take a quick call to tell candidates more about DeciBio and my path at the firm. While I appreciate the requests (and actually love getting to know individual applicants), I receive far more inquiries than my schedule permits.

With that said, here’s a summary of what I’ve typically shared on those calls over the last decade. Hopefully, there are some helpful nuggets in here. This FAQ is meant to help students and early‑career candidates learn how to engage with DeciBio, and it reflects my personal perspective as of August 2025. Minor nuances may exist on our Careers page. 

As a quick TL; DR: The best way to stand out: 1) A clear “why DeciBio,” including a genuine interest in precision medicine, including the tools and diagnostics that enable it (not only pharma), 2) strong “bias to action” and drive (i.e., entrepreneurial spirit), and 3) embodiment of the criteria listed on our Interviewing page of our website (e.g., creativity, EQ, communication skills).

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About DeciBio

Q: What makes DeciBio different from other consulting firms?
A: We’re a boutique firm focused on precision medicine. We combine strategy consulting with data products (e.g., DxBooks) and market reports and selectively support the ecosystem through venture activities. Offering this battery of products and services is core to our strategy: it creates many touchpoints with clients, and ensures that even a start‑up on a tight budget can access some of our insights. Our clients span diagnostics & tools, biopharma, and investors. Therefore, we differentiate to other firms in three key ways:

  • Deep specialization in precision medicine and the Dx/tools value chain.

  • A hybrid model (consulting + proprietary data + reports + ecosystem engagement) that lets us deliver insight faster and with more context.

  • An entrepreneurial culture where people “write their own story” and build personal expertise and brand. Many firms seek “entrepreneurial” candidates but still expect people to color within the lines. In contrast, we encourage our team to develop expertise, give them opportunities to speak in client meetings after only a few projects (often 3-6 months in), and invite them to share their perspective via blog entries on our website or our newsletters.

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Q: Who are you looking for?
A: We are looking for candidates that embody our core values: Thought Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Passion, and Community. Practically, that means we challenge the status quo, take initiative, care deeply about impact, and operate as true partners, to each other and to clients.

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Q: What motivates you personally about working at DeciBio?
A: Three things:

  • The mission. Precision medicine works only when the right test reaches the right patient at the right time, and I’ve long argued the revolution will be led by diagnostics and tools, not just therapeutics. Our work removes real bottlenecks (from MRD adoption at a leading oncology company to go-to-market for a disruptive startup) so decisions move from “interesting slide” to measurable shifts in the market and, ultimately, patient outcomes.

  • The company we’re building. I’m energized by shaping our mission, vision, and strategy; recruiting and developing the best team we can; and pursuing strategic initiatives (e.g., partnerships, selective M&A, and a thoughtful client mix) that compound our ability to help clients. In practice, that means holding an unusually high bar for problem-solving and storytelling while building a diverse, differentiated platform (see above) that scales insight across engagements.

  • The people. I’m continually impressed by this team. After more than a decade with many of them, they’re still the folks I’m genuinely excited to grab a coffee (or a drink) with.

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Roles & Paths

Q: What entry‑level roles exist?
A: We typically hire into Consulting (Analyst / Senior Analyst / Associate), Market Reports, Data Products (DxBooks), and Operations. Building expertise at DeciBio is unique; most of our team joined straight out of their undergrad or PhD programs, and we are accustomed to developing our team from the ground up.

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Q: What backgrounds do you look for?
A: We welcome diverse majors within the life sciences, but most successful candidates demonstrate:

  • Analytical horsepower: Quantitative rigor + structured thinking with logical consistency

  • Strong communication: Clear writing, crisp storytelling, and an ability to build relationships

  • Curiosity about precision medicine: Dx/tools, NGS, oncology, etc.

  • Business Intuition and EQ: A “sixth sense,” street smarts, and an ability to read between the lines and empathize

  • Creativity: Tied to strategic thinking that the job necessitates

  • Bias to action: Initiative, ownership, follow‑through.

                           o   Likewise, work ethic: consulting isn’t for the faint of heart. While we’re in the office only three full days per week, hours can be long; this isn’t a 9-7 job, but rather one to catapult bright minds on a different career trajectory.

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Q: What’s the growth path?
A: Progression is merit‑based, based on the objective criteria of our review process. People grow by showing client impact, quality thinking, leadership, and cultural contribution. We provide mentorship, feedback, and opportunities to build expertise (writing, presenting, product ownership). Any employee may be considered for a promotion at the start of any calendar quarter.

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Q: What is the transition like coming from a Ph.D.?
A: Transitioning from a PhD to consulting isn’t linear:

  • In science you’re trained to find five statistically significant ways to answer one question; in business you often have one solid triangulation point and must derive multiple insights, implications and decisions from it.

  • The shift is from certainty-seeking to decision-making under uncertainty and time pressure: time-boxing analysis, documenting assumptions, and updating your view as new data (and client requests!) arrives.

  • Storytelling becomes core: you turn partial evidence into a clear narrative with a “so what” (you’ll hear that so much it becomes a joke) and next steps, not a literature review.

  • It’s critical to know how to crack a case and deliver recommendations that are clear and simple (yet non-obvious) so the client isn’t paying $500K for a hundred slides of content they already knew.

  • You also learn sufficiency vs precision: sometimes it’s immaterial whether a TAM is $1B or $2B if the path to ~$300M at realistic market share/pricing is (un)viable; other times, small differences are decisive. The judgment is knowing which is which.

The best transition makers build a “sixth sense” for the client’s real need (the question behind the question), read the room, and form relationships grounded in competence, reliability, and trust. The good news: your hypothesis-driven training transfers (e.g., reframe experiments as workstreams, confidence intervals as business ranges, and pre-mortems as risk plans) and you can ramp fast. I will admit from personal experience that the transition didn’t come naturally to me, but after ~20 years, I’m starting to get it!

Recruiting & Interviews

Q: What does the interview process look like?
A: Please check the latest details on our Careers page; specifics can vary by role and timing.

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Q: How competitive is it?
A: Like many of the top‑50 consulting firms, we receive many more applications than we have spots (typically, ~0.5% of candidates receive offers). Don’t be discouraged – clear motivation and preparation go a long way. If you’re serious about consulting, apply to dozens of firms and do in‑depth research on why each is a fit. Avoid generic cover letters focused only on “I did X.” Explain why DeciBio specifically is a fit (e.g., your passion for precision medicine or your entrepreneurial spirit, demonstrated by XYZ). If you don’t land the role you are looking for, keep building the real-world experiences that will improve your ability to do the job.

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Q: How should I prepare for the consulting case?
A: A few advices come to mind:

  • Practice the case interview process (e.g., Case in Point) to build market sizing, structuring, and synthesis skills

  • Read at least a dozen (50 is even better) DeciBio Insights to get a feel for our industries and style

  • Show your math transparently and communicate your approach as you go

  • Bring a point of view, but be open to feedback

To help you prepare for the interview process with DeciBio, I highly recommend attending one of our virtual info sessions, which are held every two weeks. These sessions cover a range of topics including our interview process, firm culture, live Q&A, and even a sample case question. You can find upcoming session dates and sign up through our Open Positions page, where our job openings are also listed.

How to Engage (and Help Us Stay Fair)

Q: Can I schedule a coffee chat with a partner to improve my chances?
A: We love meeting smart, mission‑driven people, but to keep things fair (and to protect limited partner time), our Partners typically don’t do 1:1 recruiting coffee chats or referrals. Some junior team members may be willing to carve out time; feel free to reach out to them (a clear connection helps, such as shared content interests). They may be busy, so don’t take it personally if they decline. Your best path is to apply via the portal, join info sessions, and attend campus events when we’re present. The publicly available information sessions (sign-up on our website) can provide more useful information than a 1:1 informational interview.

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Q: What’s the best way to stand out without a warm intro?
A:Taking the risk of being repetitive here:

  • Write a clear “why DeciBio” and why now, in your short answers

  • Quantify impact on your resume; make bullets outcome‑oriented

  • Showcase initiative (projects you started, leadership roles, publications)

  • Demonstrate domain curiosity (coursework, labs, clubs, hackathons, health‑policy reads)

  • Demonstrate exceptionalism (exceptional general mental ability, and the ability to excel in any endeavor)

Final Notes

• We are mission‑driven about accelerating precision medicine. If that energizes you, tell us why.
• We optimize for potential + trajectory, not just pedigree.
• We prize humility, craftsmanship, team play, and work ethic as much as raw horsepower.
• Be yourself. We hire people, not resumes.
• Please do keep in mind that scheduling multiple calls, or “blasting a dozen emails” across the organization can reflect poorly on your application.

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