Back to the company world

I stayed in the United States with a J1 visa for five years which enabled my wife to work (which was essential since we left as a family). In the third year we were already thinking about coming back: I put out feelers in France, but I was only offered postdocs for 1500€ a month. No way could I accept that! I kept an eye out for opportunities in academia as well as in the private sector, in North America and in Europe.

"Always placed, but never a winner." I should've been more patient and waited for a third try at the recruitment competition, but companies were more receptive to my applications and were quicker to make concrete offers. I was first approached by the American subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis but I didn't have an H1B visa to work in a company in the United States.

Besides, in 2006 in a conference in Washington, I met the director of Oncodesign. He took my resume and quickly made me an offer. After a time of negotiation, I signed a one-year contract that started in January 2007. My knowledge of transgenic models in cancerology as decisive in getting rehired, as well as my experience of project management acquired with Biodocs.