To ask you to what careers a degree in Natural Sciences can lead?

[Pumpkintopf]

I have another thread running to ask advice to help my DS decide between medicine and Natsci. He's been so impressed with the responses and experience that's been shared he's asked me to start another thread specifically to ask about careers.

Basically where medicine has a pretty clear career path with defined earning potential (assuming you take the 'usual' path progressing towards consultant) he feels as though he doesn't have a clear picture of what he could do with a Natsci degree and what job security/earnings might be like.

I'd be very grateful if you wise people could help again.

Thank you

Research, university teaching, industry, consultancy, tech, high tech start-up, SAHM. I just went through my NatSci friends and those are what they’re doing 20 years on.

Try this site www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree

Natural Sciences can lead to subject specific jobs (usually with a masters or PhD after), or more general professionals jobs requiring an analytical and numerate brain (like banking, finance, big 4 accountants/consultants etc). On top of that, the big corporates looking for graduate scheme recruits will be going after science graduates far more than arts.

The salary and job security tends to vary by which of the above paths you follow. Staying as a professional scientist, after more specialised post-grad study, will somewhat limit earnings. Not bad but not as good as in corporate, or at consultant level, medicine. As a professional scientist nearly 20 years ago, my first job was £25k. Within 3 years it was £30k, then I generalised and in 2 more years it was £50k. Then kids, but that's another issue. (Compare that to tech/engineering jobs where a few years in you might be on 80k, or finance where you will probably be 100k+.)

Have a look at some of the big graduate schemes to get a feel for what's on offer there.

Civil Service is another one, aiming for Fast Stream (if he's looking at med and NatSci I'll assume he's heading for a top uni with high marks). Lots of demand for analytical brains in the CS and if you get through the exams, then you go in about halfway up the pay scale and rise quickly.

Friends of mine also with Nat Sci or similar degrees from top unis have gone into: Science, academia, publishing (science and fiction, journalism), Civil Service, officers in armed forces, accountancy, analyst positions, big corporate, banking, museum curators, all sorts really.

This is so helpful, thank you! So interesting to hear what people/their friends are doing a few years on too!

I was a NatSci. I did a PhD then spent another 10 years in research before moving into medical communications. NatSci friends of mine are researchers in academia or industry, accountants, work in finance, consultancy, patent attorneys, medical writers, clinical scientists, some did graduate entry medicine, one is a librarian, lots are teachers, one became a professional musician and another founded a tech startup.

My friends from uni with natsci degrees (a small sample of 3) have ended up as a clinical psychologist, a doctor and a management consultant. It seems to be quite a versatile degree and as the sample shows, he’s not ruling out the medicine path altogether.

I work in this field, if i had my time again I would do something else as the salary is pants compared to my cohort of university friends doing other things.

Depends how much he wants to 'use' the degree, ie 'do' science vs using it as part of broader skillset. Most natural scientists are not as well paid if they stay in science in university or institutes compared to those at same career stage elsewhere in private sector or industry, or compared to medical professionals. They love their work though.

Research- either university, private institute, charity, public sector. Usually need phd or masters to progress. If in university likely to also need to teach as well. If going university post doc route it can be job hopping every few years until can get a permanent post.

Allied jobs in the above places- eg grant coordinators, research administrators, marketing/ business , graduate coordinator .

Publishing-

Pharma if its a biological type of natural science

School Teaching-

Industry- consultants, sales, anything else that uses the skillset rather than the science. I know people in communication technology, finance- both v high earners

Fundraising - i know two exceptionally high earners doing this with science backgrounds

Civil service- policy type stuff

The one NatSci grad I know joined the Civil Service, through the Science and Engineering Scheme on the Civil Service Fast Stream.

Their job is essentially to provide scientific advice and input in the policy making process.

I did natsci.

Me and my natsci friends now do a mixture of: software engineering (including people who didn't do computer science courses at uni), accounting (me, a couple of others), or are solicitors, patent attorneys, civil servants, work for HMRC, work as academics (5 or 6), in a scientific consultancy company, a couple for big pharma, one is currently retraining as a medic. (Sample size about 20, but I should know at least 30, so need to wrack my brain a bit more.)

I think it's fair to say it's a very versatile degree, and it is nice to have the flexibility to choose what to study once you're already there.

Realised I didn't cover salaries or job security - I think this depends significantly on the job you choose. I think most of those in accounting, HMRC, compsci etc are on about £45-£55K 4 Years after graduation, solicitors a bit more I think, academics less, some as little as 15k (but tax free) during their PhDs which are only finishing now.

Wow really varied then! For those Natsci students who did graduate entry medicine is this because they wanted medicine anyway but didn't get an undergraduate place, because they 'discovered' that they wanted medicine through studying Natsci, or because it was needed for career progression?

I work in venture capital, almost everyone in the team has a science degree and most of our portfolio companies are stuffed full of STEM degree holders. (This wouldn't apply at every VC firm though, we have a strong sector focus on tech and engineering.)

The graduate entry medics I know simply came to their medical vocations slightly later - in some cases during undergrad, in other cases later still, including one friend who did a PhD then a post doc and then entered GEM. None of them had applied for undergrad medicine originally.

Oh and in terms of salary, associates are on £65-80k, partners £150-250k+ depending on experience and the managing partners on £350k+. Plus we all have carried interest (a profit share) of the fund, assuming we make money in the long run.

The two I know one went onto be an academic and one works for Kew Gardens, loves her job but doubt its high pay. Friends who became doctors in hospital earn far more, more holiday, more job flexibility but don't think the one finds their job that interesting. If money is important though banking takes lots with science degrees, often PhDs where I worked.

Not exactly the same but DD1 did a degree in biochemistry and is now a biochemist working in viral antibody testing research. Ultimately the research she is involved in could go on to save thousands of lives.

Pay isnt brilliant.

Quite a few of my friends doing graduate medicine just hadn’t thought about future careers when doing their first degree and then decided on medicine, a few hadn’t got the grades first time around.

However, graduate medicine was cheaper then. Now it’s prohibitively expensive and ultra competitive- I would by no means just think you can just come back to it later because it will be many times more difficult than doing it as your first degree.

I would say given he wants to do NatSci at Cambridge he would probably get recruited for a career in finance- when I went to the Chemistry dept at Oxford they estimated about 70% of their graduates go to the City.

Since natural science can be any combination of science it can literally lead to almost any career afterwards (other than vets etc that need a vocational degree). Academia, finance, IT, teaching, law, literally anything

Thanks all, so really wide options it seems.