To ask what well-paying career I could go into with a degree in Biology?

[biograd]

I was always planning on pursuing a career in academia so I have a degree in Biology and master's in Molecular Biology and lab experience. Since COVID hit though I realise I don't want to pursue academia anymore, I want something with a little more job security and something that is better paid.

I'm a bit overwhelmed in knowing where to go from here. I'm currently working in a lab but there's not really any opportunities for progression in my current role and my salary is quite low so it's not sustainable to stay here long-term. I really want to get on the property ladder but I will need to earn a lot more before that is possible for me.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on what to do? I know whatever I do I would enjoy as I'm the type of person who has broad interests. I'm detail-orientated, well-organised but I'm not great at leadership and public speaking.

Rife Anne? Programme

If you're interested in Pharma, look up Medical Science Liaison (MSL) roles. This is an excellent place to start a science based industry career. This field based role is varied, usually involves some international travel and is the key way Pharma companies get to understand about the clinical landscape and unmet medical needs to help enhance the development of new medicines. Very happy if you want to send me a message to find out some more. I've been working closely with MSLs for the last 20 years.

...and also live in Surrey

@biograd - I’m a patent attorney. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about a career in this field.

I work in pharma in regulatory affairs. My degree was in Industrial Chemistry and I started in a drug development lab 21 years ago. My new job pays nearly 6 figures. However I’m very good at business stuff. £50k + in my industry needs roughly 10 years experience...

I'm doing an Environmental Health MSc just now - hello to the EHOs!

Some good suggestions here, although what you’d be doing day to day would be quite different depending on the role. Some may suit you better than others. Maybe if you can answer the following, either for yourself or posting your answers here so others can guide you.

Would you be okay with being mainly desk based? Or do you prefer to be more hands on and mix it up a bit, as you would have been able to in the lab?

Do you mind traveling as part of the job? Not commuting.

Do you have good command of any languages other than English? My colleague retrained as a patent attorney but languages seemed important. I don’t know if that’s still the case today.

Would you be happy working on a small part of a large project or would you prefer to cover multiple areas?

Do you feel more motivated if you see results in the short term, or are you willing to work on something more complex that may be years to fruition? Most pharmaceutical products take years to be launched on the market for example.

Also...

If the money and security wasn’t a prime consideration, what would be your dream job?

When you chose a career in academia initially, what was the attraction? Are you still drawn to these things?

@ElephantsNest - the language requirement was dropped from EQEs in 2011 (although it’s still handy to be able to read French and/or German as well as English).

Post docs get paid circa £35k, professors £70k but they take time. Most scientific roles even in industry require a PhD

IP lawyer. You could need to find a law firm to pay for a conversion course for SQE1 exams and then for the SQE2 exams and then to train you for 2 years (you are paid in the 2 years and get an allowance in the years of the other exams).

Thanks for that @OublietteBravo

@earlydoors42 hey, thats great! Where are you based? Quite a few eho jobs going at my LA at the moment and really keen for recruitment!

Pharmaceutical companies are where the real money is - something like an information officer (I have seen well paid roles for £60K in that area though I've not looked for a while) or drug development. Depending on what band you are in the NHS, it can take a long time to get to the £40K mark - check out Agenda for Change salary scales to give you an idea, and have a look on NHS jobs to see the type of skillsets typically required. There are other benefits, but compared to the private sector NHS salaries are often low at the start - though it really does depend where you live and what the jobs market is like.

I work in clinical research for a pharmaceutical company. There are lots of careers. In clinical operations - we pay out admin staff very well and train them for the graduate position of clinical research associate. This is a great stepping post within R&D.

Thank you all! I will continue doing more research and then will PM the posters who kindly said I may do so for further information. I really appreciate everyone's advice.

@ElephantsNest

Would you be okay with being mainly desk based? Or do you prefer to be more hands on and mix it up a bit, as you would have been able to in the lab? Yes I would definitely prefer to be more desk-based. My favourite parts of my degree were writing up my dissertation and doing the data analysis rather than being in the lab.

Do you mind traveling as part of the job? No, I don't mind traveling at all.

Do you have good command of any languages other than English? My colleague retrained as a patent attorney but languages seemed important. I don’t know if that’s still the case today. No, I only speak English unfortunately.

Would you be happy working on a small part of a large project or would you prefer to cover multiple areas? Hmm, I think I would be happy with either, but perhaps would slightly prefer working as part of a bigger project, I think i would find that more rewarding.

Do you feel more motivated if you see results in the short term, or are you willing to work on something more complex that may be years to fruition? Most pharmaceutical products take years to be launched on the market for example. I am definitely willing to work on something more long-term.

If the money and security wasn’t a prime consideration, what would be your dream job? To be a perpetual student! I like learning new things and synthesising it all into a coherent written argument/report, I find it rewarding to piece things together so that it all clicks.

When you chose a career in academia initially, what was the attraction? Are you still drawn to these things? Initially it was because it was what I was good at, I received lots of encouragement from my lecturers to pursue a PhD and a career in academia but as I did my master's research project I realised I didn't find the everyday routine of being in a laboratory particularly rewarding and much preferred to be in the office doing the data analysis and write-up. I also realised I didn't want to be a professor; I don't like public speaking and teaching others is not a passion of mine.

Biosciences arent terribly well paid. A friend has a masters and a phd in this area from a top university and went into medical writing. Someone on here said 50k after 5 years - doesnt tally with what I've heard, more like under 40k, which in London really isnt great.

Follow the money if you want a good salary - go into finance or accountancy. Good head for detail will serve you well.

@biograd Hope you find a good route! Could I sidetrack and ask what a levels you did prior to a biology degree / did you also do physics and/or chemistry ?

[quote CloudPop]@biograd Hope you find a good route! Could I sidetrack and ask what a levels you did prior to a biology degree / did you also do physics and/or chemistry ?[/quote]
Thank you and yes, I did Biology, Chemistry and Physics. :)

@Overthinker19

user1471434829

Do you know if these areas offer flexible/part time roles?

Thanks

@Overthinker19 I've been in med comms for a year now, made the change from biomedical publishing. Yes, I work part time (4 days) and the hours are flexible for everyone.

The main issue I have is that my colleagues are literally half my age - it was a midlife crisis career change for me but most of the people at my company are fresh-faced graduates, so very young and perky. But that just be my company, not industry standard.

Still, I really enjoy the job and it has fantastic progression prospects. I can stay in medical writing or move into other areas on med comms, I can stay with agency work or move into a role directly with a pharma company. There really are endless possibilities and the pay is really good.

After how limited I found my prospects in publishing, I'm really pleased I made the move. I wish I'd found out that med comms existed years ago!

Thanks. Good luck with your search, you have loads of options.

If the money and security wasn’t a prime consideration, what would be your dream job? To be a perpetual student! I like learning new things and synthesising it all into a coherent written argument/report, I find it rewarding to piece things together so that it all clicks.

When you chose a career in academia initially, what was the attraction? Are you still drawn to these things? Initially it was because it was what I was good at, I received lots of encouragement from my lecturers to pursue a PhD and a career in academia but as I did my master's research project I realised I didn't find the everyday routine of being in a laboratory particularly rewarding and much preferred to be in the office doing the data analysis and write-up. I also realised I didn't want to be a professor; I don't like public speaking and teaching others is not a passion of mine.

@biograd I was also lab-based (biochem undergrad then MSc neuroscience) but realised while I love analysis I hated being in the actual lab and found it pretty pointless.

I decided to do a PhD in epidemiology/population health which was honestly the best decision for me. I developed skills in programming, coding, working with big data and the kind of stats you don't really get a chance to do when you're caught up in lab work. If you get onto a wellcome funded programme it's 19k (rising to 24k) tax free, so a decent salary.

Just thought I'd offer an alternative as it does sound like you have a passion for research in an academic setting :)

Pharma sector - clinical research associate or regulatory affairs. My friends who did that progressed way faster than me and earned a LOT more than I did in university/research institute lab based research.

Curious, what is EHP or EHO and what does it involve. Where do you work. Why is it so great?

I think you’d find a role that suits you in pharmaceuticals. The trick will be to identify roles where you won’t be disadvantaged without a PhD. You might come up against that for roles in research or clinical development. You could look at becoming a Clinical Research Associate but I am not sure if the pay would work. Regulatory affairs and pharmacovigillance jobs might also work, someone working in these areas currently could maybe comment on the pay aspect.