Which ££££ career for my daughter?!

[HBGKC]

Hi all,

Off the back of all the recent high-salary threads on MN, I thought I'd ask for some suggestions for a job/career for my DD.

She's about to graduate from a Russell Group Uni with (probably) a 2:1 in Biomedical Sciences.

Her top priority is earning potential, particularly in the short-term (ie next 10 years) as she'd also like marriage and kids one day.

She's likely on the 'lighter' end of the autistic spectrum; she's very black-and-white, not what I'd call a people-person! She's professional, but not particularly emotionally aware, IYSWIM.

She did 3 sciences for A-level (not Maths).

She doesn't really mind what she does, so long as it pays well. She is extremely disciplined, self-motivated, organised, reliable, hard-working... in many ways the ideal employee. If she doesn't know how to do something, she'll work it out; in fact, she's independent to a fault!

She wouldn't mind travelling for work if necessary.

Any ideas (or further questions), throw them my way! TIA

Yes, and it depends on definition of 'low-paid' and 'lifestyle'.
A job like investment banking that gives you a 3 figure salary at the expense of every waking hour is very different from something that pays 80K (starting scheme a few years ago for UBS Technology graduate scheme in London) and isn't as intense.
If you had that earning potential you'd consider 30K low paid. For the minimum waged it would be a very healthy salary indeed.

Also if you want a family you have a short window of trying to purchase a property before childcare costs etc hit. Having been shunted between rentals for a decade I can't imagine how stressful it would be with young children, unless you have a secure rental like HA or council house.

I’d be careful with anything analytical / data driven and even accountancy as those are at heightened risk to AI.

AI labour trends

I was going to say actuary but unfortunately you need maths a level I think.

Disagree with this, I 100% chose my career path for the money and it hasn’t stopped me getting on in my chosen career

Not for someone who is not great with people.

DDs bf was offered a contract with a city law firm - year 1 50k, year 2 60k, year 3 over 120k. I knew city law contracts were well paid but was still shocked how much!

Worth looking into if she could cope with the high demands.

These articles always make me laugh.
Clearly written by someone who doesn't understand technology. Or accountancy.
There's already a lot of automation. In terms of analytics/data there are numerous tools, you can get GitHub Co-Pilot to write code, your IDE provides prompts.

The key skill in all of this is NOT keeping your head down and being mechanical. It's understanding the grey areas. AI can learn, but it cannot have the ultimate decision making power and it cannot make moral judgements.

Even making a simple app I have 1000 arguments over whether React is better than Angular, should we log in the application or send it externally blah2. I have used 'AI in analytics' and how you feed the data, how you clean the data set is of vital importance.

There is no job that is 'safe from automation', which is why you go in with an open mind and keep learning. In 10 years there will be jobs that don't exist now. You can't train for them because of this. But you CAN develop useful skills, and pivot, when the time is ripe.

What do you do, @ActDottie?

If I were you, I'd check out which jobs will be the first to go when AI rolls out in the next 5-10 years. I'd bet my house accountancy will be high up the list.

There is no right/wrong answer on this, OP.
But just one example of where a biomedical sciences degree could go.

One of DP's colleagues did a science PhD after university, then did a law conversion course, then went to work as a lawyer at a pharmaceutical company before setting up her own practice as a patent lawyer.

It was a long slog but she makes absolutely mega money now. She has tonnes of responsibility but is very well rewarded.

But, sorry to say this, a 2:1 would put DD at a disadvantage getting into a PhD. If she took this route, she'd need some additional experience, expertise or to make sure she has some real pizzazz in interviews.

Regulatory in Pharmacy, real shortages right now and people are commanding £££££
Plus you can do consulting later and get even more

Just seen others are saying the same. Glad people are becoming more aware.

Quantitative researcher for a hedge fund. Would need a bit of further study though.

Is your daughter open to further study? Me and several friends did biological science degrees at Russel Group universities. We now have a range of jobs, some of them well paid. The one thing we all have in common is that we did further study (masters, PhD, or both). This is particularly important if she wants to stay in a science related field. A 2:1 biosciences degree won't in itself make your daughter stand out, it's important for her to consider how she will make herself employable in a competitive jobs market.

I disagree. There are plenty of lawyers who deal with providing advice and research that aren't court lawyers and don't have to do pitches. The same as those suggesting the Big4 Accountants.

Like many careers too I guess. I can only speak from experience of working a chd choosing not go to partner level via a non conventional route with a DH who is highly paid as a partner at a regional.

The OP is seeking high paid opportunities. If she explores law as a route she will see that NQ is city firms is £100k plus nowadays. But she needs to explore the way in and what is likely to be available to her based on her academics.

Disagree with this, A lot of jobs - particularly ones with big salaries just want motivation and ambition.

She could do a Masters in Public health and set herself up as a consultant. Her Biomedical science degree would be beneficial
She could work in big pharma ( GSK for example)

Consultants in public health are indeed well paid but it's a five year training scheme (first year is masters in public health) that is extremely competitive to get on to (it's a unique medical specialty in that it's open to both medics and non medics). You need work experience at a level at least equivalent to NHS band 7, so it's not suitable for new graduates.

Of course you can independently go and study a masters in public health but that won't make you a consultant. More likely to lead to a research or public policy job.

The majority of people doing any of these jobs will not be high earners.

Most people in science, pharma, biotech, etc., will be on low to middle incomes. Ditto most accountants, lawyers, medical writers, regulators. A small proportion will be earning six figures, either through being very skilled or because they are good with people and lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

I'm not talking six figures necessarily.

DD is extremely competent, even if her academic record isn't stellar, so I think once she gets her foot in the door somewhere, she could quickly rise through the ranks. The trick is finding a career path where that's possible to do fairly rapidly. Maybe the larger the company, the more likely that is to be feasible..?

I was a biomedical scientist in a busy hospital laboratory for over 20 years (have a 2:1 degree also) and i wouldn't recommend it .

Very little progression (she would probably need a masters to become a grade 7) plus they started all new recruits in my old lab on band 5 which is around 28k I think and for the responsibility and pressure its way too low.

Pathology (in my hopsital) was THE most stressed department in the hospital so you can imagine what its like 🤪

Of course this is just my experience and opinion.

My friend who I graduated with went onto to work for GSK, this is where the money is, it blows NHS wages out of the water.

Alot of graduates also went into medical sales and the wages were high plus a car. Is alot of traveling.

Companies who supplier analysers to labs take on alot of scientists so Bayer, Roche,Beckman Coulter, Olympus all these companies worth a look at.

Civil service do something called Fast Stream , I would say there was far more opportunity of promotion within the civil service than NHS.

She could do a medical degree ? I was offered to.do it in 4 rather than 5 because I got a 2:1.

Another friend got into financial services (they required graduates in anything) and did her qualifications in finance and now earns huge amounts.

Which disabling did your daughter specialise in ? There are lots of opportunities in immunology post covid, she could maybe work in research ?

The NHS has some great qualities earning high wages is not one

Hope she finds something she likes

Discipline not disability !

God not big 4 accountancy whatever she does. I did that (also high functioning ND) and it made my 20s so so very miserable. It’s definitely a people thing rather than a technical thing. Auditors spend all day talking to people. Maybe tax…But to get far you still have to be able to sell to clients. The people who make partner are sales people really.

Then it needs to be a role that is a good match for her interests and skills and strengths, where the things she finds more challenging are less of an issue.

If you're not talking 6 figures in 10 years then that's a totally different ball game from the £££££ in your initial post.

Also if she wants a family is she not going to consider jobs that offer flexibility and are good at supporting returning mothers to continue their career progression?