<p>I'm currently a high school student and having been planning to major in chem or biochem in college, but everywhere I read there are people saying that there are no good jobs in these fields, no matter what degree you have. I tried branching out a little and looking into the engineering aspects, but the response seems to be the same, that there are no stable, decent jobs that will lead to good careers. </p>
<p>My question is if there are no jobs in science, then where are they? I have a hard time believing the job market for other majors like english, history, etc. is better than those for science. Is it just that besides those in medicine and those in finance, most adults just end up in whatever random job they can find?</p>
<p>I’ve heard that you can’t find a job in almost every field from nursing and engineering to English and history. If you ask enough people about any major, you’ll get someone who says you won’t be able to get a job with that particular major.</p>
<p>It may be easier if you think of what career path you would like to pursue (keeping in mind that nothing is set in stone and very few career paths are a straight light). Do you want to work in a research lab in academia? Do you want to work in a scientific industry (i.e. perhaps, a pharmaceutical lab or similar)? Bachelor’s in science tend to be lab techs or maybe research assistants (or perhaps go into sales or other things like that). When many people say there are no career prospects, it’s usually because it’s difficult to advance with only a bachelor’s. Typically to lead a lab or research group, you generally need an advanced degree. If you pursue a basic science, that’s something to keep in mind. There are jobs, but to advance, you may need to go back to school for a higher degree.</p>
<p>You may not know exactly what you want to do, but having some general idea will help you figure out what sorts of internships you should seek out, what degree(s) you should get, and what sorts of subjects you can be studying. If you have some sort of end goal, it’ll help you direct your studies, and you can always explore other avenues or take other directions as you continue.</p>
<p>Yes, there are jobs in every field. Some fields are more competitive than others. Some fields are growing and some fields are shrinking. Sometimes, you might need an advanced degree to advance to the level that you want to. Sometimes, you might need specialized training. Some fields might make it more likely for you to have the sort of lifestyle that you want over others. It also depends on where you are–some areas are hiring more than others. Look into different careers, rather than majors, and that’ll help you figure out your path.</p>
<p>You might not know the exact name of what you want to do yet, and that’s okay. Look into possible areas you’d like to work in. For instance, if you’d like to work in a pharmaceutical lab synthesizing drugs, look into what jobs are available doing that and what degree requirements (or work experience) they are looking for. If you’d like to be the head scientist and lead a research group in studying a new type of medication or something, look into what work experience or degree requirements would be involved in that. That’s obviously a long way down the line, but it’ll give you an idea of what sorts of things you should be pursuing now.</p>
<p>The fields with good jobs are accounting/finanace, engineering (most disciplines), IT/computers, and any healthcare profession that requires professional school (dental, med, pharm, physicians assistant). Most fields of science are terrible with a few exceptions such as geology or possibly food science.</p>
<p>Otherwise you’d do better to skip college and learn a skilled trade rather than get a bio/chem degree and work lousy temp jobs for $15 an hour.</p>
<p>It’s funny how there’s the combination of this perspective on the prospects of science majors while the government (and the whole international community, it seems) is pushing for more investment in science and technology and trying to get more students into STEM fields. In a lot of ways, it comes down to what the highest level of eduction you plan to obtain is. With a bachelor’s degree only, your options are extremely limited, mainly to being a lab tech (or just “scientist” in industry). You could also go into teaching if you become certified for that. With a master’s degree, you can increase your pay if you’re a teacher, but you don’t gain much otherwise.
The reality, it seems, is that most jobs in science seem to require a PhD, whether you want to go into academia or industry. It can be tight to get jobs, just like in any other field, but it’s still much more than without the PhD.</p>
<p>PhD jobs are very competitive and rediculously specialized. If you did your grad work at one of the many labs that study things of no interest to industry you are boned. Most of the graduates from the lab where I did my MS work ended up in post-doc limbo. The turning point for me was when several graduating students were discussing ommitting the PhD from their resume to get a job and whether they could get away with it. I came up with an easy solution. Don’t get a PhD and therefore you won’t need to hide it.</p>
<p>Check out Chemjobber and various other sites. There are tons of PhD’s in science in near dire straits employment-wise.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how it would look if you tried to change fields after a phd? I’ve heard of chemistry and physics, and even some molecular bio, phds that end up in finance. While this is in no way what I would want to do, if I end up pursuing a phd, I would like to know that there is at least some out if I don’t land a stable position where my education will not hinder me.</p>
<p>Among STEM majors, it is the TEM majors that have the better job prospects. The S majors, particularly biology and chemistry, tend to have weaker job prospects (physics majors appear to be more likely to move into computer or finance jobs; of course, computer science majors are well positioned for computer jobs).</p>
<p>The problem is that while they keep saying “we need more people in science,” the government isn’t providing the funding to back that up. The US keeps cutting science funding relative to GDP while the rest of the world is increasing it. It’s frustrating, especially since I’m in a really well-funded lab in Germany right now and the investment in the sciences is refreshing.</p>
<p>are science jobs better in other countries? …so would it be smart to learn a language like french or german if its easier to find a stable job in europe?</p>
<p>If you want to go into academia, you will have a better chance of success if you are willing to travel, and this includes overseas. For example, both of my dad’s brothers ended up becoming professors in Australia. Competition is tight no matter where you go, though, and funding tends to swing somewhat with the economy. Germany and Switzerland have very strongly funded research and salaries are, and they are both quite economically strong right now. (The stipend for a Swiss PhD student is currently about 65,000€, though keep in mind that the country has a ridiculously high cost of living.) However, I know that in France right now, for example, salaries are much lower than in Germany.
As for the language part - you’re better off spending your time on the science. The reality is that the language you need to know to be successful in science is English. At ETH, considered the most prestigious university in Europe, essentially all graduate courses and many undergraduate courses are taught in English, and the research is also almost all conducted in English. I’m currently working at a Max Planck Institute in Germany, where we conduct all of the research, have lab meeting, and publish papers entirely in English. In fact, there is a new post doc from the US who just started and doesn’t speak a word of German.
This isn’t totally to discount learning foreign languages. I quite enjoy have the opportunity to speak German here. But English has really become the language of science internationally for most fields.</p>