Alternate Career Pathways in Science
A degree in Natural Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy, and Earth Sciences) may be more valued than you think! A degree in any of the Natural Sciences (think Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy, and Earth Sciences) is one of the best degree options if you’re a) good with numbers, and b) unsure about your career destination. These degrees offer you a plethora of career options due to the analytical and numerical skills they provide and can often be preferred for certain jobs over the industry standard degree (e.g. Physics might be preferred over Economics for a job in finance). So, I’m going to introduce you to a few sectors that value these degrees the most, why they do, and how you can use your degree to break into these sectors.
Finance
The world of Finance is ever-changing, with the focus of the industry moving away from human analytics and towards AI and computer algorithms delivering analytics and investment strategies. This means that the higher-paying jobs are often targeting university graduates who have more skills in Mathematics, Analytics, and Coding, as know-how in financial markets is less needed when computers are making the decisions. The most sought-after degrees for these more quantitative roles would be Physics, Maths, Applied Maths, Computer Science, and Engineering due to the great focus on mathematics within the course content. The most competitive and highest-paying jobs will often look for PhD and Master’s students, so weigh up the return on investment of postgraduate study to see how much it can increase your future earnings. Therefore, if you’re unsure if a job in finance is for you, doing a degree in one of the sciences can open up your career options. And if you decide that it isn’t, you still have the ability to change your career path towards a Research or Engineering role, providing you flexibility that a degree in, for example, Economics might not.
Science Policy
One of the many roles of the government is to make informed policy decisions, and in many cases, these policies will have strong overlaps with science. Think pollution regulations or climate change policies. Your main role in Science Policy is to commission, and sometimes conduct, research that can help change policy, and you’ll be verifying and analysing the data to advise politicians and stakeholders on how to adapt policy based on the research. The work can be very exciting as it is on the cutting edge and forefront of policy, and you can be dealing with topics such as nuclear waste or space exploration. You’ll need excellent verbal communication skills to articulate yourself in a way that makes it understandable for politicians who may not grasp the intricacies of science. A degree in any science respective to the policy you’ll be working on, such as Biology to advise the legalisation of a medicine, can help you break into the sector. You should try to couple this with some internship or volunteering work at a political or government institution such as a think tank or a local political party. So if you’ve got an interest in politics, but your skillset is more tailored towards a job in science, then a job in Science Policy could be the one for you.
Science Communications/Sales/Marketing
Businesses that offer scientifically complex products or services need customer-facing (Marketing, PR, Sales, etc.) teams who can effectively communicate what the product does to deliver more ‘expert’ customer service, and people with science degrees are just that. If you’re a ‘people-person’ or have a great ability to explain your point, then a role in science communications could be the one for you. On top of being able to understand the science, you’ll also need to be able to simplify the knowledge so that non-experts can understand it. A great example of this would be in electric car sales, where the science is very complex but can be simplified into a few key points which summarise the benefits of the cars, which have grown sales. Once again, a degree in the respective science to what you’re selling would be most optimal, such as a degree in automotive engineering or environmental sciences for the electric car role.
I hope this has helped you identify a few options you can pursue with a degree in Science, and help you realise that you’re not limited to just lab work with your degree. If you need any support with working out the career path that could be best suited for you, make sure to book a meeting with a mentor.
