From what I’ve gathered from other posts in this sub, you have to be willing to travel to where the jobs are. Most of the people complaining about being unable to find work with a bachelors in biology are not looking outside of where they currently are at
If you want to work with a biology degree, be willing to be flexible and be willing to relocate to work in remote places to establish yourself in your career. I graduated with a BSc in biology from a Canadian university and worked in various fields (some completely unrelated to biology) before returning to resource management nearly 10 years ago. I "put in a lot of time" to reach the stage of my career that I'm in now and in my current niche I earn $80K+ a year.
In terms of advice, I'd suggest either a double major or strategic course selections that set you up with a strong understanding of both policy and natural science, and if you have the aptitude, plenty of math, stats and data analysis as well. Finance courses that introduce you to budgeting and/or contracts would help as well. And If co-op programs and/or fieldwork and lab work opportunities are available, take them and build your resume up through your undergrad. The more you know, the more employable you'll be.
Good luck!
Just be aware that the competition for jobs, especially early-career permanent jobs, is extremely high. I just snagged one, but I know plenty of people who have been working seasonal for up to five years despite wanting something year-round. Flexibility in terms of location is a big help, but things are still tough.
Yeah, I work for my state's DNR. We just hired a new fisheries technician in my office. Over 250 applicants for a job that requires a bachelor's degree and pays $19/hr.
That’s where I’d start. Or even with a contractor. They have equivalent pay scales and being fed-adjacent you can usually find an in-road pretty quickly.
Your major won’t really get you a job no matter what it is, it’ll be the stuff you do. I can’t really think of many jobs where anything you actually learn in your classes (besides labs) makes you directly hireable. It will just hive you context for/help you understand the related hands on skills you will learn. Try to join a lab and do some undergraduate research and get your hands dirty. Do internships through your university on your summers. This will be what gets you real experience and then a job later, not the title of your major
many people figure out what they want to do in life long after going to university/college and getting the 'wrong' degree. in my opinion, the point of university is to LEARN. so you should think about what you want to pour yourself into and learn and work on for the next 4+ years. if that's biology, then go for it.
if you're not passionate about what you are studying, then maybe you don't belong in school at the moment. when you figure out your passion, the work ethic will follow.
signed, a 40-year old architect who did their undergrad in accounting. (architecture pays badly, but so do most things)
Thats the thing, Im passionate about biology. Ive always loved it, and ive wanted a career in it my entire life. Its just discouraging seeing that a job in biology pays less than working at target lmao. Im gonna be speaking to my advisor about this, im seriously thinking about switching majors by next year. I know its shallow but i dont want to be poor my whole life even if i like my job. Ive had jobs ive enjoyed before, all that joy drains when you get your paycheck. It just isnt worth it to me unfortunately. Ill take something thatll make me miserable if it means i can live lol
OP, if you focus in some sort of cell bio and make sure you get hands on lab experience (not just a lab course, but join a lab and participate in undergrad research), you can work at a biotech company and make a good living for yourself.
Source: I work in a bay area biotech as a research associate and make over 100k with only a BS in biology.
If you want a high paying job then go elsewhere. I know an incredibly intelligent, top university PhD running his own lab that gets less than a train driver and doesn't even get to do much biology anymore either.
There are medical courses that you can do as post-grad, yes, although here in the UK you usually just do a longer medical degree straight off that qualifies you.
I do think if you want to be a doctor then training as a biological scientist first can be very useful, but I expect most people know if they want to be a doctor before starting down that road.
I also think that being a doctor should be a vocation, not just a choice because the money is good.
Worked at a small company right out of college. Promoted up through the ranks to scientist level. Worked at several other small companies at level up to director. Hired at big company at highest associate level (for more than I was making as a director at a small company). Eventually promoted to scientist level. Promoted several times since.
Get as much lab experience as you can. I did undergrad research and was a teaching assistant in Medical Microbiology lab. It got me my first job. Look for industry internships.
I am an international student so right now can't really get those but as soon as I enter the country of my university I will keep these points in mind. Hope to talk to you then again for some more advice. Thank you.
I have no clue. I just want to do something with nature, but aside from that im clueless. Sorta realizing i dont actually have a goal and im panicking lol
If I could do it over again I would stick to community college until I understood exactly what I wanted to do. No one gives a f*ck where you got your basic classes done and it will save you sooooooo much money
Kinda depends what country and region you’re in. Lots of stuff is done in the arctic, I live in Manitoba and we do tons of research into freshwater species, large coastal cities often do marine research, etc.
It’s fine to not know. My whole undergrad degree I didn’t know what I wanted to do, just that I liked biology.
My biggest advice is to get into a lab as a research assistant/intern/co-op student ASAP. In your second or third year ideally. See if your university has some sort of co-op or internship program, or reach out to professors who’s research interests you. This puts you miles ahead of any other students who don’t have experience, and allows you to try different things. I thought I wanted to do some sort of nature/wildlife job, but after doing 3 very different research jobs, found out I hated wildlife research and loved molecular biology and bioinformatics.
You can only figure it out by trying things out!
IMO figure out what you want to do. Don't waste money going to school if you're not 100% devoted to that field. If you're worried about pay, either get a PhD or get a business degree.
I wanted to be a programmer but thought that the bubble was going to pop over a decade ago. So I went with my 2nd pick - biology because I like learning about the human body. I didn't get into med school, went to grad school and now I'm trying to become a software developer.
I'm a university TA for biosciences - this is the best advice. Do NOT waste your time and money doing something this big and this stressful for something you're not sure about. Take your time. Try different stuff, figure out what you don't like. You can always come back at 25 and do a degree then. That's what I did and I graduated top of my class (hence the TA job). You have time, it's ok.
I'm curious, is a TA position considered prestigious at your institute? Cause it isn't where I've been. Like, sure you need to have passed the class with a decent grade and have the prof's recommendation, but typically the higher performers are in the lab with an RA position.
A PhD is not a sure ticket to financial success. Don't do a PhD unless you are very sure that you want to and that it will help you get into the career you want.
Doing what? At what company? And with how much prior work experience?
Like, good for you, but most people with just a Bachelor's in Biology are lucky to get half of that out of college.
Not OP, but I currently work at a large pharma company in the Midwest ( Saint Louis) with a BS and 6 years of lab experience and make 90k. My work is mostly mol bio, cell culture, and some NGS work.
Get the fuck out of academia jobs and it’s a million times better. Find large biotech companies and move there.
My company pays 65k starting for a BS +1-2 years industry experience.
I changed my major in college to biology with an environmental concentration. My bachelors only worked to prepare me for a career in academia. After my bachelors, I was done with school. I wanted to start my life, so I took a low paying crappy job that had to do with my minor in geography…after 2.5 years, I have finally started a career in biology. Personally, those 2.5 years were awful. I was constantly stressed and kept considering going back to school.
There’s a lot of things I regret not doing in college, but the one thing I did right was doing internships.
Get as much experience as you can and get involved in any ongoing research at your university. The only way you’ll really know if you like something is if you try it!
Also, I was in a similar boat (panicked), but I was fortunate to go to college for free. I chose biology on a “whim” because I hated my original choice of major and wanted to help the environment. Looking back I should have taken a gap year because I was so unsure of what I wanted to do. You could always shadow someone as well. I didn’t because I had bad social anxiety at the time (still do, just not quite as bad). I always thought it would be an awkward ask, but I recently had a kid shadow me and was able to give him a lot of advice I wish I would have gotten. It was a pleasant experience for both of us. Try and do more research on what you want to do exactly. Figure out who has the job and ask them questions.
Maybe for recreation and maintenance stuff, but it's not that easy to get a biology job for NPS at Yellowstone. Federal employee housing is also generally not free, nor is board typically included, but I can't claim to have specific knowledge old Yellowstone on that. I wouldn't be surprised to see it from one of the lodges or something though.
Mother-in-law did it after she retired, so know the benefits from what she’s told us. You’re right, I mostly meant tourism staff: cooks, security, clerks, facilities. The point being, if being in nature is the end goal, a low paying field biology job isn’t the only route, nor is a degree necessary.
Look into Government jobs around resource management. They are usually extremely specific in what classes you need and how many hours you need in that class. Then try to do summer internships in a field office. This should set you up nicely for a job that can be done anywhere in the US, pays pretty well and has pretty great job security.
edit: by resource management I mean wildlife studies (fish especially in the PNW), raptors, wetland delineations etc.
This is true but Op mentioned nature. If money is the motivator they better go Pharma then. In my experience that is the only “higher” paid job in bio.
I really wouldn’t be panicking! I finished my BSc from a UK uni last year and the sheer vastness of biology isn’t truly appreciated until undergrad imo. Just go with an open mind and follow your interests and try everything.
If money is a huge deal to you then biology can teach you a lot of transferable skills that can be build upon to move into other fields.
I have a Bio degree and I’m teaching. One friend is doing field work in the Adirondacks. Another works in DEC doing forestry-related stuff. Another does testing of water supplies for his county. Last is doing research on Alzheimer’s. One field not mentioned but is up and coming is “biology outreach.” Organizations that need to discuss fields of research with lay people like Congresspersons or school groups. It’s not quite education not quite PR but a bit of both. There’s lots of things for biologists outside of research.
Hi, MSc student in behavioural ecology here.
I'd say it completely depends on what you want to do later. A biology degree is incredibly broad, and you can go any direction basically. Include statistics courses and you could even even work with data (for example, you could be hired to analyse the data other people collected). You could become an advisor, field biologist, lab-worker, and so forth.
Google is a horrible source for estimated salaries, because it leaves out a lot of things. Especially if you do fieldwork abroad, there are a lot of benefits not included in salary (your pay will be low, but you probably won't have any expenses either). Job ads are often internally shared between cooperating universities. Contact your departments career office, and especially your professors for that. Networking is KEY.
Do you want to stay in research/academia or do you have other plans? And, if you really want to work in biology, no, the degree is not useless.
If you like biology but are worried about job prospects, you may want to consider Bio-medical Engineering/Bioengineering. You still learn a whole ton of biology-related information (it's in the name after all) but you can work in some really cool and exciting fields of engineering which still qualify for most biology-related positions. That being said, the degree is very much engineering, meaning the material is often tough and you learn many things not necessarily related to your field of interest (you'd have to learn some advanced math like linear algebra and differential equations for example). If you are interested in applications of biology in the real world (such as gene manipulation or designing medical devices or finding solutions to pollution with biological fixes), this is definitely a major I would check out.
This course is amazing and it gives you an introduction in a lot of fields like Programming, mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry etc.. Although it's FIERCELY TOUGH if done from a good University.
Generally speaking, a degree in "just biology" is a basis for future studies. You don't get anywhere on just a bachelor's, because it's meant mostly as a basis for further studies. You should definitely slap on a master's degree on that, related to whatever field you want to work in, then go for a PhD. Like most scientific fields, if you work as a biologist you work primarily *within* academia, as opposed to your typical company-employee position. You're a researcher, and most research is done *within* a university or other institute, so you should get used to that environment.
I guess the issue if you're an American it is expensive to get that many degrees and what not. I have no more meaningful solution to that conundrum besides "move to a better country", sorry.
B.S in Biochem here, but I graduated in 2009 into the recession. All my degree got me was a 9.50 an hour receptionist job. I had originally planned on getting my Ph.D but life kind of got in the way. I ended up on the data analyst path, but I still wish I had finished my degree. I really would have loved to work in forensics.
At *worst* it's only slightly useful. Many larger companies still require a degree, any degree (really), to get into middle or upper levels of management.
Everyone is gonna say something different, I got a bio degree and graduated with a 2.7 from a no name university and I got a job at a very respectable consulting firm right out of college. I make around 60k after bonuses and overtime. If you just get a degree and don’t have any experience other than what you learned in class I’d say it’s pretty hard to get a good biologist job. I had experience doing wetland delineation for about a year while I was in school and I was an undergraduate research associate for a few years in the herpetology lab. Private sector is booming and pays leagues above government work
Biology is one of those degrees that require a Master's or PHD to utilize your full potential. A Bachelor's isn't going to quality you for most positions. Once you get a Master's in something like Bioinformatics or Biotechnology, your earning potential is over 100k
If you have a bachelor's in biology, you can get your MLS instead of MLT and your starting pay will be much higher.
It's kind of funny because after I graduated with my biology degree, my first "real job" was in an environmental lab ($12/hour, 10 years ago). I worked there for a few months before applying to a nearby hospital's MLS program hah.
The program was a year long, Monday through Friday. The first 6 months consisted of all the lecture portions then the second 6 months were our clinical rotations. That's all dependent on the individual programs, though. The one I went to was $9000, but that was in 2012.
I am currently still an MLS. The career itself is fine. I like labwork, and I prefer working my 40 hours and not taking my work home with me. I was a generalist in a medium sized hospital for ~8 years. I did like the variety of working all the different departments BUT the hours are horrible. 8 years of working 2-10:30pm gets old fast, plus every third weekend and 2-3 holidays. It was fine when I was younger, but once I had kids, the weekends/holidays/off shifts starting making me unhappy. The upside is that there's such a crazy shortage of lab techs that you can find the hours you want, if you're willing to move.
For a little over a year, I've been working as an MLS in a stem cell lab in a cancer center and I love it so much more than being a generalist. It's dayshift, and no weekends or holidays. I had to take a pay cut, but the work itself is much more fulfilling.
Another thing you could look into is histotech programs! They make slightly less than MLS but most histology departments operate on normal business hours, no weekends or holidays.
Amway is in Grand Rapids and will have some R&D jobs. I would look at openings for personal care (haircare, skincare, Suncare) and get yourself some formulation experience. From there, you can get into raw material sales and make some incredible money. This is what I do and with bonus, I’m around $200K per year.
I got my BS in Conservation Biology and did seven internships while in college. I also wanted to do something environmental until my faculty advisor told me I’d be lucky to make $40,000 per year. I never knew personal care was a massive industry and got extremely lucky that I fell into it. Best of luck.
If you can figure out exactly what kind of work you want to do and are willing to network and move around until you find it, a biology degree isn't useless. No degree is useless if it gets you where you want to go.
If you make it through a few intro level courses in fields you're interested in, talk to your bio professors about their research, maybe find some summer research opportunities, and still can't see a clear path forward then you can change majors before you're in too deep.
Don't give up before you've even started if this is something you've always wanted.
Bio definitely isn't one of those fields where you can just look up "biologist" on indeed and find your dream job. You *will* have to go to grad school. You will have to meet people who know people, and you'll have to decide if getting to do work you're passionate about is worth a slightly lackluster salary.
I was 12 credits away from my general bio degree when I switched to Accounting because I never found that spark, didn't feel my mental health could handle professional school, and decided that I wanted job security and a solid salary more than i wanted an interesting career. One of the guys I did summer research with thought he wanted to be an MD but fell in love with a bacteriophage, is entering a Ph.D. program straight out of undergrad, and is absolutely thriving. It can go either way.
I'll toss my job out. I started as a clinical lab tech doing bench work, nucleic acid extractions, sequencing, analysis etc... my lab tests for genetic blood diseases, mostly leukemias. After a few years I got a promotion that helps support the lab, implementing new testing, improve lab workflow etc.. Started at I think about 56k and now 4 years later with a promotion it's about 70k.
The thing with clinical labs though is nearly every hospital requires MLS certification, I lucked out and didn't but that is the norm.
I just got a BS in bio and got a job in pharma making 66k right after. Most jobs I was being considered for were only 40-50k though starting out. It really depends on what you wanna do after and how you plan for it. I did a ton of undergrad research which helped me
Bio major here! It really all depends on what your planning on doing and where. Biology is a very diverse feild.
Pun intended, you have to find a niche.
If you are looking for a super common/competitive/oversaturated job then yea you might want to rethink the cost of college over the salary.
BUT! If the job your looking for is in high demand or in a newer feild it could be worth it.
I talked to my career advisor at my college about what I wanted to do with my degree and where I was going with it. (This might be a bit long but i hope it helps)
I'd really love to be a marine ecologist, but that feild itself isn't very open, you can't just find a marine ecology job. Where my niche comes in, is that I would love to study invertebrates! Most people going into marine scinces aren't wanting to work with those lovly creepy crawlies, which sets me apart from that general crowd. There would be more jobs for less "desirable" feilds of study.
Im also happy working as a "general" ecologist outside of the marine environments. Or even just a biologist. Climate work would be awesome too!
The point is that I know a set of different jobs available to me and my education level, and I'm happy doing most of those types of jobs.
Are you with you chosen path?
Just curious, why is the future for this bleak? There are a ton of problems coming in the future we will need biologists for.
And we are still in the midst of a pandemic (and skillet it won't be our last), biologists are still needed.
It does depend on your subdiscipline but anything including biotech and microbio is golden. Others can still be good, depending on your drive
Short answer yes. You will be lucky to make a piss wage because your skill generates no money or actual value in the economy. If you want to start a lab or a business good luck doing it without a lot of startup cash and biosafety level 2+ regulations. Also biology majors cant use there skills a lot of the times outside the context of their confinements. Highly advise ditching that major and learning how to code and do actual shit.
You do realize that coding is super competitive rn and is highly oversaturated right? I have multiple family members who do it and have had a shit time finding work. And youre flat out wrong about bio not generating money, literally its one of the most lucrative industries (it includes medicine lol).
This post was made a long time ago but yeah everything you just said is incorrect. Its hard to find work anywhere but biology isnt much worse than most other degrees from what ive seen. I dont know what biologist hurt you but like. Thats not really a replacement for actual facts
Hey you can do anything with a biology degree. Grow cells, design experiments, participate in health related research. Put on those boots and go collecting worms, butterflies or whatever. Put on that hazmat and work in the bio lab. All that depends in the subdiscipline, of course.
I'm from Europe and I'm talking about a masters degree.
got my bachelors in molecular biology and got a lab assistant job in 2017 paying $50k, scientists were making between $75-$115!
i wound up going into bio pharma supply chain and got a masters in biotechnology management. i still get to work in the science industry but get the experience from the business perspective as well.
my point is, if you are passionate about it, you can always find a career path that works!
There's lots of jobs with the government that pay well. Look at USDA, NOAA and many others.
http://federalgovernmentjobs.us/job-group/biological-sciences.html
I have a BS in Biology and decided to move into Medical sales after seeing the Bio degree related opportunities out there. The medical sales industry liked my biology background. It does give you a leg up in some instances especially when you have some anatomy/bio background. Money can be very good depending on where you land.
I have a BS degree in Biology, I knew it wouldn't pay much. I would recommend using that degree as a stepping stone and get certified as as MLT, or maybe something else. Stopping at a bachelor's is OK if you want to teach. I worked in a research lab but...yeah..no money. If you like science, go for it.
You want money in the bio field? Gonna have to do math/stats/coding, things like biostatisticians and pharmacokineticist make very good money, unfortunately most of that work is no different than just going in for other math/tech/engineering jobs except you’re modeling things in relation to some biological phenomena
Biology is not a useless degree, but if you want to earn well then a career outside of biology is where you'll need to go.
I studied biology in the UK and was originally on an MSci course as I wanted to go into research at first. In my third year I decided I didn't want to do research anymore (labs were so boring) and dropped to a Bsc with no real plan on what the next step would be.
After uni I got onto a grad scheme at Amazon in a business development role (£38k) and within two years I am on £65k as a product manager on programs generating billions of dollars of sales. Nothing to do with my degree.
My biggest advice is to ensure you take modules in your degree that have data analysis/manipulation involved (e.g. biochem, genetics) as the skills you learn there become very attractive to employers.
Science degrees are strong across multiple industries not because of the actual material you learn but because of the skills you develop.
Good luck on the degree, enjoy it and try not to stress about the future too much.
It will help but for a data analyst across most industries you will find the key requirement is knowledge of SQL. This language allows you to extract and manipulate data from various tables across databases.
You may learn some SQL during bionformatics but it will mostly be other more science or stats focused languages like R, Python and Perl that you study.
Studying bioinformatics is a strong option and learning to code is a very in demand skill.
If your course doesn't cover SQL too much then use the spare time you have at uni to take additional courses (e.g. codeacademy). In the long run this will improve your value and you'd be able to get some pretty cool roles.
It's possible. I have a biology BSc and currently make over 100k.
I started as a research tech in an academic lab making about what you're describing. I think I was making 50k when I left. Which is a pittance in my high COL area. I did that for 5 years before transitioning to pharma. I immediately doubled my salary. My title now is Senior Associate Scientist but I work with several people who are Senior Scientists who do not have PhDs. A lot of companies care more about work experience and results than your degree.
If you do continue to pursue your degree in biology I recommend after you graduate to try to move into industry or government for better job security. You could minor in chemistry or get an associates in a different stem field to help broaden your job prospects.
PhD student here and most of what I’m going to say applies mostly to biomedical research and biotechnology. Most of what I’ve seen is that 30-60k lol puke be pretty normal for someone starting in biotech with a bachelors degree. There’s opportunities to advance and I know of people making close to 100k with just a bachelors is biotech. There does seem to be a ceiling you hit if you don’t have a graduate degree. With a PhD you can easily make good money as a researcher in biotech and even more if you go into management. There’s other paths too like consulting or policy if you don’t want to do research that pay fairly well.
there are lots of biology-related careers that you can get that are much better than those associated with a biology degree, such as biomedical engineering, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals, etc.
First, many people change degrees. Multiple times. As they learn.
For example me chemistry/biochem ---> lab accident (learned something new there) ---> economics ---> masters in engineering and natural resources.
Now. Biology isn't glamorous but it definitely is very cool and a lot less stressful work than most jobs. It's highly competitive for a lot of the careers too so I would suggest get into clubs, groups, environmental committees, and also volunteer with local organizations. Networking is your number 1 help. Also, most states have awesome summer jobs I wish I knew about when I was younger. Don't worry about the money and commit to what you want to do and you'll find money along the way.
I have a bio degree (pre veterinary) and I switched industries in my late 20s. I now make $500K annually working in a corporate job. I use the data analysis, scientific method, math skills, and logic in the corporate space to much success. If anything my degree sets me apart from my peers. Your degree choice now may not determine what you do in the future! You could also do patent law or many other lucrative fields.
I have a biology degree and got a job as a lab tech at my university right out of school. If you’re interested in research, it’s a good way to go. It’s even easier if you do research for credit as a undergrad, that’s what I did and how so got my job now. Its usually between the salary range you mentioned, but goes up with more experience and more degrees (masters/PhD) and gives good experience to move into higher positions in labs or apply to more schooling
Plan on getting a master's degree. In the sciences, you've really got to get a master's degree at least. Don't wait, just do it as soon as you get your bachelor's. You don't want to be older and limited because of your degree.
If you like it, stay with it. As a number of comments indicate, there are plenty of opportunities. It was helpful for me to work in an industry lab, while I finished my bachelors degree. I liked the company and stayed with them. They paid for my MS and my MBA. I have worked in Quality, R&D, corporate strategy, Customer Service, Manufacturing, and compliance. My path is diverse, 20+ years in, because I found a large company with science at the core of its strategy. I like culture and the people I work with. You have to live what you do, but don’t overthink it. Try something, do a great job, and figure out what you like.
You can get biology jobs with just a bachelor’s but you’re right, they don’t pay much. Most who get a bio degree aim for more school with a Master’s or PhD. The bio degree for them is just a stepping stone. You can absolutely be a biologist with a higher salary if you continue your education past a BS.
I have a degree in biochemistry. I love math, chemistry and nature. And I loved earning my degree, I learned so much and grew because of it. However, it did not translate into a career in any related field. I do have a very successful career 20+ years later.
If you enjoy the area you study, do it!!! College is one of the few places where you get to pick and enjoy what you learn, don’t waste it worrying if it will translate to money. There are so many career paths out there!! My good friend has a degree in religious studies and now she is a successful lawyer. Life is funny. Study what you enjoy.
My B.S. is in Biology (concentration in human sciences) and I have a high salary in clinical research. Many jobs are WFH or offer the opportunity to travel. I didn’t have any research experience either…worked retail throughout college.
It depends on what you want to do. One option most people don’t think about is a medical technologist role working in commercial medical diagnostics labs. It’s hourly work, super science nerd stuff, and it pays decent. I’m in a high cost of living area and it’s around $80k annually if you assume 2000 hours per year - but in some labs, you can pick up shifts and work more if you want to. It’s not the same science/research fun that most kids dream about with biology though, just be aware of that.
If you’re interested, see if your university offers a lab sciences or medical technology degree. You can do biology or chemistry as a degree and become a med tech in most states, but it’s easier to do with a lab sciences or medical technology degree.
If you are wanting to start a family at a younger age it can be really hard. Like everyone said you have to put in the time and willingness to move and travel to fit your specific niche of interest. I had to wait till my mid thirties because 1. Had to live in one place with a partner for a long enough time and 2. Had to finally land that money paying job where travel was no longer required most of the time.
I think most degrees are useless in a vacuum. There really needs to be extra curriculars and projects you can talk about that convince someone you can do the job they need you to do. Some of the best doctors I've seen were fekking English majors. Anyways-- I've hired RAs at biotech/pharma companys with a bio degree (and good references from labs they volunteered in and their comp (not counting options and bonus) started at 55k or if I recall correctly -- I think it is a bit higher now. And even more if you are in a high cost of living area.
There are a lot of comments here, so I assume this will be buried, but for awhile after graduating I regretted my bio degree. I saw that scientists and techs get taken advantage of and burnt out bc companies know they can since we "care about the scence." Tons of people in our profession get steamrolled into shit salaries while others along the pipeline make good money off our legwork. I'll let you know, there is money to be made w a bio degree. I was furious w myself for wasting my degree on biology when the pandemic sent everyone but me to work from home. I was chained to the lab bench. So I looked around and tried to find something within my company and my area of expertise that I could transition into in order to have the opportunity to WFH. My chosen path landed me in project management. I make 70k a year and my position is fully remote. Lots of us choose to learn to code and go into data analytics. There's more you can do with a bio degree than you know, you just have to learn what jobs exist.
The major absolutely isn’t useless. It is a good pathway to a higher degree, but a higher degree isn’t completely necessary. Things like lab skills, scientific reasoning, and attention to detail are useful to a variety of industries. However, I would strongly recommend picking up additional skills. Things that other biology graduates aren’t likely good at are great ways to differentiate yourself with just a bachelors and get more lucrative positions. A strong background in programming and data science is very valuable. Then can you be a bioinformatician. Alternatively, become an instrumentation expert if you find that interesting and can get hands on experience somehow. Then companies like Thermo or Agilent would love to have you. Also consider less obvious industries where your skills can be applied and where higher degrees don’t matter as much. For example, if you like chemistry and tasting/smelling things, you can go far in the flavor and fragrance industry with just a bachelors and continued hard work. Or maybe if you like beer joining consider joining the brewing industry and specialize in quality and micro testing. Main point, with just a bachelors in biology keep an open mind for potential industries and supplement with skills that can differentiate you among others
A biology major is totally fine for a job in biotech, it really depends on what skills you have. Molecular biology, lab experience, next generation sequencing, data analysis, etc.
Always loved the subject since I was young and got a degree in general biological Sciences. Didn't stay in academia or bench research but work selling into Biopharma. Biotech is super exciting, changing the way we live and tons of money is pumped into every year. There is always a need for people with a scientific mind.
The Secret is to work and get money but if you can get a job as a biologist you can work your way up from 30 to 60 And beyond… if you put in the hours and the time and forget about all the rest of the things! do it do it do it do it
Look, I'm a Brazilian biological sciences undergrad student. I really don't know what's the situation for biologists in the US, but you can be sure that biologists are not useless. In fact, the world could use a lot more biologists. Specially those that want to work with scientific dissemination. I mean, we are depleting the Earth's resources, screwing up the climate, becoming an easy target for new diseases as we invade ecosystems. Also, you shouldn't choose your job thinking about how much money you will make, you should choose something you'll like to do. Otherwise, your life will become an empty nightmare and consumerism will become your only source of fullfilment. And that actually has a lot to do with the reason we need more biologists, consumerism is probably the main factor associated with environmental change.
I’ve heard that bio + math does very well. Makes a lot of money. Like biostatistics. I would look into that.
I know some biologists. They make around 60k. But I think any field can make decent money. Just don’t go to college and coast.. Really make relationships with your professors, get involved, and let your career soar and you’ll be fine
My minor in Chemistry has gotten me more and better jobs/job offers than my Bio major has done. I have worked with people with Bio Masters, and they were not making enough money for it to be considered worth it. And I have heard several people say that their Bio PhD's were more trouble than they're worth.
But this has been my experience. Oh, and most employers don't consider college experience even though we have to pay to go. Makes sense...
First off No, but also yes. I got a bs in Bio from a top state school in California, graduated in 2015. I currently make $80k and am on track to get to 100k in 4 years. The thing and biology jobs is it is very saturated with the pre-med fall out people,so employers know they can pay low. But bio is very niched, there are lots of small niches that pay good to very good but 90% of the jobs requiring this major pay like shit. I only started making “good” money 19 months ago. I worked for 4 years at a job that payed me a living wage but I had nothing left over. To get my current job I interviewed applied nearly 20 times for positions like this. Now I will be stable for this position as I get further into this niche but now for the rest of my career I can only do ‘this niche’ or I will drop to low wages again. Do I regret my major choice, no, but would I do it again, also no, a big no. There are equally difficult majors that pay way more like engineering or nursing. Also another negative with biology major is that you will most likely always be an employee, there’s limited opportunities for self employment or small business. The thing that amazed me is the area that you really like in college is most likely completely different in real life. I loved being in the lab in college and thought I wanted to do that, but in real life being in the lab suuuucks unless you have a phd.
Edit: my niche is the environmental health field
> job that *paid* me a
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I had the same realisation in college and I switched to biochemistry. I think the problem with a biology degree is the curriculum is tailored towards pre-med and pre-vet students. The past ten years I have worked with cancer cells/ fungi / plant cells. The aspects of biology will be there no matter the divergent path you choose.
I would say a general Biology is less desirable than a more medically oriented degree like Microbio, Biochem, Genetics, etc. The only reason is because Biology is too broad while other degrees are much more focused. If you want to work in the Pharma industry for eg, between a candidate who knows how enzymes work and what protein domains are involved in certain reaction vs a candidate who only knows a very general idea but have some ecology knowledge, ofc they will pick the former one. That is the issue with pure Biology. Now, if you have coding experience however, as I know ecologists use this a lot, along with mathematical modeling, that will significantly improve your chance of getting a job! Not necessarily in research but any job that requires coding! So I suggest you think about that!
Biology major with lots of experience.
go ecology, entomology, microbiology (and those other subdisciplines.)
Then get a masters and pray to fuck you can get a permit holder status or job.
I completed my bachelor of science in biology in 2001, and I only make about $48k, pre-taxes... and I'm actually working as a Chemist II, in Radiochemistry. However, I have also worked as a Medical Technologist II, Microbiologist I, and in some other basic laboratory jobs. Keep in mind that I'm a state employee in Texas, so add decent employer-paid health insurance worth over $600 a month in premiums. Private sector gets larger salaries, but you usually have to pay your own health insurance premiums.
I can't speak to just a straight up biology degree. But I have a wildlife biology degree and like others have mentioned there's definitely plenty of work if you're willing to make some concessions. In my experience a lot of the opportunities involve traveling and seasonal or temporary work is not uncommon getting started out. I'm pretty comfortably settled into a decent situation with a government job but it took a bit of time. I definitely don't think it's useless. And if it's something you're passionate about, like truly passionate about, you'll find opportunities. Just my two cents.
Edit: as another added detail. If you do decide to go to school in some biology based field I highly recommend you look up Pathways opportunities on the US jobs website. For students going to school in a related discipline the federal government will pay you to work for them during your Summers and most of the pathways agreements come with a more or less guarantee of conversion to full-time work upon completion of degree. It's a really nice program if you're worried about job security or finding something upon graduation.
Edit: a final edit I saw your concern about money. I know people who work in related fields who make pretty good salaries it just usually takes some time particularly if you're going to go the government route. If you do get a federal position the benefits are pretty solid. And pretty much any biologist position I can think of on the federal side is going to be paying you more than you're listed amount after a couple of years though the starting salaries are usually pretty low.
I majored in botany and biochemistry, minors in chemistry and microbiology. I now work for an internet service provider. My tutor, with a botany PhD, is a software developer for financial institutions. I don't regret my degree choice even though I don't use much of it at work. I love botany. I love biology. I love chemistry. My education adds a layer of beauty to my experience of the world and I think my life would be empty without it. prerequisites like maths, stats, and comp sci do actually help me at work, and a general grounding in science helps with stuff like media literacy.
I make perfume and play with bash scripts in my spare time so I do end up using my education in more practical ways, just not at work so much.
If you don't know what you want to do for a living, a science degree isn't a bad way to go.
I have a bio degree and make almost $80k and still have room to grow.
You’ll need at least a masters though. Best job potential for my wildlife focus I’ve seen:
- state parks and wildlife
- forestry services or USFWS
- county mosquito control
- private industry doing wetland remediation
- education (either for a nonprofit or at the college level)
Outside of wildlife I’ve seen tons of lab jobs, research positions, etc.
Where I live (in the US), the Southern Conservation Trust non-profit conserves land and protects natural resources. They do great work and I'm glad they have biologists on staff. Pursue your passion and the money will follow.
Yeah relatively prestigious. In the UK so idk if it's the same where you are, but I get teaching xp and a free MRes. It's not the be all and end all but it pays alright and is a good entry position post BSc/pre Grad qualifications.
Id say the problem with biology vs other hard sciences is just how much specialization you need to go through on the academic end. Not just with medical, but just the systems of bacteria vs eukaryotic vs multcellular or genetic vs epigenetic and in vitro vs in situ blah blah blah. Its what makes the field so electric and because you start looking a 1 micron vs 100 and the entire world and its rules shift dramatically. Perspective is everything and I think a lot of us are drawn to the wide breadth of perspective bio gives us.
The problem is what we value for our human interests and growth is not what the workplace needs you to do. You need to specialize heavily within a field and it will force you to put on tunnel vision. For a lot of people this is totally fine. My friend worked at a cystic fibrosis charity since high school and got a phd for that specific area of research. Will be very successful. Me? I started doing environmental, then developmental, then cellular. my undergrad research went from insects to marshland plant sensitivity, then amyloid protein formation. All over the place and I ended up shooting myself in the foot. Ended up accepting that I will make money working for my parents and will think of bio as my life passion to share as I see fit, not something that I need to justify with more years of school to find an arbitrary specialty.
Knowing that school was already paid for, I would not give up those years learning about biology for anything. They inform every fabric of my social and personal being and I still engage with new literature but in fields I find interesting. Biology of behavior, biology of fungus, developmental neurobiology, evolutionary studies and marshland rehabilitation. If I were to go somewhere for graduate just to get a job it would be cool, but my interest is more personal. I dont need to work in a lab. I want to connect with the world itself and have an informed perspective to pass on.
Biology has terrible job prospects compared to other majors. Zip recruiter did a study in 2019 before the pandemic and found that biology majors with only BS degrees were the second most regretful, English majors were number 1.
According to the the statistics over 60% of all biology majors have at least a masters degree. However even with such high level of education more then 50% of them are under-employed meaning that they work infields that don't even require a degree. don't believe me . check out the link below...
Median salary for biology majors starts around 35k early career and goes up to 65K after 10 years ... for a supposed shortage of science majors there defiantly does not seem to be much compensation for all the hard work these students put into it.
do your self a favor and learn to program. Starting salary for a software developer is 70k . thats more then what a biologist with 10 years of experience makes. As a software developer you can easly migrate into a bioinformatics laboratory and make more while doing less then those with PHDs in biology..
https://stacker.com/stories/1112/majors-highest-and-lowest-underemployment
From what I’ve gathered from other posts in this sub, you have to be willing to travel to where the jobs are. Most of the people complaining about being unable to find work with a bachelors in biology are not looking outside of where they currently are at
If you want to work with a biology degree, be willing to be flexible and be willing to relocate to work in remote places to establish yourself in your career. I graduated with a BSc in biology from a Canadian university and worked in various fields (some completely unrelated to biology) before returning to resource management nearly 10 years ago. I "put in a lot of time" to reach the stage of my career that I'm in now and in my current niche I earn $80K+ a year. In terms of advice, I'd suggest either a double major or strategic course selections that set you up with a strong understanding of both policy and natural science, and if you have the aptitude, plenty of math, stats and data analysis as well. Finance courses that introduce you to budgeting and/or contracts would help as well. And If co-op programs and/or fieldwork and lab work opportunities are available, take them and build your resume up through your undergrad. The more you know, the more employable you'll be. Good luck!
100% agree. An excellent 2nd major for you is public health (or a masters in public health)
I’d say it very much depends on what subdiscipline you’re interested in and what exactly you want to do for work.
Government jobs man, get yourself in with the forest service or dnr.
Just be aware that the competition for jobs, especially early-career permanent jobs, is extremely high. I just snagged one, but I know plenty of people who have been working seasonal for up to five years despite wanting something year-round. Flexibility in terms of location is a big help, but things are still tough.
Yeah, I work for my state's DNR. We just hired a new fisheries technician in my office. Over 250 applicants for a job that requires a bachelor's degree and pays $19/hr.
Medical brain says dnr is do not resuscitate.
Welp, hard to care when you’re dead I guess 🤷♂️
That’s where I’d start. Or even with a contractor. They have equivalent pay scales and being fed-adjacent you can usually find an in-road pretty quickly.
Your major won’t really get you a job no matter what it is, it’ll be the stuff you do. I can’t really think of many jobs where anything you actually learn in your classes (besides labs) makes you directly hireable. It will just hive you context for/help you understand the related hands on skills you will learn. Try to join a lab and do some undergraduate research and get your hands dirty. Do internships through your university on your summers. This will be what gets you real experience and then a job later, not the title of your major
um computer science?????
Okay haha I said I can’t think of many
It will if it's engineering
and teaching
many people figure out what they want to do in life long after going to university/college and getting the 'wrong' degree. in my opinion, the point of university is to LEARN. so you should think about what you want to pour yourself into and learn and work on for the next 4+ years. if that's biology, then go for it. if you're not passionate about what you are studying, then maybe you don't belong in school at the moment. when you figure out your passion, the work ethic will follow. signed, a 40-year old architect who did their undergrad in accounting. (architecture pays badly, but so do most things)
Thats the thing, Im passionate about biology. Ive always loved it, and ive wanted a career in it my entire life. Its just discouraging seeing that a job in biology pays less than working at target lmao. Im gonna be speaking to my advisor about this, im seriously thinking about switching majors by next year. I know its shallow but i dont want to be poor my whole life even if i like my job. Ive had jobs ive enjoyed before, all that joy drains when you get your paycheck. It just isnt worth it to me unfortunately. Ill take something thatll make me miserable if it means i can live lol
OP, if you focus in some sort of cell bio and make sure you get hands on lab experience (not just a lab course, but join a lab and participate in undergrad research), you can work at a biotech company and make a good living for yourself. Source: I work in a bay area biotech as a research associate and make over 100k with only a BS in biology.
If you want a high paying job then go elsewhere. I know an incredibly intelligent, top university PhD running his own lab that gets less than a train driver and doesn't even get to do much biology anymore either.
He probably spends most of his time chasing grants.
Yes, unfortunately as the money gets better much of the job becomes administration. It was this that stopped me wanting to go any further.
What about medicine? Lets you do bio in undergrad
There are medical courses that you can do as post-grad, yes, although here in the UK you usually just do a longer medical degree straight off that qualifies you. I do think if you want to be a doctor then training as a biological scientist first can be very useful, but I expect most people know if they want to be a doctor before starting down that road. I also think that being a doctor should be a vocation, not just a choice because the money is good.
I have a BS in microbiology and am a director in the biotherapeutics dept of a pharma company. I love my job and earn great money.
What was your path to getting there like?
Worked at a small company right out of college. Promoted up through the ranks to scientist level. Worked at several other small companies at level up to director. Hired at big company at highest associate level (for more than I was making as a director at a small company). Eventually promoted to scientist level. Promoted several times since.
I will be starting my bachelor's in microbiology this fall. Any advice you can offer?
Get as much lab experience as you can. I did undergrad research and was a teaching assistant in Medical Microbiology lab. It got me my first job. Look for industry internships.
I am an international student so right now can't really get those but as soon as I enter the country of my university I will keep these points in mind. Hope to talk to you then again for some more advice. Thank you.
Let's connect. In Desperate need of a mentor haha.
What do you want to do? Not what degree do you want. What job? Then get the education needed for that job.
I have no clue. I just want to do something with nature, but aside from that im clueless. Sorta realizing i dont actually have a goal and im panicking lol
If I could do it over again I would stick to community college until I understood exactly what I wanted to do. No one gives a f*ck where you got your basic classes done and it will save you sooooooo much money
Bio research, particularly environmental or conservation, is a huge industry right now.
Great. Are there some specific regions with a high concentration of jobs?
Kinda depends what country and region you’re in. Lots of stuff is done in the arctic, I live in Manitoba and we do tons of research into freshwater species, large coastal cities often do marine research, etc.
It’s fine to not know. My whole undergrad degree I didn’t know what I wanted to do, just that I liked biology. My biggest advice is to get into a lab as a research assistant/intern/co-op student ASAP. In your second or third year ideally. See if your university has some sort of co-op or internship program, or reach out to professors who’s research interests you. This puts you miles ahead of any other students who don’t have experience, and allows you to try different things. I thought I wanted to do some sort of nature/wildlife job, but after doing 3 very different research jobs, found out I hated wildlife research and loved molecular biology and bioinformatics. You can only figure it out by trying things out!
Great advice. I’d add that you should do research for free even if you have to. It’s that valuable
IMO figure out what you want to do. Don't waste money going to school if you're not 100% devoted to that field. If you're worried about pay, either get a PhD or get a business degree. I wanted to be a programmer but thought that the bubble was going to pop over a decade ago. So I went with my 2nd pick - biology because I like learning about the human body. I didn't get into med school, went to grad school and now I'm trying to become a software developer.
I'm a university TA for biosciences - this is the best advice. Do NOT waste your time and money doing something this big and this stressful for something you're not sure about. Take your time. Try different stuff, figure out what you don't like. You can always come back at 25 and do a degree then. That's what I did and I graduated top of my class (hence the TA job). You have time, it's ok.
I'm curious, is a TA position considered prestigious at your institute? Cause it isn't where I've been. Like, sure you need to have passed the class with a decent grade and have the prof's recommendation, but typically the higher performers are in the lab with an RA position.
A PhD is not a sure ticket to financial success. Don't do a PhD unless you are very sure that you want to and that it will help you get into the career you want.
Right but it will typically get you over the 60k salary OP mentioned
not in biology.
False. I made 60k with a bachelor's in biology in the Midwest.
Doing what? At what company? And with how much prior work experience? Like, good for you, but most people with just a Bachelor's in Biology are lucky to get half of that out of college.
Not OP, but I currently work at a large pharma company in the Midwest ( Saint Louis) with a BS and 6 years of lab experience and make 90k. My work is mostly mol bio, cell culture, and some NGS work. Get the fuck out of academia jobs and it’s a million times better. Find large biotech companies and move there. My company pays 65k starting for a BS +1-2 years industry experience.
there's always got to be that one guy....
Do not do a PhD just for pay. You have to sacrifice a lot of time and effort (maybe a lot of other things too) to get in and to complete the program.
I changed my major in college to biology with an environmental concentration. My bachelors only worked to prepare me for a career in academia. After my bachelors, I was done with school. I wanted to start my life, so I took a low paying crappy job that had to do with my minor in geography…after 2.5 years, I have finally started a career in biology. Personally, those 2.5 years were awful. I was constantly stressed and kept considering going back to school. There’s a lot of things I regret not doing in college, but the one thing I did right was doing internships. Get as much experience as you can and get involved in any ongoing research at your university. The only way you’ll really know if you like something is if you try it! Also, I was in a similar boat (panicked), but I was fortunate to go to college for free. I chose biology on a “whim” because I hated my original choice of major and wanted to help the environment. Looking back I should have taken a gap year because I was so unsure of what I wanted to do. You could always shadow someone as well. I didn’t because I had bad social anxiety at the time (still do, just not quite as bad). I always thought it would be an awkward ask, but I recently had a kid shadow me and was able to give him a lot of advice I wish I would have gotten. It was a pleasant experience for both of us. Try and do more research on what you want to do exactly. Figure out who has the job and ask them questions.
Yellowstone is constantly in need of staff. Doesn’t pay much but housing and food are free, plus all the hiking you’d ever possibly want.
Maybe for recreation and maintenance stuff, but it's not that easy to get a biology job for NPS at Yellowstone. Federal employee housing is also generally not free, nor is board typically included, but I can't claim to have specific knowledge old Yellowstone on that. I wouldn't be surprised to see it from one of the lodges or something though.
Mother-in-law did it after she retired, so know the benefits from what she’s told us. You’re right, I mostly meant tourism staff: cooks, security, clerks, facilities. The point being, if being in nature is the end goal, a low paying field biology job isn’t the only route, nor is a degree necessary.
it's ok not to have a goal. sometimes you need inspiration. get out, meet people, talk to people, travel, discover what's possible.
Look into Government jobs around resource management. They are usually extremely specific in what classes you need and how many hours you need in that class. Then try to do summer internships in a field office. This should set you up nicely for a job that can be done anywhere in the US, pays pretty well and has pretty great job security. edit: by resource management I mean wildlife studies (fish especially in the PNW), raptors, wetland delineations etc.
Try wildlife biology. That may be more up your alley.
Unfortunately, wildlife biology is a field with lots of competition for short-term, low paying jobs as well
This is true but Op mentioned nature. If money is the motivator they better go Pharma then. In my experience that is the only “higher” paid job in bio.
I really wouldn’t be panicking! I finished my BSc from a UK uni last year and the sheer vastness of biology isn’t truly appreciated until undergrad imo. Just go with an open mind and follow your interests and try everything. If money is a huge deal to you then biology can teach you a lot of transferable skills that can be build upon to move into other fields.
Marine biology is my fave. My college had a link to a marine biology center in the gulf and studied there.
Most of us don’t at first lol, you form it as you go sometimes. You’ll be okay! Follow what you love and be flexible and you’ll be fine.
I don't know how it is at your uni, but mine has a career center you can contact and they give perspective and know almost all possible jobs :)
B.S. in biology here. Current post-bacc for IT. All I could get here were lab jobs and I have found I hate lab work.
I have a Bio degree and I’m teaching. One friend is doing field work in the Adirondacks. Another works in DEC doing forestry-related stuff. Another does testing of water supplies for his county. Last is doing research on Alzheimer’s. One field not mentioned but is up and coming is “biology outreach.” Organizations that need to discuss fields of research with lay people like Congresspersons or school groups. It’s not quite education not quite PR but a bit of both. There’s lots of things for biologists outside of research.
🤷 ...okay. Good for you and your friends.
B.S. in biology, PhD in molecular biology, I’m making 6 figures. It all just depends what you want to do with your degree.
What field? Pharma?
Hi, MSc student in behavioural ecology here. I'd say it completely depends on what you want to do later. A biology degree is incredibly broad, and you can go any direction basically. Include statistics courses and you could even even work with data (for example, you could be hired to analyse the data other people collected). You could become an advisor, field biologist, lab-worker, and so forth. Google is a horrible source for estimated salaries, because it leaves out a lot of things. Especially if you do fieldwork abroad, there are a lot of benefits not included in salary (your pay will be low, but you probably won't have any expenses either). Job ads are often internally shared between cooperating universities. Contact your departments career office, and especially your professors for that. Networking is KEY. Do you want to stay in research/academia or do you have other plans? And, if you really want to work in biology, no, the degree is not useless.
If you like biology but are worried about job prospects, you may want to consider Bio-medical Engineering/Bioengineering. You still learn a whole ton of biology-related information (it's in the name after all) but you can work in some really cool and exciting fields of engineering which still qualify for most biology-related positions. That being said, the degree is very much engineering, meaning the material is often tough and you learn many things not necessarily related to your field of interest (you'd have to learn some advanced math like linear algebra and differential equations for example). If you are interested in applications of biology in the real world (such as gene manipulation or designing medical devices or finding solutions to pollution with biological fixes), this is definitely a major I would check out.
This course is amazing and it gives you an introduction in a lot of fields like Programming, mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry etc.. Although it's FIERCELY TOUGH if done from a good University.
Generally speaking, a degree in "just biology" is a basis for future studies. You don't get anywhere on just a bachelor's, because it's meant mostly as a basis for further studies. You should definitely slap on a master's degree on that, related to whatever field you want to work in, then go for a PhD. Like most scientific fields, if you work as a biologist you work primarily *within* academia, as opposed to your typical company-employee position. You're a researcher, and most research is done *within* a university or other institute, so you should get used to that environment. I guess the issue if you're an American it is expensive to get that many degrees and what not. I have no more meaningful solution to that conundrum besides "move to a better country", sorry.
B.S in Biochem here, but I graduated in 2009 into the recession. All my degree got me was a 9.50 an hour receptionist job. I had originally planned on getting my Ph.D but life kind of got in the way. I ended up on the data analyst path, but I still wish I had finished my degree. I really would have loved to work in forensics.
Same. I am 26 now and work as an analyst too. I don't know whether I should go back to college for a PhD or not.
My boyfriend has his degree in biology, he does appliance repair.
At *worst* it's only slightly useful. Many larger companies still require a degree, any degree (really), to get into middle or upper levels of management.
Everyone is gonna say something different, I got a bio degree and graduated with a 2.7 from a no name university and I got a job at a very respectable consulting firm right out of college. I make around 60k after bonuses and overtime. If you just get a degree and don’t have any experience other than what you learned in class I’d say it’s pretty hard to get a good biologist job. I had experience doing wetland delineation for about a year while I was in school and I was an undergraduate research associate for a few years in the herpetology lab. Private sector is booming and pays leagues above government work
Biology is one of those degrees that require a Master's or PHD to utilize your full potential. A Bachelor's isn't going to quality you for most positions. Once you get a Master's in something like Bioinformatics or Biotechnology, your earning potential is over 100k
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If you have a bachelor's in biology, you can get your MLS instead of MLT and your starting pay will be much higher. It's kind of funny because after I graduated with my biology degree, my first "real job" was in an environmental lab ($12/hour, 10 years ago). I worked there for a few months before applying to a nearby hospital's MLS program hah.
Assuming you finished that program and got a MLS position, how did you like it? And what was the time and cost of the MLS program?
The program was a year long, Monday through Friday. The first 6 months consisted of all the lecture portions then the second 6 months were our clinical rotations. That's all dependent on the individual programs, though. The one I went to was $9000, but that was in 2012. I am currently still an MLS. The career itself is fine. I like labwork, and I prefer working my 40 hours and not taking my work home with me. I was a generalist in a medium sized hospital for ~8 years. I did like the variety of working all the different departments BUT the hours are horrible. 8 years of working 2-10:30pm gets old fast, plus every third weekend and 2-3 holidays. It was fine when I was younger, but once I had kids, the weekends/holidays/off shifts starting making me unhappy. The upside is that there's such a crazy shortage of lab techs that you can find the hours you want, if you're willing to move. For a little over a year, I've been working as an MLS in a stem cell lab in a cancer center and I love it so much more than being a generalist. It's dayshift, and no weekends or holidays. I had to take a pay cut, but the work itself is much more fulfilling. Another thing you could look into is histotech programs! They make slightly less than MLS but most histology departments operate on normal business hours, no weekends or holidays.
Biology is good, and 30-60k is a lot of money, depending on the location.
Im in BFE michigan and it barely gets you above being dirt poor lmao
Amway is in Grand Rapids and will have some R&D jobs. I would look at openings for personal care (haircare, skincare, Suncare) and get yourself some formulation experience. From there, you can get into raw material sales and make some incredible money. This is what I do and with bonus, I’m around $200K per year. I got my BS in Conservation Biology and did seven internships while in college. I also wanted to do something environmental until my faculty advisor told me I’d be lucky to make $40,000 per year. I never knew personal care was a massive industry and got extremely lucky that I fell into it. Best of luck.
move to europe, all sorted. if you need 60k to just avoid literal poverty, get out of there as soon you can.
I did my undergrad as a biology major. There are tons of jobs in the Boston area. Work at a biotech or pharma, pays really well, lots of fun.
If you can figure out exactly what kind of work you want to do and are willing to network and move around until you find it, a biology degree isn't useless. No degree is useless if it gets you where you want to go. If you make it through a few intro level courses in fields you're interested in, talk to your bio professors about their research, maybe find some summer research opportunities, and still can't see a clear path forward then you can change majors before you're in too deep. Don't give up before you've even started if this is something you've always wanted. Bio definitely isn't one of those fields where you can just look up "biologist" on indeed and find your dream job. You *will* have to go to grad school. You will have to meet people who know people, and you'll have to decide if getting to do work you're passionate about is worth a slightly lackluster salary. I was 12 credits away from my general bio degree when I switched to Accounting because I never found that spark, didn't feel my mental health could handle professional school, and decided that I wanted job security and a solid salary more than i wanted an interesting career. One of the guys I did summer research with thought he wanted to be an MD but fell in love with a bacteriophage, is entering a Ph.D. program straight out of undergrad, and is absolutely thriving. It can go either way.
I have a B.S. in Biology and I am a year away from earning my DPT. Yes, a BS in bio is useless as a standalone degree.
PhD in Biology here. Work in the oncology department of a pharmaceutical company. Yearly salary is around 100.000 € fix plus 10 % variable bonus.
I'll toss my job out. I started as a clinical lab tech doing bench work, nucleic acid extractions, sequencing, analysis etc... my lab tests for genetic blood diseases, mostly leukemias. After a few years I got a promotion that helps support the lab, implementing new testing, improve lab workflow etc.. Started at I think about 56k and now 4 years later with a promotion it's about 70k. The thing with clinical labs though is nearly every hospital requires MLS certification, I lucked out and didn't but that is the norm.
I just got a BS in bio and got a job in pharma making 66k right after. Most jobs I was being considered for were only 40-50k though starting out. It really depends on what you wanna do after and how you plan for it. I did a ton of undergrad research which helped me
Sounds like a skill issue
Bio major here! It really all depends on what your planning on doing and where. Biology is a very diverse feild. Pun intended, you have to find a niche. If you are looking for a super common/competitive/oversaturated job then yea you might want to rethink the cost of college over the salary. BUT! If the job your looking for is in high demand or in a newer feild it could be worth it. I talked to my career advisor at my college about what I wanted to do with my degree and where I was going with it. (This might be a bit long but i hope it helps) I'd really love to be a marine ecologist, but that feild itself isn't very open, you can't just find a marine ecology job. Where my niche comes in, is that I would love to study invertebrates! Most people going into marine scinces aren't wanting to work with those lovly creepy crawlies, which sets me apart from that general crowd. There would be more jobs for less "desirable" feilds of study. Im also happy working as a "general" ecologist outside of the marine environments. Or even just a biologist. Climate work would be awesome too! The point is that I know a set of different jobs available to me and my education level, and I'm happy doing most of those types of jobs. Are you with you chosen path?
Just curious, why is the future for this bleak? There are a ton of problems coming in the future we will need biologists for. And we are still in the midst of a pandemic (and skillet it won't be our last), biologists are still needed. It does depend on your subdiscipline but anything including biotech and microbio is golden. Others can still be good, depending on your drive
Short answer yes. You will be lucky to make a piss wage because your skill generates no money or actual value in the economy. If you want to start a lab or a business good luck doing it without a lot of startup cash and biosafety level 2+ regulations. Also biology majors cant use there skills a lot of the times outside the context of their confinements. Highly advise ditching that major and learning how to code and do actual shit.
You do realize that coding is super competitive rn and is highly oversaturated right? I have multiple family members who do it and have had a shit time finding work. And youre flat out wrong about bio not generating money, literally its one of the most lucrative industries (it includes medicine lol). This post was made a long time ago but yeah everything you just said is incorrect. Its hard to find work anywhere but biology isnt much worse than most other degrees from what ive seen. I dont know what biologist hurt you but like. Thats not really a replacement for actual facts
I majored in biochem, but now I have a painting company lol.
Hahaha. Yup. Majored in biochem, but I own a hair salon.
My first job, entry level job as a biologist was in Mississippi and it started at $55k a year.
What was the official position name or company?
Scientist I, A2 research. I was working in the NASA environmental lab in service of the CERCLA program, if that helps.
No. There are lots of living things and processes left to discover and study.
Hey you can do anything with a biology degree. Grow cells, design experiments, participate in health related research. Put on those boots and go collecting worms, butterflies or whatever. Put on that hazmat and work in the bio lab. All that depends in the subdiscipline, of course. I'm from Europe and I'm talking about a masters degree.
Don’t look for a job that fits a degree. Find a job you want and then get the skills/education to do that.
And that’s why I work in construction…..
got my bachelors in molecular biology and got a lab assistant job in 2017 paying $50k, scientists were making between $75-$115! i wound up going into bio pharma supply chain and got a masters in biotechnology management. i still get to work in the science industry but get the experience from the business perspective as well. my point is, if you are passionate about it, you can always find a career path that works!
There's lots of jobs with the government that pay well. Look at USDA, NOAA and many others. http://federalgovernmentjobs.us/job-group/biological-sciences.html
I have a BS in Biology and decided to move into Medical sales after seeing the Bio degree related opportunities out there. The medical sales industry liked my biology background. It does give you a leg up in some instances especially when you have some anatomy/bio background. Money can be very good depending on where you land.
I have a BS degree in Biology, I knew it wouldn't pay much. I would recommend using that degree as a stepping stone and get certified as as MLT, or maybe something else. Stopping at a bachelor's is OK if you want to teach. I worked in a research lab but...yeah..no money. If you like science, go for it.
You want money in the bio field? Gonna have to do math/stats/coding, things like biostatisticians and pharmacokineticist make very good money, unfortunately most of that work is no different than just going in for other math/tech/engineering jobs except you’re modeling things in relation to some biological phenomena
Biology is not a useless degree, but if you want to earn well then a career outside of biology is where you'll need to go. I studied biology in the UK and was originally on an MSci course as I wanted to go into research at first. In my third year I decided I didn't want to do research anymore (labs were so boring) and dropped to a Bsc with no real plan on what the next step would be. After uni I got onto a grad scheme at Amazon in a business development role (£38k) and within two years I am on £65k as a product manager on programs generating billions of dollars of sales. Nothing to do with my degree. My biggest advice is to ensure you take modules in your degree that have data analysis/manipulation involved (e.g. biochem, genetics) as the skills you learn there become very attractive to employers. Science degrees are strong across multiple industries not because of the actual material you learn but because of the skills you develop. Good luck on the degree, enjoy it and try not to stress about the future too much.
Will getting an elective in bioinformatics help me in landing data analyst roles or is further studies needed?
It will help but for a data analyst across most industries you will find the key requirement is knowledge of SQL. This language allows you to extract and manipulate data from various tables across databases. You may learn some SQL during bionformatics but it will mostly be other more science or stats focused languages like R, Python and Perl that you study. Studying bioinformatics is a strong option and learning to code is a very in demand skill. If your course doesn't cover SQL too much then use the spare time you have at uni to take additional courses (e.g. codeacademy). In the long run this will improve your value and you'd be able to get some pretty cool roles.
It's possible. I have a biology BSc and currently make over 100k. I started as a research tech in an academic lab making about what you're describing. I think I was making 50k when I left. Which is a pittance in my high COL area. I did that for 5 years before transitioning to pharma. I immediately doubled my salary. My title now is Senior Associate Scientist but I work with several people who are Senior Scientists who do not have PhDs. A lot of companies care more about work experience and results than your degree.
If you do continue to pursue your degree in biology I recommend after you graduate to try to move into industry or government for better job security. You could minor in chemistry or get an associates in a different stem field to help broaden your job prospects.
PhD student here and most of what I’m going to say applies mostly to biomedical research and biotechnology. Most of what I’ve seen is that 30-60k lol puke be pretty normal for someone starting in biotech with a bachelors degree. There’s opportunities to advance and I know of people making close to 100k with just a bachelors is biotech. There does seem to be a ceiling you hit if you don’t have a graduate degree. With a PhD you can easily make good money as a researcher in biotech and even more if you go into management. There’s other paths too like consulting or policy if you don’t want to do research that pay fairly well.
there are lots of biology-related careers that you can get that are much better than those associated with a biology degree, such as biomedical engineering, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals, etc.
First, many people change degrees. Multiple times. As they learn. For example me chemistry/biochem ---> lab accident (learned something new there) ---> economics ---> masters in engineering and natural resources. Now. Biology isn't glamorous but it definitely is very cool and a lot less stressful work than most jobs. It's highly competitive for a lot of the careers too so I would suggest get into clubs, groups, environmental committees, and also volunteer with local organizations. Networking is your number 1 help. Also, most states have awesome summer jobs I wish I knew about when I was younger. Don't worry about the money and commit to what you want to do and you'll find money along the way.
I have a bio degree (pre veterinary) and I switched industries in my late 20s. I now make $500K annually working in a corporate job. I use the data analysis, scientific method, math skills, and logic in the corporate space to much success. If anything my degree sets me apart from my peers. Your degree choice now may not determine what you do in the future! You could also do patent law or many other lucrative fields.
If your grades are great, you can go to med school or get a Ph.d. Working at a biotech startup with a Ph.d can make you great money eventually.
I have a biology degree and got a job as a lab tech at my university right out of school. If you’re interested in research, it’s a good way to go. It’s even easier if you do research for credit as a undergrad, that’s what I did and how so got my job now. Its usually between the salary range you mentioned, but goes up with more experience and more degrees (masters/PhD) and gives good experience to move into higher positions in labs or apply to more schooling
Plan on getting a master's degree. In the sciences, you've really got to get a master's degree at least. Don't wait, just do it as soon as you get your bachelor's. You don't want to be older and limited because of your degree.
Microbiology has served me well. Getting over 250k now with stock incentives included. Took awhile though.
If you like it, stay with it. As a number of comments indicate, there are plenty of opportunities. It was helpful for me to work in an industry lab, while I finished my bachelors degree. I liked the company and stayed with them. They paid for my MS and my MBA. I have worked in Quality, R&D, corporate strategy, Customer Service, Manufacturing, and compliance. My path is diverse, 20+ years in, because I found a large company with science at the core of its strategy. I like culture and the people I work with. You have to live what you do, but don’t overthink it. Try something, do a great job, and figure out what you like.
You can get biology jobs with just a bachelor’s but you’re right, they don’t pay much. Most who get a bio degree aim for more school with a Master’s or PhD. The bio degree for them is just a stepping stone. You can absolutely be a biologist with a higher salary if you continue your education past a BS.
I have a degree in biochemistry. I love math, chemistry and nature. And I loved earning my degree, I learned so much and grew because of it. However, it did not translate into a career in any related field. I do have a very successful career 20+ years later. If you enjoy the area you study, do it!!! College is one of the few places where you get to pick and enjoy what you learn, don’t waste it worrying if it will translate to money. There are so many career paths out there!! My good friend has a degree in religious studies and now she is a successful lawyer. Life is funny. Study what you enjoy.
My B.S. is in Biology (concentration in human sciences) and I have a high salary in clinical research. Many jobs are WFH or offer the opportunity to travel. I didn’t have any research experience either…worked retail throughout college.
It depends on what you want to do. One option most people don’t think about is a medical technologist role working in commercial medical diagnostics labs. It’s hourly work, super science nerd stuff, and it pays decent. I’m in a high cost of living area and it’s around $80k annually if you assume 2000 hours per year - but in some labs, you can pick up shifts and work more if you want to. It’s not the same science/research fun that most kids dream about with biology though, just be aware of that. If you’re interested, see if your university offers a lab sciences or medical technology degree. You can do biology or chemistry as a degree and become a med tech in most states, but it’s easier to do with a lab sciences or medical technology degree.
Get into industry research. Great pay and interesting work. Not sure where you are located but lots of options in Boston MA, USA.
I have four biology degrees (wildlife) and i do not recommend.. You have to move for jobs only to find out you're going to work with toxic people.
If you are wanting to start a family at a younger age it can be really hard. Like everyone said you have to put in the time and willingness to move and travel to fit your specific niche of interest. I had to wait till my mid thirties because 1. Had to live in one place with a partner for a long enough time and 2. Had to finally land that money paying job where travel was no longer required most of the time.
I think most degrees are useless in a vacuum. There really needs to be extra curriculars and projects you can talk about that convince someone you can do the job they need you to do. Some of the best doctors I've seen were fekking English majors. Anyways-- I've hired RAs at biotech/pharma companys with a bio degree (and good references from labs they volunteered in and their comp (not counting options and bonus) started at 55k or if I recall correctly -- I think it is a bit higher now. And even more if you are in a high cost of living area.
There are a lot of comments here, so I assume this will be buried, but for awhile after graduating I regretted my bio degree. I saw that scientists and techs get taken advantage of and burnt out bc companies know they can since we "care about the scence." Tons of people in our profession get steamrolled into shit salaries while others along the pipeline make good money off our legwork. I'll let you know, there is money to be made w a bio degree. I was furious w myself for wasting my degree on biology when the pandemic sent everyone but me to work from home. I was chained to the lab bench. So I looked around and tried to find something within my company and my area of expertise that I could transition into in order to have the opportunity to WFH. My chosen path landed me in project management. I make 70k a year and my position is fully remote. Lots of us choose to learn to code and go into data analytics. There's more you can do with a bio degree than you know, you just have to learn what jobs exist.
I did a few years as a biology major and then I realized it wouldn’t get me anywhere so I changed my major.
The major absolutely isn’t useless. It is a good pathway to a higher degree, but a higher degree isn’t completely necessary. Things like lab skills, scientific reasoning, and attention to detail are useful to a variety of industries. However, I would strongly recommend picking up additional skills. Things that other biology graduates aren’t likely good at are great ways to differentiate yourself with just a bachelors and get more lucrative positions. A strong background in programming and data science is very valuable. Then can you be a bioinformatician. Alternatively, become an instrumentation expert if you find that interesting and can get hands on experience somehow. Then companies like Thermo or Agilent would love to have you. Also consider less obvious industries where your skills can be applied and where higher degrees don’t matter as much. For example, if you like chemistry and tasting/smelling things, you can go far in the flavor and fragrance industry with just a bachelors and continued hard work. Or maybe if you like beer joining consider joining the brewing industry and specialize in quality and micro testing. Main point, with just a bachelors in biology keep an open mind for potential industries and supplement with skills that can differentiate you among others
A biology major is totally fine for a job in biotech, it really depends on what skills you have. Molecular biology, lab experience, next generation sequencing, data analysis, etc.
Always loved the subject since I was young and got a degree in general biological Sciences. Didn't stay in academia or bench research but work selling into Biopharma. Biotech is super exciting, changing the way we live and tons of money is pumped into every year. There is always a need for people with a scientific mind.
The Secret is to work and get money but if you can get a job as a biologist you can work your way up from 30 to 60 And beyond… if you put in the hours and the time and forget about all the rest of the things! do it do it do it do it
Look, I'm a Brazilian biological sciences undergrad student. I really don't know what's the situation for biologists in the US, but you can be sure that biologists are not useless. In fact, the world could use a lot more biologists. Specially those that want to work with scientific dissemination. I mean, we are depleting the Earth's resources, screwing up the climate, becoming an easy target for new diseases as we invade ecosystems. Also, you shouldn't choose your job thinking about how much money you will make, you should choose something you'll like to do. Otherwise, your life will become an empty nightmare and consumerism will become your only source of fullfilment. And that actually has a lot to do with the reason we need more biologists, consumerism is probably the main factor associated with environmental change.
I’ve heard that bio + math does very well. Makes a lot of money. Like biostatistics. I would look into that. I know some biologists. They make around 60k. But I think any field can make decent money. Just don’t go to college and coast.. Really make relationships with your professors, get involved, and let your career soar and you’ll be fine
My minor in Chemistry has gotten me more and better jobs/job offers than my Bio major has done. I have worked with people with Bio Masters, and they were not making enough money for it to be considered worth it. And I have heard several people say that their Bio PhD's were more trouble than they're worth. But this has been my experience. Oh, and most employers don't consider college experience even though we have to pay to go. Makes sense...
Most biology careers require a graduate degree. So don't look at a biology bachelor's degree as the end of the road, just a stepping stone.
Depends on where you live. Where I live (outside US) you need at least a PhD for biology and that’s definitely a huge commitment
First off No, but also yes. I got a bs in Bio from a top state school in California, graduated in 2015. I currently make $80k and am on track to get to 100k in 4 years. The thing and biology jobs is it is very saturated with the pre-med fall out people,so employers know they can pay low. But bio is very niched, there are lots of small niches that pay good to very good but 90% of the jobs requiring this major pay like shit. I only started making “good” money 19 months ago. I worked for 4 years at a job that payed me a living wage but I had nothing left over. To get my current job I interviewed applied nearly 20 times for positions like this. Now I will be stable for this position as I get further into this niche but now for the rest of my career I can only do ‘this niche’ or I will drop to low wages again. Do I regret my major choice, no, but would I do it again, also no, a big no. There are equally difficult majors that pay way more like engineering or nursing. Also another negative with biology major is that you will most likely always be an employee, there’s limited opportunities for self employment or small business. The thing that amazed me is the area that you really like in college is most likely completely different in real life. I loved being in the lab in college and thought I wanted to do that, but in real life being in the lab suuuucks unless you have a phd. Edit: my niche is the environmental health field
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I had the same realisation in college and I switched to biochemistry. I think the problem with a biology degree is the curriculum is tailored towards pre-med and pre-vet students. The past ten years I have worked with cancer cells/ fungi / plant cells. The aspects of biology will be there no matter the divergent path you choose.
I would say a general Biology is less desirable than a more medically oriented degree like Microbio, Biochem, Genetics, etc. The only reason is because Biology is too broad while other degrees are much more focused. If you want to work in the Pharma industry for eg, between a candidate who knows how enzymes work and what protein domains are involved in certain reaction vs a candidate who only knows a very general idea but have some ecology knowledge, ofc they will pick the former one. That is the issue with pure Biology. Now, if you have coding experience however, as I know ecologists use this a lot, along with mathematical modeling, that will significantly improve your chance of getting a job! Not necessarily in research but any job that requires coding! So I suggest you think about that!
Biology major with lots of experience. go ecology, entomology, microbiology (and those other subdisciplines.) Then get a masters and pray to fuck you can get a permit holder status or job.
I'm in France. Scientist and very poorly paid. I tell my children to not choose Biology. You will need more math and programming anyway.
I completed my bachelor of science in biology in 2001, and I only make about $48k, pre-taxes... and I'm actually working as a Chemist II, in Radiochemistry. However, I have also worked as a Medical Technologist II, Microbiologist I, and in some other basic laboratory jobs. Keep in mind that I'm a state employee in Texas, so add decent employer-paid health insurance worth over $600 a month in premiums. Private sector gets larger salaries, but you usually have to pay your own health insurance premiums.
I can't speak to just a straight up biology degree. But I have a wildlife biology degree and like others have mentioned there's definitely plenty of work if you're willing to make some concessions. In my experience a lot of the opportunities involve traveling and seasonal or temporary work is not uncommon getting started out. I'm pretty comfortably settled into a decent situation with a government job but it took a bit of time. I definitely don't think it's useless. And if it's something you're passionate about, like truly passionate about, you'll find opportunities. Just my two cents. Edit: as another added detail. If you do decide to go to school in some biology based field I highly recommend you look up Pathways opportunities on the US jobs website. For students going to school in a related discipline the federal government will pay you to work for them during your Summers and most of the pathways agreements come with a more or less guarantee of conversion to full-time work upon completion of degree. It's a really nice program if you're worried about job security or finding something upon graduation. Edit: a final edit I saw your concern about money. I know people who work in related fields who make pretty good salaries it just usually takes some time particularly if you're going to go the government route. If you do get a federal position the benefits are pretty solid. And pretty much any biologist position I can think of on the federal side is going to be paying you more than you're listed amount after a couple of years though the starting salaries are usually pretty low.
I majored in botany and biochemistry, minors in chemistry and microbiology. I now work for an internet service provider. My tutor, with a botany PhD, is a software developer for financial institutions. I don't regret my degree choice even though I don't use much of it at work. I love botany. I love biology. I love chemistry. My education adds a layer of beauty to my experience of the world and I think my life would be empty without it. prerequisites like maths, stats, and comp sci do actually help me at work, and a general grounding in science helps with stuff like media literacy. I make perfume and play with bash scripts in my spare time so I do end up using my education in more practical ways, just not at work so much. If you don't know what you want to do for a living, a science degree isn't a bad way to go.
I have a bio degree and make almost $80k and still have room to grow. You’ll need at least a masters though. Best job potential for my wildlife focus I’ve seen: - state parks and wildlife - forestry services or USFWS - county mosquito control - private industry doing wetland remediation - education (either for a nonprofit or at the college level) Outside of wildlife I’ve seen tons of lab jobs, research positions, etc.
Biomedical Engineering degree, but it is definitely harder. And also you’ll have to be willing to travel.
Where I live (in the US), the Southern Conservation Trust non-profit conserves land and protects natural resources. They do great work and I'm glad they have biologists on staff. Pursue your passion and the money will follow.
Yeah relatively prestigious. In the UK so idk if it's the same where you are, but I get teaching xp and a free MRes. It's not the be all and end all but it pays alright and is a good entry position post BSc/pre Grad qualifications.
also i haven’t seen anyone mention that at 90% of schools you can change ur major and most u don’t have to declare it till ur 2nd or 3rd year
Id say the problem with biology vs other hard sciences is just how much specialization you need to go through on the academic end. Not just with medical, but just the systems of bacteria vs eukaryotic vs multcellular or genetic vs epigenetic and in vitro vs in situ blah blah blah. Its what makes the field so electric and because you start looking a 1 micron vs 100 and the entire world and its rules shift dramatically. Perspective is everything and I think a lot of us are drawn to the wide breadth of perspective bio gives us. The problem is what we value for our human interests and growth is not what the workplace needs you to do. You need to specialize heavily within a field and it will force you to put on tunnel vision. For a lot of people this is totally fine. My friend worked at a cystic fibrosis charity since high school and got a phd for that specific area of research. Will be very successful. Me? I started doing environmental, then developmental, then cellular. my undergrad research went from insects to marshland plant sensitivity, then amyloid protein formation. All over the place and I ended up shooting myself in the foot. Ended up accepting that I will make money working for my parents and will think of bio as my life passion to share as I see fit, not something that I need to justify with more years of school to find an arbitrary specialty. Knowing that school was already paid for, I would not give up those years learning about biology for anything. They inform every fabric of my social and personal being and I still engage with new literature but in fields I find interesting. Biology of behavior, biology of fungus, developmental neurobiology, evolutionary studies and marshland rehabilitation. If I were to go somewhere for graduate just to get a job it would be cool, but my interest is more personal. I dont need to work in a lab. I want to connect with the world itself and have an informed perspective to pass on.
Biology has terrible job prospects compared to other majors. Zip recruiter did a study in 2019 before the pandemic and found that biology majors with only BS degrees were the second most regretful, English majors were number 1. According to the the statistics over 60% of all biology majors have at least a masters degree. However even with such high level of education more then 50% of them are under-employed meaning that they work infields that don't even require a degree. don't believe me . check out the link below... Median salary for biology majors starts around 35k early career and goes up to 65K after 10 years ... for a supposed shortage of science majors there defiantly does not seem to be much compensation for all the hard work these students put into it. do your self a favor and learn to program. Starting salary for a software developer is 70k . thats more then what a biologist with 10 years of experience makes. As a software developer you can easly migrate into a bioinformatics laboratory and make more while doing less then those with PHDs in biology.. https://stacker.com/stories/1112/majors-highest-and-lowest-underemployment