I find this career very rewarding. I was able to work in a DNA lab which was very interesting and a different job every day. Many biocemists are pre med or pre pharmacy students and the biochem coursework lends itself to many different careers.
Working in the lower rungs of the biotech industry can become very tedious and monotonous. Jobs in the smaller biotech companys are very unstable but at least offer you experince. A job in a larger "big pharma" company is much more stable with better wages and benefits. I definelty recomend more than an batchelors degree in biology if you plan to make a life long career within this field.
I have worked for fourteen months in cancer research on a placement. I am currently studying so that I can rejoin this area. I found it particularly stimulating and it gives me ideal job variety. I read journals, analysed data, performed experiments and did a range of different techniques. I prefer research to diagnostic work as I enjoy the challenge of finding out why things happen the way they do and why cells respond to certain drugs in the way they do. As well as this, my colleagues and I met several times together to discuss projects and raise any issues or problems. I am certain that this is the career for me as I enjoy it so much. Pros? Job variety, mentally stimulating,sociability, reading, like-minded science enthusiasts, new technology/ brand new and untested drugs and combinations. Cons? Not for you if you have not got the patience - Experiments do not always go perfectly and biological systems can behave unexpectedly. Can require a lot of perseverence. Pay is not great either!
Great career for making truly original discoveries in the life sciences. Very good positions availble in academic, goverment, and industrial reasearch settings.
I have worked as a researcher in a number of pharmaceutical jobs over the last four years. It's not a terrible job, really, but it's surprising how low the pay is considering how difficult it is to get the qualifications needed. There is a lot of complaining about a lack of qualified scientists in the US, but when you consider that a person with a B.S. in Biology and/or Chemistry can expect make a bit more than the average school teacher, one can't help but think something is wrong here. Anyway, I am moving into the business development side of things. Be careful with a career choice in this field, as soon as China and India are able to proved halfway decent facilities, most of these jobs will be gone.
The U.S. Treasury once printed $100,000 bills (featuring a portrait of Woodrow Wilson) but none of the bills were ever released into public circulation.
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