Alternative career options
Degree in your hand, but not sure what to do next? Get some inspiration on what (alternative) career options you have with a background in the natural sciences. Here you find a list with many possibilities.
Industry
Job fields
- Research and development
- Production
- Quality control
- Medical Science Liaison (MSL)
- Technology scout
- Business development
- Marketing
- Sales
- Management
- Quality management (Interview with a quality manager)
- Health and safety
- Regulatory affairs
- Clinical research associate/manager
- Human resources
- Recruitment
Industries
- Chemical
- Biotech
- Pharma
- Instruments
Academia
- University professor (see also this interview with an aspiring academic)
- FH professor (University of applied science)
- Teaching professorship
- “Mittelbau” services: analytics, IT, teaching assistant, staff scientist, administration (e. g. research cluster/ project coordinator, science management)
We´ve written a number of articles about academic careers. Please see also our publication list for more articles.
The best of both worlds? A PhD in industry
Doing a PhD in industry can open doors to both an academic and industrial career. See our articles PhD in industry and My industry PhD to learn more about this alternative to a classic purely academic PhD degree.
The postdoc phase
A postdoc can be an important step towards an academic career—but it is not automatically the best next move after a PhD. Our article Postdoc or not? examines when postdoctoral experience is useful, when it may merely postpone a career decision and what to consider before accepting a position.
For a real-life account of a researcher who left academia after five years as a postdoc, please read My last day as a postdoc
Patent law
- Patent lawyer in law firm or industry (National and/ or European patent lawyer)
- National or European patent office
- Patent engineer
Politics and government institutions
Job fields
- Policy advisor/ project manager
- Politician/ Ecological consultant
- Forensics expert (e. g. at the police)
Employers
- International organisations: e.g. OPCW, European Commission
- Think tanks
- Research and testing facilities, e.g. Bundesamt für Materialforschung und ‑prüfung (BAM)
- TÜV
- Foundations like Stiftung Warentest
- Industry clusters (e.g. biotech parks)
- NGOs and Foundations (e.g. Volkswagen- or Robert-Bosch-Foundation)
Consulting
- Technical consultant
- Management consultant
Publishing
- Editor
- Science writing
A great resource for those interested in science writing is The Open Notebook, a collection of short profiles of science writers who describe their journeys into their writing careers.
Teacher
Freelancer or company founder
Not sure what to do next? On the Science Careers homepage you can do the myIDP test for free. This test might help you explore career possibilities that fits you best. You´ll find more of these analysis tools in our Career resource Introspection.
Several of our Workshops and talks deal with (alternative) career options. Our workshop PhD! and, next? provides orientation about your own wishes and the career paths you can take. Our talk Graduated and now? – A look at career options is tightly focused on exploring career options.
