Degree in your hand, but not sure what to do next? Get some inspiration 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 in German)
- 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)
Patentwesen
- Patent lawyer in law firm or industry (German and/ or European patent lawyer)
- National or European patent office
- Patent engineer
Politics and goverment institutions
Job fields
- Scientific advisor/ project manager
- Politician/ Policy adviser
- Forensics expert (e. g. at the police)
Employers
- International organisations: e.g. OPCW
- Think tanks
- Research and testing facilities, e.g. Bundesamt für Materialforschung und ‑prüfung (BAM)
- TÜV
- Stiftung Warentest
- Industry clusters (e.g. biotech parks)
- NGOs and Foundations (e.g. Volkswagen- or Robert-Bosch-Foundation)
Consulting
Publishing
- Editor
- Science writing
Teacher
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.
