There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, but in the revealed text we say a bit about why the question is important and give you some shortcuts if there’s anything you want to follow up!
- What does career success mean to you?
- Can you imagine yourself still in education at the age of 24?
- Do you like being in charge of your own projects or do you prefer other people telling you what to do?
- How important is it for you to see early results in your work?
- Would you like to be self-employed or would you rather work for someone else?
- How important is it for you to stay working in a laboratory doing science?
- Do you think you would enjoy teaching students?
- Would you rather be involved in using science to solve real-life problems or in theoretical research?
Money, fame, status, interest in your job, having a lot of power, making a positive impact on the world, having work/life balance, being able to pursue other interests, eg travel?
This is a really key thing to think about because there’s a huge difference in what different scientific careers can offer. For example, salary-wise academic jobs are seen as being pretty badly paid compared with or consultancy , and there’s a feeling that resources are more limited in universities too.
But some people think public sector science provides a chance to follow your scientific passion, better work/life balance, opportunities to travel and because there’s no profit motive, a greater ability to make the world a better place.
This might seem like asking you to look into a crystal ball, but it’s important because for some careers in science (especially those involving actual research) you need a PhD degree.
This would mean that after your undergraduate degree, you could be looking another four or five years of full-time education.
In others (including lower level jobs in science-based industries) you can enter the occupation as a graduate and work your way up. Still others (like patent law) would mean leaving science as a graduate and embarking on legal training.
In more academic type jobs (like in universities or government research institutes) there’s a good possibility that some of the research will be on your own – it’ll be your idea and you’ll be in charge.
In industry, though, scientists more often work in teams on projects that the company has decided to pursue. Some people have strong feelings about this one way or the other. Do you?
Does this seem obscure? The reason we’re asking is because the timescales for academic and industrial research tend to be pretty different.
While some university research takes place over years (like the British Antarctic Survey’s discovery of the hole in the ozone layer which literally took decades), in private companies people tend to want much speedier results.
Some people have a lot of patience and don’t mind waiting, but others like things to happen a lot faster. Do you like quick results or are you ok with deferred gratification?
There’s a huge variety in the contexts you could work in, from a huge corporation like a global pharmaceutical company to becoming an entrepreneur and starting up your own business.
Do you like the idea of starting something from scratch? And ultimately, do you want to be in charge?
Some scientists want to spend as much time as possible in the lab. If you can relate to this, you might want to consider a research oriented career.
If you want to stay in science but can’t see doing research in a lab, there are other possibilities, like technology transfer or consultancy.
If you would, then you might well want to think about university science. Alternatively, you might want to finish your own scientific education with your degree and go into school teaching.
This is important to
think about because if you love theory, you might prefer to stay in an
academic environment, where there’s more opportunity to do ‘blue skies’
discovery research than in industry or consultancy.
