What can I do with a science degree?

If you are graduating with a degree in science, it's likely that you will be looking at going into a particular career that uses your specialist knowledge. This depends very much on your specific discipline.

Careers for science graduates

Some of the industries/sectors employing science graduates are:

• agriculture
• aerospace
• biomedical
• biotechnology
• chemical
• diagnostics
• energy
• environmental consultancy
• food processing
• hospitals
• manufacturing (including cosmetics, computers, electronics, medical equipment)
• medical technologies
• ophthalmic
• pharmaceutical
• research & development
• scientific publishers
• telecommunications
• water/environmental control.

Employability skills gained from a science degree

Your degree subject does not necessarily limit your options. It’s been estimated that 40 per cent of graduate vacancies do not ask for specific degree subjects. And if you do not want to pursue a science career, your degree will have helped you develop a range of transferable skills that you can bring to jobs unrelated to your subject. These include:

• analytical, data collection and problem-solving skills
• communication and presentation skills, eg the ability to reason clearly and to communicate complex ideas, develop and write research proposals
• computational and data-processing skills
• data analysis using a range of appropriate statistical methods and packages
• identify and predict trends and patterns
• interpret and evaluate events, information, and ideas
• problem solving skills
• report writing
• research skills
• teamwork, eg by working on projects in a group
• technical skills, eg use instruments and identify and classify materials
• time-management and organisational skills.

Alternative careers for science graduates

Working in a lab is not for everybody. Other areas where your degree could be useful include:

• banking and finance
• human resources
• medical writing
• patents
• regulatory affairs
• sales and marketing
• scientific publishing
• teaching.