The story starts with a passion for the subject. New experiments, labs, microorganisms, test tubes, working with microscopes, and every new topic. Every new module feels like a domain you can work on, and the excitement remains. The hope of getting a job remains with full passion. But after graduation, reality hits.
Most students start looking for jobs, creating a LinkedIn account either in their final year or after graduation.
The challenge lies in deciding if they need to go for a PhD, teaching, or lab-based roles. These are the most common career paths followed.
The next challenges freshers face include a low salary or even unpaid jobs, and Job roles demanding experience from freshers.
In between these challenges and as time goes on, many graduates switch their careers from life science to entirely different domains.
It doesn’t feel surprising, as the fear is real. But, is it actually a lack of opportunities, or is it that they aren’t aware of opportunities beyond the labs?
From science writing, clinical research, bioinformatics, and patent analysis, new opportunities are emerging, but guidance and direction are still lacking.
If you get a chance to start your degree again, what would be one thing you would do differently?
The first thing I would do is to build my LinkedIn profile and create a portfolio.