How hard is it to get a job as a scientist?

Question: How hard is it to get a job as a scientist?
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Asked by mariahcarey to Alan, Ciorsdaidh, Lauren, Leonie, Martin, Neil, Shuo on 6 Mar 2018.
- Martin McCoustra answered on 6 Mar 2018:
  
  The key thing about becoming a scientist is that it requires some effort. It isn’t that easy but given time and effort anyone can do it. For example, I have a friend who is in her mid-30s and just completed her PhD. I had mine when I was 24. Not everyone follows the same path but the important thing that we’ve all done is commit time and effort to achieving our goal.
- Leonie Bole answered on 6 Mar 2018:
  
  It really depends on the type of research! Some areas are more prominent than others and different research thirves at different times. As scientists we can neer stop learning and the world needs scientists of all types for it to be able to advance!
- Lauren Webster answered on 7 Mar 2018:
  
  Like Leonie said, it depends on the research and whether you want to say within academia or you wish to move to industry. Industry is forever growing and therefore need more staff but the drawback of growing is take overs! When companies get bigger this can sometimes involve the buying of smaller companies and thus too many staff leading to loss of jobs. In academia, however, academia is purely supported by private public partnerships, charities and grants. This means that influx of money is not as “stable”, sometimes a lab has a lot of money and then sometimes it won’t have as much. So how hard it is to get a job…depends on money and your area of research.
- Ciorsdaidh Watts answered on 7 Mar 2018:
  
  There are so many different kinds of jobs for scientists, which makes the job market wide open. You could be a research scientist in the lab, a lecturer, a teacher, a science journal editor, a patent attorney…the list is endless. So, if you’re interested in science there are loads of options, just make sure you love what you do.
- Neil Keddie answered on 8 Mar 2018:
  
  There’s not much to add to what everyone else has already said. There are so many different science jobs, and so many different ways to get into them. Some people start as apprentices from school with no training in science at all, but learn on the job. Lots of people go to College or University to study a science degree before they find work in the sciences, and some people study further for a PhD before they look for a job as a scientist.
- Alan McCue answered on 9 Mar 2018:
  
  Lots of goof answers here already I see 🙂
- Shuo Zhang answered on 12 Mar 2018:
  
  I agree with Ciorsdaidh’s idea. To be a scientist, you have lots of options associated with scientific research. If you want to be a professor, however, in China these opportunities are quite competitive.

Question: How hard is it to get a job as a scientist?

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