Careers in Zoology!

argan

I'm in my penultimate year of studying zoology and want to ask you zoo graduates what careers you've gotten into?

I'm interested in developmental biology/embryology and evolution. Or science journalism actually would be ideal I think.

Ziphius

The majority of my class continued their education, be it PhDs, Masters, or another undergraduate degree ( Medicine and Veterinary were popular).

Others found work in areas completely different from their degree (retail, accounting etc). Though, this isn't unusual. Only a minority of science graduates end up working in their field of original study.


See here:http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/teaser/blog/201310/2013_grad_supp1-2236.jpg

Gniht

I don't really know where to begin with this. I took the liberty of reading your other posts. You seem disenchanted with your course. It would appear quite a number of people who did "science" after school because they couldn't think of anything more vocational than it other than medicine/dentistry/vet. As you did "science" and didn't like it you obviously chose the easiest moderatorship route zoology and are only now realising you have no obvious career path.

Becoming a teacher because you couldn't think of anything better to do will be a bad decision. Not least of all because permanent teaching jobs are terribly hard to come across and despite the hours and the holidays, it's a terrible job if you hate teaching. As you have no teaching experience except being a student you really should not pursue the HDIP (or what ever it's called now) even if you do get the entry requirements and accepted.

If in fact you genuinely are interested in DB (e.g. PM's stuff) you really need to think about trying to get a 1st or at least a good 2.1 and investigate the best Msc. If you start now and get the appropriate lab experience and contacts, you could possibly get a PhD first. Otherwise there are no jobs in DB/embry/evo except lab techs, and as you will have hardly any lab skills leaving your degree (no, your lab skills at the end of 4th year would not be suitable for a lab job) you won't be getting that job.

Science journalism is an exciting place to work but non-hierarchial and very difficult to inject yourself into. Can you even write properly? Most people will do the DCU msc in journalism anyway. And will then free lance, blog, write copy for other stuff. (Scientific writing is a job worth looking into, terribly boring though).

MOst people with TCD science degrees who stay remotely in science work for Quintiles or equivalent http://jobs.rte.ie/Jobs/CEVA-Specialist-based-Dublin-7291490.aspx

Ziphius

Gniht wrote: »

I don't really know where to begin with this. I took the liberty of reading your other posts. You seem disenchanted with your course. It would appear quite a number of people who did "science" after school because they couldn't think of anything more vocational than it other than medicine/dentistry/vet. As you did "science" and didn't like it you obviously chose the easiest moderatorship route zoology and are only now realising you have no obvious career path.

It's funny, science courses are particularly popular now and seen as a sure-fire way to secure a job. The truth is after arts and humanities graduates science graduates have the lowest rate of employment.

http://www.hea.ie/sites/default/files/what_do_graduates_do_2012.pdf

Employment rates in Ireland:

Computer Science : 66%

Health and Welfare : 63%

Education: 59%

Agriculture and Veterinary: 55%

Engineering: 44%

Services: 44%

Social science, Business and Law: 41%

Science and Maths: 36%

Arts and Humanities : 29%

Gniht

Ziphius wrote: »

It's funny, science courses are particularly popular now and seen as a sure-fire way to secure a job. The truth is after arts and humanities graduates science graduates have the lowest rate of employment.

http://www.hea.ie/sites/default/files/what_do_graduates_do_2012.pdf

Employment rates in Ireland:

Computer Science : 66%

Health and Welfare : 63%

Education: 59%

Agriculture and Veterinary: 55%

Engineering: 44%

Services: 44%

Social science, Business and Law: 41%

Science and Maths: 36%

Arts and Humanities : 29%

Entirely my point, science is the equivalent of the arts degree and is basically a license to do nothing. Science courses are full to the brim with people who are wholly unsuited for it as a profession as it is very intellectual based and difficult. It is very difficult as someone who may have a 2.1 Level 7 and a 2.1 Level 8 or 9 to accept they are actually not bright enough for a science career and are in fact more suited to a technican role but they feel over qualifeid for.

Babs88

Gniht wrote: »

...science is the equivalent of the arts degree and is basically a license to do nothing.... they are actually not bright enough for a science career and are in fact more suited to a technican role but they feel over qualifeid for.

Try not to lob us all into the same group there please. I'm a Zoologist, I am intelligent, I work very hard and I'm a damn good scientist. My degree and training is worth a lot then a "licence to do nothing", thanks very much, and it's really unfair to effectively dismiss arts and science as "poo-poohy".

My degree is accredited by the Royal Zoological Society and my Masters is accredited by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, both are very reputable organisation and wouldn't put there name to something without just cause.

I realise there are many teenagers that take the "eny-meany-miony-mo" approach in order to pick a course but I'd rather see more children educated to a degree level, regardless of how they picked their course.

Mickeroo

Don't take what Gniht says seriously, they have a history of trolling these kinds of threads under various usernames and are now banned from posting on the site.

Babs88

aidoh

If you don't fancy going down the research route, either by doing a research MSc or PhD then getting into the field of developmental biology would be pretty tough to be honest.
There's a few things you could do though. Unlike in the UK, it's very much up to you to get out there and make things happen for yourself. The UK are years ahead of us in terms of science infrastructure and funding avenues. So while you might 'walk straight into' a PhD or research job over there, it's a lot more difficult to do in Ireland.
If you still want to stay here and don't want to apply for funding for a formal research degree, then you could read up on who in Ireland is into developmental biology (I know of a few if you want to pm me but wouldn't feel comfortable posting their names unbeknownst to them) and ask can you shadow them for a while or do an internship in their lab. It probably won't be paid though, so if you're not working part time already or on the dole it might not be an option. If nothing else it will fill up the experience gap that's so crucial to scientific employment (which you can usually get away without if you're going for a PhD or MSc by research).
Having said that, funding for PhDs is ridiculously competitive nowadays as well so we might see more research positions in industry opening up in the coming months and years.
So yeah, you really have to decide on what you want to do and just make it happen for yourself. It's gonna be a pain in the hóle for a while but if you're positive on what it is you want to do, then it will eventually happen for you.

Hollzy

I'm also in the 3rd year of my zoology degree. A few of you have mentioned the UK. I'm hoping to do a postgraduate there (though in conservation rather than developmental biology) but I really don't know anything about how to get funding there and I don't know a lot about the application process. Any light you could shed on this would be great!

steddyeddy

A lot of zoologists use their knowledge of population genetics. cell biology and biochemistry to pursue post graduate learning in these areas.

aidoh

Hollzy wrote: »

I'm also in the 3rd year of my zoology degree. A few of you have mentioned the UK. I'm hoping to do a postgraduate there (though in conservation rather than developmental biology) but I really don't know anything about how to get funding there and I don't know a lot about the application process. Any light you could shed on this would be great!

You'll usually be applying for a PhD that already has funding. Either that or a particular project will be in competition for funding with other projects.
On the one hand, it's a bit easier to get a funded PhD in the UK because there are so many more opportunities. In Ireland you have to find a potential supervisor then work on a big IRC application and sit on your árse for months waiting to find out if your project was funded. In the UK you'd usually apply for a PhD that already has funding so it's a bit easier just for that.
On the other hand, you won't be eligible for lots of the funding if you're not from the UK. Most funding in the field of conservation, evolution, ecology etc. in the UK comes from the NERC, and unfortunately they have a residency criterion. So you might be the best candidate for a PhD but if you haven't been living in the UK for at least the last three years then they won't fund you (which is pretty unethical since they themselves are funded by the EU and it's frowned upon to ring-fence funding for your own people).
But you'll be eligible for any scholarships that the college itself is offering though.
So Hollzy, my advice is to spend your last year figuring out which field of research in particular you find cool. Check out the great website 'findaphd.com' and look around there. You could also consider getting in touch with an Irish-based researcher about a PhD in conservation and do up an IRC application this January. Then if you're lucky you can walk straight into a PhD when you finish your degree.

OpenYourEyes

There are already-funded PhD's in Ireland - just less of them!

Hollzy

Thanks aidoh, that was really helpful!

aidoh

You should keep an eye on this website too (for everyone interested in ecology). They have zoology-related jobs / research jobs / internships popping up every now and again. Might not be relevant to developmental biology but other people on here might find it very useful and I won't start a new thread. Maybe it could be added into the zoology resources one.

www.greencareersireland.com

No idea who runs it but it's a great resource.