Choosing to return to school for your graduate degree in a physical sciences field opens a world of possible career paths. Because of the highly specialized coursework you'll undertake, employers will seek you out, often offering higher salaries in recognition of your advanced degree. In many areas of the physical sciences, certifications are available that can enhance your marketability after graduation even further, and open up even more job possibilities.
Since the range of physical sciences coursework is so broad (from mathematics and computer science to agronomy and astronomy), the range of available jobs is similarly broad. Many see teaching as a natural career path, and you may find the idea of training a new generation of high school or college students inspiring. Certified and experienced teachers also have highly portable skills, often being recruited by corporations as trainers or managers.
Although it is a top choice for many, teaching is by no means your only career choice after earning your graduate degree. You could move immediately into industry, manufacturing, property management, or other businesses, applying your specific skills to areas such as environmental remediation, ergonomics, forecasting, business process modeling, risk management, and corporate compliance. These are high-demand fields where you can build a financially rewarding and personally satisfying career in large and stable companies.
Possibly you are not attracted to the corporate life as the basis for your career. Because you'll be outfitted with a specific and uncommon set of knowledge, many start-up and small businesses look to people with particular advanced degrees for lucrative contract consulting or business partnership arrangements. For instance, as a geologist, you might find yourself courted by a property owner looking to develop mining interests. Or a newly funded wetlands protection group may come looking for you, attracted by your graduate degree in groundwater science. The job opportunities available to you as a physical sciences graduate are almost limitless.
The physical sciences are at the core of many of your daily activities, and scientists are essential to them. The water you drink, your food and its packaging, the fuel your car consumes, the carpets you stand on, and even the air inside your office or classroom depends on individuals with graduate degrees working in the physical sciences to ensure safety, quality, and innovation.
Tom Deutsch is a freelance writer and marketing communicator raising his family in West Chester, Ohio. In addition to feature and internet writing, his experience includes a broad range of advertising, public relations, and promotional work.
