What Industry Jobs are Actually Out There for STEM PhDs?

[StressedPhD]

I, like many others, will be starting my PhD in the fall with the intent to get a job in industry after completion of my PhD in either bioengineering or nanoengineering. However, whenever someone asks me what type of jobs there are in industry for a STEM PhD I'm usually not entirely sure how to answer. I have this idea in my head of managing the R&D department for an innovative company or something like that. But when it comes down to it, I really don't know what jobs are actually available and if my idea of what an industry job is is actually a thing. I was wondering what type of jobs are actually out there for us STEM PhDs to aim for. Do any of you have an idea of what they are? I want to be able to go on indeed or something and actually see what is out there right now.

I feel as if my future is very uncertain and I can't say definitively what my options are after my PhD and that is starting to stress me out. Any input or advice about this whole topic in general is welcome. Thanks for your help everyone.

[itheproofofstupidity]

I currently work in data science at a national financial services company and my colleagues come from diverse PhD backgrounds including applied math, statistics, operations research, microbiology, physics, and even non-traditionally-STEM fields like economics. I have often heard it joked that data science is the welfare career for STEM PhDs. It's a stable job with good benefits for STEM PhDs who don't want to work in academia. 

Edited March 18, 2019 by itheproofofstupidity

[StressedPhD]

8 minutes ago, itheproofofstupidity said:

I currently work in data science at a national financial services company and my colleagues come from diverse PhD backgrounds including applied math, statistics, operations research, microbiology, physics, and even non-traditionally-STEM fields like economics. I have often heard it joked that data science is the welfare career for STEM PhDs. It's a stable job with good benefits for STEM PhDs who don't want to work in academia. 

Thanks for the response! I just looked into what a data scientist is and it seems pretty cool! If you don't mind me asking, what do you like about being one and what don't you like about it? Also is there a specific name for the type of job you have?

Edited March 18, 2019 by StressedPhD

[Viola Lanier]

Hello, 

I know a great career option ?

I remember having all of these thoughts and concerns as well!  I have a PhD in Biomedical Sciences and knew that I was interested in going into industry upon graduating.  However I wasn’t clear on the many career choices and how challenging it is to get into industry.  First, I strived to get into the  Medical Science Liaison position and had a few calls that led nowhere; as well as a last stage interview.  That was exciting but I was beat out by experienced candidates. I realized then that Industry is not easy to enter without experience. I eventually came across the career option Field Application Specialist / Field Application Scientist.  Once reading about the job description, I knew this career fit me well and would make my PhD training very useful;  and it really does!  I travel a lot and actually just made a video on YouTube during my travels because I think every new PhD should know about this career path. 

My channel is “The Professional PhD” and the video is called “Field Application Scientist”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7kmN3vsmuRE

let me know now what you think 

Viola Lanier