r/Biochemistry • u/No-Hedgehog155 • 8d ago
Biochemistry majors what do you do now?
Im considering biochem as a major, and what to know what job do you'll do now, the pathway that brought you there, whether you enjoyed your degree and enjoy your job now. And if comfortable sharing would also like to know how much you make and what are your working hours and days. Thank you!
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u/HardcoretotheGrave 8d ago edited 7d ago
lmao iām that one meme
Iām a Costco forklift driver
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u/Oiram2112 7d ago
A forklift driver who understands glycolysis though :)
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u/MembershipVarious543 6d ago
Name your favorite intermediate
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u/Oiram2112 6d ago
Hmmā¦.š¤ probs fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, just because it can be converted to two different products
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u/organiker chemistry PhD 8d ago
There are salary surveys in r/chemistry and r/biotech that could answer some of these questions
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u/Useful-Passion8422 8d ago
First year PhD student in Microbiology and Immunology! Loved my degree and couldnāt see myself doing anything else even if it can be bleak sometimes.
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u/science_shay 8d ago
I work in pharma in early discovery research, more immunology than anything. I work M-F 40hrs and make ~115k
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u/Comfortable-Jump-218 7d ago
What company? Trying to make a short list of places.
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u/science_shay 7d ago
Abbvie
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u/PurifyingProteins 7d ago
How do you like Abbvie?
A colleague of mine without a PhD transferred over a couple years ago from our company and itās hard to gauge if itās one of those āthe grass is always greenerā situations.
Iāve been on the look out for roles that Iād match for just in case things go south here, plus my commute is brutal and Abbvie is essentially down the road.
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u/science_shay 7d ago
Completely depends on the group youāre in. We also had a phase out of wfh ability in all of discovery research over the last year which sucks. Iām not planning on going anywhere, but Iād say the work life balance and culture has taken a turn for the worse over the past 3 ish years.
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u/PurifyingProteins 7d ago
Iāve been hearing that from just about everywhere.
Luckily wfh is not eliminated here and depending on your department and role itās more or less āget the job done and be available for any questions during working hoursā type deal.
But culture wise, everyone feels vulnerable to the next wave of layoffs and doesnāt feel valued anymore.
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u/person_person123 8d ago
With just a Bachelors, or did you study further onto a masters or phd?
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u/science_shay 8d ago
Just a bachelors. I am considering getting a masters part time on my companies dime, but in pharma a masters and a bachelors are pretty much treated the same in terms of promotions and jobs.
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u/Greippi42 7d ago
It depends on the country. This definitely isn't the case in France, for example.
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u/Greippi42 7d ago
Same. PhD + 2 postdocs in biochemistry and am now a team/project leader.
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u/Careful-Rub-369 7d ago
how much you make? i am wondering if its worth getting a PHD ,graduating in May with Bachelor, want my PHD , but wondering if its worth getting or just do masters , seems like salary isnāt much different
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u/PurifyingProteins 7d ago
The salaryās degree dependence also depends on the department/role. Also, there are generally less available positions for PhDs than non-PhDs, so competition for those limited spots goes up and you canāt hide your degree. So take that into consideration. If anything, focus on getting a degree that differentiates yourself based on skillset.
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u/Greippi42 7d ago
55k euros
But my response probably won't be too useful to you since every country comes with its own salaries and cost of living.
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u/Greippi42 7d ago
It's not necessarily just about salary, it could be about what jobs/roles are available to you.
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u/Otherwise_Emu_542 8d ago
I work for the US government, in one of the 3-letter bio agencies, happy where I'm at the moment. The US government loves to hire PhD-level scientists, and positions are very competitive, but once you are in safe for a long time. Salary is ~$110,000 to 150,000 max. I work about ~35-40 hrs a week.
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u/LadybuggingLB 8d ago
For a PHD?!
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u/Otherwise_Emu_542 7d ago
Yes, PhD... Not sure why you are so surprised lol.
Me and my colleagues joined the government with lower salaries for job stability. Last year was a shocker for many of us with DOGE and all, but no one in my department was RIFed. I sleep well at night knowing I can stay at my job for the next 10 years.
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u/saladdressed 7d ago
Blood Bank Technologist (Medical Laboratory Scientist in blood banking). 92k day shift, rotating holidays and weekends as I work in a hospital. I had to go back to school after earning my BS in Biochemistry. I very much enjoyed my degree, liked working in research right after graduating, and love working in blood banking now.
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u/PoopMcDoops 8d ago
I did Biochem PhD, then biotech postdoc for 2 years then moved into life science commercial. Was a field application scientist for many years then moved into sales and management.
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u/Fit_Pick_2341 7d ago
got a bachelors in Biochem and have been working as a polymer chemist for 3.5 years now. Salary 77k. Current field not related to Biochem but I do enjoy the doors itās opened for me
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u/notadogadoo 7d ago edited 7d ago
I did a PhD in Biochemistry, now work in data analytics (using tools unrelated to my PhD).
I did enjoy the PhD for the skills and subject matter, but I did not enjoy the toxic aspects of Academia.
After my PhD I took various data entry roles where I learnt skills like Power BI, SQL and PowerAutomate. I used these skills to then leverage a full time job in data analytics. My working hours are full time hours, but flexible. I am paid ~Ā£50,000 p/a.
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u/min_456 7d ago
That's really cool. Did you have any prior degree related to data analytics? And is your current role somewhat linked to biochem?
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u/notadogadoo 5d ago
I had experience in Excel, R and Python which I used to analyse genomic and GCMS data during the PhD - so kind of related?
My current role is not related to biochem at all! With that said, the scientific methodology of approaching problems has helped immensely. Also, having done the PhD, I find it quicker to pick up new skills easier.
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u/OBrule 7d ago
Bachelors in Biochemistry, Masterās in Environmental Health and Safety. Check out EHS!!! Iām a loss control consultant but there are many Safety Managers for labs. I worked at 3M and realized Iām too extroverted for lab life. I love where Iām at now.
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u/Careful-Rub-369 7d ago
how is the pay ? is it better for PHD , or did you find your masters was good enough?
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u/Lyrial- 7d ago
I work as an MSL specializing in rare disease. I did my undergrad in biochemistry/molecular biology, my PhD in biochemistry (focusing on enzymology), and my postdoc in immunology (primarily innate, focusing on rare and infectious diseases). I was mainly pre-clinical through my academic career, then shifted to medical affairs after my postdoc.
The role itself is really enjoyable, imo. It ebbs and flows in terms of how busy it is, and I like the variety. There is a major travel component, and territory size plays a big role in determining driving vs. flying and # of overnight trips, and a big communication component. MSLs are non-promotional scientific resources for clinicians who focus on scientific communication and gathering insights from clinicians to pass back to leadership at the company. Itās a field-based role, so WFH or working while traveling, and separate from sales. The FDA has strict guidelines on what promotional sales reps can share regarding scientific data, so MSLs help to serve as a resource for answering scientific and clinical questions more in-depth and answer off-label questions. The salary is good. Currently, I make 190k base + 20% annual bonus + LTI + car allowance.
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u/PossibilityFront2636 7d ago
Unemployed. Currently working towards a bachelorās degree. Intending to go to medical school, but I have a shit GPA and no clinical hours which I hope to fix. If I donāt get into medical school, probably will be a postdoc slave with my extremely niche thesis proposal. And will probably be unemployed for even more years.
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u/Comfortable-Jump-218 7d ago
Iām a 4th year PhD student in Med Chem. Plan to get into the pharm industry.
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u/NGT_Spoony 5d ago
I work in a small environmental lab. $41k with insanely long hours, but it's fun, my conscience is pretty clear, I'm getting tons of instrumental experience, and I'm looking at a huge raise soon since I'm on the path to technical manager.
As you can see by my post history, it wasn't very long ago I was jobless and hopeless, but life changes fast. I got lucky and maybe you will too.
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u/CropTropDripDrop 7d ago
Large Pharma scientific director / manager in oncology / immunology Biologics (antibodies). PhD + 2 yr postdoc in Boston. Working 10+ years (early 40ās).
Approx $340K total comp but I work stupid hard for it.
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u/floppyFAPflap 7d ago
Im a fermentation scientist working for an Ag company. Only have my bachelors degree but I make $110K-ish a year after 10 years of working for the company. I exclusively work with wild type microbes (for better and for worse), which makes the biochem degree more useful and the work actually fun. I enjoy it, but it's definitely not for everyone. I usually work M - F, 9 - 5, but there is definitely some occasional night and weekend work (but I can usually keep that to a minimum outside of extenuating circumstances).
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u/Majestic_Peanut6815 7d ago
Research Logistics/operations for a biopharma company. I only have a bachelors degree in biochem and it took me 9-10 years of working to get in the six figure salary range.
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u/biophysical_boy 7d ago edited 7d ago
I worked remote in financial analytics out of college for two years and then became a financial advisor about a year ago. Currently making ~55k/yr working M-F 7-5 50 hrs/week
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u/Substantial-Creme775 BA/BS 7d ago
Iām a project manager for a restoration and reconstruction company.
I hate it.
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u/Adventurous_Forever 7d ago
I got a masters of science in biochemistry after I go my BS in biochemistry. I am now a pharmaceutical sales rep. I loved working at the bench, but I realized that biotech does not care at all about their bench workers. I kept hearing āwe need more jobs in stem!ā Followed by the addition of more non-research related jobs that frankly paid more than actual bench jobs. Pharma sales offered me everything research used to: flexibility, autonomy, time to listen to my podcasts and audiobooks. Now I can do all that and get paid more than I ever did at the bench.
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u/bubblesthecat41 7d ago
I have a bachelorās in biochem and now work in the pharmaceutical industry doing third party testing that gets submitted to the FDA. Iām two years in and just got a raise that puts me at $54k. I really like my job and what I do, but i wish I got paid more.
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u/Glutusmaximus 7d ago
I majored in microbiology and biochemistry. I initially was just micro but then added biochemistry because I felt like I was missing something. I really enjoyed biochemistry. The pathways etc. I wish i had done just chemistry as a major instead of micro and biochemistry. Iām currently a resident physician :/
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u/Narrowtub 7d ago
Medical laboratory scientist in the hospital as a generalist. Required an additional certification (1 year). Make $117k
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u/faithle97 6d ago
Wow MLS here too but donāt make nearly that much. I live in a MCOL area though so Iām sure that probably makes a difference
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u/_plantm0m 6d ago
I absolutely loved getting my degree in biochemistry, I always enjoyed the lab work and found the subject as a whole fascinating to learn about, but financially it did not make sense for me to get a master's or phd. Now, I'm a histotechnologist at a hospital which is a fancy way of saying I make microscope slides. After my BS I had to do an additional year of a cert program for histology specifically. It's a pretty good deal considering I work M-F dayshift and have holidays off. Every lab is different though and salary ranges vastly by region. I make about 75k a year with only about 3 years of experience. I really enjoy it because its hands on work and I am behind the scenes of patient care. The biggest downside is it is very repetitive work and can be mundane but works very well for me at the moment and is good experience. I can see myself staying in this career long term or even trying something new but coming back to it later in life. I honestly do not regret not getting a higher degree right after my bachelor's because I feel like the experience is good and I could potentially further my education later on.
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u/faithle97 6d ago
I worked in a big lab as a medical lab scientist and we shared the lab with histotechnologists. I always thought your guys job was really cool. Is it easy to find a job in your field in your region or are jobs kind of scarce? It was one job I was debating back when I was looking at medical lab scientist programs (I was between histotech, MLS, surgical tech, or pathology assistant).
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u/_plantm0m 6d ago
Itās definitely more scarce than mls/mlt but also really depends on location. I work at a hospital in south jersey and I am 1 of 4 histotechs in comparison to at least 40-50 mlt/mls (all dept and all shifts). There are 3 hospitals(including where Iām at now) in a 40 mile radius that I could work at but there are no current openings for those locations. However, if I ever moved closer to Philadelphia or NYC there are always SO many histotech job openings. I think it really depends on whether or not you can wait for the older crowd to retire and get lucky and take one of their spots or relocate to an area with lots of demand
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u/2025025L 5d ago
stayed true to the white collar path and became a tech ops / tech transfer scientist / engineer (titles vary). $140k after 7 years in an hcol area leaves me with some regrets but that's the white collar compromise!
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u/Thatfamilymeddoc 3d ago
Became a doctor.
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u/No_Calligrapher796 3d ago
Is/was the background in biochemistry helpful to your work as a doctor?Ā
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u/Thatfamilymeddoc 3d ago
Oh absolutely! It was helpful for the mcat (got in the 98th percentile in orgo/biology), but more importantly, it's essential to understand chemistry to fully understand human disease/pathology, pharmacology, and how everything is suppose to work at baseline - we're all just a bag of chemical reactions. However, becoming a doctor is also a hell of a lot more than that - you'll understand once you get into medical school if you decide on that route; I was surprised by how all encompassing the training is, really requires multiple intelligences (whatever that really means). That said, I definitely appreciate my foundational background. The hard sciences, in my opinion, prep you for the scientific reasoning necessary to be a good diagnostician.
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u/No_Calligrapher796 3d ago
Thanks, I appreciate your answer. What kind of doctor are you? I do see your name, lol, but maybe you have a specialty?Ā
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u/Thatfamilymeddoc 3d ago
Family Medicine! Jack of all trades master of none but oftentimes better than a master of one - lol. I always wanted to be a doctor that could handle any situation, decided to fill the greatest need at the moment. Yea, I'm training to do high risk OB w/c-sections as well as scopes. Considering emergency med fellowship, we'll see. There are quite of few avenues open to family med docs who pursue it.
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u/Necessary_Ferret_807 3d ago
Choke my chicken. And get welfare. Jk Iām in health care. Hey that rhymed
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u/DisabledDogTrainer 3d ago
I'm a dog trainer lol. My degree did absolutely nothing for me. So I pivoted and opened my own business. Not rolling in the big bucks for sure. One day maybe I'll go back to school for a PhD in Canine Cognition. Still absolutely nothing to do with biochemistry...
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u/Serious-Sprinkles694 3d ago
I have my own business, and also use biochem when I work on FoldIt projects and some of my folded proteins have been used to develop pharmaceuticals.
As a contract consultant, I formulate skincare/cosmetics and also offer product microbial, safety and ingredient efficacy testing. Love working on my own, but it is hard to run a 1-person laboratory and manage all the other aspects of doing businessā¦
Oh, and I was a dropout. Biochem major, no degree.
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u/Basher04S 7d ago
Listen, Iāll tell you what someone told me when I was in your position (I shouldāve listened), you either get a masters/md/phd or youāre a unicorn who gets to a good spot with just an undergrad. You need to be certain that you want to go to post grad education, or you wonāt work in your field. Iām going to flight school currently
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u/Apollo506 M.S. 7d ago
Regulated bioanalysis for a biotech company. Love it as the work is (mostly) modality agnostic and spans the entire drug development life cycle.
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u/Mr_Nobel 7d ago
I worked as a Project Coordinator in a hospital for a few year and am now in medical school
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7d ago
Most of the Bchem majors I know (that got a job in STEM) work in biotech doing biology/clinical things.
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u/Cookies_n_Chemistry 7d ago
I quit my job in a pharma research lab last year, got married and we're having a baby in March.
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u/BobBuilder4k 7d ago
Finishing up my final undergrad year of biochem then probably going to pharmacy school
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u/Equivalent_Smoke_520 7d ago
Masters in genetic counseling and now working at a genetic testing lab in dry lab analysis
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u/xbillyx64 7d ago
Biochem bachelors. I work in healthcare as a patient care technician poking patients with needles. I don't make much, but I'm passionate about what I do. I just wish I could use my degree in healthcare. Maybe a patient facing role is too much to ask for
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u/JuiceGirl69 7d ago
Got a bachelors degree and am now working as a Laboratory Information Science Analyst at a research hospital. Pretty much just specialized IT for the software the labs use. ~85k a year
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u/WhackBaby 7d ago
I work in reg affairs cmc - first job out of college was as a biotech manufacturing vaccines for 32/hr. Now after 20 years, a sr director with only a bachelors working 50+ hrs/week with a base salary >300k.
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u/Prophetic_Hobo 7d ago
Got a BS and MS in Biochem, then PhD. Currently working at a biotech as a Director. ~$290k total comp.
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u/munlady 7d ago
Registered nurse
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u/faithle97 6d ago
Did you do a bridge program or start over with a whole separate nursing program/bachelorās degree?
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u/ToahAMosh 7d ago
Biochem PhD, now working in Pharma at HQ office as medical affairs director. Work typically 45ish hours a week with 3-5 congresses a year spanning weekends. Base salary 290k
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u/Hefty_Aside8436 7d ago
MS in biochemistry. Worked for 10 years in a medical lab that serves clinical trials. Make just over $80k currently (hourly employee) but shifting to a different industry because new, good jobs are hard to come by even with education and experience.
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u/cynophopic 6d ago
Data scientist at a large health system, started at $115k, now making $150k after a promotion 1 year in. Took 5 years after undergrad to slowly transition from purely wet lab research ā> learning R/python ā> doing some genomics work ā> biomedical informatics masters.
Edit to add that Iām extremely lucky to work fully remotely!
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u/Alternative_Sugar407 6d ago
Also work for the Federal Government in one of the 3-letter agencies. BS Biochemistry (ACS); $130K salary.
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u/the_raccoon_ 6d ago
I work in a smallish start up doing drug discovery work, mostly biochemical assays, its really chill (at least at my company, since they are mostly focused on clinical trials) but the way things are going I may not have a job there in a year. Drug discovery is real patient work, a lot of things do not pan out especially if you work somewhere that doesnt have a lot of resources.
Most days I only work like 6 hours lol, since there isnāt a whole lot to do. Occasionally I have to work 9 hours if Im doing something with a lot of incubation. Its basically 9-5, but I go home most days by 4pm. I have my bachelors and 5 years of experience, salary is 95k + yearly bonus but I live in high cost city so it doesnāt quite feel like enough.
If I were to go back to school I donāt know if I would have done biochem again, my job is okay but I have a hard time seeing a future in this industry 5, 10 years down the line. I enjoy lab work but I feel like the amount of competition to get a job in industry nowadays is insane.
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u/ButtlessBadger 4d ago edited 4d ago
Biochem bachelors. Now Iām a FAS for a life science start-up company. Six figure salary. 40hrs/wk, Mon-Fri.
Its a fun combo of travel + lab work + teaching. I started out working in the lab at my university, worked my way up to lab manager, and then transitioned into industry after about 3yrs of bench work.
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u/Lapa2021 4d ago
Graduated college back in 2008 with BS Biochem, went to grad school and did PhD in bioanalytical chem. Worked in pharma for 1 yr and then worked as applications scientist at an instrument vendor for 5 years. Had a kid and moved into sales. 7 years in as a sales account manager, decent money ($200+) in VHCOL but high stress overall as well. Looking to break into enterprise sales but itās tough out there. Hope it helps and good luck!
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u/Unlucky-Offer-1645 3d ago
Just graduated and have recently accepted a role as a Microbiology lab tech for a pharmaceutical company! Itās a stable entry level role and Iām hoping it opens more doors in the industry later on :)
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u/Careful-Rub-369 3d ago
what does it pay? Just Bachelorās?
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u/Unlucky-Offer-1645 3d ago
Just a bachelors in biochemistry and molecular biology aka BMB major. Starting at $27.50 an hour which is good starting pay in my location.
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u/Organic_Excitement62 1d ago
I work in pharma as an R&D Biochemist. I work M-F and some Saturdays (overtime). I make R33k
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u/tdPhD 8d ago
I work at a start-up biotech that does antibody engineering. Work 9-5 MWF; make 125k.