For instance, biochemists will find more jobs in business and industry than social workers, and public health professionals will find more jobs in policy and government than in business.

Different employers look for different degrees. In academia, a Doctorate/PhD is most valued. But a business hiring a bench lab scientist may prefer an MS; a government job in public health may prefer an MPH, or a PhD, or either.

In bench lab fields, experience doing research is key. People who have done undergraduate research can get full-time entry-level professional jobs with a BS. For research assistants in clinical fields, the same may be true for experience doing procedures with patients. Higher-level jobs require an advanced degree.

There are academic jobs in every field. However, tenured faculty jobs are highly competitive; there are more people getting PhD degrees every year than there are jobs for professors. If you want to become a professor, go for it! But know that having a career in science and in research doesn't depend on whether you get that faculty job.

There are ways to predict where jobs in your field may be. Look at where the federal funding for research goes. One way to do this is using the NIH (National Institutes of Health) RePORTER.

The NIH is the largest funder of health research in the U.S. You can use their NIH RePORTER site to search by research topic or area of the country, to see who is getting the most money from the NIH to do what.

This can tell you which universities, medical centers, and sometimes businesses tend to get money hire people to work on the research topics you're interested in.

You can also look at the National Science Foundation Award Search for research in these fields: https://www.nsf.gov/about/research_areas.jsp. NSF also offers paid undergraduate research opportunities https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp, and a jobs program for recent college grads: https://beta.nsf.gov/careers/job-types/students-and-recent-grads

Take a look at this guide on how to use the NIH RePorter or NSF Award Search to get information useful to you.

The career center at your college or university can help: most offer career counseling and teach how to do effective online job searches.

Networking is key: people who get good jobs often find out about them through someone they know. Talk with professors, mentors, and peers who work with topics and in areas where you want to work. Check with people from your demographics about how welcoming an employer has been.

Join student clubs related to your interests. Join a professional organization for your field (usually cheaper for students), and attend a conference if you can. There are large general professional organizations (such as SACNAS for all STEM fields) and smaller, specific ones (such as NOBCChE for Black Chemists/Chemical Engineers or WPATH for transgender health interests).

Ask about jobs for people with your level of education and experience. If you want to live in one area, ask about the biggest and the best organizations in that region for your field or area of interest.

There are good websites that can help with job decisions and searches, such as the health career navigator and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The SACNAS Career Center is also a good place to find job openings.

Don't worry about "matching" your interests to the work environment. Identify what you want, then figure out how.

For instance, if you're interested in psychology but working in business fits your needs better than being a counselor or professor, there is a field called Organizational Psychology.

If you want an academic career and your interest is medicine, there are degree paths that include both MD and Master's or PhD degrees. There are also MDs who are professors, and PhDs who do medical research.

To get what you want, start by learning what you want: ID your own top needs and priorities.

If you haven't already taken some time to think about what you need to flourish, pop over to the Choosing a Program page. On this page, you will find a section about what you need to flourish.

Taking the time to think about think about this question and jot down some answers will help you figure out what sort of job would be better suited for you.

There are many things to consider when deciding which sector to work in. In this video, David Giltner, a PhD physicist, goes over three questions to thinking about which path may be more suitable:

• Are you interested in the applications for your research? Do you find that you frequently think about how your research will be used?

• Do you like variety in your work environment or do you prefer consistency?

• How important is a work-life balance to you?

While the video focuses on academia versus industry, think about industry as including private businesses as well as governmental jobs. Take some time to answer these questions, then watch the video to learn which path is typically more suitable based on your preferences.

To understand your options, it helps to do informational interviews with people who do a kind of work you like, but work for different kinds of employers.

For instance, talk with a university professor who does research for medicine, and with an employee of a company that does research for medicine. Ask them what they like best and least about working for a university vs a company.

Think about how what they tell you compares to the five factors that you need to flourish.

The number of industry jobs available typically exceeds the number of academic jobs, although it varies from field to field.

For jobs in academia, you may have more freedom to choose what to research, but not have as much freedom in choosing where you live and work. Consider how willing and able you are to relocate for your job. If you are trying to become a professor or government employee, would you be willing to live and work permanently wherever the university or government is located?

Visiting the city/town can help you decide. Networking with people who live in the city/town and work for that employer is a great way to get a realistic image of life in that place. Use your mentors and networks (professional organizations, program alumni, etc) to find people there!