I have not read every single post here, but I wanted to give you my twist on it.
(1) With a BS in biology leaves you with some options, but unless you have taken certain course sequences (key wildlife/fisheries courses and specialized technical courses such as instrumentation or GIS) that allow you to act as a technician the job market is very competitive. Part of the reason for this is that many of those holding an MS will apply for these making it very difficult, but not impossible. There is also the option of getting a teaching certificate during your BS, and despite popular opinion, highschool teaching can be a very secure and rewarding job (both emotionally and financially). (2) With an MS you increase your marketability by leaps and bounds providing your MS again has key courses (and of course you can get a teaching cert while doing a masters of science, do not do a masters of education though if you want to do science. If you get an MS and leave with no marketable skills then you will still have a tough time. Employers who hire BS and MS candidates want folks who have knowledge, skills and abilities. This means you understand remediation, have a background in environmental policy and law, can analyze environmental samples, run toxicity tests, understand habitat management plans or species management plans, or environmental health skills. With any MS in biology you open the door to community college work. This, like highschool, can be lucrative and rewarding. (3) With a Ph.D. you can do anything you can do with an MS. There are some Ph.D. programs that are geared to consulting and government work whereas others are geared to academia. Alternatively, there are also Doctor of Arts programs and specialist in community college education that are typically teaching centered degrees. The problem of applying for many consulting jobs that require an MS after you earn a Ph.D. is that this is unlikely to be something you will want to do. If you complete a Ph.D., you will apply for a whole different level of consulting, or even open your own consultantship...or do a postdoc. Marketing a Ph.D. for a nonacademic position requires that you have specific skills that are marketable and that you can demonstrate to a prospective employer that you are not going to take their job "until you can find something better." When I picked my masters program at Eastern Illinois, I did so because they offered a lot of natural resources and evolution courses that I was interested in. In the midst of my MS, having been around Ed Moll a bit, I shifted almost entirely to conservation from behavioral ecology even though my thesis was in behavioral ecology. You do want to choose a graduate program wisely in that your advisor knows a lot of people, the program has a track record (I entered my PHD because it was attempting to be a producer of government/consultant types, but ended up in academia!! Strange turn of events.). Many feel that academia is the ultimate job for a phd, but this really depends. Academic institutions are as diverse as the stars. Some are great places to work where you have wonderful collaborators and admired administrators. Others are filled with people who managed to sneak in and most wish would disappear. There is really nothing magic about any sector, but it all falls upon where you work best and how that atmosphere suits your personality. Malcolm On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 6:58 PM, Jason Hernandez <[email protected] > wrote: > I am nearly finished with my Master's degree in biology (anticipated date > May 2010). But, scanning the job postings from the several days I have been > subscribed to this listserv, I see two main categories: jobs for applicants > with Ph.D's, and jobs for current students. I am wondering, how often are > there actually openings for applicants who already have Master's degrees and > are not currently students? I am trying to figure out my strategy for life > after grad school, and this kind of information will help me to find the > best approach. > > Jason Hernandez > East Carolina University > > > > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Associate Professor of Biology Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology Texas A&M University-Texarkana Fall (odd years) Teaching Schedule: Vertebrate Biology - TR 10-11:40; General Ecology - MW 1-2:40pm; Forensic Science - W 6-9:40pm Spring (even) years: Vertebrate Histology - TR 1-2:40pm Genetics - MW 1-2:40pm Herpetology - W 6-10pm Summer (even years): Wildlife Biology Wildlife Techniques Fall (even years): Ecology Molecular Cell Biology Vertebrate Biology Spring (odd) years: Genetics Landscape ecology & GIS Environmental Physiology Summer (odd years): Vertebrate Field Biology 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. 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