• Question: how hard is it to get a job in marine biology?

    Asked by rachelb to Sean, Glo, Dave, Clare, Ozge on 21 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by robert98.
    • Photo: Gloeta Massie

      Gloeta Massie answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Are you hiring? No – just kidding – I’m quite happy where I am at the moment. I’ve heard that it can be a nightmare to get a job in the field, but that hasn’t been my experience. Having said that – I started off volunteering lots and lots (can’t recommend that enough!) before I ever tried to apply for a position. So – if you’re interested in working as a marine biologist (and that covers SO many different areas!) – start volunteering with a marine program now! 🙂 (P.S. If you’re interested in training / working with dolphins, which is what a lot of people think of when they think of marine biologists – you actually need to study child psychology for that! Who knew?)

    • Photo: Sean Clement

      Sean Clement answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Hi Rachel,

      The harder you work, the easier it gets! Perserverance is definitely the key in Marine Biology. There are a lot of people that want to work in the field and, like Glo says, volunteering is really important if you want to get ahead. You learn a lot, meet a lot of people and it gives you good experience! A good place to start are zoos and aquariums as many do work experience programs that give you a taste of what it’s like to look after marine creatures (a useful skill for lab work)

      It does require a lot of work as many organisations look for at least a degree and more and more places look for masters degrees now also, so you’ve got to be prepared to work hard if you want a job in the field. The rewards however, as I’m sure all the Marine Zone posse will agree, are TOTALLY worth the effort!

    • Photo: Dave Sproson

      Dave Sproson answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Hey Rachel,

      I hear it’s fairly competitive, but as I’m a physicist I don’t really have any idea! 🙂

    • Photo: Clare Woulds

      Clare Woulds answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      We all feel very fortunate to be in the jobs we are in. The thing is that this type of career is about a series of steps (degree, PhD, postdoc, lecturer…), so you just have to take one thing at a time. If you aim several steps ahead then it might seem like a very tough task, so I find it best to keep my eyes on what I am doing right now, and a bit on what I want the next step to be.

    • Photo: Ozge Ozkaya

      Ozge Ozkaya answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      I agree with Clare, first you need to study quite a lot and get several degrees (BSc. sometimes MSc. PhD) then you can apply for post-doc positions (if you want to stay in academia i.e. at University and go on to becoming a lecturer and so on) There are generally quite a lot of Post-doc positions available around especially is you are willing to move. However as you get more and more specialised obviously it becomes more difficult. Then you need to create yourself a niche study a certain aspect of the filed that no one else is. You can then try to get a fellowship or a lecturship but for this you need to have lot’s of publications. I don’t mean to put you off, it is tough but again as Clare says if you take it one step at a time you can do it!

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