To view Biology as a field encompasses a vast array of potential careers. We will discuss biology jobs without a degree. When it`s a view in scientific terms, you will certainly understand that everything that has lived on this earth is part of Biology, which is studying life. You certainly can be a biologist or other scientist without one. Science is a thought method and a habit of inquiry and discovery, with a good, inquisitive mind and the right self-discipline and determination.
There are different field in biology as a career:
- Dentistry: This consists of a Dental assistant, associate dentist, hygienist, health therapist, etc.
- Environmental Science: Associate environmental scientist, Environmental consultant, Environmental Scientist/ contaminated land, Environmental senior ecologist, senior fisheries biologist, etc.
- High School Teacher: Science Teacher, Biology Teacher, Headteacher, etc
- Genetics: Clinical genetics, Staff specialist, genetics counselor, postdoctoral research fellow.
- Medicine: Anaesthist- staff, palliative medicine physician, hospital sciences, general medicine physician, etc
- Pharmacist: drug safety associate, clinical pharmacist, specialist pharmacist mental health, etc.
Courses That Can Qualify Someone as a Biologist
I always said it`s not too late to return to school and study to get your Bachelors’s Degree. This is what will make you employable ones you can successfully complete your Degree you need to have completed at least the following courses:
- Micro Biology
- Statistic
- Analytical chemistry
- General Chemistry
- Advanced Microbiology
- Organic Chemistry
With all these, someone would definitely be qualified to work in an environmental testing laboratory. You would do the microbiology tasks that ensure our water is safe. You might also find work as a microbiologist in a food laboratory and different testing laboratories. Someone can also get excellent advice from an experienced person who is already in the field for some years. Such a person can tell you what classes you would need to take. That person should also be familiar with the job market in your region. You can also consider working in a medical laboratory.
Without a Bachelor’s degree, you will find your career options very limited. If you want a wider range of career options, my advice would be to enroll in the best program you can afford, live with your parents to save money, and do what it takes to get your bachelor’s degree. After that, you can enroll in graduate school and qualify for a graduate assistantship. After graduate school, you would be qualified for a good job at a biopharmaceutical company, environmental consulting company, medical device company, or hospital management (infection control is a hot area right now).
However, as a non-degree in Biology, you’d almost certainly be unable to advance beyond a student’s status or unknown amateur or hobbyist. Without a degree, you wouldn’t obtain a good-paying job as a scientist compared to a degree holder. No one will publish your work. Maybe at best, if you somehow acquired some special skills and the right connections, you could find work as a technician or assistant in someone’s lab or fieldwork. As a first degree graduate “B.S., B.Sc“ is a matter of acquiring knowledge on your science scope, awareness research that has been done in the field and questions that are yet to be answered, and quantitatively demonstrating your intellectual ability to qualify for graduate work.
Society really wants people to eventually meet up with what was expected from them that have decided to choose biology as a career. It doesn’t matter if someone is not working in a scientific position but assuming you can work as an assistant in some scientific Lab. This will make you as a worker become exposed to experience in scientific activities in the workplace. Such a person cannot be in charge of a lab or be promoted past a certain level. You can be a lab technician or a research associate. Once you have lots of experience, there are more options as a researcher, but there are many PhDs out there, and it’s pretty much a requirement for any scientist level or lab head research position. If you really like bench work or working with research animals and don’t like writing grants or papers, this can be a good role. Many bigger academic labs also have lab manager positions that don’t require anything beyond a bachelor’s degree. Biology lab managers often do some research but are mostly in charge of ordering supplies, tracking lab animals, and sometimes lots of other admin-type tasks that keep a lab running. These are the kind of positions that are commonly done for 2+ years before applying to Doctorate Degree programs. Through this, someone can find out what `he or she ` really likes before committing to a Degree program.
Once you further your education to an advanced degree, from M.Sc. to Ph.D. is a matter of being able to conceive of a defensible plan for discovering something the world has never known before and is worth knowing (not just counting starfish on the beach); executing the plan, carrying out that research and reaching conclusions that you can defend in writing and orally against a committee of Ph.D.’s who will do everything they can to find fault with your work; and getting through the external peer review process (criticism by other scientists in your field outside of your own college) to get your work accepted by the scientific community and published in a reputable journal.
BIOLOGY JOBS WITHOUT A DEGREE
A degree in Biology in itself is wonderful and opens your mind to the beauty of nature and life around you. It teaches you an appreciation of existence and how we all co-exist on this planet. But it will not likely give you a job that can pay off the debt, so you will need to think very hard if the price is worth it. A friend of mine has a degree in Biology with a Marine option that he finally finished at his young age. He took mostly Zoology focused courses as well as Biochemistry. He fell in love with his studies and was glad he did it, especially scientific diving and working at the Aquarium. He realized the time he spent in college taking pointless physics courses that spanned an entire year and retaking a particular class because he transferred from missed 4 weeks of integrals. All the time spent to show up that he is an educated person could have been spent making his cool money, living life, and traveling in his leisure time.
He also failed a class, the only one he had ever failed because a physics professor had such a strong Chinese accent. He was still not sure he actually spoke English! He said he loves going into the ocean and recognizing creatures, but let’s be realistic – you will either need more education, or you will need to work in a totally different field and volunteer as a biologist. So, is the degree not needed? No, no education is useless, but if given an offer as a biologist without a degree, it`s argued by some biology educationists that such a person can later go back to school for the degree. I personally look forward to being an old volunteer at the Aquarium someday. But it is not cost-effective, and you will make enormous sacrifices and likely work in an unrelated field.
Moreover, I was later being updated by my friend that “TWO” years later, he really regretted going to school and getting a degree in biology. That he seriously wishes he would have just gone ahead and read a Biology textbook and did not head down this road. He works the same jobs like everybody else. Therefore the cost is not remotely worth it. I would rather have never done college and then gone on to get a degree in Nursing later in life: a certificate or Police Academy. “THREE” years later down the road, he received a full-time teaching job at a high school teaching Physical and Marine Sciences. I have my own room and aquariums in the back. “FIVE” years later. Already married had a bouncing baby girl, which makes him proud as a father. They spent on rent and ate a healthy meal, cheap food and worked to pay off college debt. He still worked as a high school teacher and will sometimes take a break and stay at home while having a nice time with his wife and baby.
At the end of the day, it’s your decision. Is biology going to be relevant to whatever it is you want to do? Do you want to work in a lab doing/helping with basic research? Go ahead and do research. Think about what you want to do and how realistic that is. Ask biologists and people who have chosen biology as a major; what do they plan to do with biology as their major.
In conclusion, you can be a biologist without a degree. However, if you are not working towards acquiring a degree while working as a biologist, it will be more difficult to get academic society to accept you in a career or academics. There’s no shortcut. Been a scientist in your spare bedroom or basement if you want to, as a friend of mine once did, but you’ll need a day job to earn a living. To get paid for doing and to be recognized as a scientist, you’re going to need at least two graduate degrees, which will make you stand among biological scientists.
Also, read Entry Level Jobs For Biology Majors
