6 Tips for Students Pursuing a Career in Microbiology
Being a microbiology student, you need to develop a passion for understanding all the microscopic organisms that live on and all across us. Even though you have a love for your field of study, leaving school and starting your personal career in microbiology could be intimidating. In this article, we will share some important advice to professionals that want to step into the world of microbiology.
Make a strong foundation in microbiology
For the purpose of becoming a successful and effective microbiologist, you have to become highly proficient in your fundamentals. Microbiology students have to be focused and dedicated to their course. Spending your time in labs and mastering basic techniques is essential.
Work experience is important
As a professional, taking on an internship or part-time job could prove to be a smart move that could well prepare you for having a full-time position. If you have never had a job throughout in your high school or university, you should get one to gain experience. It doesn’t matter in the long run. You should just get used to working and not become a student. This would help tremendously if you transition from a student to the work force. This would be good for your career in microbiology. Any laboratory experience is valuable, even if it’s not in your exact area of focus. You should focus on getting an internship where you would also be able to get lab experience external to college labs. Several organizations hiring microbiology students want them to gain prior lab experience outside of school or university for having a full time career in microbiology. You could also gain college credit for an internship that will not only help you to graduate, but it will also provide outside the lab experience. It will also give you the ability to network, and you might even snag a job where you interned.
Don’t be afraid of challenges in research
If you do make a plan to work in research, you should take a piece of advice from your mentors in the industry. As a professional, you have to learn to be able to deal with success or disappointment. As a professional, you may feel that the course work that you have completed in college was not fully beneficial for working in a real lab. It is essential to remember that core skills and knowledge are applicable and also essential when you are starting a career in microbiology. Moreover, lab work also comes with uncertainty. So if you do progress in your research career, you must never be overwhelmed by the uncertainty.
Think of working outside the laboratory
It is a fact that working within a laboratory on a regular basis isn’t right for everyone. You could love microbiology but you may not want to live a life as a professional in the laboratory. Your career options will certainly be ample if you are thinking as a creative professional and also seize opportunities that are external to your laboratory. You should focus on educating yourself on what careers are out there. Moreover, you should also ask your friends, family, or professors if they do know anyone within the biotech industries that they could talk with to determine if that is the route they want to take. Make sure you are pursuing the right degree. You may have to change it or even look into a different school if they do not offer what you want. There are many microbiologists that started a professional career in microbiology in the laboratory and moved to positions within the corporate or the business sector. This includes industrial market management. Every organization in the microbiology laboratory has been either testing or making different types of products and also has a business pipeline along with many other additional career opportunities.
Understand the importance of quality control (QC)
Being a microbiology professional, it is essential to understand the importance of quality control (QC). The fact can’t be denied that QC does play a vital role in every laboratory. For Microbiology professionals, it is essential to make sure that you are upholding quality control in each and every step of the process. This could be for maintaining control cultures or even for ensuring traceability of an individual’s data. One of the most essential aspects of a job in microbiology includes accounting for these important processes.
Understand your industry
For becoming a microbiology professional, it is pivotal to develop an understanding of the significance of keeping up with various regulations within the industry. In regulated industries, you are required to learn the important regulations. For instance, pharmaceutical microbiologists should be able to learn good manufacturing practices (GMPs). Also, you should have a strong understanding of all the basics. All the advanced stuff would be useless if you are unable to know the basics. A microbiology professional needs an open mindset as to the impact microbiology has on consumers. Microbiologists require the passion to empower others and to always find solutions that are beneficial to the world.
