As a student first coming out of university with a bachelor’s degree, there are numerous options and paths you can choose to take. This can be daunting, considering this decision can, and likely will have an enormous impact on your career afterwards. One way to make this decision less scary is to plan beforehand and understand what you want coming out of undergrad. No rush though! Don’t worry if you’re still confused in the first couple of years of your degree and you need more time to figure out what you want to do.
Typically when students want to go into research after university, they imagine going into academic research. This usually occurs in a university supplied laboratory/research facility and/or in hospitals for medical research. Projects are funded by grants that are applied for by supervising professors and the work done in the labs are usually dictated by which grant applications are successful. Relatively speaking, research done in academia usually focuses on a very niche topic (hence why it is conducted by professors who have a very specific area of expertise). Unfortunately, academic research also usually doesn’t pay very well, which is a major consideration for those who choose to avoid it.
More commonly referred to as R&D, industry research refers to research done on behalf of a corporation, usually to improve the rolling out of their products or services. Some larger companies such as Google and Amazon also have their own research branches that are more focused on academic research as well, but these companies are the exception so they won’t be focused on here. Industry research is usually more focused on a big picture solution or product that needs to be improved and will typically incorporate a wider variety of fields. The solution and/or product is then further tested to determine whether further research is needed to improve it to satisfy the expectations of the project. Working in industry research will typically earn a lot more than academic research but will still typically require a graduate degree.
Master’s degrees are very different from undergraduate degrees and require a very different skill set to complete. While the structure of a Master’s degree can be very different for some unique fields (ex. education), generally the length of a Master’s degree for STEM fields will be 2 years. During these two years, you will be need to complete a number of supplementary courses and a thesis under a supervising faculty member. The exact number of courses will vary depending on program and institution, but will definitely be significantly less than in undergrad. For example, many engineers will take 5 or 6 courses per semester in undergrad, but a Master’s student would take this many courses over the full two years of their degree. However, the more important difference is the thesis that you need to complete.
A thesis is a research paper that can be around 40-80 pages long depending on the topic and methods, and should be an original piece of scholarly work. A faculty member will guide you through the process, though the vast majority of the heavy lifting will be your responsibility. At the end of your degree, you will present your thesis to a committee of several faculty members who will review your work and question you about it. This is known as an oral thesis defense. Given that your thesis is approved after the defense and you’ve satisfied the course requirements, you will then be prepared to graduate.
A doctoral degree is structured similarly to a master’s degree, but with more requirements. You will typically need significantly more credits from courses to graduate and because of the longer length (usually complete in 4 instead of 2 years), your doctoral dissertation will be significantly longer than your master’s thesis. It will likely contain more depth simply because of the higher level of material.
For many students, a bachelor’s degree will be their ticket into skilled occupations in industry. However, finding something that you enjoy and will work in the long term will likely be more complicated. Below are some tips that might help you prepare yourself for a career in industry directly out of undergrad.
Though as an undergraduate student, your options are often limited and it can be hard to find co-op opportunities, when you are tasked with choosing which ones will be the best fit for you, there are a number of things to consider. First, remember that you’re there to learn. As an undergrad, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll have technical skills up to par with your more experienced colleagues. It’s critical that you go into the co-op process understanding that the most important thing you can do while at a company is to learn new skills that will help you succeed in the future. This includes skills that you don’t anticipate needing, which is why it’s crucial to also apply for positions you don’t originally anticipate wanting to take. Additionally, remember the importance of networking and knowing people. Building connections so that you have more options after undergrad and even references for future jobs is critical to building your career. Establish good relationships with your coworkers and superiors so that you can learn from them and also reach out to them later if you need their help. Lastly, remember that this is your best opportunity to find out if you actually like what you think you like. While you might have an image of the industry you’re interested in, once you’re actually working in that field, things might change. Take this opportunity to really understand what working in the field will look like in the future for you and whether or not it’s actually the best fit for you.
Many universities will offer a plethora of extracurricular opportunities during your degree. As is the case in high school, it’s important to check these out to bolster your skills and improve your experience as a student overall. Examples of clubs that are particularly helpful for those looking to refine their skills are design teams. Joining your school’s formula racing or aerospace teams can give you access to industry level projects that require you to learn hands-on technical skills that will be applicable later in your career - and look good on your resume. Joining these teams can also help you figure out what you actually want to do after working directly on high level projects. Furthermore, undergrad can be a good time to get in contact with professors (those teaching your classes or otherwise) and learn more about research opportunities at your university. Though much of your initial experiences with research labs might be doing a lot of boring monotonous tasks left by graduate students or professors who don’t want to deal with them, these are baby steps that you’ll need to take before moving to more advanced work. Once professors see that you’re willing to take the initiative to learn and have the skills to complete more complex work, it’s likely that they’ll then provide you with the opportunity to do so. All this experience can be very helpful in determining what you want to do and when you apply for jobs and/or graduate school later.
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