A cell biologist is an expert and scientist that focuses on the study of cells and their functions and relationships with biological organisms.
They spend most of their work hours in the laboratory to conduct extensive experiments for their cellular research. They often deal with cell cloning and extraction, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing, and other procedures. After the experiments, they must compile the results, analyze the generated data, and present their findings by publishing them through reports, articles, or books.
A great number of cell biologists work in the medical field. But they may also find great employment opportunities in pharmaceutical manufacturing, government offices, and education sectors. An aspiring cell biologist must have a master's degree or a doctorate in cell biology or an equivalent field of specialization. Generally, they have a 9-to-5 work schedule, but they may render additional hours depending on their work volume.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a cell biologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $30.27 an hour? That's $62,968 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 10,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a cell biologist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 18.6% of cell biologists included molecular biology, while 13.7% of resumes included data analysis, and 10.5% of resumes included protein. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the cell biologist job title. But what industry to start with? Most cell biologists actually find jobs in the pharmaceutical and education industries.
If you're interested in becoming a cell biologist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 38.8% of cell biologists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 38.8% of cell biologists have master's degrees. Even though most cell biologists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a cell biologist. When we researched the most common majors for a cell biologist, we found that they most commonly earn master's degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on cell biologist resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a cell biologist. In fact, many cell biologist jobs require experience in a role such as research associate. Meanwhile, many cell biologists also have previous career experience in roles such as research assistant or teaching assistant.
