The research investigator acts in a leadership role, overseeing and designing advanced experiments. They usually assist the principal investigator and play a leading role in developing a research program to advance a specific area of study. They play a crucial role in all aspects of research products, including development, implementation, and data analysis.
As a research investigator, your responsibilities will include performing analysis and documentation as per the procedure, reviewing and approving analytical data, and communicating with the client. You'll also be expected to adhere to all operating procedures, communicate with relevant departments, and ensure all measures are met and imparted to the team by training. Educational requirements include a Ph.D., a doctor of medicine (MD) degree, or equivalent doctoral degree along with five years or more work experience.
The position comes with a lot of responsibilities, but it also compensates generously. The average hourly salary for the position is $36.84, which equates to $76,626 annually. The career is expected to grow 8% in the near future.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a research investigator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $36.84 an hour? That's $76,626 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 10,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many research investigators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed observation skills, communication skills and leadership skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a research investigator, we found that a lot of resumes listed 11.3% of research investigators included data analysis, while 7.6% of resumes included molecular biology, and 7.3% of resumes included phd. 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 research investigator job title. But what industry to start with? Most research investigators actually find jobs in the health care and education industries.
If you're interested in becoming a research investigator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 30.3% of research investigators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 21.9% of research investigators have master's degrees. Even though most research investigators have a college degree, it's possible 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 research investigator. When we researched the most common majors for a research investigator, we found that they most commonly earn doctoral degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on research investigator resumes include master's degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a research investigator. In fact, many research investigator jobs require experience in a role such as research assistant. Meanwhile, many research investigators also have previous career experience in roles such as research fellow or senior scientist.