Research Scholar Overview
Working as a Research Scholar
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a research scholar. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.69 an hour? That's $57,605 a year!
What Does a Research Scholar Do
There are certain skills that many research scholars 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 analytical skills, detail oriented and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a research scholar, we found that a lot of resumes listed 15.7% of research scholars included research projects, while 13.9% of resumes included phd, and 7.4% of resumes included data analysis. 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 scholar job title. But what industry to start with? Most research scholars actually find jobs in the education and health care industries.
How To Become a Research Scholar
If you're interested in becoming a research scholar, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 40.5% of research scholars have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 22.1% of research scholars have master's degrees. Even though most research scholars 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 research scholar. When we researched the most common majors for a research scholar, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on research scholar resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a research scholar. In fact, many research scholar jobs require experience in a role such as research assistant. Meanwhile, many research scholars also have previous career experience in roles such as internship or teaching assistant.
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Research Scholar Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a research scholar can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as research fellow, progress to a title such as research scientist and then eventually end up with the title senior scientist.
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Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Research Scholar
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Colorado State University Research Sci/Scholar I, II, III & Senior-Physics Open Pool Research Sci/Scholar I, II, III & Senior-Physics Open Pool | Colorado State University Colorado State University | 01/07/2021 01/07/2021 | $40,00001/07/2021 $40,000 |
Colorado State University Research Sci/Scholar I, II, III & Senior-Physics Open Pool Research Sci/Scholar I, II, III & Senior-Physics Open Pool | Colorado State University Colorado State University | 12/18/2020 12/18/2020 | $40,00012/18/2020 $40,000 |
Colorado State University Research Sci/Scholar I, II, III & Senior-Physics Open Pool Research Sci/Scholar I, II, III & Senior-Physics Open Pool | Colorado State University Colorado State University | 08/18/2020 08/18/2020 | $40,00008/18/2020 $40,000 |
North Carolina State University Research Scholar Research Scholar | North Carolina State University North Carolina State University | 07/17/2020 07/17/2020 | $60,00007/17/2020 $60,000 |
North Carolina State University Phhi Senior Research Scholar-HPC Cluster Phhi Senior Research Scholar-HPC Cluster | North Carolina State University North Carolina State University | 06/11/2020 06/11/2020 | $65,00006/11/2020 $65,000 |
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Top Colleges for Research Scholars
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Public
3. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
4. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
5. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
6. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
7. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
8. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
9. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
10. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
Top Skills For a Research Scholar
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.7% of research scholars listed research projects on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and detail oriented are important as well.
- Research Projects, 15.7%
- PHD, 13.9%
- Data Analysis, 7.4%
- Analyze Data, 6.9%
- C++, 6.3%
- Other Skills, 49.8% See All Research Scholar Skills
Best States For a Research Scholar
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a research scholar. The best states for people in this position are New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, and New York. Research scholars make the most in New Jersey with an average salary of $94,115. Whereas in Delaware and Rhode Island, they would average $86,768 and $77,093, respectively. While research scholars would only make an average of $74,393 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New Jersey
$94,116
Avg. Salary
2. District of Columbia
$89,822
Avg. Salary
3. Arizona
$72,635
Avg. Salary
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