Senior Scientific Associate Overview
Working as a Senior Scientific Associate
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior scientific associate. For example, did you know that they make an average of $38.45 an hour? That's $79,971 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Senior Scientific Associate Do
There are certain skills that many senior scientific associates 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, math skills and observation skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a senior scientific associate, we found that a lot of resumes listed 8.0% of senior scientific associates included protocols, while 8.0% of resumes included assay development, and 6.5% 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 senior scientific associate job title. But what industry to start with? Most senior scientific associates actually find jobs in the health care and pharmaceutical industries.
How To Become a Senior Scientific Associate
If you're interested in becoming a senior scientific associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 30.0% of senior scientific associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 36.9% of senior scientific associates have master's degrees. Even though most senior scientific associates 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 senior scientific associate. When we researched the most common majors for a senior scientific associate, we found that they most commonly earn master's degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on senior scientific associate resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a senior scientific associate. In fact, many senior scientific associate jobs require experience in a role such as research assistant. Meanwhile, many senior scientific associates also have previous career experience in roles such as research associate or teaching assistant.
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Senior Scientific Associate Jobs
Senior Scientific Associate Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of senior scientist you might progress to a role such as principal scientist eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title principal scientist.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Senior Scientific Associate
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Kelly Services Scientific Associate-Formulations Scientific Associate-Formulations | Kelly Services Kelly Services | 04/28/2020 04/28/2020 | $60,00004/28/2020 $60,000 |
The Schepens Eye Research Institute, Inc. Scientific Associate II Scientific Associate II | The Schepens Eye Research Institute, Inc. The Schepens Eye Research Institute, Inc. | 09/24/2019 09/24/2019 | $68,43209/24/2019 $68,432 |
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Inc. Scientific Associate II Scientific Associate II | Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Inc. Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Inc. | 09/23/2019 09/23/2019 | $68,43209/23/2019 $68,432 |
University of Arizona Senior Scientific Associate Senior Scientific Associate | University of Arizona University of Arizona | 09/23/2019 09/23/2019 | $68,00009/23/2019 $68,000 |
Institute for Cancer Research Scientific Associate Scientific Associate | Institute for Cancer Research Institute for Cancer Research | 08/01/2019 08/01/2019 | $42,72408/01/2019 $42,724 |
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Top Colleges for Senior Scientific Associates
1. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
3. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
4. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
5. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY
6. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
7. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
8. Northeastern University
Boston, MA
9. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
10. University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Entry Level Jobs For Becoming A Senior Scientific Associate
Top Skills For a Senior Scientific Associate
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, 8.0% of senior scientific associates listed protocols on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and math skills are important as well.
- Protocols, 11.3%
- Data Analysis, 8.9%
- Assay Development, 8.1%
- FDA, 5.8%
- Cell Culture, 5.2%
- Other Skills, 60.7% See All Senior Scientific Associate Skills
Best States For a Senior Scientific Associate
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior scientific associate. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Minnesota, Vermont, and Delaware. Senior scientific associates make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $130,310. Whereas in Minnesota and Vermont, they would average $114,336 and $111,812, respectively. While senior scientific associates would only make an average of $110,316 in Delaware, 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. Delaware
$110,317
Avg. Salary
2. New Mexico
$103,130
Avg. Salary
3. Virginia
$107,432
Avg. Salary