Virologist Overview
Virologist Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a virologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.47 an hour? That's $69,617 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 1,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Virologist Do
There are certain skills that many virologists 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 detail oriented, math skills and problem-solving skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a virologist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 32.9% of virologists included cell culture, while 19.2% of resumes included molecular biology, and 14.4% of resumes included immunology. 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 virologist job title. But what industry to start with? Most virologists actually find jobs in the health care and non profits industries.
How To Become a Virologist
If you're interested in becoming a virologist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 30.3% of virologists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 30.3% of virologists have master's degrees. Even though most virologists 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 virologist. When we researched the most common majors for a virologist, we found that they most commonly earn doctoral degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on virologist resumes include master's degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a virologist. In fact, many virologist jobs require experience in a role such as research fellow. Meanwhile, many virologists also have previous career experience in roles such as research scientist or research assistant.
What is the right job for my career path?
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Virologist 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 research fellow you might progress to a role such as research scientist eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title senior 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 Virologist
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Aerotek Virologist Virologist | Aerotek Aerotek | 10/29/2020 10/29/2020 | $45,91410/29/2020 $45,914 |
Genvivo, Inc. QC Gene Therapy Virologist I QC Gene Therapy Virologist I | Genvivo, Inc. Genvivo, Inc. | 11/08/2018 11/08/2018 | $55,00011/08/2018 $55,000 |
Signagen Laboratories LLC Virologists Virologists | Signagen Laboratories LLC Signagen Laboratories LLC | 03/12/2018 03/12/2018 | $54,16703/12/2018 $54,167 |
Nanoviricides Inc. Virologist Virologist | Nanoviricides Inc. Nanoviricides Inc. | 06/29/2011 06/29/2011 | $62,40006/29/2011 $62,400 |
Nanoviricides Inc. Virologist Virologist | Nanoviricides Inc. Nanoviricides Inc. | 06/08/2011 06/08/2011 | $62,40006/08/2011 $62,400 |
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Top Colleges for Virologists
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Public
3. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Public
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
5. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
6. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
7. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
8. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
9. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
10. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Public
Top Skills For a Virologist
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, 32.9% of virologists listed cell culture on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and math skills are important as well.
- Cell Culture, 32.9%
- Molecular Biology, 19.2%
- Immunology, 14.4%
- Bsl-2, 8.8%
- Research Projects, 5.7%
- Other Skills, 19.0% See All Virologist Skills