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Have a look at and to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:

Science communication: education and outreach

Get an insight from for our Science Careers Outside the Lab event in March 2021.

Science communication: writing and publishing

Government and policy

• - includes Science & Engineering path

Get an insight from for our Science Careers Outside the Lab event in March 2021.

Business and management

Get an insight from for our Science Careers Outside the Lab event in March 2021.

Energy & environment

Get an insight from for our Science Careers Outside the Lab event in March 2021.

Information, research & data

• - see also a case study from the

Manufacturing & supply chain

Health

Healthcare scientists

See and our Healthcare sector-specific page for more job profiles.

Get an insight from , including the NHS Scientist Training Programme, for our Science Careers Outside the Lab event in March 2021.

Scientific sales, marketing & recruitment

Get an insight from for our Science Careers Outside the Lab event in March 2021.

Legal services, patents & regulatory affairs

Get an insight from for our Science Careers Outside the Lab event in March 2021.

lists the skills specific to your degree including:

• critical and analytical skills
• problem-solving
• teamwork
• verbal and written communication
• project management
• planning, organising and time management
• attention to detail

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary depending on the position.

To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources:

• our  offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations
• job profiles, such as those listed on  or 
• vacancy sites such as  and 

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers.

• Browse our NCL Graduate Employment and Work Experience directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed.
• Use LinkedIn’s  to find out what Ãå±±½ûµØ graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. ³§±ð±ð Ãå±±½ûµØ Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on  [3:13±Õ. &²Ô²ú²õ±è;
• Attend alumni events, such as Ãå±±½ûµØ Develop, to hear directly from our graduates.  
• Sign up for mentoring support with  a²Ô»å . These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting. 
• Attend events such as recruitment events and  employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions.   

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• placement year reviews written by students.
• – graduate job reviews
• – company reviews from employees

Read career guides for this sector, such as:

• and also have advice on alternative graduate careers for scientists
• The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has advice for both and , including alternative career options
• see the Science Council article on the

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry.

Regular events for this sector include our annual Science Careers Outside the Lab event. Hear from speakers from a range of careers including:

• science education
• government
• patents
• medical writing
• science recruitment
• pharma sales
• teaching
• data science
• law
• environmental consultancy

Employers who have attended in the past include:

• Civil Service Fast Stream
• CY Partners
• Environment Agency
• EY
• NHS
• Northumbrian Water
• Oxford University Press
• Teach First
• Womble Bond Dickinson
• Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology

The Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs (TOPRA) holds an , aimed at professionals and life science students and graduates who are interested in a career in healthcare regulatory affairs. It's free to attend for TOPRA members.

is a free 2 day job event for tech professionals. It’s an opportunity to meet and chat with employers. Roles include digital marketing, data science, project management.

See our Events and workshops page for upcoming events, including recruitment fairs and employer and sector insights. 

Join sector related student societies. Below we have listed some examples of societies that organise and promote events or invite guest speakers to talk about their careers:

Use social media to find industry insights.

Join on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.

Find out more about how to use social media for your career.

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network

Professional bodies often:

• run networking events
• have specialist groups you could join
• post vacancies on behalf of their members
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications

You can search for professional bodies on the , in the regulated professions register.

The lists associations, institutes and societies by profession.

You can also find links to professional bodies in the About section in each of our Explore Occupations pages.

Finding professional bodies worldwide

³Ò´Ç¾±²Ô³Ò±ô´Ç²ú²¹±ô’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

Apply for advertised opportunities as early as possible.

UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled.

Use our resources to get started:

• - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad

Search the following external sites for more opportunities:

• - paid 10-12 month placements for undergraduate students
• - includes internships and placements open to science students
• - sometimes advertise internships
• - search using Internship as a keyword

This area of work is about making science accessible and engaging and presenting it in an easy-to-understand way. This could be in schools as a science teacher, or bringing science to the public at events and festivals, in museums or through workshops in the community.

Work experience opportunities include:

• Ãå±±½ûµØ Student Ambassadors - representing and promoting the University. You could get involved with delivering presentations in local schools, working at University open days and developing resources for outreach activities. Applications typically open at the start of each academic year and are advertised on
• the University’s Street Science Team who help to promote STEM subjects. Applications typically open at the start of each academic year. See the Street Science Team web page for more information
• - volunteer role to encourage and inspire young people to progress further in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects
• The Career Development Module: Student Tutoring - get work experience in a primary or secondary school through our 20 credit module. For additional ways to find classroom experience, see School-based Work Experience
• Teach First have a for STEM students to experience teaching and their training programme
• part-time jobs as a tutor – , , ,
• have opportunities for paid part-time Maths and English tutors in Ãå±±½ûµØ
• volunteer at , eg the Discovery Museum
• the includes regular job/internship adverts
• , the STEM Communicators Network, and occasionally internships and has a and , which could be useful for voluntary opportunities. See also their article on

Science communication covers a range of career areas, including science writing and journalism, science publishing, events and PR.

Employers include pharmaceutical companies, science publishers, the NHS, government, research institutes, charities, media organisations and professional bodies, such as the Royal Societies of Biology and Chemistry.

• the features regular discussions and job/internship adverts
• scientific publisher, Springer, offers , including editorial, research and corporate communications
• charities offer opportunities in events and communications. recruits paid part-time events assistants and volunteers to help run its fundraising events such as Race for Life
• as well as looking for advertised opportunities, you can also contact companies directly to ask if they could offer you work experience

Finding work experience in science communication can be difficult. You could gain experience in different ways, such as:

• writing science articles for
• entering science writing competitions (some come with a prize of an internship)
• volunteering to help organise science or health-related
• lists events and webinars that may be useful for finding out more about the field and what employers are looking for

You could also try to find work experience in similar roles outside the science industry, for example, many PR and publishing companies offer internships and placements. Have a look at the Gaining experience sections on our sector-specific pages:

• journalism and writing
• PR
• publishing
• events management, hospitality and catering

Typical employers would be local and central government, scientific professional bodies, e.g. the Royal Society and Institute of Physics, think tanks and charities.

•  - 6-8 week paid internship within a government department for undergraduates and postgraduates
• - search using ‘intern’ as a keyword. Often includes opportunities in policy work, for government, political parties, think tanks and charities. Some internships may be available to graduates only
•  - opportunity for STFC-funded PhD students to work for three months in Parliament or Government

See also Government, Politics and Social Research for more ways to gain experience.

You can find business-related internships and placements within a wide range of science organisations, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

• business-related internships with science and pharmaceutical companies are advertised on
• if you’re struggling to find work experience in a science or pharmaceutical company you can try to find related experience outside the industry to gain relevant transferable skills. See our Business and Finance pages for advice and work experience vacancies

You can find opportunities within a wide range of organisations, including pharmaceutical, oil and gas and utility companies, government, research institutes, professional bodies, charities and environmental consultancies.

• there are opportunities within the nuclear industry. Sellafield offers and for science students
• offer funding for undergraduates to complete environmental science summer research placements
• offers summer internships and placement years in a wide range of roles including science and forecasting

See the Gaining experience sections within the following sector-specific pages for sources of vacancies and employer directories:

• environment
• energy and utilities

You can find work experience opportunities in data science, informatics and statistics within a wide range of organisations, including the NHS, pharmaceutical companies, government, and research institutes.

• opportunities in clinical research can be found within pharmaceutical companies, such as , and contract research organisations (CROs), such as
• PSI has a list of who offer internships and placements in statistics and programming

If you’re struggling to find work experience in a science or pharmaceutical company, it would be worth trying to find related experience outside the industry, e.g. in finance, retail or travel, to gain relevant transferable skills.

You can find work experience within the pharmaceutical industry, e.g. MSD offers in manufacturing and supply chain.

If you’re struggling to find opportunities in a science or pharmaceutical company, it would be worth trying to find experience outside the industry, e.g. in manufacturing, engineering or transport companies, to gain relevant transferable skills. Have a look at the Gaining experience sections on our sector-specific pages:

• logistics, supply chain management and transport
• engineering

Advertised work experience is not as common in the NHS. See Non-advertised work experience and graduate jobs for more information on contacting organisations directly to ask about opportunities.

NHS Health Careers has advice on .

offers opportunities for work experience, shadowing and . For other NHS Trusts in the North East, see .

See also our occupational pages, Public Health and Healthcare for additional sources of work experience.

There are various opportunities, particularly within the pharmaceutical industry for marketing roles.

For medical/scientific sales, has a useful article about trying to find work experience in this industry. Work experience can be hard to get, but it’s worth trying to shadow a medical sales rep if you can. Pharmiweb has advice on .

See our list of specialist recruitment agencies below to find companies who hire science recruitment consultants.

Have a look at our sector pages: HR, Recruitment and Training, Retail, Buying and Selling and Marketing for advice on finding general experience in these fields.

If you’re struggling to find work experience in a science or pharmaceutical company, you could try to find related experience outside the industry, e.g. in retail sales, which would demonstrate relevant transferable skills.

Find marketing-related internships with science and pharmaceutical companies on .

Read about of a marketing internship with CY Partners, a scientific recruitment agency in Ãå±±½ûµØ.

For advice on finding law-related work experience, see Legal Professions.

Patents and trademarks

Work experience in patent law can be difficult to find; it’s worth contacting employers directly with a speculative approach. See Non-advertised work experience and graduate jobs for more information about how to find employers.

Recruiters will also value experience in law firms and in a scientific or technical environment.

•  - offer unpaid work experience for one week in Easter or summer vacations, including chemical and life science patent opportunities
• - two-week paid summer placement opportunity to gain an insight into the work of a patent or trademark attorney
• - internships and traineeships for graduates
• : Internships

Regulatory affairs

• The Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs (TOPRA) advertises paid internships
• several pharmaceutical companies offer year-long placements in regulatory affairs, eg

The Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs (TOPRA) has , with tips and advice, including volunteering. They also run to provide an insight into regulatory affairs and offer to members.

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage and often include projects, such as business related internships with science or pharmaceutical companies.

• search for these under Vacancies on . Type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box
• you can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our directories. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank.

Use our resources to get started:

•  - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• Graduate Jobs – lists graduate vacancy sites
• - science jobs
• - jobs in universities and colleges, includes PhD and research roles
• - opportunities with small to medium sized companies, aimed at final year students and recent graduates with a science, technology, engineering or maths related degree
• - three-way partnerships involving a business, a graduate and an academic institution.

This area of work is about making science accessible and engaging and presenting it in an easy to understand way. This could be in schools as a science teacher, or bringing science to the public at events and festivals, in museums or through workshops in the community.

• see the Careers Service website for advice on applying for teacher training
• Teaching in Schools has links to job sites.
• advertise jobs in universities and HE colleges
• lists opportunities within the heritage and cultural sector, eg museum education and outreach
• Leicester University’s often has opportunities for learning and education officers in science and medical museums
• The includes regular job adverts, including for outreach and public engagement opportunities.

Science communication covers a range of career areas, including science writing and journalism, science publishing, events and PR.

Employers include pharmaceutical companies, science publishers, the NHS, government, research institutes, professional bodies, such as the Royal Societies of Biology and Chemistry, health charities and the media, including TV, radio and advertising.

Many science/medical communications agencies include a writing test as part of the recruitment process for medical writer roles. For advice and tips, see .

Sources of vacancies across science and medical communication

• The includes job adverts
• , the STEM Communicators Network, advertises jobs
• - search using ‘communications’ as a keyword
• Cancer Research UK’s has previously included a policy, information and communications stream
• - search for opportunities in science or health related departments and organisations including DEFRA, the Met Office and Public Health England
• - includes opportunities in communications, events and public affairs, for government, political parties, charities and think tanks

Scientific publishing companies often advertise in publications such as . The main publishers tend to be based in Oxford, Cambridge, London and the south coast.

Examples of publishing houses for scientific journals include:

• - offer 10 week paid internships for students and graduates
• - advertise editorial positions
• - academic publisher with a range of roles including editorial, production, marketing and sales
• Springer - advertise a  for graduates

offers graduate roles in publishing and communications. See their for more information about the role.

See also our sector-specific pages:

• journalism and writing
• PR
• government, politics and public affairs

Typical employers would be local and central government, scientific professional bodies, eg Royal Society and Institute of Physics, thinktanks and charities.

• - most streams are open to any degree subject, with a few targeted at science students, including Science & Engineering, Digital, Data & Technology, Government Operational Research Service and the Government Statistical Service
• - search for opportunities within government departments, including DEFRA and DSTL
• - includes opportunities in policy work, for government, political parties, thinktanks etc
•  advertises science policy officer jobs
• includes a policy and strategy management specialism and The Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) Health Policy Fast Track scheme

For a list of professional bodies, research councils/institutes and vacancy sites, see our sector-specific pages:

• government, politics and public affairs
• life science
• physical science

There are opportunities within business, finance and consulting for graduates to apply their scientific background and analytical skills, for example, to help solve clients’ problems or to provide market intelligence. Typical employers include pharmaceutical and life science companies, consultancies, health charities, government and energy and utility companies.

• The offers a wide range of specialisms, including finance, HR and general management
• Cancer Research UK has in finance, HR and scientific strategy and funding

Use the Advertised vacancy sites and Finding organisations sections above, plus the Finding Jobs sections of our Business and Finance sector pages, for further sources of vacancies and ways to find employers.

There are opportunities for science graduates within a wide range of organisations, including:

• higher education and research institutions, including and research centres such as the
• industry, for example, the energy industry, utilities and pharmaceutical companies. There are also opportunities within the nuclear industry, for example, has programme areas including environmental, safety support and technical aimed at STEM students
• environmental, ecological and sustainability consultancies
• charities, environmental NGOs and pressure groups, eg , , ,
• Local and central government and non-departmental public bodies, including , , the and the . See , to search for vacancies
• intergovernmental and international organisations, such as the (UNEP) and international

See the About and Advertised graduate vacancies sections within Environment and Energy and Utilities for sources of vacancies and ways to find organisations.

Graduate opportunities in data science, informatics, statistics and clinical research exist within a wide range of organisations, including the NHS, pharmaceutical companies, government, research institutes and contract research organisations.

Examples of employers

The includes opportunities within the Central Digital and Data Office, the Government Operational Research Service and the Government Analysis Function.

You can also search for opportunities within government departments on the .

The includes health informatics and health analysis specialisms.

is a global information analytics company which specialises in science and health. They offer graduate opportunities in business analysis and data science.

Vacancy sites

You can find opportunities within the pharmaceutical industry in manufacturing and supply chain, e.g. GSK offers these streams as part of its .

See also our sector-specific page logistics, supply chain management and transport.

There are various career options within health, from healthcare science and academic research to health promotion and environmental health.

Opportunities can be found within the NHS, private healthcare, local and central government, professional bodies, academic and research institutions, and the not-for profit sector.

Within the NHS, the has various specialisms, including health analysis and policy and strategic management.

To work as a healthcare scientist in the NHS, you need to complete the . This is a graduate-entry training programme that leads to more senior scientist roles in the NHS. There are several roles which involve patient contact and are not lab-based, such as audiology, physiology, genomic counselling and medical physics.

You can search for health-related opportunities on the following sites:

• - includes a list of

For information and advice on health-related careers, including medicine, nursing and allied health professions, plus links to sources of vacancies, see Healthcare and Public Health.

There are lots of opportunities, within the pharmaceutical and life science industry for sales and marketing roles.

You can search job opportunities for sales, marketing and/or recruitment roles on the following sites:

For advice on a career in law, including training, see Legal Professions.

Patents & trademarks

Opportunities are available within private practices, e.g. specialist law firms, or within industry (‘in house’), e.g. within science or engineering companies. The majority of patent attorneys work in private practice.

A science degree is usually the minimum requirement, with some employers also preferring candidates to have had some research or industrial experience.

• – UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trademarks and copyright. Search for jobs on
• - job opportunities and internships for students and recent graduates

Regulatory affairs

Some vacancies within regulatory affairs are aimed more at graduates who have had some relevant experience, though there are entry-level graduate schemes available, e.g. .

Try contacting companies , to enquire about possible entry-level vacancies.

It may be possible to gain experience in a related role or sector, such as quality assurance roles within the pharmaceutical industry, moving into regulatory affairs once you have built up your knowledge and skills.

• - search using ‘regulatory affairs’ as a keyword
• - government department that regulates medicines, medical devices and blood components for transfusion in the UK

• - research and postdoc opportunities across Europe
• – jobs as patent examiners

See International jobs for details of overseas vacancy sites.

Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities:

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in.
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company.
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated.
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying!

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you:

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin

• find organisations on . Select ‘search' then 'organisations’
• use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page
• search for companies on LinkedIn. The tool shows you where Ãå±±½ûµØ graduates are currently working
• browse our directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed

• North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) - includes
• - 24 acre site built for international tech and science businesses. Includes:
• - includes a variety of life science and chemical companies
•  - includes companies such as an urban consulting think tank, health economists, patent attorneys and a biomass fuel supplier
• - science park in County Durham
• - science park based in Teesside
• - biomedical and life science companies in the North of England with

• find a list of science and pharmaceutical companies on
• ABPI has a list of in the UK.
• - list of 250 pharmaceutical and medical device companies in the UK
• - includes lists of biotech company clusters

You could contact science outreach/education providers for possible opportunities – see to find organisations and events. Within the North East, you could try:

• - sometimes advertises opportunities for science explainers
• , the STEM Communicators Network, advertises jobs and has a list of and , which could be useful for speculative applications.

• The University of Kent Careers Service has a
• , the STEM Communicators Network, advertises jobs and has a list of and , which could be useful for speculative applications
• MedComms Go! have an of medcomms agencies across the UK and Europe
• has a list of members, including medcomms agencies, industry and health charities

Use the GOV.UK .

 lists  for CROs and drug development companies.

Many hospitals have a dedicated staff member who deals with placements. Check the  website for hospital contact details. If you are unable to find this information, you could ring the hospital switchboard and ask to speak to the work experience/placement co-ordinator.

• - includes a list of

ABPI - list of .

• - UK and Europe
• - useful for speculative applications
• - UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trademarks and copyright
• IP Careers includes an

Search GoinGlobal’s employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.

• - science jobs in Europe in and outside the lab
• - have a section for . They also have advice for looking for science jobs
• - recruitment agency with graduate medical and pharmaceutical sales jobs
• – recruitment agency with sales and marketing roles for science graduates with some commercial experience

See recruitment agencies to find more agencies.

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of recruitment agencies in specific countries. They are listed under the following headings:

• staffing agencies and temporary help firms
• executive recruiters and search firms

Recruitment agencies may not operate in the same way in different countries. In the UK agencies are free for job seekers, but this may not be the case elsewhere. Explore the terms and conditions of an agency before signing up to use them.