Graduates with a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in microbiology have opportunities for employment in government, hospitals, public health laboratories, research laboratories, and industrial laboratories (food, dairy, chemical, pharmaceutical, and genetic engineering companies). Students who continue beyond the BS have career opportunities in these same areas, with greater responsibilities and commensurately higher salaries, as well as in college and university teaching.
Examples of possible positions include:
- Research laboratory technician
- Quality control analyst
- Clinical microbiologist or immunologist*
- Food or dairy microbiologist
- Environmental microbiologist
- Recombinant DNA technologist
- Fermentation technologist
- Research scientist
- College teacher
- Public health microbiologist
- Doctor of veterinary medicine
- Doctor of medicine*
- Dentist*
- Doctor of pharmacy*
*Completion of a Microbiology major will also complete most or all of the admission requirements for many professional programs. For additional information about course and GPA requirements for admission, see the admissions web pages for the program of interest:
Pomerantz Career Center
The Pomerantz Career Center web site contains many resources to help students identify and prepare for life science careers. The career center also has full-time career counselors who specialize in the life sciences.