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In the biological industry, undergraduate and college students are not the main demand targets in the job market.
Today we begin to introduce the employment situation of bioengineering majors. The bioengineering major has been listed as a red card major by the Ministry of Education for many years in terms of employment, and is commonly known as the "four major sinkholes of biochemical environmental materials". At the same time, the industry declared that "the 21st century is the century of life sciences." So what is the employment situation of bioengineering majors?
Before starting to introduce in detail, we must first understand the industry background of bioengineering. Only by understanding the characteristics of the industry can we understand the needs of the industry.
Bioengineering is an industry with large investment and long investment return cycle. Compared with other industries, bioengineering requires the overall strength of the company as a strong support. Only by investing a large amount of funds in long-term experimental research can it be possible to make some achievements in the biological industry. From initial molecular screening, cell experiments, to experiments on mice, to clinical experiments on humans, and finally successful marketing, this process may take more than ten years and is extremely risky. Therefore, companies need to invest a lot of money in scientific research and core technical talents, which is of course good for talent development and industry progress. However, the vast majority of people are not core technical talents, and therefore are not what the biological industry urgently needs. Industry characteristics determine the high educational threshold for employment in bioengineering.
At the beginning we introduced the view that "the 21st century is the century of life sciences", which can be seen from the awarding of Nobel Prizes in recent years - one-third or even half of the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry All were awarded to research in the biological field, and even the three scientists who won the 2018 Physics Prize have made contributions in the biological or medical fields. The occurrence of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 has directly pushed the importance of the biological industry into the public eye-the biological industry not only affects personal health, but also affects the development of the entire social economy.
It is this strong scientific research tendency that makes students majoring in bioengineering urgently need academic qualifications, patent results and scientific research background as a background for job hunting. Therefore, a doctoral degree from a top domestic and foreign university is the most suitable for employment. market demand.
As for undergraduate and junior college students, they are not the main demand targets in the job market - in terms of hardware, doing research requires experiments, instruments, and financial support, and experiments at the undergraduate level are usually not For scientific research and innovation, it is to allow students to understand current basic knowledge and accumulate experimental experience; and in terms of soft power, scientific research needs the school’s own scientific research strength and tutor’s projects as endorsements to obtain financial support for it. This is also Scientific research resources that are difficult for undergraduates to have. Therefore, even if a newly graduated undergraduate has a patent, it does not meet the "interviewer's interest" and it is basically impossible to engage in important R&D positions.
In general, the current biological industry still has great potential. Biology involves a wide range of aspects and can intersect with many disciplines. Among them, medicine is the most popular and has a relatively large number of employees; in terms of medical equipment, domestic instruments are gradually integrating with international standards with strong support from the state; in terms of biomedicine, in order to solve targeted problems, the demand for bioengineering PhDs is also increasing. Very big.
The environment of the bioengineering industry determines the requirements for academic qualifications - a bachelor's degree is not enough to undertake R&D positions. As a result, the gap in academic qualifications has also led to a huge income gap in this major. So, where exactly will you go after graduating with a bachelor's degree in bioengineering?
First, let’s take a look at the main destinations of recent undergraduate graduates in this major announced on the official website of Tianjin University: studying abroad (about 20%); studying for master’s and doctoral degrees in domestic universities and research institutes (about 40%, of which recommended students (approximately 20%); state-owned large and medium-sized enterprises and institutions (approximately 20%), high-end foreign companies, private enterprises and independent entrepreneurs (approximately 20%).
The employment industries for bioengineering undergraduates mainly include biomedicine, biochemicals, bioenergy and other fields, and are engaged in research and development, production, and sales. The companies where I work are mainly food and pharmaceutical factories, such as beer, food processing factories (vinegar sauce), pharmaceutical factories, and amino acid factories.
The positions for undergraduate students are mainly quality inspectors and operators. The starting salary is low, about 3,000 yuan per month. The work content is not technical, it is manual work and can be easily replaced, and there is not much room for improvement. Therefore, considering salary, most people will choose sales positions in the industry or choose to change careers.
In terms of enterprise selection, there are many small enterprises in China, and the development of front-line positions is very limited. The fermentation position mainly deals with dispensing jars in the factory, and the working hours are three shifts. Although the risk and intensity of the work are not high, if you have a graduate degree, you have the opportunity to enter the headquarters.
For example, graduate students majoring in bioengineering and fermentation at Jiangnan University have a high chance of entering the headquarters of various companies, especially in coastal cities such as Shanghai; and if they choose to work in inland cities, there are many places to go. for the factory. For example, the monthly salary for engineering positions at China Resources Snow and Laoganma is about 8,000-12,000 yuan. In the early stage, you generally need to train on the front lines of the factory. If you have connections in the company, you will develop faster.
A larger proportion of graduates majoring in bioengineering change careers. Therefore, let’s briefly introduce the situation of career change.
There are many undergraduate graduates who change careers as teachers, salesmen or take civil service examinations. As we all know, among the choices of changing careers, these three options are considered to be the most effective ones. This also shows that there are not many alternative positions in this profession in this industry. Next, we will briefly introduce the basic situation of changing careers to these three destinations.
The first is to change careers as a teacher. Graduates who change careers usually choose to apply for local public institutions and become teachers in middle schools based on their own circumstances. In addition, there are also many people who change careers in human resources, because the threshold for changing careers in human resources is low and it is relatively easy to obtain a human resources certificate.
The second is to switch to sales. There is no threshold for sales. The main options are positions such as medical representatives or medical device sales and reagent sales. Sales positions in various industries require some professional knowledge, but the requirements are not strict, so undergraduate graduates are excellent candidates for sales positions. Of course, the long-term development path of sales is closely related to personal planning capabilities.
Finally, undergraduate students can also choose to apply for civil servants for employment. The positions of civil servants are mainly in customs, maritime affairs or public security bureaus, and they are engaged in quarantine work, physical and chemical inspection, judicial appraisal and other work. These positions are basically front-line laboratory positions, and competition is fierce. Graduates of bioengineering need to compete with graduates of biology and chemistry departments for these positions.
The positions that graduate students can choose in the civil service are more "civilian", such as the Medical and Biological Invention Examination Department, patent examination in the field of food and health products, or entering the Industrial Development Department to participate in formulating the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries. Development planning and policy. Of course, the requirements for these positions are also higher, often requiring two years of grassroots work experience and having membership in the Communist Party of China.
In short, the bioengineering major is not suitable for undergraduate graduation. You need to study for a PhD or study abroad to continue your education. If you want to find a job with a good salary after graduation, this major is not suitable for you. Even graduate students majoring in bioengineering mainly work as laboratory assistants after graduation.
In other words, if you choose this major and are prepared to study for a Ph.D. or study abroad, you need to consider: long-term engagement in scientific research and experiments, love of biochemistry, endurance of sitting on the bench, family conditions, and economy. The conditions allow you to study for a long time or go abroad. Then the salary level of postdoctoral fellows is between 300,000 and 400,000 yuan per year, which is a relatively high level.
Summary of key points:
1. Bioengineering is an industry with large investment and long return cycle, so the industry risks are relatively high, which determines that this major has very high academic requirements. ;
2. The undergraduate courses in bioengineering are mainly designed to allow students to understand current basic knowledge and accumulate experimental experience;
3. Therefore, this major is more suitable for graduate school Or study abroad for further study. It can almost be said that further study is the only recommended way out for this major;
4. After graduating from bioengineering undergraduates, two-fifths of them further their education in China, and they go abroad for further study, state-owned enterprises and institutions One-fifth for unit employment and one-fifth for other jobs;
5. The employment direction is mainly in the fields of biomedicine, biochemicals, bioenergy, etc., engaging in front-line work such as R&D, production, and sales;
6. The companies they work for are mainly food and pharmaceutical factories, such as beer, food processing factories (vinegar sauce), pharmaceutical factories, and amino acid factories;
7. Undergraduate graduates change careers to become teachers, There is a higher proportion of human resources, sales or civil servants.