Pros/Cons of working in different sectors?

Ask a Biologist Monday 10/30/23

Answers from Biologists:

• Feds:

  • Cons

    • Difficult to advance

    • Drowning in hiring pool

    • Waiting 6 months for simple hiring paperwork

    • Low pay to cost of living

    • Bureaucracy

    • Politics

    • Red tape

    • Steady work

    • Rate caps on pay

    • Can be limited by jurisdiction

    • Drama between orgs

    • Less field time/more office work

    • Hard to get a permanent position

    • Long timelines

    • Burnout potential is high

  • Pros

    • We do a lot of science in house

    • Programs well funded

    • Training potential

    • Lots of experience

    • flexible

    • Decent pay

    • Private land conservation

    • Good pay

    • Funding

    • Job security

    • Hours worked are respected

    • Overtime pay

    • Holidays

    • Paid trainings

    • Better work/life balance

    • Unionized (Canada)

    • Meaningful work

• Academia

  • Cons

    • Toxic

    • Soft money

    • Poor pay

  • Pros

    • Groundbreaking projects

    • Good benefits

• Private

  • Cons

    • Health insurance not always provided

    • Competitive

    • Crazy hours

    • Demanding clients

  • Pros

    • Good pay

    • Can be enjoyable (if you find the right one)

    • Rewarding

    • Exposure to a wide variety of work

• State

  • Cons

    • Terrible pay

    • Paperwork

    • Slow approval process

    • Politics

    • Lack of pay increases

    • Different departments vary in pay

    • Boy’s club

    • Awful culture

    • Hard to get permanent position

    • Often overworked

    • Anti-government public

    • Bureaucracy

  • Pros

    • Good health insurance/benefits

    • Decent pay

    • Job security

    • Health insurance

    • Paid Time Off

    • Variety of work

    • Vacation hours/pay

    • People

• Consulting

  • Cons

    • High workload

    • Travel

    • Job insecurity

    • Unpredictable schedule

    • Underpaid

    • Not environmentally friendly

  • Pros

    • Remote work

    • Variety of projects

    • Decent pay

• Non-profit

  • Cons

    • Grant funded/unstable funding

    • High work load

    • Less people-power

    • Bad pay

    • Overworked

    • More business than science

    • Limited funds

  • Pros

    • Local impact

    • Direct change

    • Networking

    • Variety of experiences

    • Hands-on work

    • Good pay/benefits

    • Freedom/flexibility

    • Meaningful work

• Tribal

  • Cons

    • Funding

    • Jurisdiction/co-management issues

  • Pros

    • Conservation values

    • Independence

    • Grant opportunities

    • Favors tribal citizens

    • Less restrictions

    • Freedom to pursue new projects

• Contracting

  • Cons

    • Easier to get than federal jobs

  • Pros

    • No job security

• Energy

  • Cons

    • Awful hours

  • Pros

    • Fantastic pay

    • Good benefits