Skills gained finishing a science major?

[BioDoc]

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Lets say you went a university, majored in science and did well in it. What other skills did you develop on the way besides learning/understanding science that are appealing? (Might be relevant to an interview or employment opportunity)

 

[jvesco22]

how babies are made?

 

[schrizto]

Majoring in chemistry and getting ACS-certified maybe.

 

[armybound]

Time management, maybe some critical thinking, teamwork..

 

[MilkmanAl]

Proficiency with lab techniques and basic software. It's amazing how far knowing how to use Office - particularly Excel - can get you. No, I'm not kidding. Adding to army's list, determination, focus, and discipline would likely be traits (not skills, I guess) that you could spin very effectively.

 

[akinetopsia]

Business majors use Office as well, so that's kind of a moot point. Even government majors use Office apps. I think it's pretty much a given, that you'll at least use Word/PowerPoint in most majors, and Excel in anything that collects data.

I would agree with basic lab techniques (how to perform a titration, using basic glassware/apparatus assembly), you learn a little aseptic technique, especially in microbio if you take it, and you learn how to do formal scientific writing, which comes in handy, especially if you get into research.

 

[tennisball80]

Proficiency with lab techniques and basic software. It's amazing how far knowing how to use Office - particularly Excel - can get you. No, I'm not kidding. Adding to army's list, determination, focus, and discipline would likely be traits (not skills, I guess) that you could spin very effectively.

Yes. We should be aware of the positive personal traits we can develop during undergrad years. 👍

 

[greatnt249]

Lets say you went a university, majored in science and did well in it. What other skills did you develop on the way besides learning/understanding science that are appealing? (Might be relevant to an interview or employment opportunity)

(Hopefully) learning how to think scientifically and from an evidence-based perspective. Determining the merits of arguments can carry you a long way in any decision-making process.

 

[m0biusace]

(Hopefully) learning how to think scientifically and from an evidence-based perspective. Determining the merits of arguments can carry you a long way in any decision-making process.

This.

 

[CoolWhipp]

Most useful thing you can do if you plan to work biotech is understand ChIP, western blot, ELISA, FACS, and electrophoresis kind of stuff. They all expect you to have at least introductory level familiarity with some of these techniques.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Business majors use Office as well, so that's kind of a moot point. Even government majors use Office apps. I think it's pretty much a given, that you'll at least use Word/PowerPoint in most majors, and Excel in anything that collects data.

It's not at all moot, I promise. Using Office is a common skill to learn these days, but it didn't used to be. It's still pretty uncommon to be able to use Office well, though. You'd be amazed how few people can make a PowerPoint show or run basic Excel functions. When you get to anything more than the most fundamental use of a program, lots of people are clueless.

 

[akinetopsia]

It's not at all moot, I promise. Using Office is a common skill to learn these days, but it didn't used to be. It's still pretty uncommon to be able to use Office well, though. You'd be amazed how few people can make a PowerPoint show or run basic Excel functions. When you get to anything more than the most fundamental use of a program, lots of people are clueless.

True dat. A lot of people can do something as simple as using a template, but if they have to start from scratch they don't know what to do or how to organize it. Point taken. I graduated in '03 though, and even then I had to take a course (as a marketing major before I switched to government) in Excel.

However, I think the general trend is younger generations are more technologically savvy than previous generations.