The Career Field Resource pages describe the more common fields that employ scientists with advanced training, with a short list of websites which will help you understand the field. Each section has:
- at least one or two articles to provide an overview of the field or career paths;
- resources specific to Berkeley (access to opportunities you can pursue while a student or postdoc);
- more general sources of information including professional associations, sites with industry news and career advice, and fellowship/job listings.
Finance
While the financial industries encompass a huge range of companies and professional roles, generally STEM PhDs tend towards: careers in venture capital firms that fund science or tech related start-ups; work in financial modeling (as quantitative analyst roles) or industry specific equity research.
Berkeley Resources
- Career Center – Attend information sessions, career fairs (such as Investment Banking Forum) and networking nights with financial services and venture capital employers – find out about opportunities through Handshake. Use the Vault Guides within Handshake (look under the “Resources” tab) to learn about different career paths, companies and industries.
- Venture capital groups targeting Berkeley inventors, or made up of Berkeley students – Dorm Room Fund, The House
- See also resources for entrepreneurship
- Seth Lieblich, PhD, Principal, 8VC provided an interview with QB3 Berkeley in May 2022. Seth’s career has touched on multiple aspects of the biotech entrepreneurship ecosystem, including his current role in venture capital. Read about his path and perspectives here.
General Resources
- Biocareers, “Career Paths Finance and VC”
- New York Academy of Sciences, “From the PhD to Equity Research Analyst”
- ScienceCareers, “Preparing for a Career in Venture Capital“
- ASCB article, “Frizzled to finance: one PhD’s path from a Drosophila lab to Wall Street”
- Venture capital firms offer fellowships/internships to PhDs – for example “5AM Ventures 2022 Fellowship“, “8VC Fellowship” and “Foresite Fellows”
- PhD Career Guides, Finance and Venture Capital
- Gaebler.com – venture capital firm list by state
- BioBuzz blog, “Fifty Years: The Journey from PhD to VC” – overview information and profile of one company (50 Years) that hosts a “program PhD to VC, which aimed at preparing young scientists with the skills needed to jumpstart their VC careers”
- BayBridgeBio blog, “Top biotech venture capital funds of 2018-2021“
- National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) has job listings, and general info on public policy
- Quantstart, “How To Get A Quant Job Once You Have A PhD”
- International Association for Quantitative Finance
- Society of Quantitative Analysis