What is the Scope of Biotechnology?

Any student who is contemplating on pursuing a career in Biotechnology must be aware that this field is still developing in India. Therefore, the number of job openings and pay packages are both very low when compared with IT and CS fields.

After a BTech degree, students can find jobs in pharmaceutical companies, research labs and institutions in India. However, most Indian students tend to go abroad to pursue their masters or doctorate studies in Biotechnology and allied fields. Some students also shift to MBA and enter the world of business, finance and banking as their engineering background gives them the required quantitative skills to excel in these sectors. Also, many students shift to software through on-campus placements. Talking about on-campus placements, since the number of job openings is very less in Biotechnology, the number of companies coming for placements will be very less. Also, core companies only hire students from universities such as IITs, NITs etc. If your university is not reputed nationally or state wise, chances of any biotech or pharmaceutical company coming for placements sessions will be close to nil.

Bioengineering and Bioinformatics are specialized domains of biotechnology.

Students can pursue BSc/ BTech, M Sc/M Tech or after BSc, pursue MBA in biotechnology. With its increasing popularity and explosive growth, there are plenty of opportunities available in the field of biotechnology.

Biotechnology companies require corporate executives with business or management degrees. A graduate in biotechnology can get a job in government sectors, private sectors or research institutes. Different job profiles for biotechnologists include lab technicians, research associates, research scientists, engineers, sales representatives, marketing executives and business development managers.

Core companies: Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy labs, Cipla and Glaxo Smith Klineg are few to name apart from many Government funded research organizations and CSIR labs. There are good research opportunities abroad, usually for PhD students.

First of all, biotechnology graduates have to compete with life science graduates, chemical engineers (considered to be superior than biotechnologists), biomedical engineers for the same job.

After your Btech degree, you are only eligible for marketing jobs. R and D jobs require atleast Masters degree or a Phd.