Median mid-career pay: $84,700
Median starting salary: $41,700
"Biochemistry is a great major because you can get a job at just about any location in any place in the U.S.," says Nathan Lippe. "You might be in quality assurance at a manufacturing plant for food, at a farming organization looking at modifying seeds, in the oil and gas industry looking at alternatives for fuel. All of those things would be available for a biochemist."
Flexible and lucrative, biochemistry majors find work in hospitals, labs, research facilities, agriculture organizations, biotech firms, pharmaceutical companies, energy and fuel organizations, clinics, refineries and manufacturers.
"The number of jobs versus candidates is very tight (in this field)," Lippe says, adding that for every open biochemistry position, there are 1.3 applicants trying to get it.
To stand out, biochem majors should have substantial lab and research experience on their resumes as well as an internship or two.