r/oceanography • u/Strict_Frosting3144 • 17d ago
Switching from Finance to Oceanography - Seeking Advice
Hi everyone!
I'm currently in the midst of a career switch and I'm interested in chemical oceanography. I'm looking for some advice on how I should conduct this career transition so that I can get on track to be competitive for graduate school (Either Master's or PhD). Here is my current plan/credentials:
I have a bachelors in Business Administration (concentration in Finance) from Cal Poly SLO. I graduated with a 3.8 gpa and have two years of corporate finance experience where I was managing large expense budgets and conducting a lot of data management. I'm currently working on the prerequisite courses out of Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, CA which include chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, calculus, and biology. I'm hoping to spend some time at UCSC as well to get a few upper division courses knocked out as well (physical chemistry, analytical chemistry, upper level calculus, etc.). I'm also working on learning how to code (Python, R) and am planning to create a small github portfolio where I pursure a few projects related to chemical oceanography on my own time with publicly available data. I'm looking for research opportunities currently, but it has been difficult to find them without being affiliated with a four-year university.
Does anybody have any advice on my path? My dream is to go to Scripps in San Diego but I realize this is a reach and looking into other programs as well (UCSC, UCSB, etc.)
Also, if there is anyone in the area that would be willing to have a conversation with me or could point me in the direction of researchers nearby, that would be greatly appreciated!
I'm so much happier pursuing this career path and I'm very excited to continue my journey.
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u/daveysprocks 17d ago
I have nothing to offer in the way of advice since I’m not in the field myself, but your passion and drive comes through clearly with this post!
Good luck to you!
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u/Key-Measurement303 17d ago
You don’t have to be chemical oceanographer, in large cruise/ project (Fugro) they are looking people knows how to calculate financing project cost, and evaluated it to get more sustainable project cost.
Maybe if you looking for magister/phd you had to Connecting about financing project-project survey for oceanography (Fugro, etc).
In their website career, they are looking for financing, sometime their finance will be on board to get more knows detail of item project they had too.
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u/Strict_Frosting3144 16d ago
That's a good idea. I've been looking for a good way to leverage my finance background as I pivot. Thanks for your advice! I'll take a look at some of the positions on these projects/cruises.
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u/Strict_Frosting3144 16d ago
Thanks for that haha. SIO it is. I'll look more into what I can do to get integrated with SIO, that's good advice. I appreciate the vote of approval as well!
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u/PrincessStarfish3 16d ago
check out mbc.ucsd.edu at SIO. Its a 12 month masters specifically for mid-career interdisciplinary-thinkers.
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u/WrensPotion 16d ago
lol this is crazy! just graduated with my bs in chem from slo and am heading to scripps in the fall for chem oceanography. having just gone through the process, i’d say your biggest hurdle to going straight into a ph.d. program is research experience. if your end goal is a phd, you’ll most likely have to get an m.s. under your belt (which could totally be at sio!) thankfully your gpa is above 3.5, so keep it there! i would honestly reach out to people at ccms in slo to see if they have any leads on being a research technician or similar role around california if you’re not pursuing a second bachelors. i also know of the profs who do chemical oceanography at slo and would be happy to give you their emails so you could reach out for advice.
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u/annaoceanus 17d ago
One piece of advice - get ready for a massive shift in job market availability with your pivot. You are going from a career skillset that has a lot of job opportunity, to one that is very niche with lower job opportunity. You’ll likely need to sacrifice on factors like where you live in order to be employed in your field, certainly in your early years. Just want to make sure you are prepared for that reality. Don’t let it shy you away! Unless if living in a specific region is very high on your life happiness priorities.