FDA ScientistOdds of Hanging On

But like virtually any job within the government, if you can get in, your odds of staying in are pretty good, since Uncle Sam doesn't go out of business. So long as companies are introducing new products that they want people to swallow, inject or rub on their armpits, there's going to be a large role for the FDA to make sure they're safe. The biopharmaceutical market is booming right now – and it likely will for years to come as the population ages and technology continues to advance – and the FDA is going to have to continue rubbing zinc oxide on its nose and working as the lifeguard for all these products, ready to blow the whistle if one of them starts running along its edge.