The career in science for which graduate school prepares you could take many different possible shapes. Depending on your field, opportunities exist for stimulating and rewarding work in either industry or academia. In this chapter we outline different types of scientific careers, the sorts of choices to be made, and considerations worth keeping in mind when making these choices. Be mindful, however, that none of the choices carves the direction of your career in stone; that direction can and quite likely will change over the course of time. Even though changes are possible later in your career, greater effort is often required to make the transition later rather than earlier on. Planning ahead can help create favorable conditions, but don't expect that you can plan for every eventuality. Expect the unexpected in life if for no other reason than that you could well discover that your outlook, ambitions, and circumstances change with time.

Because the range of career possibilities available is so wide, varied, and fundamentally personal, the general topic of career choice is complex. Moreover, types of career choices change with time as society changes. Recent and up-to-date information on the scientific career can be found in the journal Science Careers, issued by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has a website that covers important career issues in higher education, and Appendix A lists further reading on the topic of the scientific career.