Best jobs to do with astronomy that don’t require a degree?

[Olli]

So this may sound like a silly question and I was contemplating in asking but wanted to know m( please don’t laugh at me ). Are there any basic jobs to do  with astronomy? 

When I was at school I didn’t do the greatest and kind of regretted not taking it all seriously. Not blaming it on the school I went to for how it all went but was put the greatest (teachers and pupils alike) being 22 now over the past 3-4 years I’ve been taken a massive interest in cosmology and Astronomy and I’ve realised that you need have excellent grades in science ect which unfortunately I do not have as I was not interested in it all at school.

so are there any basic jobs related to astronomy that don’t require a degree or anything or is there a way to re study it all? So i do have better qualifications to put it lightly.

 

[Demonperformer]

Have a look at astronomy.ac.uk

[mikeyj1]

also http://www.planeteartheducation.co.uk/

I did the PEC course, and would recommend it.

As for jobs, i can imagine there would be more overseas than the UK, Mount Teide sounds good, but do you fancy living in the Atacama desert? 

good luck

Mike

[Olli]

4 minutes ago, mikeyj1 said:

also http://www.planeteartheducation.co.uk/

I did the PEC course, and would recommend it.

As for jobs, i can imagine there would be more overseas than the UK, Mount Teide sounds good, but do you fancy living in the Atacama desert? 

good luck

Mike

Those courses look interesting  they seem cheaper then most courses I’ve seen. How long did it take you to do the pec course.?

[Olli]

 

15 minutes ago, Demonperformer said:

Have a look at astronomy.ac.uk

Thanks 

[Chris]

It's a real tricky one, I looked into the same thing at about your age. I didn't do great at school either so did an access to Uni course, then studied Astronomy at degree level at Hertfordshire Uni. I still wasn't great at Maths by the end so ended up with a 2:1 non honours degree (lost the hons on further mathematical techniques  ). That was the end of the line for me as you need a 2:1 hons to go onto the Masters and Phd. My now wife got the 2:1 Hons so did a Masters and was lucky enough to get a job at the Royal Astronomical Society RAS as an assistant editor. I say lucky because most of her colleagues have Phd's even for the publishing side of things!

I found it tricky trying to do anything astronomy or space related with a non Hons degree to be honest, and ended up doing a second degree in Radiography, got the 2:1 hons this time and got a job actually doing the thing I did the degree for lol 

I've had about 14 years to reflect on my astro degree and jobs in the field and here are the things I can suggest:

-Science teaching assistant  (which will give the chance to touch on astronomy with students)

- Retail - Lots of us would love to work for a company such as FLO, which I can imagine would allow you to immerse yourself in the amateur side of astronomy with customers. 

- There may be technician level jobs at observatories if you're willing to travel world wide and take one or two courses before hand? 

-I've been to the space centre in Leicester a few times over the years and they had all sorts of jobs going on there from kiosk or shop work to narrating the planetarium show which would be pretty cool.

- working for a company that manufactures telescope optics perhaps? yeah again not actually astronomy but a cool job for anyone interested in astronomy (I'm trying to grind, polish and figure my own optics currently....it's slow going but fun when I get the chance  ) 

-Astronomy journalism - E.g. Astronomy now.

-Astrium - Would be a really cool place to work. I applied for a couple of positions years ago but didn't even get a reply though  

[Demonperformer]

15 minutes ago, Lockie said:

work for a company such as FLO

Maybe as a result of that suggestion, @FLO are going to have to take on a Human Resouces Administrator to reject all the applications

[Timebandit]

 

 

Without Degrees coming out of your ears, then I think it will be difficult to enter the astronomy field in any major roles.

I think a job in the Canaries or Chile observatories for most of us would be a dream job . And we would probably work there just sweeping the floors or cleaning up , in order to get a view of the great Sky's they are Lucky enough to have in these parts of the world.

Or do what most of us ordinary folk do without degree's coming out of our ears. We get a reasonable day job. And this enables us financial to get some quality astronomy kit ,and lets us get out to some UK dark sites, and enjoy our astro dreams and ambitions this way ? ?

 

 

[mikeyj1]

1 hour ago, Dinoco said:

How long did it take you to do the pec course.?

The PEC course runs at your own pace.  you get new material after each assignment submission.  There are eight assignments and a final exam.  i took around 9 months to complete ut

[Chris]

There's some good advice on Youtube nowdays:

 

[Olli]

13 minutes ago, Lockie said:

There's some good advice on Youtube nowdays:

 

Thanks , was an interesting watch. Forgot about programming. Was starting to get into it a couple years ago then stopped.

[Chris]

Coding is very useful for a number of things, it can be a bit dry a subject if you're not applying it to something specific though. I've tried learning C# a couple of times in the past for making little basic games in Unity.

[Olli]

51 minutes ago, Lockie said:

It's a real tricky one, I looked into the same thing at about your age. I didn't do great at school either so did an access to Uni course, then studied Astronomy at degree level at Hertfordshire Uni. I still wasn't great at Maths by the end so ended up with a 2:1 non honours degree (lost the hons on further mathematical techniques  ). That was the end of the line for me as you need a 2:1 hons to go onto the Masters and Phd. My now wife got the 2:1 Hons so did a Masters and was lucky enough to get a job at the Royal Astronomical Society RAS as an assistant editor. I say lucky because most of her colleagues have Phd's even for the publishing side of things!

I found it tricky trying to do anything astronomy or space related with a non Hons degree to be honest, and ended up doing a second degree in Radiography, got the 2:1 hons this time and got a job actually doing the thing I did the degree for lol 

I've had about 14 years to reflect on my astro degree and jobs in the field and here are the things I can suggest:

-Science teaching assistant  (which will give the chance to touch on astronomy with students)

- Retail - Lots of us would love to work for a company such as FLO, which I can imagine would allow you to immerse yourself in the amateur side of astronomy with customers. 

- There may be technician level jobs at observatories if you're willing to travel world wide and take one or two courses before hand? 

-I've been to the space centre in Leicester a few times over the years and they had all sorts of jobs going on there from kiosk or shop work to narrating the planetarium show which would be pretty cool.

- working for a company that manufactures telescope optics perhaps? yeah again not actually astronomy but a cool job for anyone interested in astronomy (I'm trying to grind, polish and figure my own optics currently....it's slow going but fun when I get the chance  ) 

-Astronomy journalism - E.g. Astronomy now.

-Astrium - Would be a really cool place to work. I applied for a couple of positions years ago but didn't even get a reply though  

Many thanks for all those suggestions  I think getting a degree or something similar is abit out of reach ,  Anything I guess that is slightly to do with astronomy would still be as good will consider those options 

[Olli]

34 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

 

 

Without Degrees coming out of your ears, then I think it will be difficult to enter the astronomy field in any major roles.

I think a job in the Canaries or Chile observatories for most of us would be a dream job . And we would probably work there just sweeping the floors or cleaning up , in order to get a view of the great Sky's they are Lucky enough to have in these parts of the world.

Or do what most of us ordinary folk do without degree's coming out of our ears. We get a reasonable day job. And this enables us financial to get some quality astronomy kit ,and lets us get out to some UK dark sites, and enjoy our astro dreams and ambitions this way ? ?

 

 

I think that’s the best way to go about it . Will most likely be more enjoyable as well.

[Chris]

I wish you all the best, and remember if you don't find your way into an astro niche career wise, you can still do plenty as an amateur as many of us SGL members do  

[Stub Mandrel]

On the assumption that astronomy isn't that different from conservation, then a good way to get started and find out if it really suits you is to look for opportunities to volunteer. Even being involved with a local club can help, but if there's an observatory, university or planetarium in easy travelling distance from you they may be happy to get some help from a keen volunteer who is eager to learn. Also a way to earn a decent reference.

Take a look at access to higher education course and also the Open University - they have lots of good courses.

Some introductory courses are free - google 'openlearn' - or others are just pay for the certificate of completion 'futurelearn'. They aren't normally examined and will give you an idea of what it's like to study astronomy with no pressure and at your own pace.

Quite a few folks here (including me) have done this course: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/orion just for the fun of it.

Neil

 

[Olli]

43 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

On the assumption that astronomy isn't that different from conservation, then a good way to get started and find out if it really suits you is to look for opportunities to volunteer. Even being involved with a local club can help, but if there's an observatory, university or planetarium in easy travelling distance from you they may be happy to get some help from a keen volunteer who is eager to learn. Also a way to earn a decent reference.

Take a look at access to higher education course and also the Open University - they have lots of good courses.

Some introductory courses are free - google 'openlearn' - or others are just pay for the certificate of completion 'futurelearn'. They aren't normally examined and will give you an idea of what it's like to study astronomy with no pressure and at your own pace.

Quite a few folks here (including me) have done this course: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/orion just for the fun of it.

Neil

 

Thanks Neil, I’ll have a look at the Future learn link, there’s a planetarium near me probably half an hour or so on the train, it’s  quite a good one usually have Tim peake down for regular talks. I guess wouldn’t hurt contacting them.

[michael8554]

Hubble's assistant and eventual co-author was the mu!e driver hauling 100 Inch telescope parts up the mountain during construction.

Being in the right place at the right time can be as important as the right qualifications.

Michael 

[Olli]

12 minutes ago, michael8554 said:

Hubble's assistant and eventual co-author was the mu!e driver hauling 100 Inch telescope parts up the mountain during construction.

Being in the right place at the right time can be as important as the right qualifications.

Michael 

Lucky guy..

[andrew s]

What about in education or out reach if you know the sky well e.g Planetarium.

Regards Andrew 

[Demonperformer]

4 hours ago, andrew s said:

What about in education or out reach if you know the sky well e.g Planetarium.

Regards Andrew 

+1 There was a thread on SGL a few weeks back from someone who had offered to go into a local school and do an observing session and they were overjoyed at the offer. Get a few of those under your belt and you would start to build a reputation. Having done a session like this with the local cubs, I can confirm that the kids loved it.

[JOC]

I also wondered about outreach activities - STEM ambassadors are a great way to get involved with sharing science of all types with students.  In terms of qualifications I wondered if the Open University offered anything - if I was an employer I think I'd look favourably on an OU qualification given the 'own time' it takes to get one.

[Olli]

Thanks for all the advice so far, given me a lot to think about lots of options it seems

[Macavity]

Academia and Research Labs (Both UK & Abroad) always NEED technical and
support staff to work alongside research scientists. Apprenticeships in Hardware
and (these days) Software are supposedly available? Technical skills are often
more transferable between the sciences... Once you "get a foot in the door"?

http://www.stfc.ac.uk/skills/

National laboratories are supposed to function as outreach and advisory etc.

[SteveA]

You have at least one terrific advantage here...certainly over me any way. That's your age! At only 22 you have plenty of time to follow a program of education, maybe starting with A levels which you could do part time and then push your self on to a degree course. Or maybe use the Open University and get a science degree that way. There are loads of opportunities out there for a youngster like yourself. Don't be put off by your experiences at school! Fired by a passion for a subject that you now seem to have, you would likely find academic study far from tedious or boring and a million miles from your school days...good luck

Steve