John writes:
Who makes more money — a forensic scientist or a coroner, and about how much does each one make?
The Career Doctor responds:
While I think it is important to know the earnings potential of a career, by now, if you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I really frown on having monetary considerations too high a priority when choosing a career. That said, these careers are at least in the same field.
Coroners are public officials, appointed or elected, who seek to investigate the cause of death in situations where questionable deaths occur. They are responsible for assigning cause of death and list them on the death certificate.
Forensic scientists work in laboratories, at crime scenes, in offices, and in morgues, analyzing and researching evidence. They may work for federal, state and local government, forensic laboratories, medical examiners offices, hospitals, universities, toxicology laboratories, police departments, medical examiner/coroner offices, or as independent forensic science consultants.
Entry-level forensic lab technicians earn about $30,000 annually, while more experienced and better educated scientists can make more than $70,000 annually. Wages for coroners seem a little harder to nail down, but seem to range from $43,000 to $58,000 annually.
Two sources are Careers in Forensics, from Missouri State University and Career: Coroners, from ISEEK, the Internet System for Education and Employment Knowledge from the State of Minnesota.
Not sure which you want to do? Conduct some informational interviews with professionals from both fields.
Learn more about informational interviews in this free tutorial on Quintessential Careers: Informational Interviewing Tutorial.
