💡 Why it matters: As gene testing gets cheaper, families want help understanding the results and what they mean for their children.
🌍 Around the world
- United States: Jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
A job of the future expected 2030s
Gene testing is getting cheaper and more common in Africa, and families will need trained guides to understand the results.
This is an informed prediction, not a promise. The skills below are useful whichever way the future goes.
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦2.5M – ₦5M
- Mid-career
- ₦5M – ₦12M
- Senior
- ₦12M – ₦28M
≈ ₦417k – ₦1M a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Indicative mid-career range (our estimate, not yet checked against an official source). Incusim estimate
🇺🇸 United States
Median pay; low and high are the 10th and 90th percentiles. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Job Bank group shared with physician assistants, midwives and genetic counsellors. Hourly wage low/median/high x 2,080 hours. Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Explain DNA test results to patients
- Help families understand inherited conditions
- Advise on sickle cell and other genetic risks
- Support people making hard decisions
- Work with doctors and lab scientists
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Genetics knowledge
- Empathy
- Communication
- Ethics
- Analysis
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Short courses in medical genetics
- Master's in genetic counselling is mostly offered abroad
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- NHS Scientist Training Programme (genomic counselling)
- Work as a nurse or midwife, then train in genetics
🇺🇸 United States
- Work in a lab or clinic first to gain experience, then apply to a master's program
🇨🇦 Canada
- Gain lab or counselling experience, then apply to a master's program
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Study Biology and Chemistry strongly
- 2Take a degree in Genetics, Biochemistry or a health science
- 3Take specialist genetic counselling training
- 4Work in a hospital or genetics lab
- 5Advise families and clinics
⏰ A day in the life
A young couple asks whether their baby could inherit sickle cell. You use a simple drawing to show how genes pass on, answer their worries kindly and refer them to the right doctor.