Career options after Biotechnology "A"

In India, we still don't have a good scenario of Biotechnology education. Most of the colleges offering bachelors or masters degree (Excluding IITs, IISc, IISERs and a handful of Universities) don't even have proper laboratories and students sometimes don't even know very basic concepts and practices of the field. Sadly, not all Biotech students are actually interested in pursuing a career in this domain and keep cussing about it. As a result most of the Biotech students give up the idea of continuing higher studies in Biotechnology after Bachelors or Masters. But if someone has deep interest in Biotechnology and Life Sciences, one can have a promising career. So it totally depends on your interest and what you wish to pursue. 

A. Higher studies in Life Sciences. If you are interested in going for higher studies (read PhD) or I should say in research, you should start exploring your options. You should be clear in your thought process and be sure about your research interests and should apply accordingly to scientists in Indian labs or abroad. 
In case you wish to pursue PhD in India here is a list of some top notch research institutes (not in any order but based on my experience in the domain)

1. National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore
2. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai
3. International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi (Home - ICGEB)
4. Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi 
5. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune (IISER Pune)
6. Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
7. Center for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad 
8. Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad
9. National Center for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune 
10. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore 

Foreign universities or research institutes for PhD, here is a list of top 20 universities from QS World University Rankings 2014-15 in Biological Sciences

1. Harvard University, USA
2. University of Oxford, UK
3. University of Cambridge, USA
4. Johns Hopkins University, USA
5. University of California, San Francisco,   USA
6. Stanford University, USA
7. Massachusetts Institute of   Technology (MIT), USA
8. Karolinska Institute, Sweden
9. Imperial College London, UK
10. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) USA
11. UCL (University College London), UK
12. Yale University, USA
13. Duke University, USA
14. University of California, San Diego (UCSD), USA
15. University of Toronto, Canada
16. University of California, Berkeley (UCB),   USA
17. The University of Melbourne, Australia
18. University of Washington, USA
19. The University of Sydney, Australia
20. University of Pennsylvania, USA

Besides, Max Planck Institutes in Germany are also great for Life Science research. I don't know where to fit them in the above list.
After you are done with your PhD, you can go for Post Doctorate experience and then can start your career as an independent researcher in Indian or foreign universities.
 
B. Job in R&D:
If you are not interested in going for PhD, you can jolly well go for R&D jobs in companieslike Biocon, Dr. Reddy's, Strand Life Sciences and other such Biotech companies. But thebitter truth is that freshers with Masters degree remain underpaid. A Masters guy starts from Level A and with constant hard work of say 4-5 years, reaches to Level C or maximum D. A PhD guy will start at C and a Post-Doc will start from D. This is a general trend that I am telling, may not be always true.

C. Academics:
If you have passion for teaching, you can opt for this option. For the post of lecturer in a college, one needs to clear NET-LS (National Eligibility Test - Lecturership) only then can you apply for the post. This job is particularly good if you look for better work-life balanceand offers job satisfaction of being a mentor for so many aspiring students.

D. Possibilities in Intellectual Property Research and Patenting:
This is a field very few people know of, even post graduates in Biotechnology! I really get surprised about it that people just don't know about this domain. Remember that one boring unit of Patents and Intellectual Property Rights that we all have studied during our Bachelors or Masters in Biotechnology that we conveniently used to ignore? 
One can start the career by working in KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) firms dealing with Biotech and Life Sciences intellectual property. Some of such firms in India are Evalueserve, Pangea3, Dolcera, Stellarix etc. Once you have basic knowledge of patents and how things work in this domain, you can either stick to the technical aspect of IP and continue in a KPO. In this process of learning about Life Sciences IP, you also get to know the legal aspects of patents. From here, you can divert to this side by pursuing a law degree (bachelors and masters) and you end up in IPR division of Biotechnology companies, at a good post, mind you. You can also go for Patent Agent examination and can become a registered patent agent if you clear the exam. This opens the possibilities of patent drafting This way, you can be a part of legal firms and you will get to draft patent claims for your clients (who wants their invention to be patented). But again, if you have a PhD you will be a preferred candidate in IP domain too.