Job search advice needed for biology related things!

[/DG/]

Hey guys, I just graduated from a university with a bachelor's degree in what is essentially human biology. I planned to go to graduate school right away, but that hasn't panned out, so I'll be in need of a job for the next year before I can reapply.

I was on the university's payroll part-time for work study in a lab, so I cannot continue that because I have graduated. I am currently on the university's payroll as a teaching assistant, but it isn't really a "real job."

I've been searching random terms on indeed like "biology," "lab," etc. But all of these seem to be things that require lab certifications that I of course do not have. Unfortunately, I don't really have any marketable skills at the moment.

BUT I can afford to be picky because I still live at home with my mom. I want a job that can somewhat help me with my grad applications, which means I am looking for almost anything related to biology, not things like retail, etc.

What the hell should I be looking for here?

[MENTION=20829]Hard[/MENTION], I know you are a chemist, but maybe you might know something about what I should be looking for? I'm not sure who else to mention in this.

If anyone knows anyone else in the sciences, would you mind mentioning or tagging them here?

Thanks guys!

 

[Swivelinglight]

If you are interested in the field of nursing, they offer accelerated nursing programs for people who already have a bachelors. There's also masters programs in nursing cnl(I think), that are for people who have a bachelors not in nursing.

 

[/DG/]

If you are interested in the field of nursing, they offer accelerated nursing programs for people who already have a bachelors. There's also masters programs in nursing cnl(I think), that are for people who have a bachelors not in nursing.

Well, thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not looking to get another degree. I just want to know how I can find entry level positions.

 

[Ingrid in grids]

Is there no way you can keep doing the lab job at your university without formally being a student? Have you spoken with some of your supervisors there?

Some other things I thought of are positions in science writing, hospital or healthcare administration, or university administration.

 

[á´…eparted]

I'm not that versed in the job searching front unfortunately. What I would suggest is to attempt networking through your university. Not so much to get a job there, but ask professors you're on good terms with if they know good directions to go in. They might be able to help with networking as well, as well as knowing specific companies to apply to.

Research experiences is one of the strongest tools to get accepted to grad school if that's the route you want to go in. As such getting a R&D like job is your best bet. If your GPA from undergrad is below a 3.0, it's going to be quite difficult to get into grad school. It's a hard and fast firewall rule at nearly all of them, and it isn't set by departments. It's possible to get around it, but it requires a lot of work experience along with strong letters of recommendations. It's worth taking additional courses at a community college to boost it if you're close to the threshold. If you're above a 3.0 it's a lot easier, and 1-2 years of work experience in your field is usually sufficient.

I also strongly suggest applying to PhD programs even if you want a masters. A lot of programs toss out masters applications. Once accepted you can usually switch to a masters track after a few months with no consequence.

 

[/DG/]

Is there no way you can keep doing the lab job at your university without formally being a student? Have you spoken with some of your supervisors there?

Some other things I thought of are positions in science writing, hospital or healthcare administration, or university administration.

Even if there was a way, I had already left...and again, it wasn't much of a job. I never even had a set time or amount of hours to go there. And it is really hard to motivate yourself to do anything when you aren't mandated to be anywhere.

I am still employed at the school, but will barely be working any hours there.

I'm not that versed in the job searching front unfortunately. What I would suggest is to attempt networking through your university. Not so much to get a job there, but ask professors you're on good terms with if they know good directions to go in. They might be able to help with networking as well, as well as knowing specific companies to apply to.

That is actually a pretty good idea. I have only really been close to one professor, but she might have some ideas for me. But she also kept encouraging me to go on to further my education in things I was not interested in, so I'm not sure if she has a lot of ideas outside academics. I'll try talking with her next week.

Research experiences is one of the strongest tools to get accepted to grad school if that's the route you want to go in. As such getting a R&D like job is your best bet. If your GPA from undergrad is below a 3.0, it's going to be quite difficult to get into grad school. It's a hard and fast firewall rule at nearly all of them, and it isn't set by departments. It's possible to get around it, but it requires a lot of work experience along with strong letters of recommendations. It's worth taking additional courses at a community college to boost it if you're close to the threshold. If you're above a 3.0 it's a lot easier, and 1-2 years of work experience in your field is usually sufficient.

I also strongly suggest applying to PhD programs even if you want a masters. A lot of programs toss out masters applications. Once accepted you can usually switch to a masters track after a few months with no consequence.

Hmm...perhaps I should elaborate on what my end goal is here. I do not intend to at all go into research or to pick grad programs at random. I actually had specific graduate programs in mind. The reason I was applying to them was that they were programs to obtain a specific job. It's like how you get a nursing degree to become a nurse, you get a medical degree to become a medical doctor, and so forth. I have a biology degree, which sadly means nothing. In retrospect, I should have picked a clinical lab science degree, but I didn't know what I wanted at the time.

The biggest weaknesses in my application were 1. lack of shadowing, 2. not the best letters of recommendation, 3. average to low GRE scores, and 4. applying later to schools that had rolling admissions. (I don't think my GPA was an issue.) Several of these can easily be remedied for the next year (except I can't really fix the LORs), so I do have some ideas of what I need to improve. Essentially, I just need to find something I can do for a year that marginally relates to biology.

 

[Tellenbach]

I was watching Storage Wars on A&E yesterday and Jared & wife bought a locker with an organic chemistry glassware set; they had no idea what it was so they brought it a local science academy. There are organizations that teach kids about science and do scientific presentations. You may want to see if there is one locally and apply there. Also see if any local zoos/aquarias need volunteers.

 

[nonsequitur]

My path:
Undergrad Chem/Biochem double major
Worked for half a year as a research assistant
PhD in structural/cell biology
Immunology postdoctoral fellow (2 years now)

Hmm...perhaps I should elaborate on what my end goal is here. I do not intend to at all go into research or to pick grad programs at random. I actually had specific graduate programs in mind. The reason I was applying to them was that they were programs to obtain a specific job. It's like how you get a nursing degree to become a nurse, you get a medical degree to become a medical doctor, and so forth. I have a biology degree, which sadly means nothing. In retrospect, I should have picked a clinical lab science degree, but I didn't know what I wanted at the time.

The biggest weaknesses in my application were 1. lack of shadowing, 2. not the best letters of recommendation, 3. average to low GRE scores, and 4. applying later to schools that had rolling admissions. (I don't think my GPA was an issue.) Several of these can easily be remedied for the next year (except I can't really fix the LORs), so I do have some ideas of what I need to improve. Essentially, I just need to find something I can do for a year that marginally relates to biology.

If you have a specific career path that does not involve research in mind, I would advise you to talk to people actually doing those jobs first. Ask about the job market. You don't want to do graduate school and end up with thousands of dollars of debt and land in a saturated market with lots of people who already have loads of experience out-competing you for jobs.

I generally advise my undergraduate/graduate students not to define their future in such narrow terms (e.g. "I want a PhD" or "I can't imagine doing anything other than x but am worried that my scores aren't good enough/I'm not experienced enough"). Get some experience in a field you'd like to try first, and talk to people about their experiences. There are loads of short-term lab-based jobs around, I see lots of 1-year contract research assistant positions being advertised. Whether that will serve you in the future or not is another thing entirely. If you are applying for a graduate program with a clinical slant, I doubt that "lab experience" which you are focussing on will serve anything in your application. You might be better off writing that you worked (either in a paid or volunteer position) with a person doing (your future job) and found it interesting, and realised that specific grad program would serve you well in getting you to your dream.

Apart from acquiring field-specific experience, it will also help you to contextualise what you learn in graduate school and makes it less likely that you'll waste years in graduate school and end up in a job that is completely different from what you imagined/wanted.

 

[Forever]

My path:
Undergrad Chem/Biochem double major
Worked for half a year as a research assistant
PhD in structural/cell biology
Immunology postdoctoral fellow (2 years now)

Double major in both areas?!

Damn, that Ni-Te. I really like the concept of physical chemistry. I think it's more interesting than organic chemistry right now, but hey the grass is always greener on the other side.

 

[nonsequitur]

Double major in both areas?!

Damn, that Ni-Te. I really like the concept of physical chemistry. I think it's more interesting than organic chemistry right now, but hey the grass is always greener on the other side.

Eh I wasn't the only one doing that..? I was always interested in biological chemistry/chemical biology and structural stuff, so...

Physical chem is interesting! I loved doing organic synthesis more though.

 

[Forever]

Eh I wasn't the only one doing that..? I was always interested in biological chemistry/chemical biology and structural stuff, so...

Physical chem is interesting! I loved doing organic synthesis more though.

Oh that makes sense! It overlaps quite nicely.

I would think in a practical sense o Chem would be much more fun than physical Chem haha.

Theoretically though finding the deepest part of the atom and quantum physics would be quite an intellectual high imo.