Switch

Today I’m graduating! (The exclamation is more out of fear than excitement)
BS Bio, Minor Writing


If any of you guys are in the bio field, I’ve got a few questions regarding career choice and grad school . I’d like to see what real people say, not head hunters, PR reps, or college recruiters.

If you just want to offer me a job, thats ok too.

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|TG|Switch

Better known as:
That noob who crashed the chopper.
That noob who ran over the mine.
That noob who TK'd me with a sniper rifle.
That noob who hit that APC at 300m with light AT! Our APC...

John CANavar

Congrats...Shoot the questions.

B. Clawhammer

I'm not in the Bio field, but Congrats anyways!!!

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|TG-33rd|Clawhammer
[squadl] [sniper][unit]


BF2 Rules & SOPs

jaymind

Shoot. BS in Microbiology/Medical Technology and a minor in biochemistry.

War.mongeR1

Congratulations! Bio must be a hard degree to earn. I am about to graduate in a few weeks myself. I am getting a BS in BS. Actually, it's Aviation Operations, but it was still pretty easy compared to a Bio major. Good job getting through that.

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"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

tau_neutrino

Congrats! BSc Biology and Compsci here. Feel free to shoot me some Q's, I'm recently graduated (2005) and got my first full-time job last yr as a research asst.

Some advice I can offer you:
1. If you work in academia, the pay sucks.
2. You'll probably work with lots of postdocs and won't understand a lot of what they're doing.

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Switch

Alright, here's my problem. I got plenty of bio theory in at school, but not very much hands on with assays and the like. I know what SDS page is, PCR, HPLC, n/s/e/w blots, various photometric specs, etc. I know what they are and what they do --- but i never really did any of them at all, a few once or twice, ie basic gels, one ELISA, and work on a spec 20, but other than that I dont feel like I have any trade skills to land me a job in a lab as a tech (not that I want to stay that level, but i'd like to start from the bottom up and really learn what I'm doing.)

Anywho, any advice on landing a job that'll let me learn something WHILE paying me. I'm really freaking out, lots of lost sleep. My friend with similar credentials but having taken a course in biochem lab methods (basically doing one assay each week to learn alot of the standard practices) has hit a job starting at 50k just by throwing his resume on career builder. Another friend was hired by J&J right out of graduation starting at 60k and cost of relocation! -- though he had a chem-engi degree. I'm freaking out because I dont even know if i can get something that'll start at 20 bucks an hour in my field of study. All that and I've got 15k to pay off as soon as possible on top of starting a retirement fund. For those of you thinking retirement fund? Two words -- Compound Interest. If I can manage to put away 5k a year for the next few years, it'll pay off much better than throwing 15k in later down the line, and it'll cost me less! Anyway ---

LASTLY I'm job hunting out of need, i need to pay bills -- but I'd like to go back to school. PhD if possible (since it'd be free but masters probably and then apply for the doc --->> goal Bio engineering/genetics. Anyone work at a lab or have some lab contacts? I'd be willing to bring a cot and not leave for a week or two until i get my training down...

Man, I'm stressed. I had always seen graduation as a time to be anything but sober.

__________________
|TG|Switch

Better known as:
That noob who crashed the chopper.
That noob who ran over the mine.
That noob who TK'd me with a sniper rifle.
That noob who hit that APC at 300m with light AT! Our APC...

tau_neutrino

Wow, 50k right out of college w/ a Bio degree? That's almost unheard of here! I don't know what the median salary for research assistants is in NJ, but here in TX it's quite low. You'd probably be lucky to even break $15/hr.

Coming out of college I didn't have much, if any, practical lab experience (like you, just limited to classes/labs).

I find my job to be repetitive and tedious. I have to do lots and lots of reading while I run my experiments. Usually I work 10 or 11 hours every day w/ no overtime pay, and I often have to come to the lab at 2-3am to work on experiments. Forget having the freedom to plan your free time -- your schedule is totally dependent on the cells you're growing the experiments you perform. IMO it's simply not worth it unless you are extremely passionate about science and are willing to sacrifice a large portion of your personal life.

Needless to say, I'm starting to look towards a new career in software engineering or bioinformatics.

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Bc2ID

Congrats Switch. If it were me I would try and get a job with the fed govt. or the state you work in. www.usajobs.opm.gov (fed gov page) Good luck with your job hunting. BTW didn't you do an intern as part of your degree requirements? This should have given you a small network to start with.

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Switch

I did some brownfields redevelopment work and vernal ponds analysis with one of my teachers, but thats more environmental science, i did it just cause the opportunity was there and I liked the teacher. I did discover a breeding pop of an endangered species, but I'm not going into ecology and i'm not going into environmental planning etc so those contacts are no good for lab work

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|TG|Switch

Better known as:
That noob who crashed the chopper.
That noob who ran over the mine.
That noob who TK'd me with a sniper rifle.
That noob who hit that APC at 300m with light AT! Our APC...

War.mongeR1

Do you by chance work at Southwest Research?

__________________
"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

Sarcoma

BS biology/physiology with a minor in bio-chem. I have worked as a GC chemist for an air toxics lab and did pesticide research and insect pest management for a few years. I made crap money!

School:
If you want a stable career in a good paying field stay the hell away from more academia. Get a certification or MBA

Bio-Tech:
Living here in California I have plenty of friends working in the Bio-Tech industry, mostly in production jobs. Research pays crap unless you’re the idea hamster (at least until your ideas run out)

Management: Most managers working in industry don’t know DNA from the NFL. I wish I took this route, management with a science or comp-sci background would do well I think.

I am now working in hospitals where the money is decent/excellent and the job market is wide open for Clinical Laboratory Scientists (CLS) and Medical Laboratory technicians (MLT). There are even specialized lab techs that do genetic testing. Take a look at the ASCP webpage and look at the certifications available and then cross reference Hot-jobs or Monster.

In the end you are stuck with a degree that is not in high demand in the job market. It is EXPERIENCE and specialized skills that get good jobs. Try to find something that will make you stand out from the crowd of folks the have freshly minted degrees. Try looking outside of bio-science.

Later

Sarcoma

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Sarcoma.

tau_neutrino

Nope, UTHSCSA

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Switch

Thanks for the input everyone, I'll let you know how it goes.

__________________
|TG|Switch

Better known as:
That noob who crashed the chopper.
That noob who ran over the mine.
That noob who TK'd me with a sniper rifle.
That noob who hit that APC at 300m with light AT! Our APC...

Vuk

Other good options are environmental cleanup companies , also Medical equipment and Drug repeps , big money if you have half a personality and can deal with being a saleperson mostly. Another really lucrative field along the same lines , is a Dental Supply company reprep. Oh, and of course you can go on to a Dentist , Medical Doc , Chiropractor , Occupatioal therapist , Physiotherapist , Nurse , Nurse practionar , etc. Just depends how much more you want or ambious you are ?

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