How do I get experience?

[wwmmkk]

I am applying for 2017 programs and therefore have more than a year between now and when I start my MPH.
I recently quit my job in education and would love to spend this year doing something, anything related to public health that can pay me enough to live on (>$35K; I live in an expensive city). I would love research or health promotion work but it's been months of searching, applying, and networking and no luck. My undergrad degree was in Biology (but with a focus on population biology and ecology; didn't get into health until the past two years) and I have a Masters in Education. I have tons of experience working with and teaching urban teens. Unfortunately no second language skills or meaningful experience with data analysis.

Any tips? Websites to look at? I'm trying hard not to disclose too much personal information here so I don't want to name my city, but I will if anyone thinks it'd be useful.

Before anyone suggests it, my plan if I'm still looking in September is to get a food service/retail/whatever job and volunteer extensively on the side.

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[environmentalhopeful]

You might want to try to look into some health education jobs or something of the sort as you do have teaching experience. You could also try looking for research positions at a local university- sociology or biology departments would be good ones to look into. I am guessing you have already looked at county and state job websites but also try looking for nonprofits.

 

[wwmmkk]

You might want to try to look into some health education jobs or something of the sort as you do have teaching experience. You could also try looking for research positions at a local university- sociology or biology departments would be good ones to look into. I am guessing you have already looked at county and state job websites but also try looking for nonprofits.

Thanks for the suggestions! Do you have any advice on how to approach research positions as someone who has been out of academia for 5-ish years? I was a research assistant in undergrad for an education professor, but this was 2008-2010, and I stopped working for her ($$ reasons) before the work got accepted for publication. I have research skills for biology, but have never formally worked in research in any capacity. The best thing I have is a undergrad thesis-project-type-thing that, looking at it 5 years later, is a laughably bad piece of research on invasive species.