How did you get a full time job with a resume dedicated for medical school

[corporateflea]

So I have an interview coming up at a big company that specializes in managing human drug trials.

From my experience it seemed like companies didn't like my resume (despite good performance in college and such) because I had so many activities dedicated for medical school and they could probably tell I would be leaving soon after gaining acceptance and hence didn't feel like it's worth hiring me.

I'm pretty sure that they will ask me about my future goal/career during the interview. However, I do want to gain some professional experience before I head off to medical school and work in the industry for at least 1~2 years. Do you think the managers would fine this answer acceptable? Is 1 year simply too short to be hired as a regular full time employee?

Any full time workers have an insight on this?

Thanks in advance.

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[EBTrailRunner]

I imagine I'll get heat for this, but given how competitive today's job market is, you may have to lie. I personally don't think it's that awful to do if you're willing to give a company 1-2 years of your life.

 

[kautionwirez]

lying is pretty easy. My friend did it to get a 40k/year job.

I didn't have to. My references/previous PIs were awesome.

 

[Remy LeBeau]

I wouldn't lie outright. A friend of mine is in a similar situation where he is finishing up school and taking the MCAT, but he interviewed for and took a full time job starting in the fall. What you might say is that you had prepared to go to med school, but you have decided to explore a career in human drug trials. Depending on the role, they may only expect a one or two year commitment because the role has a high turnover, and your future plans will be a non-issue.

Good luck at the interview.

 

[Caprica6]

I caution against straight up lying because if they expect a 2+ year commitment, and you leave after one year, you may not be able to get any letters of recommendation. Are you planning on applying this upcoming cycle? If you aren't going to be applying until next cycle you aren't going to be starting school for two years anyway.

 

[pkwraith]

How to get a (good) full time job with a resume dedicated for medical school? Well, the easiest way is not to have a resume that is dedicated for medical school. Useful major, good school, applicable skills, and work experience. All that plus the standard premed garbage ensures success whether one does medical school or not.

However, I do want to gain some professional experience before I head off to medical school and work in the industry for at least 1~2 years. Do you think the managers would fine this answer acceptable?

No, that is not acceptable to the hiring manager and will get your application thrown out, unless its a contract or specifically short term/seasonal. Only an idiot HR would invest money and time on someone, knowing they would be leaving before they achieve a positive ROI.

Do not mention your plan. In fact, your plan might very well change after you work a year or two. Everything is possible, and think of that when composing your answer.

Just some generic examples I can pull up.
"Where do you you envision yourself in 5 years"
"I can envision myself in a managerial position"
"I'm interested in leadership position. I have strong experiences in X."
"I hope to expend my responsibilities and concentrate on more of the clinical aspects."

None of that is lying. They're just verbal gymnastics. No promises.

 

[Porfirio]

So I have an interview coming up at a big company that specializes in managing human drug trials.

From my experience it seemed like companies didn't like my resume (despite good performance in college and such) because I had so many activities dedicated for medical school and they could probably tell I would be leaving soon after gaining acceptance and hence didn't feel like it's worth hiring me.

I'm pretty sure that they will ask me about my future goal/career during the interview. However, I do want to gain some professional experience before I head off to medical school and work in the industry for at least 1~2 years. Do you think the managers would fine this answer acceptable? Is 1 year simply too short to be hired as a regular full time employee?

Any full time workers have an insight on this?

Thanks in advance.

You need to realize that no company can promise you anything. You could get hired, work for 6 months, and get fired for no valid reason other than "reorganization of the company."

You need to do this interview correctly. You want this job, and this will be the job that you will work for the forseeable future. Your ability to predict the future is the same as the company managers' ability to predict their stock price 6 months from now when they get their fat stock option bonuses.

Besides, why are you so sure you will get into medical school?

 

[bluecabinet]

You need to realize that no company can promise you anything. You could get hired, work for 6 months, and get fired for no valid reason other than "reorganization of the company."

You need to do this interview correctly. You want this job, and this will be the job that you will work for the forseeable future. Your ability to predict the future is the same as the company managers' ability to predict their stock price 6 months from now when they get their fat stock option bonuses.

Besides, why are you so sure you will get into medical school?

Playing what if game isn't smart.

 

[bluecabinet]

How to get a (good) full time job with a resume dedicated for medical school? Well, the easiest way is not to have a resume that is dedicated for medical school. Useful major, good school, applicable skills, and work experience. All that plus the standard premed garbage ensures success whether one does medical school or not.


No, that is not acceptable to the hiring manager and will get your application thrown out, unless its a contract or specifically short term/seasonal. Only an idiot HR would invest money and time on someone, knowing they would be leaving before they achieve a positive ROI.

Do not mention your plan. In fact, your plan might very well change after you work a year or two. Everything is possible, and think of that when composing your answer.

Just some generic examples I can pull up.
"Where do you you envision yourself in 5 years"
"I can envision myself in a managerial position"
"I'm interested in leadership position. I have strong experiences in X."
"I hope to expend my responsibilities and concentrate on more of the clinical aspects."

None of that is lying. They're just verbal gymnastics. No promises.

Verbal gymnastics lol that really sums it up.

 

[Narmerguy]

"Where do you you envision yourself in 5 years"
"I can envision myself in a managerial position"

Such wonderful gymnastics there.

 

[aker321]

I did this 2 years ago (if you search threads you'll find mine, haha). I left the MCAT off of my resume and when they asked about my post-bacc work, I told them that I had explored a career in medicine but for now, I was focused on exploring (x industry). I said that medicine might be on the horizon but for now, I was putting that on hold to focus on professional growth, career exploration, leadership experience, team collaboration, and so on (these are all things hiring managers love to hear).

Lo and behold, I DID end up waiting a year to apply to medical school, so now I've been at my company for 2 years. I didn't tell them when I decided to apply--I waited until I'd been accepted somewhere. Also keep in mind that at some companies, if you tell them you're leaving in 2 weeks, they tell you to leave on the spot. So consider carefully how much notice you want to give an employer. If you're in a research environment they will probably be very supportive (my friends at research institutions had this experience), but in other industries they might be more vindictive.

Anyway, good luck! Working full time is a lot of fun. Money and freedom!

 

[aker321]

Oh, forgot to say: definitely do not tell them "1-2 years." 1 year is the absolute bare minimum time you can work at a place and leave and not piss people off. It takes a long time to ramp up new employees--easily 6 months--and you don't really get comfortable in a job until about 9-12 months, I've found. If they know from the outset that you're going to leave in that time period they are not going to bother hiring and training you. They'd have to start searching for a replacement as soon as you're trained, basically!

I'd just tell them that you are really interested in drug trials and want to have the opportunity to contribute to their mission, learn, grow, etc. PM me if you want more details on how I dealt with these questions.

 

[fastfingers]

i asked questions about promotions and corporate movements and they never asked me about my interest in medicine. i'm working at a corporate job. i guess i asked questions that inferred things about me that may not be 100% true.

 

[JESSFALLING]

You need to realize that no company can promise you anything. You could get hired, work for 6 months, and get fired for no valid reason other than "reorganization of the company."

The only thing that's binding is your employment contract, which for you, will likely be the application that you sign. Typically it states that the arrangement can be terminated freely, anytime, by either party.

I also concur with those above that you will not land the position if you are forward with your current plans. So, you need to not lie, but rather, temporarily suspend your current plans to see how you like the working world. If, later, you find that you hate it like most people do, quietly resume your former plan. Also, be careful not to broadcast conflicting stories via social media.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Putting down plans after that job is a sure way to get passed over.

Just lie, employers have no problem ****ing you over. This is an employer's market, not an employee's market. You got to give them every reason to hire you. **** them, they'll lay you off with no warning, why should you give them anything at all.

 

[MedBound1]

I was a biomedical engineering major in my undergrad and after not broadly enough applying my first time around, was not accepted to med school on my 1st try (which would have been right out of school). When a went for my job interview for my current job, an awesome R&D engineering position at a big med device company, this is basically what I said..

- I didn't mention the failed attempt at med school. In fact I didn't mention medical school at all. I know the biomedical engineering profession very well from my studies and outlined my short and long term goals in the area, because I mean who knows, had I had a fantastic experience with the job, I could have chosen to stay in this field for the long haul and not go back to med school. So envision yourself doing just that... It will be very hard to get a job if you are already putting a time stamp on yourself, employers want to believe everyone they hire is in it for the long haul. The interview went great, even though I winced when my first interviewer said 'Wow, great answers, did you ever think about being a doctor?? haha'

- As I got into the job I actually entertained the idea of not going back to school, as the money, benefits, and the growing field were also enticing. Even though I chose to go back this year and was accepted, I would not have gotten the job had I not processed the idea of doing the job for the long haul. If the employer is looking for a full-time employee long-term, you can't tell them you're looking for an 'in between' job before med school.. it just won't fly. Hope this helps,

 

[PostHaste]

So I have an interview coming up at a big company that specializes in managing human drug trials.

From my experience it seemed like companies didn't like my resume (despite good performance in college and such) because I had so many activities dedicated for medical school and they could probably tell I would be leaving soon after gaining acceptance and hence didn't feel like it's worth hiring me.

I'm pretty sure that they will ask me about my future goal/career during the interview. However, I do want to gain some professional experience before I head off to medical school and work in the industry for at least 1~2 years. Do you think the managers would fine this answer acceptable? Is 1 year simply too short to be hired as a regular full time employee?

Any full time workers have an insight on this?

Thanks in advance.

I know your question is actually about the interview, but I wanted to address the question in your subject. You don't get a normal job with a "resume dedicated for medical school." You change your resume to match the needs of the employer. There's nothing that says you have to list that you were involved in AMSA and volunteered as a transporter at a hospital.

The last time I was on a job hunt I had a specific resume for every company I applied to. For manufacturing jobs I listed my experience with equipment installation and general contractor negotations. For health care jobs I listed experience with process planning and optimized workflows. A research company doesn't care you got a 35 on your MCAT any more than a hospital cares that I can program industrial robots. Both are impressive and useful skills in the right setting, but probably somewhere between useless and detrimental in the wrong one.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I think the best thing to do is pick and choose the pieces of your resume that highlight your work experience as opposed to volunteer and research experience. Of course, I used my EMT cert to get a job as a hospital aide, and in that case my med-school-related activities were only helpful.

If you never had a job in undergrad, be prepared for IMMENSE difficulty in finding a decent job after graduating. A lot of jobs available to college grads are longer-term positions in areas like finance, management, and consulting, and are intended to groom college grads for leadership positions in a particular company or field. If you have volunteer experience, though, try looking for jobs at non-profits.

 

[StrikeX2]

I'm a senior biomedical engineer and I'll be working as an electronic medical records software consultant during my gap year before medical school.

I don't know what your resume is like but for me personally, I had to modify my resume to fit the company. So instead of saying I volunteered at a local china town clinic as a translater, I described that opportunity more of an interaction with doctors, nurses and physicians such that it gave me more knowledge of healthcare in general and how it functions among the different people at a given clinic. I elaborated on some other experiences like this and stated that I would be a good fit as a consultant for the company simply because I already had so much physician interaction in the past. As for the actual software/tech side of the job, I used some biomedical projects and basically delineated the fact that I had to learn a lot of new software to solve complex analytical problems an that this background would allow me to quickly pick up what the company needs to teach me in order for me to excel at the job.

A lot of what it comes down to is the interview it self. You have to present yourself not as a pre-med but just as someone who is really passionate in what you majored in (and hopefully you can relate that to how you can contribute to the company). And of course, if they ask you if you have taken any standardized tests, GMAT, MCAT, GRE etc, you simply have to say no. Don't ever mention that you are pre-med and would like to go to medical school after a year or two of work. You have to make them believe that your there to stay. Good luck!

 

[OoohShiny]

Look for positions (e.g. research, fellowships) that are geared towards premed grads like yourself - they're used to/expect people to cycle through every two years. This is what I did/am doing and it worked out amazingly.

For other jobs, you do want to at least have 2 yrs. For one year (i.e. applying this cycle), you'll also be flying around at random times for interviews, which is not only super sketch from your company's perspective for you missing so much work, but it's very difficult and unprofessional since this'll be when they're training you for the job and you leaving all the time is bad. With two years, you can also lie and say that you only decided after yr 1 and didn't plan to do so at the time of taking this position. This is not an ethically good thing IMO, but it does cover your ass.

 

[RedSox10]

Lots of research jobs EXPECT you to leave. Most require a 1-2 year commitment but it seems like you'd be willing to give 2 years. When i got my job in research I straight up told them that in 11 months I'd be going to med school (assuming all went my way). The other RA's in my group were going off to nursing school, PA school, med school. It's totally common as long as you stay in the research academic community. if you stayed for 5 years they wouldnt know what to do with you--that's the rarity.

 

[dougfunnie]

Yeah, OP, there are tons of jobs out there for people who are between undergrad and grad/prof school that only expect you to stay 1-2 years. I found several options for myself. Good general areas are full-time research or hospital aid, depending which area you need to beef up on your apps. Good places to look are online, utilizing connections from your pre-med activities in college who may know of similar paid/full-time opportunities, your school newspaper's classifieds, and your school's temp jobs website.

 

[Sephiroth]

Also keep in mind that at some companies, if you tell them you're leaving in 2 weeks, they tell you to leave on the spot. So consider carefully how much notice you want to give an employer. If you're in a research environment they will probably be very supportive (my friends at research institutions had this experience), but in other industries they might be more vindictive.

Isn't 2 weeks notice the standard for resignation though? I guess don't do that if you need that last 2 weeks of pay just in case, but couldn't you say you're leaving, but can stay for up to 2 weeks if they want? Or are you saying you've seen places that would insist on marking it down as a firing rather than resignation no matter what? (that would seem pretty strange unless you did something else to really piss someone off)

 

[tantacles]

Isn't 2 weeks notice the standard for resignation though? I guess don't do that if you need that last 2 weeks of pay just in case, but couldn't you say you're leaving, but can stay for up to 2 weeks if they want? Or are you saying you've seen places that would insist on marking it down as a firing rather than resignation no matter what? (that would seem pretty strange unless you did something else to really piss someone off)

No. They mark it down as a resignation, but they want you to leave immediately so that you don't steal any valuable information from the company in your last two weeks. Employees can get destructive when they know they're leaving.

 

[Sephiroth]

No. They mark it down as a resignation, but they want you to leave immediately so that you don't steal any valuable information from the company in your last two weeks. Employees can get destructive when they know they're leaving.

Hmm interesting. My work experience has been limited to research and academic stuff, so I don't really know what goes on with private companies.

 

[tantacles]

Hmm interesting. My work experience has been limited to research and academic stuff, so I don't really know what goes on with private companies.

Same here. This happens a lot in pharmaceutical companies, where you could presumably steal information about a new drug and pass it on to rival company in exchange for a lump sum or a lucrative job opportunity. I'm sure this kind of paranoia only exists because this kind of scenario has occurred before, but it only means that employees will have to be more sneaky about stealing data, not that this will prevent it from happening.

 

[thestrokes14]

A lot of med students have success becoming an MCAT instructor. Getting a paid research position is darn hard. I tried, and I have extensive research experience. Heck, getting any job is hard in this economy.

 

[MedBound1]

Same here. This happens a lot in pharmaceutical companies, where you could presumably steal information about a new drug and pass it on to rival company in exchange for a lump sum or a lucrative job opportunity. I'm sure this kind of paranoia only exists because this kind of scenario has occurred before, but it only means that employees will have to be more sneaky about stealing data, not that this will prevent it from happening.

Stuff like this seems like more of a myth to me. If you have a good relationship with your boss, I doubt this would actually happen. One of my co-workers just gave a 3-month notice that they were going to leave work and go back for a phd (not sure why they gave this much notice to be honest, but that's beside the point). Our boss just told them 'that's awesome, I hope you plan to stay with us until then?'... I work for a major (10,000+ employees) medical device company.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

Same here. This happens a lot in pharmaceutical companies, where you could presumably steal information about a new drug and pass it on to rival company in exchange for a lump sum or a lucrative job opportunity. I'm sure this kind of paranoia only exists because this kind of scenario has occurred before, but it only means that employees will have to be more sneaky about stealing data, not that this will prevent it from happening.

I work for a biopharma company and they've known for months that I'm leaving come June. Fortunately, I work with a great group of people, but either way, I highly doubt they'd fear me "stealing data" and using it to secure a position at a rival company. I had to sign decent amount of paperwork before I started ensuring I'd be legally screwed if I did that.

 

[PostHaste]

In automotive I was escorted out after giving my two weeks. I left one manufacturer for another. The day after I gave my notice the new job called the old job's HR to verify employment and security came down and walked me out. I had a great relationship with them, but it was company policy.

In health care I told my boss last June that I was applying to start med school in Aug '12 and I'm still here.

 

[Praefectus]

It's not lying if you're twisting the truth a little...

 

[Tadaaa]

I was very honest from the beginning that I would be leaving for medical school. This helped a lot since I had a lot of interviews. I mean he didn't expect I'd have that many, but overall he was supportive. Towards the end he was concerned because we had so much work going and it was getting left behind. However, he understood.

It is not easy to be honest and get a job for just one year that pays well, usually you're looking at Research Assitant/Part-time/MCAT Instructor jobs that won't pay more than $30,000/yr (some a lot less than that). If you really want a descent job you are most likely going to have to committ to at least 2 years. These jobs require a lot of on the job training and can be done by having extensive pre-med experience (patient contact/reserach/research/research) you can get jobs with that experience, such as, Clinical Reserach Coordinator/Tech job/Management/etc.

Reach out to your old professors that you keep in contact with, your friends, your family, acquaintances. You never know who will know of someone who is hiring and may be willing to give you a shot.

I committed to 2 years and was able to get a really cool job that paid well.

 

[lcck]

I'm currently applying this cycle and I applied for a biotech R&D job. I applied a few months ago when my app cycle seemed pretty bleak: no interview invites and a few rejections. I was very forthcoming with them about my application cycle that I might be off to med school in a few months (if I were to be so blessed). In any case, the company appreciated my honesty and offered me gainful employment knowing my time commitment is pretty nebulous.

 

[MedPR]

My charm and wit.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[drscholls]

Law of probability. I had a few interviews that fell through as soon as I mentioned my plans/timeline. It is really the employers market right now. Most of my friends that are successfully employed have lied.

 

[VisareAvGud]

Applied for a limited tenure position that would end before med school, then interviewed like a boss

 

[DAPI]

Why must we reply to threads that are almost a year old... I don't even understand how people find these

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Why must we reply to threads that are almost a year old... I don't even understand how people find these

Somebody necro'd an 11-year old thread. Search me on how they found that..

 

[VisareAvGud]

Somebody necro'd an 11-year old thread. Search me on how they found that..

I doesn't really surprise me. I mean how many times are posters yelled at for posting without searching. So if someone does search and find a relevant thread that is old are they not allowed to ask for modern insight?

 

[sinombre]

I didn't read the thread, but to answer the title: I used my resume to get a job at a medical school

 

[CoxMD]

Most companies didn't like that I would be matriculating to med school. I told some minor lies in my job interviews.

Sent from my Nexus 10

 

[DAPI]

I doesn't really surprise me. I mean how many times are posters yelled at for posting without searching. So if someone does search and find a relevant thread that is old are they not allowed to ask for modern insight?

The issue I have is when someone just replies to to OP and doesn't ask a question or add on the to question. It's like people actively search for threads to answer that have already been answered.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

I doesn't really surprise me. I mean how many times are posters yelled at for posting without searching. So if someone does search and find a relevant thread that is old are they not allowed to ask for modern insight?

I could understand that, but the thread was somebody celebrating an acceptance and the necromancer simply congratulated them

Anyways, if OP ever sees this I'm curious as to what they ended up doing and how it turned out.