How do I get a REAL job?!

[nightowl]

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I'm out of college, broker than I've ever been before, and trying to figure out exactly how to get a job??? So I need a:

Cover letter?
and a resume?

Also, would you say nurse attendant, phlebotomist, or research asstistant would be the best deal??? Any more ideas on good jobs for premeds with a biology degree?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

yep, you do need a resume and a cover letter, which i know are hard to create the first time. once you have a template, though, it's easier to update. do searches online or contact your college's career services office for tips on both of those. you might have someone at your college who will edit them for free. the big tip about the cover letter is that you need to personalize it for each job and write specifically about why you're interested and qualified.

for the nursing assistant and phlebotomist jobs, don't you need some quick training? those are probably good premed jobs, but the downside is that the pay sucks. for applying for those jobs, i think you just need to submit an application, which you can probably find on the employer's website. either way, go ahead and draft the cover letter and resume because it's a good thing to have.

other tips are to wear a suit to your interview and to send a thank you letter afterwards mentioning again how qualified you are for the job. for additional resources, check out monster.com. good luck! finding a real job sucks.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Phlebotomy usually requires a certificate from some program. Usually tech schools offer it. Some employers require that you take the national registry.

The pay for PBTs varies widely. I've seen pay starting around $10 all the way up to $15/hr, which is almost as much, if not more, than what college grads make starting out, depending upon the field. How much you make depends a lot on where you go (clinical, hospital, private office, etc.) and what your responsibilities are (some PBTs do a lot more than just venipuncture)

 

[doclm]

Yes, you need a good resume and cover letter.

I know that it is hard to find a good job out of college with only a 4yr degree in such a general field like Biology.

I applyed to research positions, chemistry jobs, pharmaceutical sales representative, and got into a Clinical Lab position at the Mayo Clinic.

As a Clinical Lab Technologist I do the same thing and get paid the same as a Medical Technologist. I run laboratory machines and draw blood (at mayo I am Pleb qualified). However, most hospitals require that you be ASCP MT certified to do this.

I guess it all depends on your location, but if you are willing to move somewhere that pays you good for just a Biology degree I would recommend Rochester, MN.

Look at Mayoclinic.edu for job postings.

They pay you $3000 to move here and a great wage/benefits.
I make between $22-25/ hour and I have been here only a year.

 

[GiveItAnotherGo]

Look at Mayoclinic.edu for job postings.

They pay you $3000 to move here and a great wage/benefits.
I make between $22-25/ hour and I have been here only a year.

good god! sign me up. that's awesome pay and i'm sure it's great experience. too bad it's in rochester, mn, though.

to the original poster - if there are any major academic medical centers nearby you, you should go to their careers websites and there will probably be numerous postings for positions for technicians, etc etc. a lot of those places try to make it a point to hire new graduates too. you can probably find lab technician and clinical trial positions that don't require any certification or certain # of years of experience. i got an offer in a clinical lab at a hospital for a technician position that pays $16 an hour. i've gotten calls from other people for interviews, and the pay for those positions seems to be pretty similar. good luck with the job search. i have a pretty good template for a resume if you're still trying to draft yours. if you want it, just pm me.

 

[indynshrty]

I don't know if you're willing to look outside of clincal jobs, but what about education? Lots of experience with people from all different backgrounds....
I know it's not the way most people go, but hey..it'll stick out right? 🙂

 

[jebus]

anyone have suggestions? i'm willing to do almost anything.

anything? I doubt that. There are lot of things I wouldn't do for a Klonidke bar, let alone med school.

There a lot of places you can work: pathology labs (like the people who analyze all your blood/urine/fecal samples), research lab tech, vampire (phlebotomist, but you'll need certification, not just anyone can live in a coffin and frighten people - except count chocula.), etc. I had a friend who got into med school even though he was working at a dry cleaners. But he had good clinical experience. And he was really driven, and, to be fair, he's a really sweet guy.

As far as the clinical experience: at most university hospitals they have volunteer programs. But beware: they totally like to have you "volunteer" in what amounts to a clerical position. I am interested in epidemiology, so at first I thought, "Great, I get to learn about and make a database of patients in department X so they can find the relationship between factor Y and disease Z." The only problem was it sucked. I got no patient interaction, I really learned nothing about epidemiology, I ended up answering a lot of phones for 5 hours a week, and they only had me do it because they saw I'm computer literate. Seriously, I was doing someone's job that my state's underfunded university hospital didn't have the money to hire. Seriously, if you do the university route, be insistent about patient interaction. Or you can volunteer at the Red Cross or Planned Parenthood (provided it doesn't conflict with your beliefs, of course) or a host of other organizations.

 

[Hoya11]

High School Biology Teacher at private school

Easy to get a job especially with a great resume which most premeds have. No teaching certification needed, schools are desperate.

You get paid around 30-35 and work decent hours. I dont know research that pays much more and if you are not into research its a great option. I was going to do this for a year but I got into school off the waitlist, but I had a job lined up and went through the process and they are begging good candidates to come to their schools. Looks good for resumes too

 

[katiekate]

Contact a temp agency such as KForce or Aerotek. They LOVE recent grads because they are very trainable. If you have at least some experience in the lab you can make ~16-17/hr easily. When making your resume list the skills you have...be specific. Companies want to know that you can use a centrifuge, handle pipetting, load a gel, maintain a lab notebook....little stuff that you did in genetics/molecular lab or chem lab that you never thought you'd use before. Your skills may sound miniscule, but are extremely relevant to most research labs. If you have any experience with a long-term (semester's length) research project definately list that and what it entailed. Also, these are temp jobs and you aren't expected to stay for more than 6 mo. - 1 yr but usually can get a permanent position if you like the job and they like you. This is what I did after ending a fellowship at NIH and i absolutely LOVE my job at a small biopharmeceutical company in northern DC area.

Other jobs are medical assistant - market your ability to learn quickly, communicate with diverse populations, and if you are computer literate/can answer phones pleasantly. If you have flexibility with hours and can work third shift look into hospital ER's as a tech. Tutoring is a good idea...if you go private and you genuinely know what you're talking about you can charge 30-50$ for individual sessions and/or test prep. Vet Tech's usually offer on-th-job training, pay well, and are highly relevant to human medicine. You can gain proficiency in terminolgy, procedures, medications, etc. that are exactly the same in human medicine.

Last, but not least, look into your county's fire and rescue system. Most have county academies that pay recruits during their training time and give signing bonuses when training is complete. Most offer an EMS or a FireFighter track towards the end of training.

If anyone wants more info on any of these, PM me.

good luck!

 

[Tre Cool]

medical assistant jobs all want appropriate training first. i don't have the training in taking blood or with EKGs. i know i could easily get a research job because i have a good amount of research under my belt (close to 2 publications). but i want to branch out from just research. i'll have the rest of my life to do that. so besides that and medical assistant things, what else? i'd really like to get a counseling job or a clinical research job. but i'm not qualified or they've already hired someone for these positions.

 

[DrJen]

Medgirl, I'm not sure how much money you'd like to be making, but I have a suggestion. I work for a mental health center as group home monitor. It's not directly medically related, but all of your time is one-on-one with patients. Part of the job includes supervising the residents while they take their meds and making sure they get the right ones, ect. You also do a lot of informal "counseling" and giving suggestions for symptom management. The pay isn't that great, but it's more than most of my classmates make. (I make $9/hr. I think it varies a lot from area to area.) There seems to be a pretty high demand, so it would probably be easy for you to find a job in the area, at least as a back-up option.

I love the job, but I'm looking for a more medically-related one after I graduate in December. I'm really glad I did it. It gave me a lot of experience with patient interaction, and it's what made me decide to become a doctor. I even ended up writing my personal statement about it.