How to Find a Job

[altamont850]

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How do you find a job in undergrad when you're skill set is virtually nil? I'm involved in so many things (requisites for medical school) but the lack of compensation is damaging albeit expected.

I truly enjoy learning and volunteering but I'm virtually living on sustenance (i.e. housing, food, clothing with no discretionary funding). In addition, I don't have a car and live some distance from my campus which poses a problem seeing as how I have multiple destinations a day. It just seems like no one is hiring and when jobs are available you get 3x as many applications as compared to previous years.

Are there any other broke pre-meds who can relate?

 

[david199380]

Haha it's ridiculous how broke I am.

I feel your pain, man.

 

[theseeker4]

How do you find a job in undergrad when you're skill set is virtually nil? I'm involved in so many things (requisites for medical school) but the lack of compensation is damaging albeit expected.

I truly enjoy learning and volunteering but I'm virtually living on sustenance (i.e. housing, food, clothing with no discretionary funding). In addition, I don't have a car and live some distance from my campus which poses a problem seeing as how I have multiple destinations a day. It just seems like no one is hiring and when jobs are available you get 3x as many applications as compared to previous years.

Are there any other broke pre-meds who can relate?

If you have the time, try to get an ER scribe job, or get certified as a nurse assistant, EMT, etc. and try to get a part-time job at a hospital or office. If you can't get anything medical, look into paid research positions. If those are not around, post flyers advertising yourself as a tutor in courses you did well in, or see if you can work for your college as a tutor. If you have enough college credits (minimum varies state by state I believe) look into substitute teaching on week days you have no classes.

Unfortunately, the job market sucks right now, but push yourself out there in anything and everything you can think of, and you should be able to find something.

 

[Tummytroubles]

Lab jobs don't tend to have a lot of hours ( a good thing if you are pre-med and only need a little spending money) but if you volunteer in a lab, they MAY hire you on but they only pay $10 and after a year move you up to $12 or at least mine did when you start doing real research.

If it's a good reason and you're willing to risk your GPA and shot at med school. Outside jobs can be found. My best paying job in college was one that no one wanted to do because it involved harassing people to take surveys in an upscale part of town. It SUCKED and as commission based but it paid well (and mostly on the weekends). My friend was a janitor at a large fair for a few weeks over the summmer. While the people working cotton candy stands made minimum wage, she was paid $12 to clean toilets. I worked fast food in high school and if you are over 16 years of age, it pays reasonably well.

This economy sucks and if you looking for more than 10-15 hours a week ( which I don't reccomend unless there is some kind of emergency), you need to go off campus and the jobs will be terrible.

If you do have to work these jobs for some reason. Don't fall into the trap where you think it would be embarrassing to work these jobs. A job is a job and anyone who looks down on you for taking these jobs probably hasn't had to work a day in their life to support themselves.

* As far as living far from campus. I used to spend 2.5 hours total commuting to and from school everyday too. I can' t read on a moving vehicle without throwing up so I started recording my notes (in my own voice) so I could listen to it while I was on the bus. It was really helpful in my bio based classes and an efficient use of time.

 

[lobo.solo]

If you have the time, try to get an ER scribe job, or get certified as a nurse assistant, EMT, etc. and try to get a part-time job at a hospital or office. If you can't get anything medical, look into paid research positions. If those are not around, post flyers advertising yourself as a tutor in courses you did well in, or see if you can work for your college as a tutor. If you have enough college credits (minimum varies state by state I believe) look into substitute teaching on week days you have no classes.

Unfortunately, the job market sucks right now, but push yourself out there in anything and everything you can think of, and you should be able to find something.

This^. But if you really need a job, any type of work will do it. Being a waiter/waitress is a a relatively good job; few hours and you get cash tips.

 

[armybound]

work study

 

[NickNaylor]

work study

Second work study or a job on campus. You probably won't do something related to your career, but it'll get the job done and probably not be too demanding. As an example, my girlfriend worked in the library ~20 hours a week and usually had some time to work on homework when there wasn't much to do. I worked as a supplemental instruction leader ~10-15 hours a week which provided the dual benefit of serving as a source of income and a form of review.

Trying to find a job in the "real world" will be difficult since you have no real skills (unless you're down for doing basic jobs like waiting tables, cashiering, etc.). I think your best bet will be on your university campus.

 

[Tummytroubles]

If you live in a city with few "stellar" colleges. ACT and SAT prep. You need to score in the 90% or higher to get these positions. In my old city these jobs were hard to get because there was a large college where~ 50% of the students scored 90%+ on every section.

In my city now, the colleges are far less selective and to fill these teaching spots they hire people who can only score 90%+ in only one subject and have them only teach that subject. I scored 90%+ in all sections (easier than you think to beat 90% of high schoolers as a college student), and was hired on the spot.

 

[kpcrew]

donate plasma

 

[BABSstudent]

My philosophy was always to volunteer or do something for the community. I would max out those numbers and then apply for scholarships. Scholarships normally want to see you giving back to the community, which is what volunteering is all about. Plus, all of that looks good on an application. Looking back, I was getting close to $20 an hour for the volunteer work when you divided the scholarships into how many volunteer hours I did. Add in the work study janitor job and I made some pretty decent money, albeit small after I pay for school.

 

[circulus vitios]

Second work study or a job on campus. You probably won't do something related to your career, but it'll get the job done and probably not be too demanding. As an example, my girlfriend worked in the library ~20 hours a week and usually had some time to work on homework when there wasn't much to do. I worked as a supplemental instruction leader ~10-15 hours a week which provided the dual benefit of serving as a source of income and a form of review.

Trying to find a job in the "real world" will be difficult since you have no real skills (unless you're down for doing basic jobs like waiting tables, cashiering, etc.). I think your best bet will be on your university campus.

It depends on the school. My school only allows 8 hours/week per work study job and it pays minimum wage whether you're working in the cafeteria or tutoring students.

 

[NickNaylor]

It depends on the school. My school only allows 8 hours/week per work study job and it pays minimum wage whether you're working in the cafeteria or tutoring students.

Yikes, that sucks. My undergrad topped it at 20/wk. Most positions also paid minimum wage as well.

(sent from my phone - please forgive typos)

 

[TheMightySmiter]

If you can find a job that somehow relates to medical school, great. If not, don't worry, just do something that brings home a paycheck. 🙂 Adcoms understand that you have to pay the bills during school somehow; not everyone has parents that hand them life on a silver platter. I remember LizzyM once saying that part-time jobs look great on your application: they teach you how to work with others, and a lot of them lead to management positions that teach excellent leadership skills. When I was in college, I worked as a house manager/box office salesperson/admin assistant/whatever they needed for the school's theater department. It was an awesome job! I got paid to drink champagne and sometimes pour it for other people! I learned great customer service skills and how to deal with angry patrons. Plus I met some really cool people.

 

[altamont850]

In the near future I may be working as an overnight Walmart stocker but this is all I will be doing with my summer (no funds to attend school in the summer). In summation, I have no car, no money and no excitement. The only exciting thing I've done lately is read and do calculations related to quantum mechanics as it pertains to chemistry. All I do everyday is wake up and go to sleep and sometimes I wonder why I woke up that day. I feel so unproductive because I cannot volunteer (local hospital no taking volunteers at present), participate in research (majority of lab members have current obligations) or go to school.👎

 

[Tummytroubles]

In the near future I may be working as an overnight Walmart stocker but this is all I will be doing with my summer (no funds to attend school in the summer). In summation, I have no car, no money and no excitement. The only exciting thing I've done lately is read and do calculations related to quantum mechanics as it pertains to chemistry. All I do everyday is wake up and go to sleep and sometimes I wonder why I woke up that day. I feel so unproductive because I cannot volunteer (local hospital no taking volunteers at present), participate in research (majority of lab members have current obligations) or go to school.👎

Since you have all this time on your hands, have you thought about studying for the MCAT this summer and taking it in the fall?

 

[altamont850]

Since you have all this time on your hands, have you thought about studying for the MCAT this summer and taking it in the fall?

I have yet to complete the relevant coursework. I still must complete chemistry, biology, organic and physics. I'm really not reviewing the quantum mechanics of chemistry, I'm prestudying it. Even though I understand the topics, taking the MCAT this fall would be disastrous.