Job Dilemma

[Heday]

So I need some help making the "right" decision; I am currently applying this cycle. I understand "right" is something personal, and ultimately I will make the final decision, but I would really like to hear others' opinions, particularly any adcom members.

Job A: It's a different aspect of the industry I am temporarily working in (hotel/lodging). Currently I run the day-to-day operation of a hotel. The company bought another hotel nearby and they will soon be doing a major renovation. If I want, I can help with the project management portion of the renovation. From what I've heard, it sounds fun/exciting and it'll definitely play towards my minors (econ and business admin).

Job B: Find a research job. I enjoy research and there is no doubt that it would help me develop my research skills (and strengthen my application). There is a lot more "freedom" as I can move back closer to home or near my SO.

Some factors to consider:

More Flexibility: JOB A
More Money: JOB A
Intellectual Development: JOB B
Contribution to Society: JOB B
Management Development: JOB A
Project Management: JOB A
Help my application: ??? ? (B?)
What will medical schools like: ??? ?
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I do have some research experience (a couple hundred hours). While I love research, and it's something I want to continue doing throughout my medical career, will medical schools care what I do during this gap year? Job A is definitely an opportunity I won't have in the future (once I start medical school) and research will always be there. I don't want it to seem like I'm not committed to medicine and science, because I am. There are really interesting things about business operations and management, but I would hate to be doing it for the rest of my life. The project management portion is something I've never done in the business setting, so I see it as an opportunity to learn and develop skills I otherwise would never get a chance to.

Lastly, and not least importantly, but money is also a factor. I will make more money at Job A, which will help me lessen the financial burden of applying to medical school as well as attending (because I will be able to save up considerably more).

I have many reasons to choose Job A, however Job B isn't a second choice. If choosing Job A will hurt my chances of an acceptance, I will avoid it without any remorse. Losing a chance to practice medicine isn't worth the upside of any temporary job to me.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions? Also apologies for long post.

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[lmn]

I doubt the research will make a great difference unless you are very likely to be published within the first ~6 months of starting. Sure it will sound nice that you are working in that industry, but I doubt it will sway minds, especially since you already have some research.

Job A will let you save up more for applying, living, expenses in case you are accepted, and from what it seems, give you a better fallback situation if the cycle doesn't work out for you. It may also somewhat highlight your leadership depending on the responsibilities.

Honestly I would probably go with Job A, it gives you more money and keeps developing a plan B in case med school doesn't work out. Also, since you're already applying, like I said before - the research is unlikely to help you much anymore. Personally I would do Job A and keep up your outside volunteering/etc as much as possible to keep showing your commitment to others as well as your real responsibility and levelheadedness in terms of your future with your job.

 

[mehc012]

Entry level research vs leadership in a field you enjoy with a larger paycheck?
Research will not help your app enough to be worth the switch...and it's a lot harder to find than you would think, depending on area. This honestly isn't even a choice that you have the ability to make until you have a research position offer in hand.
If you already have research, you should be fine.

 

[sunflower18]

If you didn't have any research experience, I would say Job B. But I think you can justify taking Job A, as it's an experience you won't have again, it's moving up in a field you've been working in, and it's something you'll enjoy. It'll be much more unique, too -- if you can draw parallels between this job and being a physician, I think that you can really sell this as a fantastic opportunity. Good luck!

 

[gettheleadout]

Job A bro.

 

[Heday]

Entry level research vs leadership in a field you enjoy with a larger paycheck?
Research will not help your app enough to be worth the switch...and it's a lot harder to find than you would think, depending on area. This honestly isn't even a choice that you have the ability to make until you have a research position offer in hand.
If you already have research, you should be fine.

Well I there are a few positions available nearby and a few other places I wouldn't mind going. I am sure I could get a position somewhere, but it'll likely be something entry-level. I do have research experience (no pubs, but a poster), and I would enjoy conducting research as well. You have a point, but I'm trying to decide whether research worth pursuing since it'll be a temporary thing (less than a year if I get accepted this cycle).

The main thing is how are adcoms going to perceiving choosing Job A over pursing Job B. I can really see someone asking, "Well if you like research, why did you choose to do Job A during your gap year?" I think I can sufficiently answer that, but I don't want there to be a lingering doubt/concern about my interests or priorities.

If you didn't have any research experience, I would say Job B. But I think you can justify taking Job A, as it's an experience you won't have again, it's moving up in a field you've been working in, and it's something you'll enjoy. It'll be much more unique, too -- if you can draw parallels between this job and being a physician, I think that you can really sell this as a fantastic opportunity. Good luck!

Yeah definitely. It's so different actually working in a diverse team, managing people, and dealing with hard-to-please guests. Some of these experiences, I imagine, would parallel with the responsibilities of a physician (both clinical and admin).

Job A bro.

I'd love to hear your reasoning.

 

[Heday]

Would also love to hear from @Goro @LizzyM @gyngyn

 

[mehc012]

Well I there are a few positions available nearby and a few other places I wouldn't mind going. I am sure I could get a position somewhere, but it'll likely be something entry-level. I do have research experience (no pubs, but a poster), and I would enjoy conducting research as well. You have a point, but I'm trying to decide whether research worth pursuing since it'll be a temporary thing (less than a year if I get accepted this cycle).

The main thing is how are adcoms going to perceiving choosing Job A over pursing Job B. I can really see someone asking, "Well if you like research, why did you choose to do Job A during your gap year?" I think I can sufficiently answer that, but I don't want there to be a lingering doubt/concern about my interests or priorities.

Of course there are a few positions nearby...there are also 85097956875 graduates with prior experience looking to score those positions. I, too, was 'sure I could get a position somewhere' considering I had 3yrs of research experience and a senior thesis...it took several months to even hear back for any interviews, never mind to get a job. I turned it down because in the interim I had found 2 better jobs. If you have less than a year before you apply/matriculate, and you haven't started research-job hunting, I honestly don't think you can guarantee to yourself that you'll get a research job in that time, never mind accomplish anything in it. Yes, you could get lucky...I'm sure at least 3 people will reply with "I found a lab position within 2wks!" or something similar, but it's a slim chance to throw away a sure thing for, especially considering that you don't need it.

Nobody will doubt you for getting a real-world job for a year or so. Bills have to be paid, life has to be lived, and if you had decided that you wanted a bench research career after your first experience, you wouldn't be going for the MD in the first place!

Yeah definitely. It's so different actually working in a diverse team, managing people, and dealing with hard-to-please guests. Some of these experiences, I imagine, would parallel with the responsibilities of a physician (both clinical and admin).

THIS is gold. Keep this attitude and there will be no reason to doubt you.

 

[LizzyM]

Given a choice you would choose something unrelated to medicine that offers flexibility and money. What is the adcom supposed to infer from that?

 

[Heday]

Given a choice you would choose something unrelated to medicine that offers flexibility and money. What is the adcom supposed to infer from that?

Well I don't have a research job offer yet. I am defining flexibility as the ability to take time off for any interviews that I may get during this application cycle. There are two classes I want to take (to meet admissions requirements at a specific school) while working as well. Job A will work with whatever priorities/schedule I have.

As for the money, I'm looking at around over $2000 in application fees. The traveling (by air), hotel expenses, etc will obviously be just as much if not more (there is only one school that is within driving distance). Oh and I don't own a car. Job A covers accommodations and most meals (so I'm saving around $800/month).

The financials aren't the only aspect of the decision. I do care about the ability to keep my job while traveling all over the country (at a minimum I would miss two days of work per interview) and attending classes. Unfortunately, all the research job listings I've looked into are full-time (8am-5pm). I am also trying to save money to help offset the costs of attending medical school.

Regardless, I'm more than happy to find a job in research. I'll just have to get a little creative on how I do things. But I'm somewhat surprised that adcoms may infer that I don't think medicine is a priority. That's a scary notion.

 

[gettheleadout]

Given a choice you would choose something unrelated to medicine that offers flexibility and money. What is the adcom supposed to infer from that?

I don't have time to respond to this at the moment, but with all due respect, I have a number of problems with this. I'll edit this post later.

Finally have time to expand: The adcom isn't supposed to infer anything from it, because OP's choice won't be adcom knowledge. From their perspective, he either chose to leave his current job and seek out research (which is fine, it looks like he wanted to be involved in research and had the chance) or ended up being effectively promoted from his current position (still looks good, says nothing about OP's interest of lack thereof in research, nor his ability to secure a research position, and definitely nothing about making a choice between the promotion and a new job in research).

The idea that Heday should make this choice based on "what's related to medicine" seems ludicrous to me, because without genuine interest in medicine he wouldn't be pursuing medical school. In the meantime, there are logistic, financial, and other personal matters to take into account when deciding how to spend the limited time he has remaining between now and matriculation.

 

[LizzyM]

I don't have time to respond to this at the moment, but with all due respect, I have a number of problems with this. I'll edit this post later.

It is all in how he spins it. The OP wasn't spinning it well in the original post. Additional information indicates that he can spin in to focus on the flexibility to go on interviews and the ability to earn the cash needed to go on interviews. Also, if it is presented as a pragmatic choice this year and not a choice made over research (this is the bird in hand compared with the hope of a research position).

Poorly spun, an applicant could be criticized. Well spun, it might even help.

 

[DokterMom]

It is all in how he spins it. The OP wasn't spinning it well in the original post. Additional information indicates that he can spin in to focus on the flexibility to go on interviews and the ability to earn the cash needed to go on interviews. Also, if it is presented as a pragmatic choice this year and not a choice made over research (this is the bird in hand compared with the hope of a research position).

Poorly spun, an applicant could be criticized. Well spun, it might even help.

Agreed - Spin is critical.

Job A will also help you develop time management and organization skills as well as multi-tasking, prioritization and juggling. It can be a very crazy-making job. There are also many parallels between the hospitality industry and hospitals (there's a reason the words are so similar), and running a hotel is a lot like running a medical practice. Tie those in, develop the parallels, and SPIN away.

 

[gettheleadout]

Finally got time to edit my last post.

It is all in how he spins it. The OP wasn't spinning it well in the original post. Additional information indicates that he can spin in to focus on the flexibility to go on interviews and the ability to earn the cash needed to go on interviews. Also, if it is presented as a pragmatic choice this year and not a choice made over research (this is the bird in hand compared with the hope of a research position).

Poorly spun, an applicant could be criticized. Well spun, it might even help.

I agree the presentation of the experience is important for the reception of the experience as enriching his background as an applicant, but the "spin" part here seems to me to only be relevant because we've established an unnecessary context of a "choice" between the job and a research position. Obviously if he chooses the job he wouldn't comment on choosing between it and an undiscovered research position; it would be irrelevant. This situation doesn't seem any different to me from that of a nontrad with a brief prior career (or job, of a couple years), possibly during a period of postbacc or other coursework and/or saving financially for the expense of application itself.

Heday, my thoughts on the decision are that Job A is the better choice because it is a more valuable experience. As you said, you won't have to chance to engage in an experience like it at any other point in your life, and in developing the skills you'll gain from doing it now, you may be more prepared for challenges later in your career to which those skills are applicable. I see no way that choosing this job for your gap year could reflect on your commitment to medicine, since you're not even in medical school yet. Furthermore, since it's during a gap year, any benefit you'll gain from either experience would only be directly relayed to admissions officers via either an interview or an update letter, and personally I would rather bank on being able to talk interestingly about management experience from a real world job in an interview than on lab tech work done in a research position, especially if I were going to send an update letter (I wouldn't have high hopes that an update letter about reasonably common research work would have a great effect on the decision ultimately made about one's application).

 

[Heday]

I agree the presentation of the experience is important for the reception of the experience as enriching his background as an applicant, but the "spin" part here seems to me to only be relevant because we've established an unnecessary context of a "choice" between the job and a research position.

Heday, my thoughts on the decision are that Job A is the better choice because it is a more valuable experience. As you said, you won't have to chance to engage in an experience like it at any other point in your life, and in developing the skills you'll gain from doing it now, you may be more prepared for challenges later in your career to which those skills are applicable. I see no way that choosing this job for your gap year could reflect on your commitment to medicine, since you're not even in medical school yet. Furthermore, since it's during a gap year, any benefit you'll gain from either experience would only be directly relayed to admissions officers via either an interview or an update letter, and personally I would rather bank on being able to talk interestingly about management experience from a real world job in an interview than on lab tech work done in a research position, especially if I were going to send an update letter (I wouldn't have high hopes that an update letter about reasonably common research work would have a great effect on the decision ultimately made about one's application).

Thanks for the response. I unnecessarily established a choice that does not exists, which may have led to the confusion. At the end of the day, Job A is likely to get me closer to medical school than Job B. As @mehc012 pointed out, I inappropriately assumed I would get a research job as long as I applied for it. The only reason I posted this thread was to ensure I was not calling my commitment to medicine into question by continuing my work in hospitality/management.

This thread was definitely helpful, and I think it'll be useful when it comes to interviews. I appreciate the help everyone.