Would more than one job hurt app?

[Certified Corsair]

Hi guys I need some help figuring out if this is a problem or not.

I graduated last year with a MLS degree and have been working since. It basically allows me to work in a variety of labs/clinical settings. I currently work between a biochemistry/hematology lab in a hospital, but just got offered a job at a company working in their clinical lab (not a hospital, but get patient samples sent to them). It is a day shift job (I am currently on evenings) and it suits my lifestyle better. So I have two questions about this from people who have worked before going to school.

1. Would it hurt my application to have more than one job over the course of 2 years, from a commitment standpoint and such, and would they question it?

2. Am I better off staying in a hospital setting as opposed to company/corporate setting, despite the fact that both are clinical laboratories that do very similar jobs.

Just trying to figure out if this would reflect bad on my app, and if I should just suck up what I do now for another year or take this offer.

Thanks

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[Weirdy]

Hi guys I need some help figuring out if this is a problem or not.

I graduated last year with a MLS degree and have been working since. It basically allows me to work in a variety of labs/clinical settings. I currently work between a biochemistry/hematology lab in a hospital, but just got offered a job at a company working in their clinical lab (not a hospital, but get patient samples sent to them). It is a day shift job (I am currently on evenings) and it suits my lifestyle better. So I have two questions about this from people who have worked before going to school.

1. Would it hurt my application to have more than one job over the course of 2 years, from a commitment standpoint and such, and would they question it?

2. Am I better off staying in a hospital setting as opposed to company/corporate setting, despite the fact that both are clinical laboratories that do very similar jobs.

Just trying to figure out if this would reflect bad on my app, and if I should just suck up what I do now for another year or take this offer.

Thanks

I had a bunch of part time jobs over 2 years, some not related to my degree at all so I probably looked a lot worse than you.

It didn't hurt. If anything they either rarely asked or were interested and it became a topic of conversation during the interview.

I do not know enough to comment about hospital versus corporate. If you feel like management at the company will treat you better than the hospital, go for it. Just make sure they are not bringing you in with an overbearing "pump these numbers or gtfo" attitude.

 

[Certified Corsair]

I had a bunch of part time jobs over 2 years, some not related to my degree at all so I probably looked a lot worse than you.

It didn't hurt. If anything they either rarely asked or were interested and it became a topic of conversation during the interview.

I do not know enough to comment about hospital versus corporate. If you feel like management at the company will treat you better than the hospital, go for it. Just make sure they are not bringing you in with an overbearing "pump these numbers or gtfo" attitude.

Thanks!

It's going from a hospital lab where patient specimens get sent too you for essential quick lab tests, to QUEST, which is corporate in culture but I would basically be working in a different lab where hospitals send more complicated testing to be done over longer period of time. I just wasn't sure if schools would look at this like commitment problems or something so I wanted to make sure it wouldn't kill me to switch.

Pretty much the only thing holding me back from switching though.

 

[Weirdy]

Thanks!

It's going from a hospital lab where patient specimens get sent too you for essential quick lab tests, to QUEST, which is corporate in culture but I would basically be working in a different lab where hospitals send more complicated testing to be done over longer period of time. I just wasn't sure if schools would look at this like commitment problems or something so I wanted to make sure it wouldn't kill me to switch.

Pretty much the only thing holding me back from switching though.

Ah Quest!

It shouldn't be a problem honestly.

Even if they asked: you took the new job because it offered an advantage over the new one.
If a school has a problem with you advancing your job to fit your needs than maybe they aren't in your best interests either.
Not that it'd ever get to that point but being honest about a job that has a better schedule you're more comfortable with does not reflect on your integrity to hold a job. Its a step up, not an inconsistency.

 

[Certified Corsair]

Ah Quest!

It shouldn't be a problem honestly.

Even if they asked: you took the new job because it offered an advantage over the new one.
If a school has a problem with you advancing your job to fit your needs than maybe they aren't in your best interests either.
Not that it'd ever get to that point but being honest about a job that has a better schedule you're more comfortable with does not reflect on your integrity to hold a job. Its a step up, not an inconsistency.

Thanks this definitely makes me feel better if I take it. I do a lot of monotonous testing as it is so may as well try and do some more complicated things!

 

[dr.phoot]

Interesting. I didn't even think they cared about what job you held unless it was like podiatrist assistant and or something medical related and you connected it to your personal essay / inspiration for going into pod.

 

[Certified Corsair]

Interesting. I didn't even think they cared about what job you held unless it was like podiatrist assistant and or something medical related and you connected it to your personal essay / inspiration for going into pod.

Ya I do medical related work, I just wasn't sure if I would get frowned upon as a stereotypical millennial with life commitment problems or if they even cared about it lol. I'm sure it's something they might want to talk about so I just don't want to hurt myself if I can avoid it.

 

[dr.phoot]

Ya I do medical related work, I just wasn't sure if I would get frowned upon as a stereotypical millennial with life commitment problems or if they even cared about it lol. I'm sure it's something they might want to talk about so I just don't want to hurt myself if I can avoid it.

Lol you should be fine. I'm not going to mention any thing about the jobs I held. I'll only comment how I had to work for financial reasons and it's why my grades for one particular semester wasn't very good.

I like your enthusiasm for the field.

Good luck with applications!

 

[TimmyTurner]

Hi guys I need some help figuring out if this is a problem or not.

1. Would it hurt my application to have more than one job over the course of 2 years, from a commitment standpoint and such, and would they question it?

2. Am I better off staying in a hospital setting as opposed to company/corporate setting, despite the fact that both are clinical laboratories that do very similar jobs.

Just trying to figure out if this would reflect bad on my app, and if I should just suck up what I do now for another year or take this offer.

Thanks

Both of these are trivial matters if you have a competitive GPA and MCAT.

Re #1: They may ask about both jobs but I doubt they'd look at it and think 'this guy can't commit'. In the event they do raise the question "If you can't commit to a job for more than one year, how can you expect to commit to seven years of education?"- No need for an elaborate story. Tell them exactly what you told us- Wasn't a question of commitment, it was a better option in terms of lifestyle/schedule. Can even say better money or opportunities for advancement. Whatever.

Re #2: I had multiple jobs before Pod school, none relating to healthcare, but each one was a 'step-up' from the last one in terms of salary and responsibility. And I spun these experiences as 'The skills I acquired during my time with job X can help me with situations Y and Z that I am sure to encounter as a Podiatry student/Podiatrist"... So, the diversity of experiences can actually be spun as a positive.

Clinical experience is good but, not nearly as valuable to an application as Podiatry related clinical experiences (shadowing/volunteering/working in a Pod office). I had extensive non-Pod clinical experience, and only 30 hours shadowing a Pod. They asked me if in the interview if I believed that small body of evidence was sufficient enough to make an informed decision about entering the field, and if so, why.
My answer was that my previous clinical experience made it a lot easier to know what my interests were in a career path and more importantly-what I was not interested in. So even though my Pod shadow time was small, when compared to my wealth of non-Pod clinical exposure, I was still able to make an informed assessment.

Basically, both concerns are non-factors. Probably won't even be brought up if you have enough shadowing hours.

 

[Certified Corsair]

Both of these are trivial matters if you have a competitive GPA and MCAT.

Re #1: They may ask about both jobs but I doubt they'd look at it and think 'this guy can't commit'. In the event they do raise the question "If you can't commit to a job for more than one year, how can you expect to commit to seven years of education?"- No need for an elaborate story. Tell them exactly what you told us- Wasn't a question of commitment, it was a better option in terms of lifestyle/schedule. Can even say better money or opportunities for advancement. Whatever.

Re #2: I had multiple jobs before Pod school, none relating to healthcare, but each one was a 'step-up' from the last one in terms of salary and responsibility. And I spun these experiences as 'The skills I acquired during my time with job X can help me with situations Y and Z that I am sure to encounter as a Podiatry student/Podiatrist"... So, the diversity of experiences can actually be spun as a positive.

Clinical experience is good but, not nearly as valuable to an application as Podiatry related clinical experiences (shadowing/volunteering/working in a Pod office). I had extensive non-Pod clinical experience, and only 30 hours shadowing a Pod. They asked me if in the interview if I believed that small body of evidence was sufficient enough to make an informed decision about entering the field, and if so, why.
My answer was that my previous clinical experience made it a lot easier to know what my interests were in a career path and more importantly-what I was not interested in. So even though my Pod shadow time was small, when compared to my wealth of non-Pod clinical exposure, I was still able to make an informed assessment.

Basically, both concerns are non-factors. Probably won't even be brought up if you have enough shadowing hours.

Thanks for the insight. I'm rolling with a 3.5cgpa/3.4sgpa and 496 mcat at the moment, if you think that would still keep the other aspects trivial or not. And Re #2 is exactly how I planned on wording it with them because for the most part that's how it would be.

 

[Weirdy]

Thanks for the insight. I'm rolling with a 3.5cgpa/3.4sgpa and 496 mcat at the moment, if you think that would still keep the other aspects trivial or not. And Re #2 is exactly how I planned on wording it with them because for the most part that's how it would be.

Dam wish I had those GPAs coming in.

Be confident man!