Author Topic: 1  (Read 2140 times)

sleepystaff

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« on: February 26, 2014, 11:30:35 AM »
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« Last Edit: February 24, 2016, 09:22:56 PM by sleepystaff »

Cwadda

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Re: Recommendations for an upcoming college graduate
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2014, 12:23:54 PM »
Many Biochemistry, Molecular/Cell Bio, and Biology majors anticipate going to graduate school where I go. Check out everything your university has to offer. Career fairs, internship expos, networking meetings, etc. Make connections with weak ties (distant family, friends, etc). You have nothing to lose. If you go the extra mile you will get a job. Having a degree, especially a Biochemistry one, makes you much more marketable.

Update your resume. When one of my family members got out of college with an Environment Policy degree, he sent his resume to over 30 places and ended up getting a job. He is on senior staff there now.

homehandymum

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Re: Recommendations for an upcoming college graduate
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2014, 03:47:45 PM »
I was in a similar position, and will give you the advice I wish someone had given me:

Degree-wise, you're in a similar place to people with liberal arts degrees - you have a degree that proves you can learn, study, analyse data, communicate with others, write well, take information and act on it etc etc.  You can apply for any graduate-entry job in any business or company.  You do not have to stay 'in your field' - and if you try to do so you'll majorly limit yourself.

Write a list of all the skills that your degree and life have given you (not the subjects you studied - but the work-transferrable skills that you have acquired), learn job interview skills and self-marketing, and go get a job.  Any job.  Nobody expects you to stay in the same job for 10 years anymore - if you see a better job, then apply for it. 

If you want to try programming, then do some - learn it online, write something and use that as experience on your cv. 

What I did - BSc in Biochemistry (like you, had wanted to do med, but changed my mind), realised BSc didn't lead directly to a job (surprise!), considered teachers college but didn't want to be a teacher, didn't think I had any other options (wrong, but I was young and nobody told me otherwise) so did a Masters degree.  Upon graduation, the only jobs I could walk straight into were lab-assistant jobs for low-pay, funded from soft grant money so no job security.  To climb that career ladder I'd have needed a PhD.  Not a pathway for high earning!

There are tons of careers, industries, workplaces out there.  Plenty of scope for someone with ambition and ability.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2014, 03:53:17 PM by homehandymum »