Graduation and some College Advice

[Ketchup345]

I finally graduated college today. I just have to do another 2 weeks or so of an internship and hand in a paper on it. I have a feeling/all I can think is "Now what?"

Next step: Find a full time job. Anyone know any place hiring? :wacko:

Some advice for current and future college students:
If you're going to do a double major (or pick up any minors), decide that early, and preferably before you set up your schedule for the next semester.

Anyone else graduating this year?

[Tyreek]

Congrats on your graduation Ketchup. I'm about a quarter away from graduating as long as I don't mess up. I don't what your major was, but if you can, try putting yourself out there for any jobs you have in mind. Maybe freelancing. But in the meantime, trying getting a side job so you can support yourself. Especially when those college bills start popping up. <.<;

[Ketchup345]

Thanks.
I'm still going to be living at home (I commuted to school). I have a weekend job that is paying off what bills I have (keeping my car going, food mostly) then will be helping pay off those loans.

[Xefi]

Grats on graduation. finding a job isn't so easy these days. you'll
probably have to go out very often and ask around. i got my job
from a friend whom recommended the place for me. i ask quite a
lot of friends and family before i finally got the job.

i went straight for the interview and got hire like right away. of course,
i'm nervous at first. interviewing is kind of new to me back then. now,
i can go interview like it's nothing. :P

Keyword is, also try asking your friends and families or look up at newspaper
and call them up. Good luck on your job hunt!

[Ketchup345]

I'll probably stick with the place I'm interning at for a while, maybe try to bounce around what division I'm in. There's also a chance that there will be an opening there at some point, hopefully I can either meet the minimum requirements or they waive that part for me.

One problem is I'm not sure what major I want to use for my work. One is more research, the other applied. Either way, I want to go back to grad school eventually, not sure for what exactly though.

[amtalx]

A couple protips:

-Most people leave their first job after college within 2 years. Don't get attached.
-Its common to work in a field that has little or nothing to do with your major. Do something you enjoy and hopefully you'll be paid well for it.

[Blue-Hawk]

HEY! Congrats on that. Good luck on getting a job now. >_<

[Leviathan]

I am graduating form high school, if that counts, this year.

Any tips for me? :wacko:

[Outrider]

Congrats, Ketchup.

I graduated in May 2007 but didn't start my current job until August 2008. I had done an internship from September '07 through January '08, but I was effectively unemployed for a year and change. Definitely just keep looking and you'll find something worthwhile.

I know of a few people who wound up getting pretty good jobs through Craigslist (myself included), so don't rule that out when you're looking.

Also, amtalx is right about your degree not determining what your job is - I majored in creative writing and now I work in product management with a bunch of marketing and business majors. That's just how things wind up sometimes.

[Ketchup345]

My majors were very science oriented, and included a lot of lab work.
I know I could get a job in another field, but would rather avoid that if possible. I like lab work, and now can't think of anything else I'd enjoy doing.

Levi- That advice I gave about double majoring is very useful. If I had followed it, I would have been done in 4 years instead of 4.5 years (with another 1/2 year as fun classes). That is assuming you plan to attend college.

[Niered]

I just graduated my illustration major, definitely ramped up my drawing abilities, currently working on a self-written childrens book. Check my siggy for my blog/carbonmade account.

[Volcompat321]

Congratulations on graduating!
I haven't even started college at all, and I graduated high school May 2006. :/

Only reason I haven't started was because I cant afford it.
I was supposed to move to Colorado (which I would have loved) a few years back to become an airplane mechanic, but money issues halted that, and I couldn't get any student loans/grants whatever to make the move. :(

My advice to you, if it is worth anything, is to just keep looking.
Don't give up so easy, and don't procrastinate!!!
I feel like procrastinating was/is my worst enemy at this point.

Only thing holding me back, is me. (and money...)
Honestly, I cant even afford an application fee to a school. Horrible, isn't it?

[joefro]

Congrats to all of the 2010 graduates! I'm about halfway there and I'm already fearing graduation. College is awesome, and I know I'll miss it. I also can't wait to get a job. That's going to be the best part, hopefully.

[Ketchup345]

I haven't started looking for a full job yet, soon though, I still have some time interning to go and asked about bouncing around areas of the building for a while, just seeing more of what each department does.

So, does anyone know any labs currently or soon hiring?

[Volcompat321]

Not in your area. :wacko:
You're in Ohio, right? :o
Or was that someone else I think I remember...

[Ketchup345]

That's not me. If possible, I'd prefer Maryland-Massachusetts, or west coast.

[Split]

Congrats! What school are you graduating from (not to sound creepy, I'm on my way into college so I'm just curious)?

[Sinue_v2]

Also, amtalx is right about your degree not determining what your job is - I majored in creative writing and now I work in product management with a bunch of marketing and business majors. That's just how things wind up sometimes.

Your major doesn't lock you into a strict career path free of deviation, but it would be a mistake to be blase about your major because "it's not going to matter anyhow". You should still go for something you have a strong interest and passion for, and don't be afraid to diversify your electives as some lucrative career paths lie in the synthesis of various skills and talents. Employees who can write software and are knowledgeable in Genetic/Tissue Engineering, for example, are going to be in high demand in the next decade. And don't be afraid to pursue new classes or change your major to follow a new passion. Though it's good to have clear idea of what it is you want to do for a living.

My advice is little more than student counselor pep-talk fodder, since I've only got a few classes in community collage under my belt, and you'll likely get much more applicable and worthwhile advice from other members who are more experienced with day-to-day "nuts and bolts" of life in a real collage.

You say you want to stay science oriented, and enjoy lab work, so perhaps this video from a friend (somewhat) who's been down that path may help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=eGd-tSsbNns

Just don't ever loose your passion for learning, and don't pass up a chance to learn something new just because it's not related to your current major. Knowledge is an enabler, and the more doors you open your mind to, the more opportunities you will have to be successful. Beyond that, knowledge and experience are the nourishment of the mind, and the more you have - the more building materials you have at your disposal; to build the person who you are, and who you will become.


Also, don't worry about the state of the job market if you're family is helping cover your daily living expenses. By the time you finish your university studies, the market will be quite different.. and probably much more robust than it was before the market crashed. You might want to look at emerging tech industries and consider ways to integrate your chosen major into them. I really think we're going to see a emerging tech bubble on-par with (even greater even) the tech bubble of the 90's, provided we don't stop or hinder research into nanotech and gene/tissue engineering. I think the rules are about to be rewritten again, and until we become acclimatised to the limits of it's integration and new industry establishes clear trends of potential growth, there's going to be a lot of jobs and a lot of money being thrown around to be in on the ground floor of the next Google or next Microsoft.


Now that I've gone and made myself look pedantic and condescending by pointing out the obvious and cliche, let me just finish up here and say congratulations for your graduations, and wish your the best of luck in your transition to collage. If you're the drinking type, I suggest getting thoroughly blitzed with a few select classmates. If not, well, I'll just have to get blitzed for you. Not that I need an excuse to drink, but it's a terrible waste to pass up such a good excuse.

[Ketchup345]

Luckily my family is helping me with costs, until I can supply a steady amount of money to help pay for school.

That video helped a bit Sinue, a lot had come up in my classes, except for maybe the importance of calculus part, though I did take through calculus II. Statistics was fun though. I may find out if there's a way to get into a scientific writing course somewhere, I took one on reading journals but the only writing parts were labs reports for classes, which often weren't nearly as in depth. I'd love to sign up for several journals (I'd like to get Science, Nature, and AAFS), but the cost is very high for even a single year to just one of them.

Unfortunately for the job situation (but fortunately for my sanity), I'm not doing grad school right away. I know I want to go back for grad school, but am unsure for what focus, molecular biology is my top thought as of right now (maybe with a focus on genetics?). I may have to email my genetics/molecular/biochemistry professor (same guy taught all 3 courses) and talk with him a bit once I begin to think about grad school more.

Also, there will be plenty of drinking in the next few weeks, don't worry about that.

Split- It was a smallish (roughly 1000 graduated total, including grad) private college that did classes well, but was insanely expensive and could have done everything else better.

[Sinue_v2]

I'd love to sign up for several journals (I'd like to get Science, Nature, and AAFS), but the cost is very high for even a single year to just one of them.

I'm not sure how you feel about open access, but PLoS One (http://everyone.plos.org/2010/01/05/plos-one-indexed-by-web-of-science/) (Public Library of Science) offers scientific literature free of charge to the public, as the costs of peer review are included in the grants rather than generated by publishing revenue. A lot of researchers are still hesitant to jump on-board I hear, since it could potentially change the rules of the race to publishing your work and getting the credit. On the upside, what has been made open access allows researchers from diverse fields to browse studies in other fields without the hurdle of borrowing from other departments or excess subscriptions. Plus it allows laymen like me the chance to judge whether or not such a resource is worth bringing up in conversation/linking to. (Of course, this could also be a bad thing, since the language used in academic papers can act as another barrier to reading/understanding them... much like legal-jargon.)

If nothing else, they can at least help get you acclimatized to the format and structure of scientific papers. So if you run across an article at PubMed or on Nature that costs money, be sure to check for a Link-Out option which may have an Open Access option. (Also, I'm not sure what PLoS's impact factor is just yet, since they've only began being considered for ranking this year.)

You might also be interested in MIT OpenWetWare (http://openwetware.org/wiki/Main_Page), which is sort of a community think-tank where even competing research teams get together to share ideas and debate their findings. It also serves as a bit of a help-line for those just starting out wherein more seasoned researchers can pass on hints, notes, techniques, and suggestions which were acquired by first hand experience. example (http://openwetware.org/wiki/Coot_and_WinCoot_for_X-ray_Crystallography_Model_Building)


I know I want to go back for grad school, but am unsure for what focus, molecular biology is my top thought as of right now (maybe with a focus on genetics?). I may have to email my genetics/molecular/biochemistry professor (same guy taught all 3 courses) and talk with him a bit once I begin to think about grad school more.

That seems like a good idea, as I'm sure he'll be able to provide more in-depth and applicable advice for your situation than a more generalized collage councilor could provide, let alone some casual science admirer like myself.


Also, there will be plenty of drinking in the next few weeks, don't worry about that.

Oh, I know... I just wasn't sure if you'd be participating in it as well. Speaking of genetics and drinking, did you see where a few years back a team of undergrads at Rice University created a strain of yeast which produced resveratrol during the fermentation process? It supposedly giving their beer all the health benefits normally associated with red wine. I haven't heard anything about it since iGEM 08 though, but you might want to keep an eye out for it. Might be a good iconic drink to kick off with if you go for an education in genetics. Besides, if you're going to be blowing out your liver with copious amounts of alcohol anyhow - you might as well be helping to fight off cancer and promote cardiovascular health while you're at it, ya know?

There's a chance it might not be out though since clinical trials on resveratrol's effects in humans is still ongoing and inconclusive, and the long-term effects haven't been verified. Still, that hasn't stopped dietary supplement manufacturers from selling 150 to 300mg mega resveratrol vitamin bombs for top dollar... so why a holdup on the beer? If nothing else, it's a hell of a marketing angle... and by the time any long-term negative side effects can be definitively linked, some larger brewery will have bought them up and be left holding the liability. :D