Career Path Thread: Money is happiness

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Career Path Thread: Money is happiness

Pollyanna: Mar 5, 2005; Milk's on them.

I'm a recent college graduate with a BS in Biomedical Engineering. BME-specific jobs seem to require grad degrees, which I don't have. I have experience in biomechanical statistical analysis (breaking chicken bones, getting their structural properties, programming in MATLAB, chartz n graffz, etc.), biomaterials (making medical devices and the like), and medical imaging (image analysis and processing, programming in automation of image processing). My resume is here.

What kind of job would be best for me? I've been having trouble finding jobs that I qualify for.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2013 00:28

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 04:14

Pollyanna: Mar 5, 2005; Milk's on them.

Pollyanna posted:

I'm a recent college graduate with a BS in Biomedical Engineering. BME-specific jobs seem to require grad degrees, which I don't have. I have experience in biomechanical statistical analysis (breaking chicken bones, getting their structural properties, programming in MATLAB, chartz n graffz, etc.), biomaterials (making medical devices and the like), and medical imaging (image analysis and processing, programming in automation of image processing). My resume is here.

What kind of job would be best for me? I've been having trouble finding jobs that I qualify for.

Reposting, since I never got any responses.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2013 19:15

Pollyanna: Mar 5, 2005; Milk's on them.

Crazyweasel posted:

Your resume isn't working for me.

You should look into getting into a company as a Test Engineer or in Quality Assurance. It's usually in demand because people don't go to school to be Test Engineers, but it might just be able to get you in to a company and you can work your way up from there.

What about it bugs you? I had it done by Resume-to-Interviews a while back and maybe it needs some updating...

QA/test engineering was my first choice for a first job, but I haven't had much luck getting any jobs like that. They're all either for senior positions (PhD/MS and 4+ years) or...well, basically just that.

DukAmok posted:

Any sort of analyst or "research" job. Play up the Matlab, science-y stuff, and your numbers skills. Those are really broadly applicable, you don't need to just apply them to chicken bones. Here's the first result I found for "Analyst" on Indeed, at Paramount pictures.
code:
Distribution Analyst - Home Media (3742) Los Angeles, California

Responsibilities to include, but not limited to:

*WB Transition � coordination and data prep
*One View forecasting model development
*Prepare Internal Weekly scorecard with key metrics for Distribution/Freight & Operations
*Hedway reporting resource
     -Run reports
     -Implement / Test new Hedway attributes
     -Analysis and data correction efforts
*Prepare monthly freight/distribution reporting and tracking
*Ad hoc special projects often requiring in-depth research and analysis
     -Cost analysis both customer and Technicolor
*Ad Hoc reporting, such as defectives shipped etc during recalls
*Manage 3rd party fulfillment of defective replacement programs
*Review, Track and Publish Tech�s operational goals / SLAs
*Provide back up support for Senior Manager Order Management
*Review of Returns log/investigate outstanding returns
As best I can tell you would be looking at spreadsheets of various freight distributions of DVDs, coming up with ways to track, model, and forecast those distributions, and generally be aware of any red flags that might crop up. I'd bet you've never thought about the way DVDs were shipped across the country, but I'd also bet you'd pick it up extremely quickly, numbers are just numbers.

This is stuff I can do easy. I can do basically anything as long as you explain to me what it is I need to do. Thing is, they always ask for stuff like I WANT A BS IN MATH NUMBER ACCOUNTING CRONCHING and ALSO 3 YEARS EXP and that scares me off.

Like, I know that I can pretty much do anything with this degree - which makes it hard to figure out what I qualify for.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2013 05:46

Pollyanna: Mar 5, 2005; Milk's on them.

huhwhat posted:

^^^^
I think Crazyweasel was saying he couldn't access your resume. Link is useless for me too.

Oh.

http://www.filedropper.com/rpazyresume-march-2013

Crazyweasel posted:

I remember seeing you post before and I know where you are geographically, which is near me. Go to Indeed and type engineering in for *YOUR STATE*(maybe also medical device) and apply to anything that requires 4 years or less experience.

Anecdote: I've applied for about 20 jobs in the past 2 months in a similar field as the one you are looking for(unless you want biomedical chemistry, can't see your resume so don't know). Doing this found me a company that likes me so they are knocking the 4 year experience requirement down to 2 years so I can get in. Don't be scared. Also don't tell me all QA and Test engineer positions need MS or higher, most minimum requirements are recent grad at best, for test engineer at least.

Indeed has led me a lot of places, not all of them particularly great. :saddowns:

But I'm bad with search engines. I DID click on an application for a research associate, and they called today asking if I was up for interviewing next week! :dance:

It's a contract position, but that's fine.

DukAmok posted:

If they express any trepidation, feel free to suggest a work test. I don't have a degree in math number accounting crunching, but I was able to prove pretty handily in a work test that I was more than able to handle what they threw at me. Don't be scared by experience requirements either, that's obviously their ideal, but if they're not finding what they're looking for, I've seen more than a few places relax those "requirements" into "preferences".

Hmmm. Yeah, that's what's bugged me the most about it, that they assume an entry level newbie would have years of experience under their butt. I saw an application for a recently graduated Java programmer that wanted someone with 13 years of experience. But yeah, a work test sounds like something I could pull off. I'll bring that up to any companies that press me on the issue.

---

I've also been considering a CS masters as well, it's really great to hear that they're doable even if you don't have a CS BS. Does this apply to online MS programs? I know that OSU has an online program, and I was wondering if it was any good.

Xguard86 posted:

I have no advice specifically but don't do number three. Morally, its a dick move and hangs your employer out to dry and practically it will bite you in the rear end in the future.

Yeah, if it's a job that you think you can stand for a few years then option #1 sounds like the best one to me. #3 is dickish and #2 is not going to happen.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2013 00:57

Pollyanna: Mar 5, 2005; Milk's on them.

Uranium 235 posted:

Medical dosimetry, but you'd need another year of school. It pays very, very well, though, so it might be worth it to you to look into. Your background is perfectly suited for it. Some programs require a radiation therapist background, but several do not (the one I went to did not--my background was physics).

edit: If you are interested in putting in more time for school/residency, medical physics is an option. You could earn a higher salary, but residency positions are very competitive and are required for board certification, which is vital for finding a job. I considered med physics but went for dosimetry since I had already spent quite a bit of time in school and was ready for my career to begin (I got a degree in anthropology before my degree in physics).

Ooh. I heard something about medical dosimetry, but I was pushed more towards medical physics when I was checking it out. Is schooling for medical dosimetry available in many places, or would I have to move to Wisconsin or something for a school there?

# ¿ Apr 26, 2013 13:10

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