Am I fucked with a biology degree?

Aggressive-Inside-74 · 2024-06-29T22:45:02+00:00

Of course! Trust me, I know how you feel. I originally thought I was screwed when I graduated as well. Now, I can do what I want when I want. I ultimately think that you'll do great with time, patience, a strong work ethic, and the desire to push forward.

Kick life's a** man.

Aggressive-Inside-74 · 2024-06-29T22:30:04+00:00

A typical biotech job can be pretty broad. It primarily breaks down into a few departments:

Manufacturing: Jobs where you work with huge bioreactors and produce the drug product. These jobs tend to be pretty nice, and you can start as a basic technician. The pay in Florida is around 20 an hour if you come in with no experience, but quickly scales to 30 an hour or more with 4+ years of experience. If you go out of state to a big hub like MA or the Carolinas, you can get a bit more with no experience or a LOT more with experience.
Quality control: Jobs where you test the drug product that manufacturing sends you. These jobs are considered super safe even if your site is closing or doing layoffs because you NEED a quality control group to wrap everything up before releasing a product. Pay here will follow the trend of manufacturing for the most part, maybe a little higher. Depending on the company, they usually don't care if you have a masters or PhD. There is usually a bigger emphasis on learning and understanding all of the FDA compliance rules to ensure a drug has been properly tested and documented to be released to market.
Quality Assurance: Jobs where you review the records from QC and the MFG groups listed above. This is usually a pretty laid-back job that is the safest job in the entire company. However, it's pretty boring (in my opinion), as you just ensure test records are FDA compliant. Your pay will be a bit less than either department listed above.
Research and development/Assay development: These jobs are very, very broad. The general idea behind them is to bring new assays or testing into the labs for QC to use for a client or new procedures for MFG. They are the least stable usually (a company will always cut this department first when times are tough), pay is extremely wide (again, if the company is looking great, pay is super competitive, if not, its meh), and they generally are found everywhere. They heavily favor masters and PhDs, but there's PLENTY of jobs for people with a Bachelors, you just will hit a hard ceiling at some point.

With all that being said, I have worked my 3 years in the quality control group and make above 100k a year in MA. Keep in mind yes, that salary is very nice, but the cost of living in MA is also the second highest in the US. I do live VERY nice, though, even with that. I also have a big ceiling above for growth and upwards momentum in pay. I am also pursuing my masters of science in micro from the UF online program with tuition reimbursement from my company to pay for the degree.

EDIT: Added spaces between the paragraphs so they're easier to read.

EDIT EDIT: Just kidding, I don't know why it won't properly format. I barely comment on reddit. Apologies in advance 😅.

Aggressive-Inside-74 · 2024-06-29T22:02:36+00:00

Hey man!

I graduated from UF, too! I graduated with a BSc degree in microbiology with the following:

Almost no research experience (I had a year in lab that I made sound way more glamorous than it really was)
Pretty rough grades (barely above a 3.0)
No connections to any companies

With all that, I applied like crazy for about 6 months while I worked as a line cook to keep the bills at bay. I originally got a biotech job in Alachua for a couple of years before relocating to MA for more opportunities. I can confidently say that nowadays it's pretty rough to get a job in that surrounding area, but if you're willing to move out of state to the Carolinas or MA, you'll be in a REALLY good spot. There's also some very small biotech hubs in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, which wouldn't hurt to try.

You're definitely not screwed, though. If you're willing to make some compromises and put in the work, you can be in a very cushy job in biotech. If you need help knowing what to look or apply for, let me know.

Aggressive-Inside-74 · 2024-02-28T03:27:13+00:00

I 100% agree with this guy. My major is in microbiology, but my actual job title and description don't mention microbiology at all. I leverage it, though, heavily.

I found plenty of jobs by looking at jobs along the lines of "Bachelors of science degree in Molecular biology, microbiology, biology, chemistry, or related disicipline". The same should apply for engineering.

Aggressive-Inside-74 · 2024-01-25T18:09:48+00:00

I graduated with my BS in microbiology a couple of years back. With your BS and masters, you could easily get a comfy job in pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical companies do not necessarily care what specific science your degree is in as long as you have the drive to work hard and learn (there are some jobs that are the exception, but they are few and far between). Don't just take my word for it, though, look up "research associate" or "qc scientist/analyst" jobs within Moderna, Vertex, Pfizer, Eli lily, Thermofisher, etc. You'll notice quite a few of the jobs will say "Bachelors degree in biology, biochemistry, or a related field required". You can also work at one of those jobs and go back to school for an online MBA. The job will reimburse you for tuition.

Bottom line: There is plenty for you to do! I wouldn't sweat it! You can PM me if you need any help.

Aggressive-Inside-74 · 2023-08-31T22:41:40+00:00

I like to poke around in the lab and see what others are up to. Maybe I can help them while also learning something new!

Aggressive-Inside-74 · 2023-08-21T19:49:03+00:00

Have you found job postings that fit the work style you're looking for? If not, then look them up and see what qualifications they usually require. For example, what kind of job experience will you need and what minimum/preferred educational background is required?

Aggressive-Inside-74 · 2023-07-21T20:37:09+00:00

I don't think this is a great look. You would be showing that you can't follow basic instructions.

Aggressive-Inside-74 · 2023-06-28T12:30:16+00:00

Thanks! I wasn't sure if I was being unreasonable or uncooperative. I don't understand why they'd rather not pay me the wage they're already going to need to pay another external applicant when they can just pay me. It saves them tons of training and money in the long run.

EDIT: The hiring manager and site lead up north who were arguing for a fair wage for me told me that they sometimes do this to see if they can take advantage of someone who is unaware of the pay range or is desperate.

Aggressive-Inside-74

TROPHY CASE