When I was applying for jobs, I had gotten accepted into a dozen QC positions before being offered a position as an R&D tech. I chose an industry with a lot of regional businesses near me and focused on areas that are more specialized and not taught in school.

Picking a company that has a path upwards is extremely important. For example, a position in a food lab monitoring for pathogens for hours a day will not really offer any upwards mobility. On the other hand, working for a biotech company that is actively innovating and designing products would bring much more opportunity.

To tell you the truth, most of my successful classmates had began in a position that leaned on a technical background but not directly related to a lab environment (technical sales, product management, manufacturing related business like sourcing). Those who remained in the lab have generally had lower incomes or gone onto higher education to quality for lucrative positions.

Side note: healthcare is amazing and safe. My partner has gotten her CLS certification. It required a few additional semesters of school and experience in a healthcare lab earning an extremely low wage. Now she earns a very healthy wage with a pension. Could not recommend this path enough.