Just How Much Credence Should I Give to My Degree?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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So, I actually got a lot of help a while back on being able to graduate. Well now that I’m graduating, I’m just wondering how beneficial is my degree here? My major is Biology, Health and Society. It’s a new degree in place of General Biology.

To put it short, my first choice for a job is at my local hospital. However, the hospital is kind of uppity and doesn’t like to give the lucrative jobs that require a bachelor’s degree to new people; they like to hire within their department. Okay, not an uncommon thing.

However, I’m not going to bend over backwards for this hospital. I’m not saying give me the BEST job right off the bat, but I’d at least like to receive an entry-level wage, you know what I’m saying?

I guess the point is that I’m trying to make is, am I confused just to how beneficial a degree from a top university is? U of M is a world-class school, right? I don’t want to settle for anything less than I know I’m worth.

My experience right now, based on my resume:
-Work assistant to PhD at U-M medical school (2 years)
-Skilled in PCR
-Laser Capture Dissection
-RNA extraction
-Study abroad in Germany
-Research Symposium presentation
-1 year Volunteer Assistant at the hospital I’m thinking of applying to
-Organizational
-Proficiency in speaking German
-Customer service
-Compiling large databases

I know it seems like the experience I have, I should get a research position. But I’m thinking of later going to Ross to get a Master’s of Management. So if I can’t get a job at my local hospital, I’m going to apply for some jobs as a manager for certain businesses around my town.

Okay, now, my family is literally broke. I have zero dollas people. Getting a job in Ann Arbor afterwards - not an option. I HAVE to get a job where I live to start making any money. I don’t even have my drivers license yet.

So can anyone offer any advice? You’ve all been so super helpful in the past. I guess I’m just wondering, do I really got to bend over backwards to get a job? Do I have any leverage? I’m not trying to act like I’m OWED a job or anything, but I worked my butt off to get a degree, and it wasn’t easy getting into U of M either.

2

Oh in addendum, I live in a really small town. I’d have to drive about an hour away to get to anything resembling a city that has any of the good jobs that I need.

Was all this work worth it? Does it even matter I went to U of M? I guess I’m just afraid and having a bit of culture shock now that college is almost done with. I also have an associates degree, I forgot that part on my resume.

3

Are you 100% sure you want to work in a healthcare/life science role? People without graduate degrees are typically not compensated well in those kind of roles.

If compensation matters a lot to you, you need to open yourself up to different kinds of roles and do the necessary homework to be competitive for those jobs (management consulting, banking, technology, etc.) or you need to pursue a graduate degree.

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The biggest piece to a UM degree is the network of opportunities it provides. Start with the Hub and Handshake.

5

You live in a small town with one small hospital. I’m sure that you have reasons for living there, but I don’t see how you can blame your Michigan degree for your lack of opportunities . First, new job opportunities are unlikely to come up often. Second, it is perfectly reasonable for an employer to look to its own employees first to fill new jobs. They are known assets and it promotes employee morale to know that they have opportunities to advance.

As a thought experiment, consider whether a Harvard or Stanford degree would make any difference in your situation.

6

Stop acting entitled if you really want to work at the employer. Take any job, even if it is answering phones. After 6 mo or so you will meet a lot of people, and will be viewed as an internal candidate, and you can move to a better job.

7

Michigan has placement services don’t they for graduates? Have you talked to your professors and advisors? Have you checked out LinkedIn /indeed etc for jobs?

If your not getting a graduate degree at this time I agree with the above. Grab any job you can to get started. Have you ever heard of working your way up the ladder?
Also, do you “have” to move back where that solo hospital is? There might be better opportunities elsewhere. Don’t dig yourself into a whole right off the bat.

8

Have you already applied for a job at your local hospital and been rejected? How do you know they are uppity, have you worked there previously? I work in a hospital and I believe that your personality will probably get you further than your pretty degree. So I hope you have good interviewing skills!

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Hi everyone, I just want to give a little bit of feedback. Thank you all for the comments. @3js3ks I had a very bad experience there volunteering for a year when I was younger. Granted, it was only for one person. They were very uppity and to a volunteer working FOR free, no less. I have fantastic interviewing skills though.

@Knowsstuff I guess I’ll just have to grab any job I can. I’m not picky, but I really don’t feel like working at McDonalds.

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@stsherma. Maybe it’s me but when you volunteer you don’t get paid. That’s why it’s called volunteering. If you got paid that would be a job ?.

Also you were younger and with age comes wisdom and maturity. But if you have bad feelings for the place then don’t apply there. Apply somewhere that you’ll be happy to work.

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Check out your local Health Department for jobs. Also, consider looking at social work/counseling offices that may need front office help. Until you have some specialized experience under your belt, your degree is broad. You will need to focus it down for a potential employer.

Even it means to take a part-time job related to your field of study AND McDonalds, you can make this work. You are a Victor :slight_smile:

You got this.

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@098123Student Thank you! That’s very nice of you to say!

My family did recommend looking at social work in my home town because they barely have enough people as it is doing that sort of work. What I really want to do is become an assistant manager or something. Maybe I could apply as a worker somewhere, and the bottom line is that I have a degree over other people so that I’d be in a position to better advance up a career.

13

Maybe it’s me again. You have a degree in biology. You want to be an assistant manager in what? What managerial skills do you have? What skills do you have actually being in a managerial positions over other people?

Just because you worked hard in school and graduating was hard from Michigan doesn’t give you those skills. 50,000 other people graduate from Michigan and very few will tell you it’s a cake walk.
So let’s put you in perspective and please don’t take anything I say to personal. Your internet “persona” might not be who you really are.

Having a degree in Biology is not going to get you a job in social work. People get degrees for this type of work at school like Michigan. https://ssw.umich.edu/admissions/connect

A quick search led me to this https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2018-11-29/what-you-can-do-with-a-biology-degree

https://work.chron.com/combine-biology-business-degrees-career-19646.html

I was trained in a small local hospital for my residency years ago. It is more like a local community hospital. Getting jobs is all about relationships. You will be the girl that went away and got a degree to come back and help her local community. You don’t want to be the local girl that got her degree and now she is better then everyone else… Right? That’s what you sound like. Sorry but it is.

At small hospitals and ones that you volunteered at you must of come in contact with some people in administration. Find out who the person to talk to is. Not just HR but maybe the president or vice president of the hospital. Set up a meeting (yes, this is called making your own interview). Reintroduce yourself as that little girl that volunteered and now your this women coming back to help her local community. Tell them what your thinking but you have to have concrete goal in mind and see what they suggest. Tell them your goal is to work your way up to a managerial position.

Also you have skills as a laboratory /research tech. Maybe starting in the laboratory and working your way up to running it one day. The key to any of this is saving the hospital time and money. Maybe you actually learned skills at Michigan to show them how to run their department more efficiently? Now your a very valuable asset! Now you have something to offer them.

The other course could be a medical rep for a company that your interesting in. Many people do this and have degrees in all sorts of professions like sales, marketing, sciences. You have to be a people person. You “manage” your own territory. Pay is usually good starting with perks, benefits etc etc. You usually have to also sit at medical conferences talking to doctors, nurses, etc to sell your products.

Biologics is very big now. One such company is https://mimedx.com/

I use this product and others like it for tendon, muscle, bone healing. They are based out of Georgia. They like well educated self confident people. They pay well and their reps are good people.

Do you think your degree in biology makes sense here VS social work?

There are truly hundreds of companies in this sector and others and they raise up there people if their producing. Do searches and find something your interested in and go for it. Many might have educational expenses for going back to school.

As stated, your going to be a Michigan graduate… You got this!

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Sorry more from me. If medical sales isn’t your thing the company I mentioned above has a laboratory to make their products. They might need someone to actually work on their lab. Most of their research is done at Georgia tech and the owner of the company that invented the baby moniter has a building named after him at both Georgia tech and University of Georgia. Maybe they need help in research if that interests you. Again, multiple companies like this.

15

https://flex.wisconsin.edu/stories-news/what-can-you-do-with-a-health-sciences-degree/

Look through the list for ideas. I don’t really understand your degree so this might not apply but as my example above there is some information on medical reps. Pay doesn’t look to shabby, just an example.

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Applying for work these days is one giant algorithm. If your resume/application doesn’t tick the keywords in the right way, it may not see the light of day in some organizations.

So the key to finding work in your small community is networking.
–Make calls…to HR departments…to people in positions/industries you want to learn more (mentor approach)
–Send emails from your umich.edu account
–Show up at job fairs and introduce yourself to the HR folks everywhere in that room. They can be a tight group amongst themselves.
–Master your “elevator pitch”
–Attend events (charity ones if need be) to meet people in your community, and look them in the eye… shake their hand. Offer to support their cause.

Have you looked up any alumnus in your community?:wink:

Go get’em @stsherma & keep us posted.