Mid-life Crisis at 22.....

jantheman91

Bit of a back-story for anyone that is bothered to read:

1. Graduated from TCD in November with an honours degree in Microbiology (B.A II-1)

2. Have failed to find employment in my field because I have no previous experience.

3. Would like to do an MSc. in Biotechnology but haven't got the 6,950 euro that is needed to do so.

4. To make matters worse I've been applying for part-time/full-time jobs for the past 5 months and haven't got anything.

Am I really that unemployable? What am I supposed to do next?

I can't even find a full-time job in order to save up enough to undertake an MSc.

I'm completely lost, and feel like I'm failing at life.

Is it possible for me to get a master's funded so I can actually improve my employability in the field?

Any help would be appreciated, I feel useless.

Squeeonline

I was in your position a couple years ago, similar degree etc.

Funded masters' are rare as so little work get's done in such a short time. That's why funding goes to PhDs and post docs.

If you are sure you want to stay in science, look into borrowing the money for the MSc. Don't forget to include living expenses for the year. Consider Masters courses that have longer research periods than 3-4 months. The MSc Cancer Research in NUIG gives you 8 months of research, and just one semester of lectures.

Another option is approaching an employer of interest and asking them to take you on as a jobsbridge intern. I spoke to someone in FAS about this when I was unemployed and they can sign up and nominate you to be their first intern. It will seriously speed up the process if they are already registered under the scheme. Then you have your foot in the door...

jive

Squeeonline wrote: »

Funded masters' are rare as so little work get's done in such a short time. That's why funding goes to PhDs and post docs.

If you are sure you want to stay in science, look into borrowing the money for the MSc. Don't forget to include living expenses for the year. Consider Masters courses that have longer research periods than 3-4 months. The MSc Cancer Research in NUIG gives you 8 months of research, and just one semester of lectures.

Disagree. Unless OP wants to go into research then I don't see why he/she would want a longer research period, it sounds more like OP wants to work in industry rather than academia judging from the post.

There is work out there in that field, just keep applying. Check company websites and job boards... most of the work will be found in Cork, Dublin, Clonmel, Galway and to a lesser extent Athlone, Waterford and Sligo. It is probably less competitive outside of Dublin/Cork.

Squeeonline

jive wrote: »

Disagree. Unless OP wants to go into research then I don't see why he/she would want a longer research period, it sounds more like OP wants to work in industry rather than academia judging from the post.

There is work out there in that field, just keep applying. Check company websites and job boards... most of the work will be found in Cork, Dublin, Clonmel, Galway and to a lesser extent Athlone, Waterford and Sligo. It is probably less competitive outside of Dublin/Cork.

This is speculation but I dont imagine that industry want someone who can read books well. Someone who is able to work independently, and responsibly in a lab and has the evidence for this would be preferable I would have thought.

The lectures from my MSc were not too much more difficult than my undergrad, but what I learned in the lab was the valuable part. How to criticise my own data, how to plan experiments...These kind of things are more transferable to industry than the lecture course.

Sarky

Have you looked into HEA grants and the like? I was in a similar boat back in the day, but I got a grant for a MSc. in bioinformatics which covered fees and a decent chunk of living expenses, I still had to borrow money but it turned what would have been a major debt into a very manageable one. Wasn't even finished the masters when I was being offered a job.

jive

Squeeonline wrote: »

This is speculation but I dont imagine that industry want someone who can read books well. Someone who is able to work independently, and responsibly in a lab and has the evidence for this would be preferable I would have thought.

The lectures from my MSc were not too much more difficult than my undergrad, but what I learned in the lab was the valuable part. How to criticise my own data, how to plan experiments...These kind of things are more transferable to industry than the lecture course.

There are masters programmes with industry placements. A lot of what you will undertake during research at university is not applicable to industry so industry experience is far more valuable unless you are going into R&D. The lectures don't have to be difficult as long as they are relevant to where you want to go whether that be research or industry.

Viva La Gloria

I feel your pain, have a first class honours in both my degree and my masters and am finding it so hard to get a job. Everything I look for seems to necessitate a certain amount of experience which I don't have. Unpaid internships aren't even an option because I had to take out a €6,000 loan just to do my masters because I wasn't eligible for a grant. Have been working in a supermarket for the past 6 years to get me through college but am so fed up with it now and want nothing more than to get away from it and move on to something bigger and better. What also doesn't help is the fact that I'm putting myself under so much pressure to figure out what I want to do; I feel like I need to know right now at this very second what I'm going to do with the rest of my life even though I know that the answer isn't going to just come to me at the drop of a hat. Sigh.

Hope you get something sorted for yourself! Maybe you'll be able to get a grant for your MSc, especially considering that you haven't been working.

Squeeonline

jive wrote: »

There are masters programmes with industry placements. A lot of what you will undertake during research at university is not applicable to industry so industry experience is far more valuable unless you are going into R&D. The lectures don't have to be difficult as long as they are relevant to where you want to go whether that be research or industry.

As I said in my post, the point isn't the research that you do, it's the skills you learn during research. Is your experiment properly controlled, have you avoided any potential bias, quality control, working in a sterile environment, learning to work in a team, presenting your work to others. being able to carry out work independently and responsibly, recording your data in a way that others can follow...

jive

Squeeonline wrote: »

As I said in my post, the point isn't the research that you do, it's the skills you learn during research. Is your experiment properly controlled, have you avoided any potential bias, quality control, working in a sterile environment, learning to work in a team, presenting your work to others. being able to carry out work independently and responsibly, recording your data in a way that others can follow...

Industry placement would be far more valuable to any employer. Research in a University teaches has very little relevance to working in a lab in industry. The skills you have listed are all well established by the time one completes an undergraduate degree, or at least they should be. I'm not saying the skills learned during research aren't valuable but when looking for a job in industry an employer would obviously prefer to hire someone with 6 months industry experience rather than 6 months in a lab in a university. All depends on what OP has to do but advising him to go for research rather than industry placement, if he/she has intentions of going into industry, is poor advice.

QuantumP

You're not failing at life, first things first rid yourself of that mindset. Most people experience a buffer phase bridging the gap from college to employment so you're not alone, nor the first. I'd recommend contacting various potential employers, tell them of you're situation and desire to work in your chosen field and offer to work free of charge. Volunteering in any way, related field or not, develops and portrays transferable skills that are attractive to employers. Keep yourself busy but above all keep you're head up, you'll get there