SFR A decision has been made-big move coming

Sorta fishing-related
That's awesome, Gary. Good luck!
 
Gary Knowels said:
Everything closed on our house today, it's all done.

I also formally accepted a job offer in Pittsburgh. I'll be working in a lab that manufactures radioactive medicines and I'm very excited about it. That has a tentative start date of 10/26 so I'll get a few weeks to settle in and learn the area before.

We are almost to Sioux falls, SD after a couple long days of driving, leaving us with 2 more days of driving.

We celebrate tonight! Cheers y'all!
Click to expand...
Congratulations!
 
Gary Knowels said:
I also formally accepted a job offer in Pittsburgh. I'll be working in a lab that manufactures radioactive medicines and I'm very excited about it.
Click to expand...

Congrats!

I hear the job market is tough but seems like you had zero issues. It was like we're moving for your nursing school, I'll just get a new job. Bam! Done!

Do you have any comments on how your job search went? Was it easy with lots of jobs available? Do you have unique skills that make you highly desirable?
 
hey GK, where in pitt will you be living? my son in laws family lives in the fox chapel area. was just there and got the tour.
 
fatbillybob said:
Congrats!

I hear the job market is tough but seems like you had zero issues. It was like we're moving for your nursing school, I'll just get a new job. Bam! Done!

Do you have any comments on how your job search went? Was it easy with lots of jobs available? Do you have unique skills that make you highly desirable?
Click to expand...
Thank you, it certainly wasn't easy. I think I really the job market sucks except for certain areas (geographic, sector, company).

I estimate that from June 15 through September 20 I submitted close to 200 applications, had interviews at 9 organizations, 6 of which I moved to final round of interviews , and received 5 offers. Nuance is really important here though.

I applied on 3 main paths: remote jobs in clinical research and corporate instructional design, in person lab/science jobs, and teaching jobs.

I received zero interview offers for any remote position, with many of them routinely garnering 100+ applications. I don't have any direct experience in those fields but have considerable transferable skill. However, with so many applicants, there were bound to be plenty of more qualified candidates.

I jumped through all the hurdles to get PA teacher certification and applied for 7 jobs there, getting 6 interviews, and ultimately 4 offers, likely more, but I withdrew from consideration before decisions were made. I'm not really surprised by this. I have 10 years of experience, science teachers are in short supply, and I'm very good at both teaching and communicating my philosophy and talent. When schools are looking for a science teacher a month into the school years, my profile stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The bulk of my applications came in the laboratory and research space, with over 100 applications. The hiring landscape is REALLY tough here with doctorate holders applying for entry level jobs, especially in the biotech/pharma sector. In academia, it's often about connections-who you know and referrals. I spent 7 years doing molecular bench work in academia so I have the experience and skills required, but it's been more than a decade so I understand why an employer would be leary. I was offered a specimen processing job at a medical diagnostic lab, but the pay was less than we would need. I also did a first round interview for a molecular technologist job at a biotech company which went really well, but I was at the end of the hiring cycle and they hired someone before I got to the final round. The recruiter there encouraged me to reapply in the future as they expected to add more of the same position this fall. I definitely would have if this position didn't come along.

The position I accepted is for quality assurance specialist. In this niche field, pretty much none of the applicants have direct experience, which worked in my favor. There are three main aspects of job duties for this role and I have demonstrated transferable skills for each of the three, which is what made me stand out- technical biochemical knowledge, analytical lab protocol execution and design, and teaching/training.

I had been looking for lab jobs as my first choice, with teaching as my backup. Teaching beats the hell out of me; I set incredibly high standards for myself and put in too much time and effort to accomplish them. That's made me highly successful, but makes work-life balance impossible. With my wife going in to an intensive program, never bringing work home and dropping from 55+ to 40 hours per week will allow me to support her and handle more of the household things. I also never lost the love for the hardcore science or hands on bench work. Add all that with comparable starting salary, with MUCH more opportunity for growth in the lab it became ideal. I think it's 50/50 if my time in the classroom is over, but at least for now I'm excited not not deal with 15 year olds daily.
 
goinoregon said:
hey GK, where in pitt will you be living? my son in laws family lives in the fox chapel area. was just there and got the tour.
Click to expand...
We have a furnished rental for October in East Liberty then will be looking for a yearlong lease, most likely in the neighborhoods just to the east of UPitt
 
Gary Knowels said:
Thank you, it certainly wasn't easy. I think I really the job market sucks except for certain areas (geographic, sector, company).

I estimate that from June 15 through September 20 I submitted close to 200 applications, had interviews at 9 organizations, 6 of which I moved to final round of interviews , and received 5 offers. Nuance is really important here though.

I applied on 3 main paths: remote jobs in clinical research and corporate instructional design, in person lab/science jobs, and teaching jobs.

I received zero interview offers for any remote position, with many of them routinely garnering 100+ applications. I don't have any direct experience in those fields but have considerable transferable skill. However, with so many applicants, there were bound to be plenty of more qualified candidates.

I jumped through all the hurdles to get PA teacher certification and applied for 7 jobs there, getting 6 interviews, and ultimately 4 offers, likely more, but I withdrew from consideration before decisions were made. I'm not really surprised by this. I have 10 years of experience, science teachers are in short supply, and I'm very good at both teaching and communicating my philosophy and talent. When schools are looking for a science teacher a month into the school years, my profile stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The bulk of my applications came in the laboratory and research space, with over 100 applications. The hiring landscape is REALLY tough here with doctorate holders applying for entry level jobs, especially in the biotech/pharma sector. In academia, it's often about connections-who you know and referrals. I spent 7 years doing molecular bench work in academia so I have the experience and skills required, but it's been more than a decade so I understand why an employer would be leary. I was offered a specimen processing job at a medical diagnostic lab, but the pay was less than we would need. I also did a first round interview for a molecular technologist job at a biotech company which went really well, but I was at the end of the hiring cycle and they hired someone before I got to the final round. The recruiter there encouraged me to reapply in the future as they expected to add more of the same position this fall. I definitely would have if this position didn't come along.

The position I accepted is for quality assurance specialist. In this niche field, pretty much none of the applicants have direct experience, which worked in my favor. There are three main aspects of job duties for this role and I have demonstrated transferable skills for each of the three, which is what made me stand out- technical biochemical knowledge, analytical lab protocol execution and design, and teaching/training.

I had been looking for lab jobs as my first choice, with teaching as my backup. Teaching beats the hell out of me; I set incredibly high standards for myself and put in too much time and effort to accomplish them. That's made me highly successful, but makes work-life balance impossible. With my wife going in to an intensive program, never bringing work home and dropping from 55+ to 40 hours per week will allow me to support her and handle more of the household things. I also never lost the love for the hardcore science or hands on bench work. Add all that with comparable starting salary, with MUCH more opportunity for growth in the lab it became ideal. I think it's 50/50 if my time in the classroom is over, but at least for now I'm excited not not deal with 15 year olds daily.
Click to expand...

Very cool! An interesting journey for sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top