Saturday, January 28, 2006

MS or PhD?

so im on this email list for a regional herp group and i get daily emails about various topics. the lastest one is some kid (ha, i say kid like im some old fart) anyhoo, this person is about to graduate with some sort of undergraduate degree in something so freeking broad that his undergraduate career might quite possibly be longer than mine was. i digress. ok, so this person is graduating and he posts on the list server thing a question: should i go for a master of science or a PhD in science. i really havent read the whole post or any of the replies because i am very disgruntled about this topic.

lets use me as an example: here i am with a bachelors degree in biology, with a concentration in neurobio and behavior. trust me it sounds way more impressive than it really is. what that extra line on my diploma says is that i took one neuro course, two endocrinology courses, a vertebrate bio course, and took some undergrad research hours. big whoop. so as graduation drew near in 04, i sent out about 60 resumes, to which i got one response: sorry we are no longer hiring for that position. i must admit that i did get one job offer, at the 4H center at tybee island. i really didnt think that spending the next nine months 6 hours from home would be good for me and matt, nor did i want to live on an island for 9 months. so i decided that getting a MS would be the solution to my job problems.

how freeking wrong i was! fast forward two years. here i am with a nearly complete degree. all i have left is physically defending my thesis, which i have no desire or motivation to do. why dont i have any motivation, you ask? well, its because a masters degree makes no difference when looking for a job, at least not in the science field. as of this minute, my options are: stay at the zoo in my "seasonal", part time postion or teach. but in order for me to teach, i have to be offered a job before i can enroll in the program to get my teaching certification. thats pretty much it. i have been sending out resume after resume and im not getting any responses! which brings me to my point (sorry, i know i went on a bit of a rant).

it doesnt matter what kind of degree this kid gets, unless he is going to teach at the university level, he is going to have a bitch of a time trying to find a job. here i am, having spent all this time and money on my education and i am qualified for absoutley NOTHING! i am feeling so screwed that if i dont find something after my spring stint is done at the zoo, im enrolling in an allied health school and getting certifed to be a pharmacy tech or something along those lines so maybe , just maybe i can have a better chance of finding a job.

sorry for the vent, thanks for reading.

2 comments:

fucillishelby said...

you can get a job in industry silly!!!!! I think you should go for your ph.d at UF...just a thought:) someone needs to come have martini's with me;)

KING JAY said...

i would love to come to UF. all you have to do is convince matt!