Howdy, I'm a class of 2014 Biomedical Engineer, and I've been looking for a job in the biotech industry since May of 2014. I have over a year of experience working in a research lab for one of my professors, and I am looking for any sort of engineering or scientist position in the biotech industry. That is what I am looking for, but at this point I'm ready to take just about any job. The location of the job is irrelevant to me, I'm willing to move wherever the jobs are. Any help is appreciated.

If you're in BCS, look at Kalon (now Fujifilm). They have always had 10+ jobs posted and a lot are entry level.

I've already applied there unsuccessfully, but thank you for the help.

My sister worked for Zimmer in Indiana. It is a pretty huge medical device company that is headquartered in a tiny little town so they have problems with retention. Income per capita is really high though so it's a neat place.

I actually applied to Zimmer a few months ago and never heard back. I would love to work for them though, how can I contact you or your sister?

Are you scouring the job boards for all the major medical device companies? Most are based in Minneapolis, Boston, and the Bay Area, and many are hiring at this time of year.

Most job postings list a hiring manager or HR connection. Are you calling (not emailing) these people within a day or 2 of applying online? I find a lot of relatively new grads don't take this next step- they just apply online and expect to get a call.

Yes, I've been doing all of these things. The calling is more difficult with the large companies, they usually don't list the hiring manager, and it is difficult to find them on linkedin because they have 100 people in HR.

Alternatively, is anyone aware of any decent jobs in college station I can work to pay the bills while trying to find a place to start my career?

Look beyond engineering jobs. Clinical and field support might be interested in an entry level biomed engineer.

I have applied to dozens of field support and clinical jobs, maybe even hundreds by now. The problem with those is I'm overqualified for them, and I don't think they are interested in hiring me because they expect me to leave as soon as a better offer comes around.

You have one year experience working for a professor. You are not overqualified for a clinical specialist position. The people getting those positions are often nurses/techs often without bachelor's degrees. They do, however, have hospital experience. Companies want people who are fast learners who will work hard and represent them.

What have you been doing for the last year? What have you been doing to make yourself marketable? Have you been to Reveille club in Houston or Austin(where some device companies are)? Are you getting interviews? How have they gone?

What is it you want to do? Most engineers at our company have masters.

I'm a biomed grad and I know that you have to market yourselves hard.

MedXcel

Since you already have some academic experience, have you looked into working at any of the academic medical centers? Try looking at the job postings for ut southwest, utmb, md anderson.

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You have one year experience working for a professor. You are not overqualified for a clinical specialist position. The people getting those positions are often nurses/techs often without bachelor's degrees. They do, however, have hospital experience. Companies want people who are fast learners who will work hard and represent them.

What have you been doing for the last year? What have you been doing to make yourself marketable? Have you been to Reveille club in Houston or Austin(where some device companies are)? Are you getting interviews? How have they gone?

What is it you want to do? Most engineers at our company have masters.

I'm a biomed grad and I know that you have to market yourselves hard.

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I would have no problem working as a clinical specialist, but often the job application says only an associates degree is required, that's why I said I think I'm overqualified for it.

I have been sending out hundreds of applications, contacting recruiters, networking with everybody i know, finding friends of friends of friends who might be able to assist me in my job search. I am not sure what else I can do to make myself more marketable besides going back and getting a master's degree. I was not aware of the Reveille Club, but I will definitely check that out, thank you. I have had 5 or 6 interviews and I feel that they have all gone well. I'm always told I am one of their top candidates, but I am never THE top candidate. I feel that this is likely due to my lack of experience or internships that other candidates likely have.

And at this point I don't really care what I do. I would be interested in any job related to the biotech industry so I can at least get my foot in the door and start my career.

When I say "make yourself marketable" I meant things like internships or hospital exposure. I sold the hell out of my BS biomed dept exposure at st joes during my senior year to employers. I made a 2 hours a week class sound like I had full time hospital training.

What have you been doing the past year that would demonstrate to an employer your commitment to learning the healthcare business? These are the things that employers want to see in a new grad hire - they know you don't have experience but they want to see that you're hustling.

It sounds as if you're shot gunning resumes but something in your cover letter or resume isn't selling your potential value and you're getting passed over. This is something a lot of new grads have trouble with. You have to sell yourself.

If you go to Aggie networking events, prep a 60 second sales pitch on your education, experience, and the value you'd add to someone's business. Be ready to sell yourself. Be open to jobs outside of biotech as well.

hudsonalpha.applicantpro.com/jobs/

HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology--it's not a single company, but a consortium of about 28 biotechnology firms. I have no idea if they have anything that might interest you, but the link will allow you to sign up for job notices.

The federal government has many biomedical engineer positions available.

www.usajobs.gov

If you haven't already, you need to get with the A&M career center. I believe their services are available for recent grads. They can provide help with resumes, cover letters, interviewing skills, and job openings.

I know this isn't particularly helpful to the OP, but for engineers interning and co-oping while in school are critical to your building your resume. It's the second thing most recruiters look at after GPA.

gman103 - go to medtronic.com, sjm.com, bostonscientific.com. I read you say you do not care about what you do; need to figure that out. Do you like Cardiology, Neurology, Orthopedics, etc? If you are looking for a great entry-level job, a clinical specialist job in a medical device company's sales organization is a great job. Or do you want to be an in-house engineer? As another poster said, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Northern California will be your biggest areas to focus. Good Luck.

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gman103 - go to medtronic.com, sjm.com, bostonscientific.com. I read you say you do not care about what you do; need to figure that out. Do you like Cardiology, Neurology, Orthopedics, etc? If you are looking for a great entry-level job, a clinical specialist job in a medical device company's sales organization is a great job. Or do you want to be an in-house engineer? As another poster said, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Northern California will be your biggest areas to focus. Good Luck.

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I have applied to dozens of jobs at all of those places. And I'm not really sure what I want to do because I haven't done anything yet, which makes it difficult to know what I am interested in. I'll look into clinical specialist positions though, thank you.

I will suggest again that you need to take a hard look at your resume/cover letter. It doesn't sound to me as if you're selling yourself and your experience in a way that is sparking interest.

If I'm going to hire you, what can you do to provide value to my organization? You have a bachelor's degree and a year working for a professor, why should BSC or MDT or Stryker hire you?

What have you been doing since you graduated?

I'm asking you these questions because this is what you need to figure out for yourself, so you can sell yourself to a company.

Look on those companies' boards for R&D engineers. They're usually entry level positions.

I agree. Have to tailor your resume to the position you are interviewing. Does not mean you can not be yourself in your face to face but you have to get the opportunity first, sell later. Also don't get hung up on an exact role or financial package. You are young, you have many years to bank. Find an organization you want to grow in. Find a role you are a good fit and overachieve. BMEN is not an easy major so you must have the ability to perform.

MD Anderson's TechTransfer office is hiring 5 people right now (compliance, coordinator, analysts). Its on the other side of industry work.. might be a good opportunity to look at since you have worked in the academic area in the past.

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Be open to jobs outside of biotech as well.

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As a biochemistry major that now works as a technology product manager for a financial services company, I second this notion. The logical, analytical, and problem solving skills you developed during your study of BMEN are applicable to fields outside of biotech. You can take that same underlying skill set and apply it to different knowledge bases. For me, it was finding a company that had confidence in their training program and was willing to teach a high potential candidate the subject matter. 3.5 years later, I have zero regrets about abandoning my major and going in a completely different direction.

Just some food for thought.

Having graduated from a top BME program also, I feel your pain. About 1/3 of my BME graduating class went in to industry directly and for the most part, the started in a support function. The only ones I know went in house engineering had an "in", whether through an internship or somebody brought them through prior experience.

Like others have said, figure out what you really want to do and tailor all your efforts towards that goal. That's what helped me the most in my career search.