biodork

Yeah, man; quit hogging all the job mojo! :P

I know I am because many of them say PhD with 0-2 yrs experience. Someone who went straight from undergrad through their PhD only has 3-5 years of research experience, and only in one area. I've been in 4 different labs over 13 years AND have the MS, so I *should* be a better candidate, but I need to find a way to distinguish myself from someone who maybe got a MS right out of undergrad and has worked in positions with less responsibility than I have. It's a tricky thing and people get too hung up on the degree without thinking rationally about who really has the better experience.

Nice. Congrats again!

Congrats, Liger! What's the program?

Wow -- good on your friend! Okay, you all have convinced me, lol.

:)

I did email her again last Thurs. (after it had been one week). I have to figure if she hasn't replied by now, she's not interested. I don't want to be a pest and I'm not going to beg someone to hire me. That's what I figure; what do I have to lose?

Weird, right? And they've been oddly aggressive about it. The one yesterday left a voicemail saying they wanted to schedule me for an interview next Tues. I didn't apply to your job and you don't even know if I'm interested, but you have the audacity to try and schedule me for an interview? So very stupid. They must just be desperate for people and contact everyone who adds a resume or something. Thanks, Chris... I've used Indeed some, but hadn't heard of dice.com. I'll check that one out. There are several others geared towards scientists, but a huge majority of the postings are for either junior / entry-level people or PhDs. I fall into a rather unfortunate grey area of highly experienced but "not qualified" based on the MS vs PhD. I'm tempted to start applying to PhD positions and write in the cover letter why they should consider me anyhow.

Thanks. Trying to do the networking thing, but don't know many people where I'm looking. Thought the thing with my boss's former colleague was going to be the ticket, but it's been two weeks and she never emailed me back. :(

Me, too! And hopefully if I end up selling the place a potential homebuyer would consider it a plus that the house is now guaranteed for a year (or longer if they continued the plan) vs. another house where there's no guarantees.

:( Sorry, shrader and Derrico. The ongoing job search continues. I don't know about other lines of work, but Monster.com is f*cking useless for science. The image is a typical list of jobs they send me that inexplicably match the search terms "research, scientist". I uploaded my resume on Sunday to make it searchable by employers, and ended up deleting it yesterday after receiving three emails and two phone calls from insurance companies wanting to interview me to sell policies. WTF? Why would someone with a MSc and 13 years of experience in biomedical research have any interest in selling insurance? Waste of everyone's time. And the Terminix inspection Monday afternoon confirmed what I thought (and then some): active termite infestation at the house. The worst part is it seems the pieces of paper I have from the sellers indicating the damage was old and had been treated were probably BS and my home inspector missed it, because they damage they found is more than what would be expected from 2-3 years (I bought the house almost 9 years ago). Nearly every floorboard in the basement had some degree of damage, and the little buggers were eating the insulation, too. Somewhat miraculously, while the damage was widespread, it was not severe enough in any one place as to cause structural issues and require replacement. All the insulation had to be removed, floorboards were sprayed down with some kind of repellent, bait stations placed all around the perimeter of the house, and new insulation installed. Set me back almost $2500 even after a decent sympathy discount.

Absolutely. A lot of times when I've hired various contractors to do work at my home and they ask what I do, they seem intimidated and downplay their own skills. I always answer that everyone has their own expertise, and they know far more about electrical wiring / plumbing / construction than I do. They are good, stable careers for the right people, and there should be no shame in pursuing them.

Shrader beat me to it, but good stuff if you have ~22 minutes to kill: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x195o11_south-park-s04e05-cartman-joins-nambla_fun

This is a most excellent point. If we'd stop treating the vocational/technical careers as some kind of flunkie option for people not smart enough for college, maybe more people would consider those careers. Hell, most people in those trades are making more money than I am with my stupid advanced degree and college loans, so who's really the smart one?

I commuted to and worked in Baltimore for a year while living in southern PA, and MD had some kind of reciprocal agreement where I only paid taxes to PA. I'm not sure if it's the same arrangement with VA, WV, and DE, but if so that's a lot of money earned in MD that doesn't stay there. I also remember my boss there talking about how he and his wife owned a nice home in the outer city limits of Baltimore, and at some point their property taxes were increased so dramatically that the house became unaffordable and they left. Whomever was responsible for that tax hike shares a lot of the blame for Baltimore's budget issues, because it sounded like a lot of people abandoned their places in the city after that short-sighted attempt to raise revenue backfired in a big way.

Maybe Marfan's The Irbe Effect Too Much Joe Compete Level Fourth Line Grinder

Good news. They got it right for once.

:p

In theory, yes, but the signs of infestation are around a window on the wall opposite from her half of the duplex, and considering she wanted me to pay for imaginary damage to her front porch roof when I had a repair done on my side, I'm sure she would insist I need to cover it. Hopefully they won't recommend tenting since it sounds like that's better for drywall termites and I think I have subterranean termites.

:lol:

:lol: Thanks for that.

I hope you're right. I'm terrified to find out how bad the termite damage is next week. From what I've been reading, the signs of infestation suggest there's a colony that's been active for 2-3 years. Even if I can afford to fix it, it's likely to deter a potential buyer when I go to sell the place. I miss renting. :(

Eating: DQ Blizzard. While certainly something to be enjoyed only in moderation, it does help make things suck just a tiny bit less.

Still no job interviews. Found out last night I very likely have a termite infestation at home. Have two companies coming out next week to do inspections/estimates, but from what I've seen online I'm looking at anywhere from $500 to easily over $1000 depending on the type of treatment needed. And I live in a duplex, so if they recommend tenting and fumigating the house, I have to talk to my horrible witch of a neighbor and pay for her side, too. Because, you know... I don't have enough stress in my life yet.

I'm "connected" to Claude on LinkedIn now, if that counts. :)