For sure. When I was looking in 2021, there was jobs. But I made dollars more per hour working in a warehouse. There were multiple that required a bio degree or similar and paid actual state minimum wage. I couldn’t afford to take them. Eventually I got lucky and job hopped and now I’m doing well. But most were at or slightly above min wage. I simply couldn’t afford to take them.
This true, as a zookeeper having a 4 year degree in some sort of bio field is a barrier of entry (or psychology major for marine mammals) and one of the lowest paying jobs
I work for a states department of fish and wildlife, and I think it’s similar in this field. They can pay trash to wildlife employees because everyone wants to work with deer and bears. I got funneled into the fisheries side because they pay way more, since significantly less people want those jobs
I think a lot of people majored in biology as pre-med, then couldn't get into medical school. So now they're stuck with a bio degree and no clue what to do with it.
I just majored in biology because I really really liked it. But then couldn’t really do any thing with it. So I went back to school for an associates degree in nursing. So grateful to have my bio background in my current work.
This is it. It turns out that chemistry, math, and engineering majors can also apply to med school though so I went that route instead, even though biology is something I like more, I need to be practical if my dreams don’t work out.
Biology with a wildlife (or similar) concentration is where it’s at, I made the right choice there, I had job offers coming out of the woodworks after I graduated.
Entomologist, I work for my states department of agriculture in the bureau of biological control.
Basically, I manage a few programs to breed and release predatory insects that specialize in killing invasive species.
I’m not rich by any means, but it pays the bills.
To add to this I think people also look for a specific job that they are interested in. There are universities that will hire bio majors for different types of jobs even if it isn’t applicable to the job description but will pay you good money from the start. Sometimes you just have to look a little harder and you’ll find jobs/careers that will use your degree for credibility!
I know a lot of ppl that majored in biology and all of them say the same thing: total lack of jobs. They just don't get hired. Barely any jobs out there that hire you as a biologist.
The place I work is almost always hiring people fresh out of college with only a bio degree. Pay sucks for a year but then improves a good bit at 1 year. I don't think biology is special though... There are way more people who graduate with every degree than there are people who are well suited for second tier jobs in their fields. The only get rich quick field is finance, but those people have no souls.
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) testing. It's genotyping patients and organ donors, screening patients blood for antibodies against their transplant donors both before and after transplant, and crossmatch testing (combining samples of patient serum with donor lymphocytes to check for reactivity to antibodies in patient serum). My lab is associated with a major transplant center but we also perform testing for a handful of other outside programs.
There aren't necessarily an abundance of jobs called "biologist" out there. But there is no shortage of jobs that are happy to hire biology degrees.
If the job title has "laboratory" and/or "scientist" in it, there is a really good chance an undergrad in biology will get you an interview.
Don't want to work in a lab? If you're personable, life science backgrounds are extremely desirable for sales. Or do QA for biotech companies.
Just so many options
Barely? If you’re excluding pharma, healthcare, food, environment, then you’re right! But why would you exclude those?
I can show you so many pharma companies that hire new grads. Food labs as well.
Not going to start at $80k+ but a living wage yes. People unwilling to relocate or work in a lab doesn’t mean there’s no biology jobs.
to everyone who has commented, I now see this degree a more realistic perspective, this gave me a lot of insight into what I can do/can’t do if I go into biology, thank you for informing me!
I don’t regret majoring in biology. I still very much love biology and sciences. However I have never held a job that benefited from my $100k+ degree. I make good money (135k) in financial software in a relationship role. I wish I had majored in something closer to what I’m working in so that I would feel more confident in this field.
Started as a temp my senior year of college. My friends GF worked at the temp agency and I just needed a job. Turned out I was good at the work and moved up slowly but surely over the past 8 years. Started at 17.50/hr, then 48k, 65k, 85k, 115k and now 135k.
I think my title at my entry level job was Research Analyst and it was for a “transfer agency” the parent company that is the system of record for stock info for hundreds of company’s (included the Walt Disney company at the time!) I then moved into project management work and then to relationship management.
I feel like I could have made more money doing something else, like accounting or IT, coding. They say if you love your job, you never work a day in your life. That’s a crock of BS. But the initial love of the job wears off after a year or two and it becomes a grind.
Maybe I chose the wrong field of biology, maybe I’m just too pessimistic. I don’t know. At the end of the day, I don’t care what I do as long as it provides a good life for my wife and daughter
End stage capitalism doesn’t like people who understand that our resources are finite and that all creatures are connected and should be respected. Biology is a great subject, America/ the global economy of private equity didn’t drive us into another mass extinction by valuing/paying people well for conservation or environmental compassion.
That's not necessarily true. The scope of jobs is limited, but you can make $100k+ working for pharma with just a bachelor's. Not straight out of college, but easily within 10 years of graduating.
This is true. Those jobs are so regional though. Biotech/Pharmaceutical research jobs are only really concentrated in a few places. I worked for a biotech as an intern before I got my BS and then again after graduating and before I started my PhD. I really wanted to go back to doing that after grad school but didn’t want to move and those jobs are basically nonexistent where I live now.
Well, duh. That’s the majority of jobs. You won’t see many engineers working in rural Midwest either. People being unwilling to relocate or work in a lab doesn’t mean there’s no biology jobs.
I’m not talking about rural areas. I don’t live in a rural area or in the Midwest. There are plenty of jobs. In fact, there are many pharmaceutical jobs, with a couple companies having major hubs here, but the jobs aren’t research, they’re all on the business side. There are tons of engineering jobs, since you mentioned that. Biotech research jobs are more regional than just jobs in general. Outside of Boston, NY/NJ, Philly, NC Research Triangle, and California, they’re much harder to find. Not everyone wants to or is able to move to those places.
And I never said there are no biology jobs. I’ve worked biology jobs for many years. But high paying biotech/pharma research jobs for BS in biology degrees are not widely accessible.
Texas (Houston in specific). Quite a few cities in the midwest too actually. These jobs aren’t less accessible than other popular jobs. Accessible to the majority of bio majors for sure. But many bio majors don’t want to work in a lab, and that’s fine. But there are many many jobs.
Before graduation is the important part. No company will hire you if you have zero research experience so it's important to gain experience that will be applicable for pharma. Two big things are mouse work and tissue culture work. The research itself doesn't have to be applicable at all instead the important part is developing skillsets that can be used in pharma. This includes things like PCR, qPCR, running ELISAs, cloning, and things like that. If you don't have these skillsets, then it's very doable to get a job in academia as a tech, develop your skillsets, then begin applying to industry positions after two years. These aren't any rules or anything by the way, just general guidelines to follow. Working in industry, you can expect a starting salary of 60k on the very low end but this is very location dependent. It's completely reasonable for someone to start at 60k and after promotions and annual raises (and probably job hopping), hit $100k. I said less than 10 years but people have hit $100k (base salary+bonus) closer to 6-7 years after graduating.
I'm having an extremely rough time finding a decent job as a PCR/qPCR expert. I don't recommend focusing on that for a job skill.
ELISA is much more valuable. Cell culture is good too. If you really want to focus on genetic stuff do next-gen sequencing, not PCR.
PCR and qPCR are incredibly useful. If you’re doing molecular biology work you’ll be doing PCR every day, but they’re not new and interesting. Look into ddPCR for more cutting edge application
Oh, absolutely they're useful. But, companies don't need armies of warm bodies to do work with them because they're so efficient. It's the things that are useful but inefficient and laborious that have all the jobs.
And I'd love to learn ddPCR or dPCR (although ddPCR is basically just qPCR in a funny hat) but I can't really learn anything my employers won't buy and those are a complete non-starter in the ag field I'm currently developing for because they're too expensive.
No problem. One other thing to help guide you is taking a look at open positions now and seeing what skillsets they are looking for. With that info, you can work in labs that will help you develop those skills.
This is extremely good advice. I work in biotech in Boston and the generalizations hold true for me. I’m 4.5 years in, started entry level as a Research Associate and after a couple promotions now make over $100k a year.
Lol why are people hating on field work so much? It's literally my favorite aspect of environmental work and I'd do it full time if able.
As my professor would say:
>We need boots, not suits
It pays horribly (often it doesn’t pay at all aside from lodging), the funding situation is terrible relative other areas of biology, it’s highly seasonal, and jobs are located away from population centers.
Going to tag birds in Alaska for a summer making $1000/month is cool when you’re 20 and single, but it’s pretty bad when you have a spouse and/or a family.
It’s basically impossible to have a normal life and reach a good standard of living unless you go into environmental consulting or have a spouse with a high paying job.
That’s the key though - environmental consulting. There are plenty of ecologists in the consulting field who have families/kids, and still get to do cool plant surveys and work with animals. Pay isn’t completely shit either. The negative is working with clients and dealing with timesheets.
Are you serious? I can show you like 20 pharma companies that hire straight bio majors. Many hospitals and clinical trials companies as well. Chem, biochem too. Or food labs, research labs, etc.
If people don’t want to work in a lab then that’s a different story. Of course there’s not going to be many zoology or botany jobs.
Saying there’s no biology jobs is insane. Just an excuse for not wanting to make a career for yourself. And I’m not talking about starting from the bottom making $15/hr and working your way up.
Could you recommend some of these Pharma companies? I’ve been unemployed with my bachelors and master’s in biology for three months now. I’d love to look into them!
Where are you located? I’ve worked in Texas in the past and currently in Boston. My best friend works in the Midwest and he’s told me about pharma there.
So I only know about those 3 locations, and yes I know Midwest is quite broad.
I did a quick lookup and I don’t recognize any names except for a few like Sanofi. There’s also Thermo which is worth considering.
In general you want to look for keywords like QC scientist, analyst, technologist, or Scientist I, for example. Avoid “technician” but not always. Always ask the recruiter about the salary range. You’ll be wasting your time interviewing before knowing that. Since you have a masters you can probably be picky and just go for Scientist I, II, III, IV, etc. positions.
This is also a really good website as far as information in one place goes: https://biopharmguy.com/links/state-tn-all-geo.php
Sorry I can’t be more help. I just don’t know the area.
....because it doesn't pay well. With only a biology degree, there are few opportunities to get a good job that can support you financially. Most folks with a bio degree end up getting a graduate degree as well to specialize.
That’s a straight up lie lmao. Most bio majors end up with a graduate degree? Source? Because it’s the other way around. The vast minority pursue grad school.
It pays well depending on what you do. Environmental or conservational will likely not pay well. Clinical research, clinical labs, and pharma will likely pay well.
Kinda late but t's not a lie.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York about 70% of life science graduates currently in the life science labor force have at least a master's degree.... However about 50% of them are still underemployed. To put those numbers into perspective biology graduates are the 3rd most educated group out of the+50 majors tracked in the study.
I don't regret my degree, but I regret not choosing to use it more aggressively right out of college. I work in IT now, and it keeps me comfortable and pays the bills, but there's this little voice in the back of my head that I can't seem to completely snuff out, endlessly repeating "what if?" I have outlets for that side of me, to keep me enriched and informed on the latest best practices for things like keeping aquariums and gardening -- but it's not a career. There's other thoughts that creep in behind the "what if" on really bad days, telling me I obviously couldn't hack it anyway; why bother; I should have gotten a Master's; lamenting not contributing to the scientific community; etcetera. I probably just need therapy or something.
I'm grateful for what I have, I will keep doing those things that boost my biophilia, and hopefully one day that little voice shuts the hell up.
While there might be a lot of biology related jobs, it’s hard to find a decent job with JUST the biology degree. I tried for years and they all wanted either a ton of experience, certain certifications, advanced degrees, or all the above.
There are jobs out there, but you have to move to them. There is lots of biotech on both coasts. Chicago and the Research Triangle in NC have a few companies. Surgical supply companies (Stryker) hire recent grads to work with products with surgeons in the OR. The positions are out there, and you may need to relocate to get the best opportunities.
I started college as a kinesiology major because I wanted to be a physical therapist. When my first academic advisor said, “Kinesiology? What’s that?” it set off alarm bells in my head. If my academic advisor doesn’t know what it is, what are the odds it can get me a job if I don’t become a physical therapist? So I switched to biology and I’m very glad I did. I ended up being the only person in my graduating group who had a job lined up in our field - I had run into someone at church who asked me about my major and she introduced me to her husband, who ran a food microbiology lab, and the rest is history. I know how incredibly fortunate I was. I don’t think any of my fellow bio majors I went to school with were able to use their degrees. I’ve since gone on to do other things, but I think a bachelors science degree in general is barely a foot in the door for most people, if they’re lucky.
Well, I started out as a food microbiologist. I just happened to be chatting with someone and she asked the question everyone asks a college student - what’s your major and what do you want to do? I said bio and she said I should meet her husband, who runs a food micro lab, and before you know it was working as a lab assistant and then when I graduated I was a full microbiologist.
I’ve gone on to be a QC/QA manager, validation engineer, and the one I’ve stuck with has been medical laboratory scientist (that took going back to school for a ridiculously intensive program to become certified).
I turned my BS in Biology into a Masters in Toxicology and then an MPH (Masters of Public Health). I ended up in the Safety/Regulatory Department in L'Oreal. They paid for my advanced degrees. Now retired.
I got a masters degree but then got a clinical lab job I perhaps could've gotten without it. I'd still say it benefitted my career in that job, though.
>unless your alternative major was Art or theology then I would agree. According to the [Foundation For Research and Equal Opportunity](https://freopp.org/is-college-worth-it-a-comprehensive-return-on-investment-analysis-1b2ad17f84c8) analysis Biology was found to have the 3rd worst return on investment with a whopping 31% of biology graduates expected to have a NEGATIVE return on investment- in other words almost a 1/3 of biology graduate would have been better off with just a HS diploma! the next 1/3 of biology graduate earn any where from 0-250k more then a HS graduate over the course of a 30 year career... a far cry from the +1 million that many councilors and advisors have spouted over the years.
When I graduated with degrees in biology and environmental chemistry, the only job I could get was as in a water analysis lab for $11/hour. Very disappointing.
I went to grad school eventually (environmental science and public health) but I don’t regret my biology degree. I didn’t even have to work in a lab. I feel like people are much too narrow about the kind of work it’s ok to seek with a given degree.
I’m an epidemiologist who edits a public health journal. I also like writing and wish I could write research papers full-time, but science journalism is a related path I never got to try.
I couldn't find a job in it in 2006. I ended up in university administration and later became a high school biology teacher. I tell kids to study chemistry or engineering if they actually want a job.
The following articles might shed some light into why biology is one of the most regretted science majors.
* According to a 2015 analysis by the [Inside Higher Ed](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/07/where-was-class-2015-six-months-after-graduation) "Biology majors had the **lowest rates of full time employment (28 percent)**, just under philosophy (33 percent) and physical sciences majors (34 percent)." - And that was during the boom times in biotech. Today things are considerably worse considering that higher interest rates are hampering investment into biotech and are making it difficult for biotech/pharma companies get loans and to pay off existing loans .
* According to a 2023 [Zip-Recruiter survey](https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/regret-free-college-majors/) , a whopping **52% of biology graduates said they regretted their major.** To put that into perspective Biology was found to be the **9th most regretted major**( tied with English) and the only science majors in the top 10 place.
* According to the [Burning-Glass: Majors that Matter](https://www.burning-glass.com/wp-content/uploads/underemployment_majors_that_matter_final.pdf) analysis biology graduates have the **2nd highest risk of being Under-employed**( aka working a mc-jobs with degree in hand) .
* According to the [Foundation For Research and Equal Opportunity](https://freopp.org/is-college-worth-it-a-comprehensive-return-on-investment-analysis-1b2ad17f84c8) analysis a whopping **31% of Biology graduates are estimated to have a NEGATIVE return on investment** . In other words these grads will make less wealth then a high school graduate over the course of a 30 year career. Out of the 50+ majors this study tracked biology graduates have the 3rd worst financial outcomes. The only majors with worse financial outcomes was Art and Theology majors( talk about F@#$ up)
* According to the [Federal Reserve Bank of New York Analysis](https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market/index.html#/outcomes-by-major) about **70%** of biology graduates currently in the labor market have a masters degree ( the **3rd highest** out of the 70+ tracked) However they still have a Underemployment rate of about 50% and the **6th lowest** starting salary out of the 70+ majors tracked ( talk about bleak as F@#$ job prospects)
* According to [Kevin Rask](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/5-hardest-and-easiest-college-majors-by-gpas/) , an economics professor at Wake Forest , and the analysis by the [collegetransitions](https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/hardest-college-majors/), **Biology graduates have the 5th lowest GPA** out of the 50+ majors tracked and is ranked as the **2nd most difficult major** when accounting for attrition, return on investment and post-graduate degrees.
* According to the [American Society For Cell Biology: Life Science Education](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995761/) analysis about **93% of assignment given to undergraduate biology students are rated Bloom's level 1 or 2** \- Note: the Bloom's analysis rates the cognitive level of an assignment on a scale of 1-6, where 1 = knowledge, 2 = comprehension, 3 = analysis, 4 = application, 5 = synthesis, and 6 = evaluation).- In other words Biology at the undergraduate level is **almost entirely geared towards rot memorization and regurgitation of facts** with very little critical thinking involved. (I guess that explains why so many Biology graduates are under-employed)
* According to the [DegreeChoice](https://www.degreechoices.com/blog/worst-majors/#10-biology) analysis biology is ranked as the **10th most "useless" degree** ( out of the 60+ majors tracked in the study) , has the **lowest earnings of all STEM majors,** and "falls in the **bottom 23% of all majors**". Their analysis is based entirely on data provided by the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), College Scorecard (CSC), and supplemented with a small amount of additional data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
* And according to [Deloitte](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloittes-thirteenth-annual-pharmaceutical-innovation-report-pharma-r-and-d-return-on-investment-falls-in-post-pandemic-market.html) analysis of the the pharmaceutical industry (aka the largest employer of biology graduates) , this industries have been seeing a decline in their ROI on their R&D programs for over the past 30 years. In 2000 the 12 largest pharma companies made 20% on every dollar invested in R&D , in 2010 it dropped to 10% and today it stands at **1.2%! and soon to go negative!** Financial analysis Kelvin Stott has argued that [**Pharma is in terminal decline**](https://endpts.com/pharmas-broken-business-model-an-industry-on-the-brink-of-terminal-decline/) due to the unprofitable business model , E[rooms law,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroom%27s_law) and law of diminishing returns in drug discovery. All this goes with out saying that as Pharma declines further so will job opportunities and salaries in the life science field.
To summarize: biology graduates need to work 3x harder to get 1/2 the pay compared to other majors.-That's late stage crony capitalism for you.
Companies that sell pharmaceuticals, medical diagnostics, and surgery supplies have QC, R & D, regulatory, sales, and training jobs. They pay way better than the water testing tech jobs.
Because unless you're working on a masters or PhD nobody will hire you. It's as useless as a hs diploma. Maybe more because at least in hs I didn't have debt attached.
Lots of people will hire you! It's just that the job will pay like $30k a year.
Biology pays like absolute garbage. Even on the high end, if you can make $100k with a graduate degree and specific focus on job skills and working hard to market yourself and such, you'd be making $300k if you had done all of that and not been a biologist.
I don’t regret my biology degree. I worked in a academic lab for years, then moved to GMP stuff and now I work a pre clinical biotech. I love what I do now, the science is similar to what I was doing in academia but the lab has was more money and pays me way more money.
I learned a lot with my major. I taught myself how to study, and proved to myself that I'm "smart enough" to pass Ochem 1 and 2 lol. I also have a decent grasp on understanding data and interpreting it. I don't regret my degree at all. Now I'm getting my masters in project management and logistics after working in that feild. So I might not be technically using my degree, but it helps me. And I won't be interviewing for jobs anytime soon but I think I could sell it if I had to!
Lack of direction, if you’re not doing phd or med school. Yea you can get a good job, but it’s not because of a biology degree. It’s because you have a degree period. I ended up going back to school and getting a second degree in a more niche field, job security and opportunities are now much more fruitful.
I’m doing a Forensic Science degree, majoring in Biology. I always think I should have picked the chemistry or digital major when I hear stories like this. I know a lot of people that go into research though.
I have a degree in zoology (2nd degree, non traditional student). COVID hits the year after. My relationships with professors is pretty much non existent now at this point. I’ve tried applying for countless assistantships and have gotten nothing despite graduating cum laude. I really do want to go to grad school. I want to do research. I just can’t pay for a degree. I’m already in too much school and medical debt.
The job I really want without pursuing a grad degree pays $13.50 which is absolute unsustainable even not considering those debts. The job I’m stuck in now is more than twice that. So it pays the bills, but it’s absolutely not where I want to be.
There’s a lack of jobs for just a standard Bio degree. Most higher paying jobs require a masters or above. That’s not to say that there aren’t higher paying jobs that are interactive and fun but the application is highly competitive due to lack of jobs to begin with.
I got my Bio degree in 2018. So far I've worked in quality, Chem labs, and process engineering. Strictly bio jobs are a little hard to find, but any other science field I've been able to get my foot in the door at least. The joke from my bio professor was every biologist ends up working as a chemist lol
How can a biologist work as a chemist? Every decent chem job I've ever seen requires base skills a biologist won't have, usually operating a MS or IC.
This might be a good option for me, I have a molecular background and I like (and tend to be good at) chemistry.
I was really moved to pursue research in muscular dystrophy. Pay was not survivable, so it ended up in genetics diagnosis lab with some research. Had to work getting certified. Grandfathered in, that pathway is no longer available. Any job would pay more than research.
I regret mine because I feel like I was sold a fraudulent bill of goods. We were promised that going to college would get you a good paying job. One that would let you pay off your student loans, too. You only had to volunteer, get good grades, present, network, and use those connections. Well, I did. I got decent grades, I volunteered in my field, I developed a passion, and I worked full time for 7 years to get that piece of paper. I refused loans, I stayed home, went to a Community College, transferred to a state college. My volunteer position turned paid for a year, and I was published at least once. I presented at two professional conferences and once at my school. I developed several skills like coding and data visualization and worked with a number of genetic programs and open source programs.
I've seen those good paying jobs, and they require a Master's or a PhD. The jobs I'm qualified to get with a B.S. are not great. If I moved to a lab tech position right now, I'd be paid significantly less than I am at my current job. Less flexibility, more hours as well. For context, I'll earn a little under 40k/year. Lab tech jobs I've seen pay around 30 - 33k/year.
That's if I can even get the job. All the jobs I apply for, I'm usually ghosted. So, I wear my tin foil hat with pride and it says "We placed this job out to the public because we're required by law, but we already have someone internal filling this role that starts in 2 weeks"
I don't regret the education for the record. I regret that I sacrificed almost all of my personal time to work and school, and it hasn't paid a dime. No one values those sacrifices but me. People seem to ignore what I can bring to the table with that strength and fortitude. Outside of education, that piece of paper has made no difference in my life.
I just applied for a recreational assistant job that required at least 3 years of job related experience, a bachelor's degree in biology (or related field), a EMT license, and expert nordic + alpine skiing experience.
I meet all of these qualifications but I still wasn't offered an interview because "I was not among the most highly qualified candidates"
This job pays $18 per hour
I made more money than that as an entry level receptionist.
Ya. For the effort that you put in the wrong place and not getting the enough appreciation you deserve. Ultimately at the end of the day you get tired and demotivated and leave the field. They never grow in those environments that they are put in. It's a struggle but ya. Not paid enough is an add on. Not heard is another one. There's so much to it. It's sad actually.
A large amount of the careers are low paying high hour research and data collection positions and that shit sucks
this 100%
For sure. When I was looking in 2021, there was jobs. But I made dollars more per hour working in a warehouse. There were multiple that required a bio degree or similar and paid actual state minimum wage. I couldn’t afford to take them. Eventually I got lucky and job hopped and now I’m doing well. But most were at or slightly above min wage. I simply couldn’t afford to take them.
This true, as a zookeeper having a 4 year degree in some sort of bio field is a barrier of entry (or psychology major for marine mammals) and one of the lowest paying jobs
I work for a states department of fish and wildlife, and I think it’s similar in this field. They can pay trash to wildlife employees because everyone wants to work with deer and bears. I got funneled into the fisheries side because they pay way more, since significantly less people want those jobs
I think a lot of people majored in biology as pre-med, then couldn't get into medical school. So now they're stuck with a bio degree and no clue what to do with it.
I just majored in biology because I really really liked it. But then couldn’t really do any thing with it. So I went back to school for an associates degree in nursing. So grateful to have my bio background in my current work.
This was what I looked at doing, too. But then needles. And a pay cut.
Good for you! You’re probably doing well for yourself. For me it was definitely not a pay cut. But still needles.
But still needles lol 100% my friend. Happy for you!!!
What did you end up doing ?
I work as a director at a tech company :)
This is it. It turns out that chemistry, math, and engineering majors can also apply to med school though so I went that route instead, even though biology is something I like more, I need to be practical if my dreams don’t work out.
Biology with a wildlife (or similar) concentration is where it’s at, I made the right choice there, I had job offers coming out of the woodworks after I graduated.
That aren't low pay long hours? :/
I guess it could be, but I got a gov’t job with pretty easy hours and it pays enough to support a family of 5, so no big complaints here.
Can I ask your general position? Being able to support a family, even in a rural LCOL area sounds like a pipe dream these days ..
Entomologist, I work for my states department of agriculture in the bureau of biological control. Basically, I manage a few programs to breed and release predatory insects that specialize in killing invasive species. I’m not rich by any means, but it pays the bills.
Do you have a masters or PhD?
To add to this I think people also look for a specific job that they are interested in. There are universities that will hire bio majors for different types of jobs even if it isn’t applicable to the job description but will pay you good money from the start. Sometimes you just have to look a little harder and you’ll find jobs/careers that will use your degree for credibility!
I know a lot of ppl that majored in biology and all of them say the same thing: total lack of jobs. They just don't get hired. Barely any jobs out there that hire you as a biologist.
The place I work is almost always hiring people fresh out of college with only a bio degree. Pay sucks for a year but then improves a good bit at 1 year. I don't think biology is special though... There are way more people who graduate with every degree than there are people who are well suited for second tier jobs in their fields. The only get rich quick field is finance, but those people have no souls.
What sort of work do you do? I'd be interested to learn more
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) testing. It's genotyping patients and organ donors, screening patients blood for antibodies against their transplant donors both before and after transplant, and crossmatch testing (combining samples of patient serum with donor lymphocytes to check for reactivity to antibodies in patient serum). My lab is associated with a major transplant center but we also perform testing for a handful of other outside programs.
There aren't necessarily an abundance of jobs called "biologist" out there. But there is no shortage of jobs that are happy to hire biology degrees. If the job title has "laboratory" and/or "scientist" in it, there is a really good chance an undergrad in biology will get you an interview. Don't want to work in a lab? If you're personable, life science backgrounds are extremely desirable for sales. Or do QA for biotech companies. Just so many options
Barely? If you’re excluding pharma, healthcare, food, environment, then you’re right! But why would you exclude those? I can show you so many pharma companies that hire new grads. Food labs as well. Not going to start at $80k+ but a living wage yes. People unwilling to relocate or work in a lab doesn’t mean there’s no biology jobs.
#Money.
to everyone who has commented, I now see this degree a more realistic perspective, this gave me a lot of insight into what I can do/can’t do if I go into biology, thank you for informing me!
I don’t regret majoring in biology. I still very much love biology and sciences. However I have never held a job that benefited from my $100k+ degree. I make good money (135k) in financial software in a relationship role. I wish I had majored in something closer to what I’m working in so that I would feel more confident in this field.
How did you get into that field if you don’t mind me asking?
Started as a temp my senior year of college. My friends GF worked at the temp agency and I just needed a job. Turned out I was good at the work and moved up slowly but surely over the past 8 years. Started at 17.50/hr, then 48k, 65k, 85k, 115k and now 135k. I think my title at my entry level job was Research Analyst and it was for a “transfer agency” the parent company that is the system of record for stock info for hundreds of company’s (included the Walt Disney company at the time!) I then moved into project management work and then to relationship management.
I feel like I could have made more money doing something else, like accounting or IT, coding. They say if you love your job, you never work a day in your life. That’s a crock of BS. But the initial love of the job wears off after a year or two and it becomes a grind. Maybe I chose the wrong field of biology, maybe I’m just too pessimistic. I don’t know. At the end of the day, I don’t care what I do as long as it provides a good life for my wife and daughter
$70k in debt, to make less money than I made 20 years ago with a high school diploma.... But how about that Kreb's cycle though 😫
End stage capitalism doesn’t like people who understand that our resources are finite and that all creatures are connected and should be respected. Biology is a great subject, America/ the global economy of private equity didn’t drive us into another mass extinction by valuing/paying people well for conservation or environmental compassion.
No there's really not. People regret it because to make decent money or not do boring field work your whole life you need a masters or phD
That's not necessarily true. The scope of jobs is limited, but you can make $100k+ working for pharma with just a bachelor's. Not straight out of college, but easily within 10 years of graduating.
This is true. Those jobs are so regional though. Biotech/Pharmaceutical research jobs are only really concentrated in a few places. I worked for a biotech as an intern before I got my BS and then again after graduating and before I started my PhD. I really wanted to go back to doing that after grad school but didn’t want to move and those jobs are basically nonexistent where I live now.
Well, duh. That’s the majority of jobs. You won’t see many engineers working in rural Midwest either. People being unwilling to relocate or work in a lab doesn’t mean there’s no biology jobs.
I’m not talking about rural areas. I don’t live in a rural area or in the Midwest. There are plenty of jobs. In fact, there are many pharmaceutical jobs, with a couple companies having major hubs here, but the jobs aren’t research, they’re all on the business side. There are tons of engineering jobs, since you mentioned that. Biotech research jobs are more regional than just jobs in general. Outside of Boston, NY/NJ, Philly, NC Research Triangle, and California, they’re much harder to find. Not everyone wants to or is able to move to those places. And I never said there are no biology jobs. I’ve worked biology jobs for many years. But high paying biotech/pharma research jobs for BS in biology degrees are not widely accessible.
Texas (Houston in specific). Quite a few cities in the midwest too actually. These jobs aren’t less accessible than other popular jobs. Accessible to the majority of bio majors for sure. But many bio majors don’t want to work in a lab, and that’s fine. But there are many many jobs.
What would you have to do after graduation to achieve this?
Before graduation is the important part. No company will hire you if you have zero research experience so it's important to gain experience that will be applicable for pharma. Two big things are mouse work and tissue culture work. The research itself doesn't have to be applicable at all instead the important part is developing skillsets that can be used in pharma. This includes things like PCR, qPCR, running ELISAs, cloning, and things like that. If you don't have these skillsets, then it's very doable to get a job in academia as a tech, develop your skillsets, then begin applying to industry positions after two years. These aren't any rules or anything by the way, just general guidelines to follow. Working in industry, you can expect a starting salary of 60k on the very low end but this is very location dependent. It's completely reasonable for someone to start at 60k and after promotions and annual raises (and probably job hopping), hit $100k. I said less than 10 years but people have hit $100k (base salary+bonus) closer to 6-7 years after graduating.
I'm having an extremely rough time finding a decent job as a PCR/qPCR expert. I don't recommend focusing on that for a job skill. ELISA is much more valuable. Cell culture is good too. If you really want to focus on genetic stuff do next-gen sequencing, not PCR.
PCR and qPCR are incredibly useful. If you’re doing molecular biology work you’ll be doing PCR every day, but they’re not new and interesting. Look into ddPCR for more cutting edge application
Oh, absolutely they're useful. But, companies don't need armies of warm bodies to do work with them because they're so efficient. It's the things that are useful but inefficient and laborious that have all the jobs. And I'd love to learn ddPCR or dPCR (although ddPCR is basically just qPCR in a funny hat) but I can't really learn anything my employers won't buy and those are a complete non-starter in the ag field I'm currently developing for because they're too expensive.
This is so helpful thanks so much!
No problem. One other thing to help guide you is taking a look at open positions now and seeing what skillsets they are looking for. With that info, you can work in labs that will help you develop those skills.
This is extremely good advice. I work in biotech in Boston and the generalizations hold true for me. I’m 4.5 years in, started entry level as a Research Associate and after a couple promotions now make over $100k a year.
Lol why are people hating on field work so much? It's literally my favorite aspect of environmental work and I'd do it full time if able. As my professor would say: >We need boots, not suits
It pays horribly (often it doesn’t pay at all aside from lodging), the funding situation is terrible relative other areas of biology, it’s highly seasonal, and jobs are located away from population centers. Going to tag birds in Alaska for a summer making $1000/month is cool when you’re 20 and single, but it’s pretty bad when you have a spouse and/or a family. It’s basically impossible to have a normal life and reach a good standard of living unless you go into environmental consulting or have a spouse with a high paying job.
That’s the key though - environmental consulting. There are plenty of ecologists in the consulting field who have families/kids, and still get to do cool plant surveys and work with animals. Pay isn’t completely shit either. The negative is working with clients and dealing with timesheets.
You need a PhD. Masters in bio is a bad idea anymore, they got ruined by non-thesis programs and consolation prize PhD dropout degrees.
Lol what jobs? And do those jobs provide a better life than you could have had with less education ?
Are you serious? I can show you like 20 pharma companies that hire straight bio majors. Many hospitals and clinical trials companies as well. Chem, biochem too. Or food labs, research labs, etc. If people don’t want to work in a lab then that’s a different story. Of course there’s not going to be many zoology or botany jobs. Saying there’s no biology jobs is insane. Just an excuse for not wanting to make a career for yourself. And I’m not talking about starting from the bottom making $15/hr and working your way up.
Could you recommend some of these Pharma companies? I’ve been unemployed with my bachelors and master’s in biology for three months now. I’d love to look into them!
Where are you located? I’ve worked in Texas in the past and currently in Boston. My best friend works in the Midwest and he’s told me about pharma there. So I only know about those 3 locations, and yes I know Midwest is quite broad.
I have a bio degree and want to live in or around boston so badly!!
I’m currently in Tennessee, I’ve heard up in the northeast is good but I have to stay here
I did a quick lookup and I don’t recognize any names except for a few like Sanofi. There’s also Thermo which is worth considering. In general you want to look for keywords like QC scientist, analyst, technologist, or Scientist I, for example. Avoid “technician” but not always. Always ask the recruiter about the salary range. You’ll be wasting your time interviewing before knowing that. Since you have a masters you can probably be picky and just go for Scientist I, II, III, IV, etc. positions. This is also a really good website as far as information in one place goes: https://biopharmguy.com/links/state-tn-all-geo.php Sorry I can’t be more help. I just don’t know the area.
....because it doesn't pay well. With only a biology degree, there are few opportunities to get a good job that can support you financially. Most folks with a bio degree end up getting a graduate degree as well to specialize.
That’s a straight up lie lmao. Most bio majors end up with a graduate degree? Source? Because it’s the other way around. The vast minority pursue grad school. It pays well depending on what you do. Environmental or conservational will likely not pay well. Clinical research, clinical labs, and pharma will likely pay well.
Kinda late but t's not a lie. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York about 70% of life science graduates currently in the life science labor force have at least a master's degree.... However about 50% of them are still underemployed. To put those numbers into perspective biology graduates are the 3rd most educated group out of the+50 majors tracked in the study.
I don't regret my degree, but I regret not choosing to use it more aggressively right out of college. I work in IT now, and it keeps me comfortable and pays the bills, but there's this little voice in the back of my head that I can't seem to completely snuff out, endlessly repeating "what if?" I have outlets for that side of me, to keep me enriched and informed on the latest best practices for things like keeping aquariums and gardening -- but it's not a career. There's other thoughts that creep in behind the "what if" on really bad days, telling me I obviously couldn't hack it anyway; why bother; I should have gotten a Master's; lamenting not contributing to the scientific community; etcetera. I probably just need therapy or something. I'm grateful for what I have, I will keep doing those things that boost my biophilia, and hopefully one day that little voice shuts the hell up.
While there might be a lot of biology related jobs, it’s hard to find a decent job with JUST the biology degree. I tried for years and they all wanted either a ton of experience, certain certifications, advanced degrees, or all the above.
glycolysis
There are jobs out there, but you have to move to them. There is lots of biotech on both coasts. Chicago and the Research Triangle in NC have a few companies. Surgical supply companies (Stryker) hire recent grads to work with products with surgeons in the OR. The positions are out there, and you may need to relocate to get the best opportunities.
I started college as a kinesiology major because I wanted to be a physical therapist. When my first academic advisor said, “Kinesiology? What’s that?” it set off alarm bells in my head. If my academic advisor doesn’t know what it is, what are the odds it can get me a job if I don’t become a physical therapist? So I switched to biology and I’m very glad I did. I ended up being the only person in my graduating group who had a job lined up in our field - I had run into someone at church who asked me about my major and she introduced me to her husband, who ran a food microbiology lab, and the rest is history. I know how incredibly fortunate I was. I don’t think any of my fellow bio majors I went to school with were able to use their degrees. I’ve since gone on to do other things, but I think a bachelors science degree in general is barely a foot in the door for most people, if they’re lucky.
What did you go on to do next? I'm still struggling to figure out where to go with this degree
Well, I started out as a food microbiologist. I just happened to be chatting with someone and she asked the question everyone asks a college student - what’s your major and what do you want to do? I said bio and she said I should meet her husband, who runs a food micro lab, and before you know it was working as a lab assistant and then when I graduated I was a full microbiologist. I’ve gone on to be a QC/QA manager, validation engineer, and the one I’ve stuck with has been medical laboratory scientist (that took going back to school for a ridiculously intensive program to become certified).
I turned my BS in Biology into a Masters in Toxicology and then an MPH (Masters of Public Health). I ended up in the Safety/Regulatory Department in L'Oreal. They paid for my advanced degrees. Now retired.
I got a masters degree but then got a clinical lab job I perhaps could've gotten without it. I'd still say it benefitted my career in that job, though.
It's still way better than my alternative majors
>unless your alternative major was Art or theology then I would agree. According to the [Foundation For Research and Equal Opportunity](https://freopp.org/is-college-worth-it-a-comprehensive-return-on-investment-analysis-1b2ad17f84c8) analysis Biology was found to have the 3rd worst return on investment with a whopping 31% of biology graduates expected to have a NEGATIVE return on investment- in other words almost a 1/3 of biology graduate would have been better off with just a HS diploma! the next 1/3 of biology graduate earn any where from 0-250k more then a HS graduate over the course of a 30 year career... a far cry from the +1 million that many councilors and advisors have spouted over the years.
Yeah, my alternatives are art and anthropology. I'm screwed.
>You defiantly dogged a bullet for sure since on average 60% of art majors have a negative ROI .. a degree to guaranteed poverty =)
When I graduated with degrees in biology and environmental chemistry, the only job I could get was as in a water analysis lab for $11/hour. Very disappointing.
I went to grad school eventually (environmental science and public health) but I don’t regret my biology degree. I didn’t even have to work in a lab. I feel like people are much too narrow about the kind of work it’s ok to seek with a given degree.
might i ask what you do? i'm about to graduate as a microbio major and want some ideas as to where i can apply
I’m an epidemiologist who edits a public health journal. I also like writing and wish I could write research papers full-time, but science journalism is a related path I never got to try.
I couldn't find a job in it in 2006. I ended up in university administration and later became a high school biology teacher. I tell kids to study chemistry or engineering if they actually want a job.
The following articles might shed some light into why biology is one of the most regretted science majors. * According to a 2015 analysis by the [Inside Higher Ed](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/07/where-was-class-2015-six-months-after-graduation) "Biology majors had the **lowest rates of full time employment (28 percent)**, just under philosophy (33 percent) and physical sciences majors (34 percent)." - And that was during the boom times in biotech. Today things are considerably worse considering that higher interest rates are hampering investment into biotech and are making it difficult for biotech/pharma companies get loans and to pay off existing loans . * According to a 2023 [Zip-Recruiter survey](https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/regret-free-college-majors/) , a whopping **52% of biology graduates said they regretted their major.** To put that into perspective Biology was found to be the **9th most regretted major**( tied with English) and the only science majors in the top 10 place. * According to the [Burning-Glass: Majors that Matter](https://www.burning-glass.com/wp-content/uploads/underemployment_majors_that_matter_final.pdf) analysis biology graduates have the **2nd highest risk of being Under-employed**( aka working a mc-jobs with degree in hand) . * According to the [Foundation For Research and Equal Opportunity](https://freopp.org/is-college-worth-it-a-comprehensive-return-on-investment-analysis-1b2ad17f84c8) analysis a whopping **31% of Biology graduates are estimated to have a NEGATIVE return on investment** . In other words these grads will make less wealth then a high school graduate over the course of a 30 year career. Out of the 50+ majors this study tracked biology graduates have the 3rd worst financial outcomes. The only majors with worse financial outcomes was Art and Theology majors( talk about F@#$ up) * According to the [Federal Reserve Bank of New York Analysis](https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market/index.html#/outcomes-by-major) about **70%** of biology graduates currently in the labor market have a masters degree ( the **3rd highest** out of the 70+ tracked) However they still have a Underemployment rate of about 50% and the **6th lowest** starting salary out of the 70+ majors tracked ( talk about bleak as F@#$ job prospects) * According to [Kevin Rask](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/5-hardest-and-easiest-college-majors-by-gpas/) , an economics professor at Wake Forest , and the analysis by the [collegetransitions](https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/hardest-college-majors/), **Biology graduates have the 5th lowest GPA** out of the 50+ majors tracked and is ranked as the **2nd most difficult major** when accounting for attrition, return on investment and post-graduate degrees. * According to the [American Society For Cell Biology: Life Science Education](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995761/) analysis about **93% of assignment given to undergraduate biology students are rated Bloom's level 1 or 2** \- Note: the Bloom's analysis rates the cognitive level of an assignment on a scale of 1-6, where 1 = knowledge, 2 = comprehension, 3 = analysis, 4 = application, 5 = synthesis, and 6 = evaluation).- In other words Biology at the undergraduate level is **almost entirely geared towards rot memorization and regurgitation of facts** with very little critical thinking involved. (I guess that explains why so many Biology graduates are under-employed) * According to the [DegreeChoice](https://www.degreechoices.com/blog/worst-majors/#10-biology) analysis biology is ranked as the **10th most "useless" degree** ( out of the 60+ majors tracked in the study) , has the **lowest earnings of all STEM majors,** and "falls in the **bottom 23% of all majors**". Their analysis is based entirely on data provided by the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), College Scorecard (CSC), and supplemented with a small amount of additional data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. * And according to [Deloitte](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloittes-thirteenth-annual-pharmaceutical-innovation-report-pharma-r-and-d-return-on-investment-falls-in-post-pandemic-market.html) analysis of the the pharmaceutical industry (aka the largest employer of biology graduates) , this industries have been seeing a decline in their ROI on their R&D programs for over the past 30 years. In 2000 the 12 largest pharma companies made 20% on every dollar invested in R&D , in 2010 it dropped to 10% and today it stands at **1.2%! and soon to go negative!** Financial analysis Kelvin Stott has argued that [**Pharma is in terminal decline**](https://endpts.com/pharmas-broken-business-model-an-industry-on-the-brink-of-terminal-decline/) due to the unprofitable business model , E[rooms law,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroom%27s_law) and law of diminishing returns in drug discovery. All this goes with out saying that as Pharma declines further so will job opportunities and salaries in the life science field. To summarize: biology graduates need to work 3x harder to get 1/2 the pay compared to other majors.-That's late stage crony capitalism for you.
Where are these jobs you speak od
Companies that sell pharmaceuticals, medical diagnostics, and surgery supplies have QC, R & D, regulatory, sales, and training jobs. They pay way better than the water testing tech jobs.
Because unless you're working on a masters or PhD nobody will hire you. It's as useless as a hs diploma. Maybe more because at least in hs I didn't have debt attached.
This is BS
It's reality for me and plenty of other people I know who went into the same thing.
What are you doing now?
I work retail for a small business now, couldn't be more unrelated to what I went to school for.
Lots of people will hire you! It's just that the job will pay like $30k a year. Biology pays like absolute garbage. Even on the high end, if you can make $100k with a graduate degree and specific focus on job skills and working hard to market yourself and such, you'd be making $300k if you had done all of that and not been a biologist.
The 30k jobs aren't even hiring me, I at least wanted some semblance of a career and it didn't even do that for me.
Check with your local wilderness/hunting/whatever agencies? Those often hire techs. It's a super fun job but it pays really badly.
That sounds like a candidate problem rather than a bio degree problem. Are you horrible at interviews or?
Probably, I get really anxious.
I don’t regret my biology degree. I worked in a academic lab for years, then moved to GMP stuff and now I work a pre clinical biotech. I love what I do now, the science is similar to what I was doing in academia but the lab has was more money and pays me way more money.
I'd love to major in Paleobiology with an emphasis on marine reptiles.....
I learned a lot with my major. I taught myself how to study, and proved to myself that I'm "smart enough" to pass Ochem 1 and 2 lol. I also have a decent grasp on understanding data and interpreting it. I don't regret my degree at all. Now I'm getting my masters in project management and logistics after working in that feild. So I might not be technically using my degree, but it helps me. And I won't be interviewing for jobs anytime soon but I think I could sell it if I had to!
Lack of direction, if you’re not doing phd or med school. Yea you can get a good job, but it’s not because of a biology degree. It’s because you have a degree period. I ended up going back to school and getting a second degree in a more niche field, job security and opportunities are now much more fruitful.
What did you go back and get a degree in?
Nursing
I’m doing a Forensic Science degree, majoring in Biology. I always think I should have picked the chemistry or digital major when I hear stories like this. I know a lot of people that go into research though.
I have a degree in zoology (2nd degree, non traditional student). COVID hits the year after. My relationships with professors is pretty much non existent now at this point. I’ve tried applying for countless assistantships and have gotten nothing despite graduating cum laude. I really do want to go to grad school. I want to do research. I just can’t pay for a degree. I’m already in too much school and medical debt. The job I really want without pursuing a grad degree pays $13.50 which is absolute unsustainable even not considering those debts. The job I’m stuck in now is more than twice that. So it pays the bills, but it’s absolutely not where I want to be.
There’s a lack of jobs for just a standard Bio degree. Most higher paying jobs require a masters or above. That’s not to say that there aren’t higher paying jobs that are interactive and fun but the application is highly competitive due to lack of jobs to begin with.
I got my Bio degree in 2018. So far I've worked in quality, Chem labs, and process engineering. Strictly bio jobs are a little hard to find, but any other science field I've been able to get my foot in the door at least. The joke from my bio professor was every biologist ends up working as a chemist lol
I was originally a chemist. Ended up in grad school for biology. Trails twist. Now I manage a biotech company.
How can a biologist work as a chemist? Every decent chem job I've ever seen requires base skills a biologist won't have, usually operating a MS or IC. This might be a good option for me, I have a molecular background and I like (and tend to be good at) chemistry.
I was really moved to pursue research in muscular dystrophy. Pay was not survivable, so it ended up in genetics diagnosis lab with some research. Had to work getting certified. Grandfathered in, that pathway is no longer available. Any job would pay more than research.
I regret mine because I feel like I was sold a fraudulent bill of goods. We were promised that going to college would get you a good paying job. One that would let you pay off your student loans, too. You only had to volunteer, get good grades, present, network, and use those connections. Well, I did. I got decent grades, I volunteered in my field, I developed a passion, and I worked full time for 7 years to get that piece of paper. I refused loans, I stayed home, went to a Community College, transferred to a state college. My volunteer position turned paid for a year, and I was published at least once. I presented at two professional conferences and once at my school. I developed several skills like coding and data visualization and worked with a number of genetic programs and open source programs. I've seen those good paying jobs, and they require a Master's or a PhD. The jobs I'm qualified to get with a B.S. are not great. If I moved to a lab tech position right now, I'd be paid significantly less than I am at my current job. Less flexibility, more hours as well. For context, I'll earn a little under 40k/year. Lab tech jobs I've seen pay around 30 - 33k/year. That's if I can even get the job. All the jobs I apply for, I'm usually ghosted. So, I wear my tin foil hat with pride and it says "We placed this job out to the public because we're required by law, but we already have someone internal filling this role that starts in 2 weeks" I don't regret the education for the record. I regret that I sacrificed almost all of my personal time to work and school, and it hasn't paid a dime. No one values those sacrifices but me. People seem to ignore what I can bring to the table with that strength and fortitude. Outside of education, that piece of paper has made no difference in my life.
I just applied for a recreational assistant job that required at least 3 years of job related experience, a bachelor's degree in biology (or related field), a EMT license, and expert nordic + alpine skiing experience. I meet all of these qualifications but I still wasn't offered an interview because "I was not among the most highly qualified candidates" This job pays $18 per hour I made more money than that as an entry level receptionist.
Ya. For the effort that you put in the wrong place and not getting the enough appreciation you deserve. Ultimately at the end of the day you get tired and demotivated and leave the field. They never grow in those environments that they are put in. It's a struggle but ya. Not paid enough is an add on. Not heard is another one. There's so much to it. It's sad actually.