.
Pharmacy jobs are plenty. You could also consider something like a nutritionist or a dietitian. Both need expertise in biology. Alternatively, you could maybe start a gym and offer advanced programs on weight loss. This area is $$$.
I’m not too knowledegable in the biology/science department but personal fitness is definitely on the rise!
Reserch biologist for Oil companies on the north slope. They need them and they pay really well.
There are a lot of good options out there depending on what you want to do; unfortunately, almost all of them involve more school. I will give you another option to think about.
Like you, I majored in Biology and had planned on becoming a dentist, but changed my mind. I’m now at law school focusing on becoming a patent attorney. In order to become a registered patent agent or patent attorney in the U.S.A. you need to have either a science degree or a lot of credit hours in scientific coursework. Luckily, Biology satisfies the requirement. Unlike most other areas of the profession, intellectual property (patent, copyright, trademark) attorneys are still in high demand, probably because the great majority of law students do not have a science background and intellectual property is increasing at an exponential rate. I have enjoyed law school so far; it has been a good change from my undergraduate work and I enjoy the teaching style (socratic, very involved) and the competition (first year classes are all on a straight curve; i.e., only top 10% can get A’s, etc.).
Biology meets the requirements to become a patent attorney but the big law firms would prefer that your degree be in engineering (especially electrical engineering), but Biology will do.
For more information on the requirements see this PDF (start on page 6 for major information):
USPTO Exam Registration
That said, computer science is a good degree and is more marketable by itself. It is also usually acceptable by the USPTO to be admitted as a registered patent agent/attorney (see PDF for more details). You have to ask yourself this question: would I rather spend more time in undergraduate, or more time in graduate school? 
Working for whom and where are two important considerations. Consider that you will likely change companies and carriers more than once.
Computer science is going to require math and if you are that rare individual able to understand user requirements and translate them into code, you will do well.
RMM beat me to a recommendation for going into law school. Veterinary medicine is another choice in the medical field.
This site yielded the list of biology related fields below: http://careerservices.rutgers.edu/biological_sciences.shtml
Agronomist, Biochemist, Botanist, Biostatistician, Biotechnologist, Ecologist, Crop Physiologist, Dentist, Environ. Health Educator, Embryologist, Entomologist, Flavor Chemist, Environmental Impact Analyst, Fisheries Biologist, Geneticist, Food & Drug Inspector, Forester, Industrial Hygienist, Horticulturist, Hospital Administrator, Medical Doctor, Laboratory Technician, Marine Biologist, Medical Social Worker, Medical Illustrator, Medical Record Technician, Mycologist, Medical Technician, Microbiologist, Parasitologist, Natural Resources Manager, Pathologist, Pest Control Inspector, Patent Specialist, Pharmacologist, Physical Therapist, Pharmaceutical Sales Rep., Plant Geneticist, Plant Quarantine Specialist, Physician Assistant, Quality Control Specialist, Research Assistant, Public Health Assistant, Technical Writer, Toxicologist, Scientific Librarian, Wildlife Biologist, Zoologist, Veterinarian, and Biophysicist.
Have you interned yet? This allows you exposure to the market and experience you just get in school.
Network, most good jobs are found through people you know.
I can’t comment on bio/etc specifics, but I did notice one thing in your posts. I don’t see that you’ve defined the kind of job you want to do. I blundered into tech jobs after school only to find after quite a few years that it wasn’t very personally fulfilling. A few jobs and more school later, and I’m now a carpenter, which satisfies my desire to build tangible things.
I’d suggest a browse through the career section of the bookstore to find something that helps you discover the broad parameters of what makes a good job for you. That might guide you in your educational path.
Good luck.
My brother originally went for computer science at Whitewater 4 years ago, he switched to management of computer systems quickly once he realized how boring computer science truly is. Job outlook is very good for that field I guess. As soon as he finished a semester early, WE hired him at 58 grand a year. The funny thing is, he really doesn’t do a ton of work. I can text him for an hour or two straight during most days. When he finished, he had less than 15k loans too.
He does work on the hardware and software sides of things, and sometimes he helps people with their computer problems. Just because of the nature of that kind of irregular work, he has alot of free time.
A cool thing I thought that I’d share was my friends uncle. He was a very high paid cart pusher at piggly wiggly for many years. He started working at 18 years old, and after about 10 years he got up to $15.50 per hour. And sundays were time and a half, so over 20 bucks an hour pushing carts! He did that till his mid thirties despite him being a gym teacher the whole time.
Computer Science is subject to outsourcing from abroad. Just a heads up.
It’s great if you are the one taking contracts, but not so great if you can’t find employment because of this practice.
The comment by ruffles kind of sums it up. Some questions to ask yourself:
- do you enjoy things mechanical? (fixing broken things, etc. Maybe engineering)
- do you gag at the sight of blood? (medical field beware)
- are you a tightwad? (banking/finance might be for you)
- do you see the beauty in life? (artist perhaps)
- are you an extrovert? (news reporter?)
- etc
That was on the lines of what I was going to suggest. No matter what you decide you would like to go into.
Do a test run, find someone with the job you are looking to get into. Go spend some time with them at there job if you can.
Or at least talk with them and ask how they like their job or what they don’t like about it.
This will give you a idea of just how your life might be if you where doing this job day in and day out.
That’s the best advice I can give you.
Being happy at a job your going to have to do for a very long time makes life less stressful. Imagine making good money every pay check but everyday your at work you just hate it but you know you have to do, its too late to change now. If you hate your job it will influence a lot of things in your life, like family. Some would say just take the money and be happy. There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t have both if you do research first.
Gigolo? :party:
Walmart door greeter?
And as long as you can say the magic words, “Would you like fries with that?”, you will always have a job.
I say go with your heart. There’s working Biologists who make enough to live, right? Be one of them. It’a competitive field? So, compete.
If someone tells me “you are one of ten competing for the same job” I say “then it sucks to be the other 9!”
You should speak directly with the career counselors at your school. Ask them what resources/tests they can give you like:
1) Myers-Briggs personality assessment.
2) Interest Inventories based on the Holland Code.
3) O-Net resource.
You could probably find some of this info out online.
If you are a religious person, prayer can help you also.
I wish you well and pray you find your calling!
I did once major in Biology briefly and moved to education before dropping everything for a seminary I later abandoned for reasons having to do with a paradigm shift. Years later, I got into the hospitality industry through a cousin. And today, that is where I’ve stayed.
Once you get into a field, whether you have a degree or not, it’s like a kind of mob and all you have to do is show responsibility and you’ll move up and it’s hard to get out. Our old GM started out as a lifeguard and a guy who worked security became the IT manager and now, an Assistant GM with no degree. Having some paper-verified schooling can get you in with a higher position, but it is amazing how just sticking around somewhere can get you near the very top of a company.
Sounds like you have a decent school foundation, but don’t count on it that much. As you well know, schooling doesn’t guarantee a job. Stability and a desire to work up is key. By way of degrees, they say a business degree is most in demand—and I guess will continue to be.
A few more thoughts:
As has been stated here, having a good degree doesn’t guarantee a good job; it is merely one more tool in the toolbox, it takes all of the tools to “get the job done”.
Having good work ethic, being responsible, and knowing how to best serve those around you are the most important tools. There are always jobs for those who are self-motivated and willing to work hard.
Also, stay positive. There will always be those around you who always talk negatively about job prospects, about the future, etc. Don’t listen to them, or else it will rub off on you too! Keep working hard and get to know (and serve) lots of people, in the end it will pay off.
Right now at my law school all I hear from everyone is “doom and gloom”, the legal profession like many others is directly connected to the economy, and most of the big firms are firing and not hiring. They believe that if they can’t get a job right of of law school at a big firm that they might as well just give up and go work at Starbucks. With that attitude, many of them actually will end up working at Starbucks, simultaneously with two other low-paying jobs just to service their student loan debt.
I know a handful of attorneys who graduated from law school and didn’t get offered a “hotshot” job at a big firm, but instead of moping around started their own firm. In the first year, they each made over $100,000, every subsequent year they each made over $200,000 (and this was in the early ’90s). They worked hard, marketed themselves, were smart, and were good at what they did, so much so that they ended up having to grow their law firm because there was too much work and too many referrals. Of course this all took an enormous amount of work and sacrifice but I am just telling this story to illustrate what is possible if you stay positive and work hard.
I have another friend who graduated from high school but didn’t want to attend college. He didn’t like school but was still pretty smart and worked hard at honing his other skills: welding and fabrication. Now he has a great job working as the foreman and design specialist for a small company that designs and services power plant water sample equipment. He makes over $80,000 in salary, drives a company truck, has a 401k plan, cell phone, health benefits, etc. He has a lot of responsibilities, enjoys his job, and is making a good living for himself.
There are always jobs for those who are honest, smart, and hard working.
Be good at whatever you do and you will be able to sell your services to someone who needs them, whatever that may be.
Racer makes an excellent point. You need to want to be the best at what you are doing. Unfortunately, today there are so many recent grads going into the labor market expecting almost entertainment at work and not expecting toy contribute to the success of the company. If you are not making money for the company, why do they need you? Even if you go into research or work for a non profit, you have to provide value. You may already clearly understand this, but for others reading this it is critical.
First finish your major!
..and go on from that. Finishing things first before starting something new is good for yourself and for whoever you are going to work for .
Computer science goes very well together with biological research by the way, if you are into doing science in the first place.
I’m a high school dropout who taught himself computer engineering in the ’80s, back before you could learn everything you need to know from the Internet. I worked in a warehouse and spend every spare dollar buying books, and every spare minute reading them. I managed to get a used PC (quite a trick back then) and mastered assembler, BASIC and early versions of C. I then started working temp office jobs until I got my foot in the door somewhere. I’ve been a professional computer software engineer for the last 25 years or so.
Want to know how many people said “GO GO GO you can do it!!!”? How many people thought I could pull it off?
Not one single person in my life said anything positive. It sure would’ve been nice for someone to tell me the secret to all of this: attitude, desire. All it takes in life is to decide in the core of your being that you will be a Biologist, or computer programmer, or whatever. That’s it. Other than getting hit by a bus or something, there is absolutely nothing that can stop you, except you. Decide what you want to do and do it. Refuse to even here anything negative. The people telling you negative things are not the people you want to be taking advice from.
With a successful career, I’ve known many successful people over the years. Successful people will tell you that anything is possible. Unsuccessful or unhappy people will tell you it’s too hard, it’s not worth the effort, you’ll fail anyway so why try, etc. That’s what changed it for me. I realized that everyone who was telling me I couldn’t do it, hadn’t done ‘it’ themselves. I realized the people who were always reminding me of boundaries and limitations, had set those limitations for themselves. I wasn’t bound by them.
Once I had the right attitude, the universe kind of just opened up for me. And it was those successful, positive people who helped opened those doors for me. I would’ve succeeded either way, but I will always be grateful to those early mentors who stood up for me, occasionally giving me a kick in the ass.
I recommend CS before dental/MD/Chiro/PT and especially nutritionist/fitness. We are hiring lots of CS people continually, and I know several medical professionals, I’ve heard the same from dental/MD/Chiros: “I didnt know it would be like this/wish I hadnt.”
I think the best thing right now would be to slow down a little bit. See if you can take a lighter load. Extend your stay in school. Buy yourself time to figure out what you want to do.
If you want to finish your bio degree and still get another degree, try to cram it in as a double major at your current school. That way, you can bang it out in about 40 units.
If you try to earn a second bachelors degree later on, you will be required to basically go through undergrad all over again - complete 120 units, all your GE classes (freshman comp, et al.), etc. - and I don’t think you’ll really want to do that.
Go talk to a career counselor. Talk to as many as you need to until you find one who provides good guidance.