r/publichealth • u/SadBreath PhD/MPH • Aug 28 '19

ADVICE School and Jobs Advice Megathread Part III

All job and school-related advice should be asked in here. Below is the r/publichealth MPH guide which may answer general questions.

See the below guides for more information:

  1. MPH Guide
  2. Job Guide
  3. Choosing a public health field
  4. Choosing a public health concentration
  5. Choosing a public health industry

Past Threads:

  1. Megathread Part I
  2. Megathread Part II
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u/Nerd3tt3 Sep 27 '19

Hi there. I’ve been applying for jobs since about April, knowing my at the time health department job was going to end in June/July. At first it was just 1 or 2 jobs here and there, mostly the same exactly Epi department I was already in had some openings so I wasn’t actively applying and such until June/July when my contract was coming to a close. It’s now the end of September and I’ve had one interview but still haven’t heard back from them weeks later so I’m guessing that is a no. So far if I have gotten an answer from an application, it has been no.

I have my MPH (official graduation date was August 31, 2019) with no concentration (we were the first cohort and the program is not CEPH accredited yet but going through the process) and only about 6 months experience between my local DOH and my internship. I have a BA in Humanities.

Should I stop applying for entry level epidemiology jobs because I feel like I am getting no where and will never be given a chance. I was told by my old boss that the reason they declined all of my applications was because of my BA, on paper I don’t have a strong enough science background.

This might sound a bit dramatic but should I give up on my dream career? Do I need to go back for a second bachelors to show I have the knowledge on paper? I have done the studying already to know the science, I just was one of those kids that fell through the cracks and ended up with a random BA basically.

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u/tacoz4 Oct 15 '19

Apply to anything and everything. You may not be getting entry-level because you have a master’s degree and they may think you’re overqualified. I ran into this issue. I was applying for entry level because I thought I was “entry level” since I had zero experience, but it turns out I was overqualified for those jobs. Once I started applying for higher tier jobs, I started getting interviews and offers.

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u/Nerd3tt3 Oct 15 '19

So even if a job lists required to have Master’s degree and 2 years or 4 years experience, you think I should apply?

I’ve been finding plenty of options that list Required Master’s Degree and 0-1 years of experience but I’ve only gotten 1 call back so far.

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u/tacoz4 Oct 15 '19

Absolutely. It can’t hurt to apply. People apply for “reach” academic programs so why not apply for a “reach” job? My job wanted experience and I had none and I still got it.

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u/Nerd3tt3 Oct 15 '19

I know I always told to do that but with all the applications I’ve done that I do meet requirements for that I’ve not even heard a no for, on top of the no’s, I wasn’t sure if it still applied. But I will try a few anyways because why the heck not. Nothing else is working eight now! Lol

Thank you for the input!