R&D

[Imaginos]

I would say that a salary of around 30k is not a lot of money. That's what I would be making as an entry level chemist. I almost got a job as a fuel chemist, which would have been 30k but with medical and dental insurance. An entry level physicist position can be around 50k, which I think is a good amount, but there really aren't a lot of physics positions available.

With just the BS in chemistry/physics and no experience in commercial nuclear power, a certain nuke plant out west, based on recent hires, would start you in an entry level chemistry technician position at about $60K...for a 40 hour week.

[Skipperooni]

A PhD may or may not be helpful. From what I hear, jobs are lot more competitive at the PhD level. I know a few PhD graduates who ended up teaching at community colleges. From what I've heard, and by the sound of it, it's a pretty crappy job. I wanted to try an get into industry with a masters, and then pursue a PhD afterward so that I would have a good job waiting for me and wouldn't have to struggle financially throughout it. A lot of R&D companies will pay you to get a PhD in exchange for a contract of like 4 or 5 years working for them. If I can't do that, at the very least, I should try to get into a better school for a PhD program. There's no way I am sticking around here for another five years. I'd rather join the Navy if it came down to that. Nuclear technician could be another option.

[Skipperooni]

Sorry for the double post, but I have another question and I don't think I should make another thread. I could never really afford to see a doctor. So, if I wanted to see a doctor for any reason, I would go to the emergency room. Now, I realize that this could be a problem. I remember once I went to the emergency room for a panic attack. This was maybe five years ago ... I'm wondering if little things like this could disqualify me for not just the NuPOC program, but any officer program in the military.

[MMM]

I wonder if anyone else has had questions about whether panic attacks would disqualify someone from NUPOC/military officer programs. If only I were interested in research I could probably look into it. 

[GLW]

Sorry for the double post, but I have another question and I don't think I should make another thread. I could never really afford to see a doctor. So, if I wanted to see a doctor for any reason, I would go to the emergency room. Now, I realize that this could be a problem. I remember once I went to the emergency room for a panic attack. This was maybe five years ago ... I'm wondering if little things like this could disqualify me for not just the NuPOC program, but any officer program in the military.

really?!?!?!

the ACA has been in effect for 8 years,....

you should have been on your parents insurance until 2015,...

since 2015, you being in college, the vast majority of colleges offer heavily subsidized healthcare to students at rates progressive with ability to pay,...

AND, most importantly, under the ACA, having health insurance is obligatory under the law,...

and the ACA makes mental and behavioral health treatment one of 10 essential benefits required in new insurance policies,...

I'm just saying,...

[Skipperooni]

Trump made it not mandatory, anymore, which I think is a good thing. I don't like being forced to pay for healthcare. My parents also did not put me on their insurance. They have a "do it yourself" attitude toward most things. I think I was able to use their healthcare until I turned 24. Honestly, I don't even know if my parents have healthcare, at the moment. My school also does not offer any healthcare to students. But, O well. I was younger and stupid. I thought that going to the emergency room was what you did to see a doctor.

The problem I'm having right now is that I can't get the hospitals to send my medical records in a timely manner. I've been trying to get this hospital to send them for about a month and half now. They don't even answer the phone. I have to call about a hundred times before I can speak to someone. I took a day off work so I could go over there. I signed the release forms, gave them my license and they told me it will take at least two weeks. A month later, after calling about 500 times, they told me that I never made the request. I had to fill out another request.


My application is on hold until they send the recruiter my medical records, but the people at this hospital are incompetent. I wonder whether they will ever get around to sending them. If this continues, I might have to take legal action, or something. It's got to be against some policy to withhold my medical records when I am requesting them. I'm not sure what to do. The recruiter is telling me that he needs my records. I am applying to jobs in the meantime, as a plan B.

[SloGlo]

gall lee! a plan bee. yins bin having a reed of employment manuals?

[wilkinakkk]

I think I'm probably as close to your career path as any one - BS in Chem, SWO-N (NUPOC after graduation), 5 & out to NAVSEA/DoD contractor.

You talk of doing R&D work for DoD.  I'm not sure what you have in mind.  I've worked for a shipyard, I work for one of the NAVSEA surface warfare centers, I've worked in acquistion for the last 15 years.  They do as little R&D as possible.  It costs money no one wants to spend.  If you want to go that route, apply now as a new PhD.  Navy experience isn't that great of an advantage for that field.  The shipbuilders are run by engineers and want engineers (degree, not operational).  Nuke school is nice, but they don't want to pay for it.  I took a 25% pay cut my first year out of the Navy, from LT pay because I don't have an engineering degree.  Beltway Bandits have, or make, more leeway for paying veterans for experience.  None of the people I work with who do actual testing have any shipboard experience.

If you still want to go the Navy -> contractor/testing route, consider going SWO instead of subs.  The Navy builds more ships than submarines.  If you go surface, if you have never been in a boat, find yourself one.  Seriously.  You will have no problem with power school/prototype.  If you have never been on the water in any form or fashion, that will be more challenging.  The Navy shipdriver program is being overhauled, so you will benefit from that.  I got the just prior to SWOS-in-a-Box training which stunk.  Growing up in sailboats and power boats helped a lot with relative motion and just driving a boat.

The other thing I'd recommend, which it sound like you're too late for, is 6-18 months working at McDonalds.  Seriously.  You need to learn how to work with people.  Probably my biggest advantage, besides wearing a skirt, was the 4-5 years I had working retail AT THE SAME PLACE, throughout college.  While I wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree, I knew how to work, show up on time, do stupid mind-numbing work, and deal with difficult people.

I followed the advice of my RO years before I met him: There are 2 ways to get ahead.  Be the smartest person in the room, or be willing to do the work no one else will.  As a result of years of scut work, I now am running a ship trial with a $14M budget.  The bonus is I get to make Sailors cry.

Nuke school is a small part of being an officer.  You will be a division officer, AKA people manager doing HR crap.  Sub or surface, you will have to deal with unmotivated people, any number of marital problems (e.g. the "is my husband/wife cheating with MM2?"), legal issues (first met a guy in my first division on the steps of the VABeach courthouse) and other random fun things.  The time I spent at JCPenny's explaining politely, but firmly, that no I was not giving a refund on merchandise we did not sell was a valuable as any time spent in a college lab.  Same thing for post Navy contracting work.  I don't the the HR crap, but I have been in several meetings that were just about knock-down, drag out brawls with DOT&E types.  Being able to mediate & soothe egos is a valuable skill.  As is being able to speak your mind without being a jerk.  I know many who topped out at LCDR because the wouldn't "bend to The Man" or kiss @ss.  Being polite is not sucking up, it's just being polite.

I would not get a lawyer involved in your medical record fight.  You shouldn't need to.  Think of this as your first test of dealing with bureaucrats.  If you can't get this done, expect your household goods to be shipped from Charleston to Groton via Dijbouti. :-)   Really.  You need to learn how to work bureaucratic drones.  You will go nowhere in the Navy, as a govvie or Beltway Bandit if you don't.

Keep a paper trail of who you've talked to.  Write down names, ask for supervisors.  Beg, plead, cajole or if worse comes to worse, threaten to call you local TV station.  What hospital wants to be called out on the 5 pm news for impeding some young patriot's dream of being a Navy officer?  Maintenance wasn't hard to get approved after the 3M chief thought it was a good plan to hit on me at liberty port.  Remember why that drink ended up in your shorts Chief?  ;-) You have to play the hand you're dealt.

Whatever reputation you have in the Navy will follow you if you go into the NAVSEA world, good or bad.  I'm interviewing a guy next week, who unless he's a total jack_ss has the job & we'll give him the moon, based on word of mouth reviews.  If he's half a jerk, he'll still get the job.  The Navy is not a large world & nukedom is like playing 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon.  It's not hard to find someone who knows you.  Keep working on your attitude.

[wilkinakkk]

By the way, you need to readjust what you think you are worth as a hire with no experience.  It isn't much.  It isn't much because you really aren't bringing much to the table.  It takes most new grads 6-12 months before they are truly useful. As entry level anything, you are looking at between $30K to $50K.  New grads where I work, in a high cost of living area, make ~$45-$50K.  They know how to do textbook work, not real work.  That's life.  Pay doesn't go up until you have something to actually offer.

[Skipperooni]

Weird... I edited this post. I made it a lot shorter and made my response a lot better, but it didn't save ...

I'm not going to write all that again ... darn it.

[Skipperooni]

I'm not sure why some people freak out when I say that a 30k salary is not very much. I told my family that, and they acted as though I was a spoiled brat who wouldn't accept a job unless it was 6 figures. I would still accept a job for 30k, if it was offered to me, but it's really not a good salary, even for someone just coming out of college with a few years of applicable work experience. I don't know anyone who goes to school without working on the side. I've accrued about four years of research experience, albeit on and off due to limited funding and course overloads, which is defined as taking over 18 credit hours. I've also worked minimum wage jobs, such as the graveyard shift at Walmart, Burger King, as a dishwasher, etc. I'm looking for something better. If I have to settle for something worse, so be it, but I have the right to bitch about it.

[Marlin]

Weird... I edited this post. I made it a lot shorter and made my response a lot better, but it didn't save ...

I'm not going to write all that again ... darn it.

"Less is more, in prose as in architecture."

   Donald Hall

[Chimera]

The computer ate my homework

[SloGlo]

da dawg went pea awn it.

[Skipperooni]

👍

[Druid]

New grads where I work, in a high cost of living area, make ~$45-$50K.  They know how to do textbook work, not real work.

So very true. In about half the counties in the country $45k is above the median income level. $30k is well into the 40th percentile. Its always a balance between employment availability, individual skill level/experience, & geographical cost of living. Sadly, many leave college with a debt burden and wish to live in high COL areas. The decision making process leads to all kinds of lamentations.

D

[Skipperooni]

45 to 50 is pretty good.


I became an RA and just found out that we get paid 30% less than TAs ...


That 15k was lavish.


I'm still trying to figure what I can do with a master's in physics 🤔.
I want to get into programming, machine learning and data science, but I am only just now learning the basics of Python.
I should have studied computer science.
I only came for the 15 stacks.
I stayed for the ten.


Maybe, 30k is alright. I've never actually made that much money before. I just saw that it's how much receptionists where I live make,where the cost of living is dirt cheap, and comparing it to what engineers and computer science majors start making right out of college, it doesn't seem like much. I applied to a 30k chem job last weekend, but even those seem to be competitive.