Finding a public health job in a new city

[sunny189]

Hi,

I recently graduated with my masters degree in public health with my concentration in Epidemiology from Loyola University Chicago in May of 2016. I did really well in my masters program. Along with that I have 2 years experience working as a research assistant, and I also did a 1 year internship as well in Chicago. Right after I graduated I moved down to Atlanta, GA. No sooner I moved down here I started to apply for jobs. I did everything I can to apply for jobs; I made sure before I graduated to get my resume looked over at career development center at my university before graduation, I did this twice actually. Even after I had graduated I also had my resume looked over as well. I even made sure to have my LinkedIn checked over as well. I also looked and applied for public health jobs on Indeed.com, careerbuilder, monster.com, linkedin.com, health departments, CDC, Emory, all the hospitals in the Atlanta area, and even all the public health companies here as well. I made sure to even apply for public health fellowships and internships from CDC and from other public health companies as well. After doing all of this, I did not receive any job offers nor did I get any interviews what so ever. I also made sure to contact local recruiters in the area, and they told me that they could not help me since most of the companies do not specialize in public health. Most recruiters I spoke to that they help with people in the field of engineering, computer science, and marketing but not public health.I also contacted public health professors from Emory University and University of Georgia asking for any research opportunities that I could do, I even said I would do it for free. But no one ever responded to me. I also went down to Emory University's public health department and tried to ask some of the professors who I saw around if they had any ongoing research opportunities; most of them said no and one told me that I wasn't a student nor alumni of Emory so I couldn't join his research project even though I said I would do it for free. I also tried to network with people on LinkedIn but no one responded to me either. And on top of that there is also the federal hiring freeze. I feel that I have done everything I can to find a job in public health in Atlanta. I don't know what to do anymore and I feel like giving up. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on what to do? Please try to be nice on this forum, I usually don't like doing forums only because the last time I did a forum people were very mean. If you have nothing nice to say then please leave. 

[PHNC2018]

I would recommend you to attend any international academic meet like Public Health Conferences.

This will not only built your knowledge but also will provide you a certification of attending an international forum.

Third World Congress on Public Health and Nutrition going to be held in London is such an International Academic Meet.

Visit here to learn more about the conference: http://publichealth.global-summit.com/

[_kita]

@sunny189 General advise I give everyone on the job hunt, if you are looking four a job expect at minimum a 3-4 month wait before you land one. Closer to 6 months if it is field specific and over a year if it is national/state government.

What is your strategy for landing a position? After you submit an application do you follow-up with the company's HR department 2 weeks later or the exact date you're supposed to hear back? Do so. At least half the time that happens, I get the interview right then and there with the statement "You were next on my list.."

Right now the quickest way to get an epi job is either through consulting, think tanks, or local government. It sounds like you've looked at government on a state/federal level. Have you looked at local government? Look up each county you'd be willing to work in, look up all the jobs under their local department of health. That may open some opportunities you didn't see yet.