Lab technician - cool idea or no for a career?

[Deja Q]

:hide:

[BlueJazz]

1. Do you mean a Research Lab (Great) or Medical Lab ? ...

...which can be "pretty good" to "Biting the big one" :)

[Deja Q]

2. WHen you say 'biting the big one',

it's suicide?

Either, I suppose, but I'd start low obviously - so medical lab, and go toward research from there.

[BlueJazz]

8. Biting the big one is a little known term by Musicians for playing "Clams".....

(wrong notes via chord patterns).

It just means "Sucky"

I'll bet you're sorry you asked.. :rofl: :)

[PassingFair]

3. My Aunt was a Lab Technician for...

Doctor Kevorkian.

No. Joke.

[Orsino]

4. Highly recommended.

[Vanje]

5. Do you look good in a white coat?

I wear one at work.
It makes everyone think I'm very very smart.

[triguy46]

6. You have to like working in a lab setting. Not a lot of human interaction.

2. Accuracy and detail is essential, required, mandatory, etc.
3. Not much glory
4. A lot of doing the same thing most of the time.
5. The smart guys will call the shots.
6. How do you feel about animals?

[Deja Q]

7. Hmmm

1. Not good at human interaction
2. Depends on how much detail, but on certain accuracy tests I've rated high
3. No problem; don't care for glory holes
4. I've done my current job for 17 years
5. Until I advance to their level?
6. I'm allergic to many of them

[mike_c]

13. you will likely not "advance to their level" in the traditional sense....

In research labs, techs are generally people with undergrad degrees or masters degrees-- the latter generally have some specialized skills and commensurate seniority, post-docs with Ph.D.s are the "mid-level management," and PIs with Ph.D.s and institutional support, i.e. real jobs, are the bosses, at least within the lab itself. One does not "advance" via experience, although at the lower end there are usually pay grade levels associated with employment time and experience, e.g. tech I, tech II, and so on. Rank is based primarily on education, and what you do is based almost entirely on rank. Folks with BS degrees wash glassware, perform routine tasks, do field work, etc. Lots of repetition, because that's the way science works. The more creative, interesting tasks ALWAYS go to the folks with higher degrees.

Medical labs are often run by M.D.s or folks with masters degrees, but again, rank, such as it exists, is based primarily on education, although medical labs often hire "techs" for strictly menial tasks who have even less education than an BS or its equivalent. Testing lab work, whether medical, water quality, etc, is soul killing IMO.

[TZ]

11. On the human interaction..not necessarily...

If you are in high throughput testing (which I have been) you usually do work in small teams of people...its usally groups of 5-6 at a time....:)

[triguy46]

12. Yes. For me, my 2 years in a medical research lat a huge university...

hospital was one other person and 9 rats per day. Don't ask.

[TZ]

9. I'm a lab tech....

It definitely has its ups and downs...But I think it can be very rewarding..IF you find the right position. I have had some interesting jobs including health testing on lab animals (including testing monkeys for Ebola!) doing testing in support of malaria vaccine clinical testing in Africa, and currently testing patients in clinical trials to see the effects of experimental drugs in their system.
Does any of that sound appealing? Of course it can be monotonous and very routine, and its the PhD's who call the shots (even though experienced techs like I do actually have better knowledge of the lab stuff) so if you get an idiotic PhD for a boss (and there are alot of those) they can make your life miserable..but sometimes you get to work with truly intelligent and passionate people and thats a blast...
BTW, you can find tech jobs with no animal interaction, and experienced lab techs in certain areas are in constant demand and are pretty well paid really.....Oh and having a real interest in science helps MUCHO....
How does that sound?

[Deja Q]

10. Sweeeet... thank you much!

I did have a penchant for biology in high school...

I think it might be a good way to go...

I will probably start looking up educational prerequisites...

[TZ]

14. all you need is a BS , really......

Really, if you are indeed serious, feel free to PM me about anything I can be more specific on details...just remember these names-ELISA, Western Blot, PCR...Those are some of the desirables in today's market

[China_cat]

15. Like you got a good one.

With HP's luck he'd get stuck washing test tubes and cleaning cages for the subjects of the animal trials on a new laxative.

Or, like I did, stuck under a fume hood doing ether extractions and hoping to hell none of it would blow up in my face.

[TZ]

16. lol

I paid my ether dues in college...genetics lab having to etherize fruit flies to examine their eye color..oh and we didn't use hoods most of the time either..I almost passed out from the ether several times..
Prolly explains why I am the way I am today.....:crazy:

[Bravo Zulu]

17. here's your competition!

[TZ]

18. That's just wrong....

They must have escaped from their cages and stole the techs gear to try to blend in....
BTW once I received monkey serum samples from a client who listed the monkey ID's as Dubya and Jeb......:rofl:

[carly denise pt deux]

19. my kid started college this year with a major in clinical lab science

and has been pondering the same question.
Carly

[Nikia]

20. It's not really a cool job

It gets boring rather quickly.
That's why I'm in food now. At least where I live, there aren't as many PhDs preventing you from advancing.