by Isabelle Witteveen, former co-president of Nu Rho Psi at UVA
You’re a fourth year/senior and the question “What do you want to do after graduation?” is no longer the abstract hypothetical question it once was. Well fortunately now (and any time really) is the perfect time to apply to lab/research technician positions! If you’re someone who likes science, research, and learning working as a lab technician can be an incredibly fun and worthwhile job to do post graduation. Unsure if it’s the right job for you though? Well here’s a list of pros and cons from someone who is a lab tech and graduated less than a year ago:
What’s nice about the job:
1) Flexible work schedule! I had to have a lot of doctors appointments this year due to a broken bone and as a lab tech I was able to work my schedule around those appointments by just making sure to schedule experiments around them and making up the time at a later date. Teching is a 40 hour a week job, but its really flexible when those hours are. I’m not a morning person so I typically arrive around 9:30 and then stay until 6 or so and that works out really well for me, other people are early birds and get here early and leave early. Depending on your PI its really nice to be able to make a schedule that works best for you.
2) There’s always something new to do and learn! Science is constantly advancing and evolving, new techniques and assays are always right around the corner. This means that you will have a lot of opportunities to broaden your skills and expand your knowledge on the scientific process. Very rarely am I bored or feeling as though I’m in a rut doing the same things everyday.
3) It’s not uncommon to find positions that are a short commitment. When interviewing ask the PI what kind of commitment they are looking for. If its just for one to three years then lab teching can be a great transitional job to beef up your resume before shifting gears to something else. Lots of people enjoy teching as a gap year job before applying to medical or graduate school, however it also can be a nice job to enjoy before trying something totally new, like teaching or data science.
4) Allows you to really experience how science works, the good and the bad. If you’ve done research as an undergrad that is a great way to get a glimpse at what scientific research is like, however it doesn’t fully showcase what full time research is like. If you want to go to grad school one day, working full time in a lab is a great way to see if that path is right for you.
5) Often are exposed to a variety of projects and techniques allowing you to cultivate a versatile resume. As a lab technician you will learn all kinds of scientific techniques that range from cutting edge experiments to routine lab maintenance tasks. It’s important to know how to do experiments that generate results, but don’t underestimate the value of knowing how to do routine procedures that allow labs to run. Being able to successfully maintain a mouse colony, conduct PCR, and other maintenance tasks can be very beneficial and really make your resume stand out when applying to future jobs.
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What’s not nice about the job:
1) Science has a unique flow to it, often times there are period of intense work followed by periods of not as much work. For some this is great because again it leaves little room for boredom. For others this variability can be very stressful, while 12+ hour days are rare, they can happen and that can be hard for a lot of people.
2) Science happens very slowly, the tedious effort can wear you down when it takes months to finally get results. But when you do finally get those results its pretty dang cool.
3) You wont always get results, experiments will fail and your hypothesis can be wrong. As a researcher you have to learn to be ok with uncertainty and failure, which is hard to do for many people. Resilience is key, and incredibly valuable. Learning to be able to thrive despite uncertainty and setbacks is an amazing skill to have which will take you far in life regardless of what you decide for a career.
4) With some labs it can be hard to develop a routine. If you’re someone who does really well with routine and structure this can be a very challenging aspect of the job. Unfortunately, you can always plan when mice will be born, and what experiments are going to work, so the work load can vary from day to day. Some days you’ll be in lab forever others not as much, some weekends you have to come in, others not at all. If you’re someone who likes routine a lot make that known to your PI from the beginning to see if that’s a possibility with their research.
Hopefully this little post is helpful in your decision to pursue the exciting job as a research/lab technician!