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From what I have seen, masters degrees are almost useless unless you are somehow jumping into a different field with it. I have never seen a position that accepted people with a MS while excluding people with a BS. It might matter straight out of college if both people have 0 experience and are competing for a job, but once you have experience that is all that matters (a masters usually counts for ~ 2 years experience). Jobs can be divided by requiring a PhD or not, and a MS is just as much not a PhD as a BS is. I have only been in industry doing pharma research for what that is worth, maybe it is different in academia/manufacturing or something.
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Aug 15, 2012 02:56
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You are receiving this broadcast as a dream...We are transmitting from the year one nine... nine nine ...You are receiving this broadcast in order t
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Oh hey, is this the support group for previous lab monkeys? I worked as an analytical chemist in GMP pharmaceuticals for two years and was just let go in July due to experience/fit issues. I'm trying to find a job that's more people oriented with less time in the laboratory. I'm so sick of sitting in the lab by myself all day every day working with HPLC/GC/ICP-MS/whatever without talking to anyone or seeing the light of day. Anyone have any suggestions for alternate job paths that include people time that I can use my experience for? (I like dealing with people too much, even the crazies  )
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Aug 15, 2012 03:06
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Pain of Mind posted:From what I have seen, masters degrees are almost useless unless you are somehow jumping into a different field with it. I have never seen a position that accepted people with a MS while excluding people with a BS. It might matter straight out of college if both people have 0 experience and are competing for a job, but once you have experience that is all that matters (a masters usually counts for ~ 2 years experience). Jobs can be divided by requiring a PhD or not, and a MS is just as much not a PhD as a BS is. There are a few pharma jobs where MS is entry level - I haven't seen a biotech or pharma biostatistician position that will take a bachelor's degree. Ashwat posted:Anyone have any suggestions for alternate job paths that include people time that I can use my experience for? (I like dealing with people too much, even the crazies
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Aug 15, 2012 03:24
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Ashwat posted:Oh hey, is this the support group for previous lab monkeys?
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Aug 15, 2012 04:02
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Dik Hz posted:Sales. If you don't mind 80% travel and you have experience with the equipment you'd be selling, you can make bank as a sales rep. Or Application Support Specialist (what we call them at my company) for instrumentation manufacturers. Those are the chemists who travel around helping customers/potential customers with developing and running methods on vendor specific equipment in support of sales.
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Aug 15, 2012 04:19
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Ashwat posted:Oh hey, is this the support group for previous lab monkeys? There was an ad on the radio this morning looking for scientific recruiters for a local staffing agency. They need people who are good with people to recruit and place temp-level technicians. And those recruiters need enough technical background to vet people. If you're in the Greensboro, NC area you could probably dig around and find it.
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Aug 15, 2012 04:52
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Ashwat posted:Oh hey, is this the support group for previous lab monkeys? :chorus:HI ASHWAT:chorus: QC/QA is another route to go. I used to do documentation, calibration and audit prep for a shady as all gently caress food safety testing laboratory. A year ago I used that experience to jump ship for the aerospace industry. Quality will open doors into just about any industry you'd like if you can convince an interviewer that your previous experience translates well.
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Aug 15, 2012 05:34
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Solkanar512 posted::chorus:HI ASHWAT:chorus: Solkanar, what you did seems to be a fusion of metrology and management. Quality experience does really translate well because it shows you can (a) deal with high levels of stress (b) deliver results on time and (c) pay extreme attention to detail and (d) (EDIT) multitask like hell.
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Aug 15, 2012 14:03
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Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I hadn't thought about things like an Application Support Specialist, that might be up my alley. My only issues with sales is that I'm not a single loner (I have a fiance) and traveling all the time would be rather straining for us.Solkanar512 posted::chorus:HI ASHWAT:chorus: Haha, thanks! That's what I was thinking. Working in QA seems to open a lot more doors than sitting in the lab all day. I like how QA experience seems more versatile and can be applied to other fields versus only chemistry. seacat posted:Let me just note though that if you go the QC route it is likely you WILL start in front of a HPLC/GC/ICP-MS/pH meter/viscometer/calorimeter/autotitrator all day, although the loneliness aspect described will be greatly abated by people constantly harassing you for results and releases, or to come to inspect something. Actually, I should clarify. I WAS a QC lab tech for a year. I did full in-house release testing on the same day our drug was manufactured. I also was responsible for a lot of peer review, so I think that these responsibilities would look nice when applying for QA positions (correct me if I'm wrong). I also worked with higher levels of radiation (Iodine isotopes) and received authorized user training. I've been trying to figure out how this could potentially translate to other positions and can't really think of anything where I live.
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Aug 15, 2012 15:01
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New record for me: An employer sets up an interview and when they call me, before I've even said anything, they inform me that I'm overqualified for the position.  They actually went on with the interview, too. If you've already decided I'm overqualified, why the loving hell did you go on to spend an hour interviewing me? I hung around for it because "why not?" but darned if I understand their reasoning.
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Aug 15, 2012 18:55
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TouchyMcFeely posted:Or Application Support Specialist (what we call them at my company) for instrumentation manufacturers. Those are the chemists who travel around helping customers/potential customers with developing and running methods on vendor specific equipment in support of sales. Seconding this. I recently got a job as a field service engineer (Application support specialist, field service engineer, field application specialist . . . all the same really). It is pretty awesome. I get to travel a bunch, the paycheck is sweet, I'm using my Ph.D. Check out Ed's Joblist and see if anything pops out at you.
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Aug 15, 2012 21:17
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Shbobdb posted:Check out Ed's Joblist and see if anything pops out at you. Any chance you'd want to refer me/us? sa.epitope@gmail.com
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Aug 15, 2012 23:01
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Sundae posted:New record for me:
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Aug 15, 2012 23:09
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Epitope posted:Any chance you'd want to refer me/us? Check your e-mail and good luck. You won't regret it. I've never been happier. It's like how my dad described Cox-2 inhibitors. He'd been living with terrible arthritis for years. Though it was never pleasant, the unpleasantness increased slowly enough that he was always able to adjust his lifestyle to fit around it -- he almost didn't notice it. Until he popped some of those magic drugs and realized, "Holy poo poo! I can live my life! How did I live without these and why did I not do something sooner!" Life outside the lab is fantastic.
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Aug 15, 2012 23:22
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Shbobdb posted:Seconding this. I recently got a job as a field service engineer (Application support specialist, field service engineer, field application specialist . . . all the same really). It is pretty awesome. I get to travel a bunch, the paycheck is sweet, I'm using my Ph.D. Check out Ed's Joblist and see if anything pops out at you. Ed's Joblist? Do I need to be referred? Thanks! Chicory fucked around with this message at 12:18 on Jun 1, 2020 |
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Aug 15, 2012 23:31
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Dik Hz posted:Could be that they have you in mind for a better position that they haven't requested through upper management yet, and are going to use the angle, "We already interviewed the perfect guy for this job" when they formally request it internally. It's possible, I guess? It's in the EU, so whether they can do that with a US citizen or not is outside my experience. I haven't dealt with international hiring before. (If any of you guys are looking for jobs in EU, though, Ireland's got a ton of pharma openings right now.)
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Aug 16, 2012 01:01
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Porkypocky, I work in LA with just a BS, and in a hospital no less. Keep trying, applying to all the universities and hospitals. With an MS and some good experience you can definitely find jobs around here. switching gears, I work with mice for some experiments and there are a few ways you are supposed to kill them. I've done cervical dislocation and isoflurane, but you can also gas them with CO2 in a container for a while. Ex-sanguination i think is also allowed.
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Aug 16, 2012 04:54
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I'd love a referral if you wouldn't mind. soopaflysa@gmail.com
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Aug 16, 2012 17:09
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Got another job posting in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina. We're looking for an entry level analytical chemist who's good at learning new techniques and solving a very diverse set of problems independently. It's like CSI, except with road markings instead of crime. Apply through monster or send me your resume to offwidthcrack at gmail. Edit: I'd be happy to answer any questions about the company or position. Just email me. Dik Hz fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Aug 17, 2012 |
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Aug 17, 2012 00:42
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Dik Hz posted:Got another job posting in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina. We're looking for an entry level analytical chemist who's good at learning new techniques and solving a very diverse set of problems independently. It's like CSI, except with road markings instead of crime. Apply through monster or send me your resume to offwidthcrack at gmail. email sent 
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Aug 17, 2012 02:50
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BirdOfPlay posted:I'd like to say I'd be fine, but honestly don't know. I'd imagine that this position probably has a decent turnover because of that factor, though. Still, I don't imagine that they'd be like "OK, we've finished testing with this group. Here's the mallet, see you at lunch." Just my experience, but the woman in charge of animals at my university's lab (we use rats) deals with certifications and safety standards of people working with the animals, well-being of the animals (i.e. making sure there are clean cages, bedding, etc available), and a whole host of other things. There's also staff I occasionally see in the animal area that look like they're doing basic care as well; this is a small lab of less than a dozen people that are doing animal research. Actual treatment of the animals such as administering drugs is handled by people conducting experiments. I'm not sure how it is for other labs, but at mine if I've had to euthanize a rat I've administered euthasol to it, which wikipedia says is pentobarbital. After it's believed to be dead I then have to put it in a device that looks like a guillotine except you use a lever to cut off the head. I'm not sure why we have to decapitate them but that's the protocol.
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Aug 18, 2012 05:18
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BirdOfPlay posted:
I've done a fair bit of this in the past - the specifics pretty much depend on the regulatory guidelines where you are. CO2 is pretty common, though as others have said isoflurane overdose and decapitation and even cervical dislocation are also used. I'm a fan of isoflurane, as they're really under during the process. CO2 always seems harsh to me, as it provokes a strong gasping response. Cervical dislocation is just a bunch of no fun. I like animals a lot, and was always happiest with a method where they just went out without a lot of um, issues.
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Aug 23, 2012 05:28
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Bert Fegg posted:
That's because it hurts them at above 30% CO2, I believe. The attending vet here told me that you should have the flow of CO2 initially be so low you can't hear it escaping. Then when they've stopped moving, blast the gas for 20 seconds. Also isoflurane headaches are no fun.
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Aug 24, 2012 01:51
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SA has a very strong anti-internet gumshoe policy. Which is why I feel confident saying that if you love your animals your member is big enough to cause cervical dislocation 
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Aug 24, 2012 05:51
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I'm currently looking for a job in Arizona (greater phoenix metro area - anywhere within 30-40 miles of Tempe). I've been told by a lot of recruiters that my education level is too high and that most employers are worried I will ditch them for a higher-paying job. Conversely, others say I don't have enough experience in industry and that apparently they worry that I had my hand held too much in my Ph D program by my PI (which he and any other letter of rec writer I have will state flatly is not the case - I developed all of my own experiments and project ideas, taught myself to use any instruments our lab didn't already use, and came up with a dozen different major ideas for products and projects for our lab...). I really wish I just had an opportunity to prove myself to someone high level. I've got a friend setting me up with a few local biotech/research consulting CEO's (Invent Life Sciences, AZ Bioindustry association), but it's hard to know how best to wow them when my first author papers are still about a year away from publication. I'd (jokingly) like to just say "give me a problem your company can't solve and I will come up with 3 or more solutions by the end of the week," but I feel like they wouldn't take me very seriously, and I'm just not sure how to sell myself otherwise (since coming into an interview with big ideas is how I've gotten into laboratory positions in the past - I just can't seem to get to the interview stage though). I wanna get involved in entrepreneurial science and take some ideas I have to the point of selling the IP or building a company with a group of people, and I'm fine with taking a smaller share of the pie if someone helps with the business and engineering side to accelerate development, but getting into industry so I can get taken seriously is the biggest sticking point right now. My education: MS from the U of Illinois at Champaign in Biochemistry, left my program (but in great standing with my PI and lab mates, 1st author publications pending in JACS and maybe even Nature Chemistry) - my fiancee couldn't get a residency position and we didn't wanna spend 3 years apart. Going to go back and finish my Ph. D. at ASU in a year or two but I thought I'd get a little industry experience in the interim; turns out that's a lot harder than I thought. If anyone has any suggestions or advice, or would get me some local connections in return for some free project consulting or even better parlay some free consulting into an interview or part time position, that would be awesome. I have lots of experience in techniques and the applications of concepts from inorganic/organic chemistry, biochemistry, materials science, molecular biology/{metallo}protein design, and less so bioinformatics - my lab experience was super interdisciplinary and I got to pursue a lot of different project ideas (at least 6 at a time!) with lots of funding. Email is t r y p t o p h a n 6 6 6 at g m a i l dot c o m. Or just use a PM.
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Aug 27, 2012 00:21
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I've applied for a post-doc job in the USA and the guy who interviewed me wants me to look into getting a visa; does anyone have any experience of this? Edit: I think it's a J-1 visa that I need. Scientastic fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Aug 28, 2012 |
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Aug 28, 2012 20:06
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Scientastic posted:I've applied for a post-doc job in the USA and the guy who interviewed me wants me to look into getting a visa; does anyone have any experience of this? You've probably already read this, but the National Postdoctoral Association has a report on different visa types
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Aug 29, 2012 00:59
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Appachai posted:You've probably already read this, but the National Postdoctoral Association has a report on different visa types Yeah, that was the document that made me realise that I had spent an hour researching the wrong type of visa! Thanks Immigration Services! The state department website is really terrible: There's nothing there to tell you that H1B (of which there are few) isn't necessary for visiting scientists.
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Aug 29, 2012 07:39
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Story time!!! This is pretty awesome, in my opinion, and it really stands out as a retrospective "no duh" moment that, frankly, I can't really blame them for. I'd probably have been just as big a tard. It took me a long time of staring at the e-mail to realize what a horrendous mistake it was.  So, we've got a manufacturing site over in northeastern France. They've got all the typical doodads: freeze dryers, filling lines, etc etc. You know, the kinds of manufacturing stuff that make engineers sing and scale-up experts cry. One thing worth mentioning - for better or for worse - is that the French, at least in manufacturing, still have this big culture of "made in France." Almost all of the manufacturing equipment I've seen at french manufacturing sites over the years is domestic, and if it's not domestic, it's German. Sometimes this is admirable and lovely, but sometimes... well, the design decisions are godawful. This particular freeze dryer is in a water-tight, air-tight, fully aseptic environment. (Or it pretends to be, at least.) All of its components are in the aseptic environment, including the HMI and all the HMI's associated subcomponents. Preventative maintenance season came around recently, and it was time to change the internal battery-backup to the HMI. Down goes the aseptic block, the waterproof HMI is opened up and its battery taken out, and a new one goes in. Important plot point: They put in a discharged battery and let the HMI charge it on its own, rather than put a fully charged battery in. One of the interesting design decisions was the lack of an external battery-backup. The entire system is self-contained, as far as that goes. The only things leaving the box are wires going to equipment, remote access panels, etc, and that's all heavily sealed due to the aseptic stuff. They then sealed the HMI back up - gotta keep it water-tight for the aseptic cleaning protocols - and off they went to deal with other things. The battery is a lead-acid battery. When you charge these, they release hydrogen gas. They are releasing hydrogen gas into a fully air-tight metal box with electrical circuitry in it. Some people call this an HMI. Others call it a tiny H-bomb. Here we go - it's time to go live again! Back to manufacturing! Let's power up the HMI. The act of doing this ignites the hydrogen gas, and they've just created a loving hydrogen bomb out of their HMI. The entire steel box is warped beyond recognition. The screen exploded out and send shards of glass all over the aseptic zone. Keyboard? Who the gently caress knows where it went! Down goes the manufacturing block again, this time for a much longer shutdown maintenance period, because frankly they hadn't expected anyone to detonate a bomb next to the freeze dryers. The HIM is completely ruined, but fortunately it was remotely activated, rather than turned on by an operator. No lives lost, but quite a few egos heavily bruised. Sundae fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Aug 29, 2012 |
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Aug 29, 2012 16:39
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Scientastic posted:I've applied for a post-doc job in the USA and the guy who interviewed me wants me to look into getting a visa; does anyone have any experience of this? I held a J-1 Visa when I went to work in the US from Canada back in 2008. I think I kept all the paperwork. Unfortunately for you the department did a lot of the leg-work for me, so they sent me a copy of the Visa I used, and renewed it for me when I stayed past the 1-year time limit, so I have no experience procuring any of those documents myself. You could always contact university's student affairs/foreign students office and ask what they can do for you - they go through this all the time. The one thing I recall that was never well explained was paying $100 to Homeland Security for the honor of working in the US. I'm sure I kept the certificate they sent me - I'll look for it when I get home. You may also have other considerations that I didn't have to worry about, since Canadian citizen Visas are somewhat streamlined given the number of us who end up working in the US. Sundae posted:The battery is a lead-acid battery. When you charge these, they release hydrogen gas. They are releasing hydrogen gas into a fully air-tight metal box with electrical circuitry in it. Some people call this an HMI. Others call it a tiny H-bomb. Not to be pedantic, but an H-bomb is a thermonuclear fusion bomb. That said, a pressurized hydrogen-gas explosion sounds scary as gently caress, and I'm glad no one got hurt. I guess it's a small mercy the box was so well contained, otherwise the shrapnel could have destroyed the entire area. Jerbs Oh, and if anyone is interested in working in the land of moose and poutine, my company is currently hiring for at least 3 scientific jobs: http://www.imagingprobes.ca/careers/ Feel free to ask me about the company or for any clarification, though I'm most familiar with the Discovery group, and I think we're full up at the present. But I have enough friends in other departments who could give me a clear picture of the various jobs. If you like radioisotope work, we work with plenty (18F, 68Ga, 123/124/125/131I, 64Cu, 73/76As, 111In, etc.).
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Aug 30, 2012 13:59
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My bad on the naming convention there. I am a biologist turned waste-of-space, so I screwed up. 
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Aug 30, 2012 20:02
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Sundae posted:My bad on the naming convention there. Turned?
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Aug 30, 2012 20:06
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BobTheFerret posted:I'm currently looking for a job in Arizona (greater phoenix metro area - anywhere within 30-40 miles of Tempe). I've been told by a lot of recruiters that my education level is too high and that most employers are worried I will ditch them for a higher-paying job. Conversely, others say I don't have enough experience in industry and that apparently they worry that I had my hand held too much in my Ph D program by my PI (which he and any other letter of rec writer I have will state flatly is not the case - I developed all of my own experiments and project ideas, taught myself to use any instruments our lab didn't already use, and came up with a dozen different major ideas for products and projects for our lab...). Also, when you send out resumes, include in your cover letter a specific technique you developed that relates to the job to which you're applying and it's significance. Emphasize that you designed experiments and developed methods on your resume. Don't just list techniques; that makes it look like you're looking for a QA job, which you will most likely be overqualified for with your education level.
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Aug 31, 2012 02:54
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I have an MS in Biochem and Mole Bio. I've been working in Food Safety for ~3 years enforcing government regulations. I don't really like my promotion potential within my agency, but I'm not terribly familiar with jobs in the private sector. Does anybody have any suggestions for the type of jobs I should be looking at?
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Sep 5, 2012 13:50
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BrainParasite posted:I have an MS in Biochem and Mole Bio. I've been working in Food Safety for ~3 years enforcing government regulations. I don't really like my promotion potential within my agency, but I'm not terribly familiar with jobs in the private sector. Does anybody have any suggestions for the type of jobs I should be looking at? Aerospace. Do you ever work/inspect/deal with private food safety labs? There's one I used to work with that was fairly large, and was loving crazy. If you can talk about such things, I"m more than happy to drop the name.
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Sep 5, 2012 16:33
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Solkanar512 posted:Aerospace. I actually inspect facilities that make food for the general public, but I'd be interested to learn more, could you send me an email at my user name @gmail.com?
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Sep 6, 2012 13:25
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BrainParasite posted:I actually inspect facilities that make food for the general public, but I'd be interested to learn more, could you send me an email at my user name @gmail.com?  gently caress yes I will. Expect something later tonight.
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Sep 6, 2012 19:22
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I recently decided to switch career paths from optometry to lab work, and have no idea what to put on my resume in terms of laboratory skill sets. Any help? I've taken basic bio, chem, physics, o-chem, anatomy, and physiology back in college, but can't think up any specific skills I've learned.
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Sep 10, 2012 20:56
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First of all, what do you mean by "lab work"? What kind of lab and what setting?
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Sep 11, 2012 00:24
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In the long term I plan on going for a CLS certification, but for now most likely biotech manufacturing or something similar.
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Sep 11, 2012 04:20
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