|
Sundae posted:My company sent out a very interesting thing last week. (I'm on vacation for my anniversary and told the company to go gently caress itself until I get back, so I have no idea how this little saga ends yet.) What a bunch of stupid fuckers. Have they never heard of worker solidarity?
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2013 17:34
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 07:45 |
|
|
I sense someone in management it getting a promotion...
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2013 22:43
|
|
|
Guess who has a hyphen in his username and got assigned by his boss to go to a special big-name HPLC/MS workshop after only a month on the job? This guy  I think he's sending me partially because I had a few months of HPLC work a few years back but maybe this is a sign that I'm kicking rear end at the new job.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2013 04:42
|
|
|
C-Euro posted:Guess who has a hyphen in his username and got assigned by his boss to go to a special big-name HPLC/MS workshop after only a month on the job?
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2013 05:14
|
|
|
Dik Hz posted:Is it sponsored by Waters? If so, he probably hates you. I don't think so, it's geared towards food chemistry and while I don't remember the name he told me (partially because he's something of a mumbler) it wasn't Waters. And two of the senior members of the lab are going as well, so maybe it's important? C-Euro fucked around with this message at 07:14 on Oct 26, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2013 06:15
|
|
|
Rumors have started flying about a reorganization at my company. I cannot thing of a worse idea than loving with corporate structure while you're still in consent decree. It's such a bad idea that it must be true.  Man, my record for picking the winners to work for is incredible. Use my career as a 'how to' guide for never having a stable job again. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2013 02:41
|
|
|
Sundae posted:Rumors have started flying about a reorganization at my company. I cannot thing of a worse idea than loving with corporate structure while you're still in consent decree. It's such a bad idea that it must be true. I know that feeling at least a little. The last plant I was working in shut down and laid most of us off earlier this year. The one I'm working for now is in the kind of shape of still running, but bonuses and pay raises are on hold. It's still a pretty decent job, though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2013 03:43
|
|
It's burgin' time! 
|
I heart bacon posted:I know that feeling at least a little. The last plant I was working in shut down and laid most of us off earlier this year. The one I'm working for now is in the kind of shape of still running, but bonuses and pay raises are on hold. It's still a pretty decent job, though. Ouch, sorry.  Today's fun: I met with manufacturing operations to help support their deviation investigation. They needed one of the technical guys to come in and help identify what could be the problem with their compression process. When I got to their meeting, I discovered that the lead investigator didn't know what root-cause investigation was, had never used a fish-bone diagram and didn't know how to assemble a fault tree. He also didn't know how the tablet compression process worked on even the most basic of levels. There's something to be amazed by every day working here.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2013 22:19
|
|
|
Sundae posted:Rumors have started flying about a reorganization at my company. I cannot thing of a worse idea than loving with corporate structure while you're still in consent decree. It's such a bad idea that it must be true. If nothing else, you have a book.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2013 05:00
|
|
|
Learning #610 about my new company: All assumptions about anything in manufacturing are wrong, even the ones which should be self-evident. Like, for example, "Assuming someone didn't just write down complete bullshit in the batch record..." It is very hard to do a root cause investigation when every single data source you can study is filled with total garbage. It's even harder when QA doesn't see a problem with that and sides with operations against you, even while you're operating under consent decree. I mean, if you won't side with procedure and scientific justification in a CD environment, when will you? 
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2013 17:38
|
|
|
Post
john ashpool fucked around with this message at 15:02 on Mar 13, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2013 19:02
|
|
|
Sundae posted:Learning #610 about my new company: All assumptions about anything in manufacturing are wrong, even the ones which should be self-evident. Why in the gently caress is QA siding with operations? That makes no loving sense.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2013 19:22
|
|
|
QC Manager no longer employed with the company. This manager is responsible for driving multiple laboratory managers to quitting and rains poo poo from the sky.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2013 20:48
|
|
|
Solkanar512 posted:Why in the gently caress is QA siding with operations? That makes no loving sense. I talked to him on the phone earlier today, and it was a combination of not understanding the problem and corporate siloing. Nobody bothered telling QA that the problem being investigated is a sore subject with the FDA, and our SOPs told quality to use a risk-management/assessment approach weighing the value of correcting the issue vs the impact to the business. (Why? gently caress if I know.) They ruled that it was a biz risk and not a patient risk, and therefore it wasn't worth looking into. (This changed instantly the second I informed them of the FDA's involvement on it. Suddenly they care. I'm just shocked.) Basically, the entire thing changed the moment I explained to them that their control strategy of 'throw out the batch if the problem happens' doesn't work when you have no batches because the regulators have killed your production line. Still, I'm running a root cause investigation completely blind because the batch records and what little data I have can't be trusted. Everyone knows the docs are crap, and yet nothing is being done about it. It is so, so aggravating.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2013 21:01
|
|
|
Turns out the plant that I was laid off from earlier this year is starting back up. They started calling a few people back including a couple that moved over to the plant I'm working in now. (There's 5 of us that made the move after the layoff) I had no intention of going back, but didn't get a call. Feelin kinda   and maybe even a little  In other news, it looks like the one HPLC did have issues with overfilled vials. The peaks came through very weak, also. Also, must try this  
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2013 23:08
|
|
|
Protip: Stay away from the H-Class. Especially for proteins. IM if you want details.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2013 15:15
|
|
|
Sundae posted:I talked to him on the phone earlier today, and it was a combination of not understanding the problem and corporate siloing. Nobody bothered telling QA that the problem being investigated is a sore subject with the FDA, and our SOPs told quality to use a risk-management/assessment approach weighing the value of correcting the issue vs the impact to the business. (Why? gently caress if I know.) I honestly do not understand how you guys aren't already shut down for any one of these things
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2013 16:16
|
|
|
edit: so far, I am liking the ISO 17025 job.
johnny sack fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Dec 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2013 05:33
|
|
|
johnny sack posted:edit: so far, I am liking the ISO 17025 job. Kickass! Deal with any audits yet?
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2013 01:33
|
|
|
Just read the entire thread, even though I don't work in biotech or pharma, my jaw dropped on a few of Sundae's posts. Anybody else here work at an FFRDC? I have a bachelor's in physics, and I've been happily employed at one for a few years doing optics/laser spectroscopy. We're not perfectly run by any means, but holy poo poo, we're pretty high functioning compared to some of the horror stories you guys have told. I was transitioning off of a project that was undergoing QC (rare for our line of work), so I had very peripheral exposure to ISO9000 standards. It just seemed like the QC engineer was around solely to have some kind of fig leaf to convince the program sponsor that we were adhering to a standardized process, when the actual R&D process was way more ad-hoc.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2013 06:44
|
|
|
Solkanar512 posted:Kickass! Deal with any audits yet? We had one to get an accreditation for flow. I don't know much about what it consisted of, just that we spent much of the previous day cleaning and organizing. It's amazing to me how much attention to detail this job requires. Every company has some minor detail about how they want this or that done, and it's easy to miss the details. The worst is when something is out of tolerance or a customer doesn't send with a crucial piece of equipment. Then we call them up, and more often than not get voicemail. Just as often we never hear back and have to spend more time than we should trying to contact them again.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2013 01:32
|
|
|
So I'm an analytical chemist and it seems like certain techniques like HPLC are highly prized, and well, I don't have experience with them because my grad research had no use for such instrumentation. Aside from volunteering in a lab like some have mentioned here, what's the best way to get experience in important techniques? A community college near here has a cGMP-simulated environment in which they offer intensive training in various instrumental techniques, HPLC among them, and I'm wondering if this would count as the experience that employers want. Especially if the hypothetical position wouldn't require interpretation of the data, just obtaining the data. It sounds kinda ridiculous in one sense to be considering this route, but then again, the fact that employers are largely unwilling to train people in this sort of stuff doesn't leave me with many options, so. Zugzwang fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Dec 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2013 20:17
|
|
|
Zugzwang posted:So I'm an analytical chemist and it seems like certain techniques like HPLC are highly prized, and well, I don't have experience with them because my grad research had no use for such instrumentation. Aside from volunteering in a lab like some have mentioned here, what's the best way to get experience in important techniques? A community college near here has a cGMP-simulated environment in which they offer intensive training in various instrumental techniques, HPLC among them, and I'm wondering if this would count as the experience that employers want. Especially if the hypothetical position wouldn't require interpretation of the data, just obtaining the data.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2013 23:48
|
|
|
Dik Hz posted:There's no surrogate for hands-on experience. But that CC based course sounds like a good resume booster, if the price is right. Oftentimes those programs are for people who already have jobs and want to expand their roles or responsibilities. It would be a good idea to e-mail the instructor and inquire about placement opportunities. The instructor most likely knows who's hiring her students. Heck, you might even get a scholarship and a guaranteed job if your resume is good.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2013 22:19
|
|
|
Whenever I job searched for chemistry-related positions, HPLC was by far the most common technique desired. I scored numerous interviews based on my having done HPLC a few times for my master's thesis. If the only way to get the experience is the CC course, and its not too expensive, go for it. If you go the CC course route, I would change your resume to the style where you list all your accomplishment/abilities under one section, then work history under another, and education under another yet. Throw the HPLC experience under the top section and mention the course in the education. The potential employer will ask about it during the interview, but doing it this way will be more likely to get you the interview in the first place. Edit: compared to the resume style of past employer with dates and your tasks/accomplishment, followed by the next past employer with tasks and accomplishment, etc etc.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2013 16:39
|
|
|
johnny sack posted:Whenever I job searched for chemistry-related positions, HPLC was by far the most common technique desired. I scored numerous interviews based on my having done HPLC a few times for my master's thesis. If the only way to get the experience is the CC course, and its not too expensive, go for it. Also, the last two chemists I hired were, in part, because of HPLC experience. So, 3 of 5 people on my team have been hired for HPLC experience.
|
|
#
?
Dec 8, 2013 20:44
|
|
|
I recently applied for a postdoc job through a recruiter on Linkedin. The posting made no mention of what company is was for but the salary mentioned was way higher than a normal academic postdoc so I figured it was for a company, where the salary would be normal. I got a call from the recruiter saying my resume was the best he'd seen and had forwarded it on! He then tells me its for a regular academic postdoc at a minor state school, dammit. He still mentioned the high salary range so I went to the school website and found the job listing. There was a typo of an extra zero in the minimum salary range. So the salary was listed from the maximum a postdoc would ever make up to over a third of a million a year... Anyway, is this recruiter actually legit? I can't see how one that actually recruited postdocs would get that detail so wrong. Do any of them search for job listings and then "claim" them as their own? Would they even be in communication with the actual hiring manager?
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 03:58
|
|
|
Why would you use a recruiter for a postdoc? Just find the absolute best lab in your field of interest and send the PI an email.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 16:53
|
|
|
Appachai posted:Why would you use a recruiter for a postdoc? Just find the absolute best lab in your field of interest and send the PI an email. This. Or use Science Jobs if your PI and institution have zero connections in the field. Also, why did you choose a mentor with zero connections his field?
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 18:25
|
|
|
BrownieMinusEye posted:I recently applied for a postdoc job through a recruiter on Linkedin. The posting made no mention of what company is was for but the salary mentioned was way higher than a normal academic postdoc so I figured it was for a company, where the salary would be normal. This sounds like a really strange process of that particular state school. I cannot imagine a PI ever going though a recruiter, but most universities require that the PI list the position opening with their HR department. This particular school might just hand over all HR openings to contingency recruiters. Anyway, a postdoc isn't really a job. The whole point is to build credentials for something else. Make a list of people you would like to work with and just contact them.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 18:43
|
|
|
I guess it sounded like I didn't know what I was doing. For all my other postdoc apps I've just contacted the PI directly. I'm wanting to eventually go into biotech but probably need some postdoc experience with a PI with more industry connections so I'm looking for that. While waiting on some postdoc opportunities I'm applying for various industry positions to see if I get lucky. An industry postdoc seems perfect for my interests so when I saw the high salary listed for a postdoc I figured it was a company looking for someone. I'm not sure why the school is using a recruiter. I've never heard of it either.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2013 19:51
|
|
|
Fun fact! When your starting material supplier screws up, and dicks you around with their investigation, you can get your passport renewed and a visa to China in a week. Thankfully, the threat of showing up at their door got them to pay attention, so I don't have to spend the holidays in China.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2013 12:41
|
|
|
gninjagnome posted:Fun fact! When your starting material supplier screws up, and dicks you around with their investigation, you can get your passport renewed and a visa to China in a week. ugh, Chinese manufacturing is the worst. You guys actually request investigation? What's the raw material if it's not a secret? We usually just reject the product and tell them to gently caress off. Then again we're not full-scale pharma. Do you speak Chinese? that's the other problem we always run into.. we have to go through the distributor for most foreign material.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2013 15:50
|
|
|
gninjagnome posted:Fun fact! When your starting material supplier screws up, and dicks you around with their investigation, you can get your passport renewed and a visa to China in a week. Congrats (on not having to go) and condolences on having to do an investigation with a foreign supplier. No matter where they are, it's always a pain.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2013 16:44
|
|
|
seacat posted:ugh, Chinese manufacturing is the worst. You guys actually request investigation? What's the raw material if it's not a secret? We usually just reject the product and tell them to gently caress off. Then again we're not full-scale pharma. Do you speak Chinese? that's the other problem we always run into.. we have to go through the distributor for most foreign material. Can't say the material, but we always ask for an investigation. It's hit or miss if it's useful. One problem is since we're research we don't typically order extra material or from multiple suppliers, and our time lines are such that we can't get more in time. The other problem, in this case is, they got crap in the material and there are some gaps in our analysis of the contaminant to get an ID, so we need some leads from the supplier to help finalize the analysis. Otherwise, quality won't let us use the material, and we miss our deliveries. I don't speak Chinese either, so that was going to be interesting as well.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2013 16:56
|
|
|
I'm bored so if anyone has any questions about Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) I'd love to occupy some time answering them. I work at one of the 'Tier 1' LIMS companies as a technical trainer.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2013 21:20
|
|
|
Lyon posted:I'm bored so if anyone has any questions about Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) I'd love to occupy some time answering them. I work at one of the 'Tier 1' LIMS companies as a technical trainer. What is LIMS, how much does it pay, and can I have a job?
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2013 21:22
|
|
|
Tigren posted:What is LIMS, how much does it pay, and can I have a job? Hah well that was fast. LIMS is laboratory management software, specifically around sample management, but most of them have extended quite a bit beyond that narrow scope. The most common use for a LIMS is to track a sample from collection, to receipt, through all of the testing and the test results, review (print CoA), and then disposal. We also have modules for specific laboratory testing such as stability, QC batches, CAPA workflows, reagent/consumable tracking, instrument maintenance/calibration schedules, analyst training, etc. A LIMS becomes the repository for all of your samples, test results, specifications, etc. Pay depends on function and experience like anything else. What is your background? We are hiring Domain Experts and Business Analysts.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2013 21:33
|
|
|
Lyon posted:Hah well that was fast. LIMS is laboratory management software, specifically around sample management, but most of them have extended quite a bit beyond that narrow scope. The most common use for a LIMS is to track a sample from collection, to receipt, through all of the testing and the test results, review (print CoA), and then disposal. We also have modules for specific laboratory testing such as stability, QC batches, CAPA workflows, reagent/consumable tracking, instrument maintenance/calibration schedules, analyst training, etc. A LIMS becomes the repository for all of your samples, test results, specifications, etc. What's the technical writer aspect of that like? Do you do documentation and that sort of thing?
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2013 22:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 07:45 |
|
|
Vladimir Putin posted:What's the technical writer aspect of that like? Do you do documentation and that sort of thing? Well I'm a technical trainer, not a tech writer, so most of my writing is in PowerPoint slide decks and Word docs with hands-on exercises they perform on the system. My job is usually post-sale but pre-implementation (for new customers) and I go on site with a customer for three days and walk them through the basics of the system. Each topic starts with me explaining the system via slides and then they perform the exercises on a cloud hosted instance of the software. It is really cool because I've been to a ton of different labs and usually get to tour them and see the setups etc. Some look like sci fi movies (usually validated pharma environments) and others look like shop floors (a metals lab and an animal carcass rendering lab). TLDR; I write training specific materials but don't really get involved with the product documentation/help files/marketing materials. Lyon fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Dec 19, 2013 |
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2013 22:39
|
|