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I was a field service engineer / apps guy for a liquid handling instrument. Small company. Depending on what kind of stuff you do, there might be a lot of travel. Was a deal breaker for me personally. Keep that in mind as you're looking for jobs. Some people love it, but it can be pretty grueling.
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May 22, 2019 19:33
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majestic12 posted:It didn't help that my service territory was 'North America'. I really liked the role and all my coworkers but 5 years was enough for me. With a smaller territory I might have stayed longer in my FSE position. North America is a lot of travel when you have a team of 2-3. If your territory seems manageable you will be okay. Just know that if there's an emergency, you're helping out. My wife hated me being gone more than I did. I didn't particularly enjoy it but it wasn't horrible. Was fun to see new cities, but was a lot less fun without my wife - we do most things together. Sucks to not be able to make plans mid week because you may be flying out that day too. This isn't too discourage you, but definitely talk about it a lot and think about the family life implications. Feel out the waters with this interview.
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Jun 13, 2019 18:02
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Dik Hz posted:He was probably looking for how you describe a technical process and that's the most technical process he knows/thinks everyone should know. Also looking for people that are "handy". Could just be that they had one FSE that got a flat and couldn't change it and their customer's instrument was down for an extra day. Who knows. May not be the end of the world though. Looking at the manual is a safe enough answer (assuming they have one for their instruments). Some people would rather teach the science to tinkerers/handy folks than the other way around though and it could have been a proxy to gauge how you'd handle swapping a PCB behind four other components. If you thought the rest of it went fine you'll probably get a call back.
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Jun 25, 2019 23:04
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Career progression question: Currently work as a "Liquid Handling Automation Specialist" but my title is Senior RA. Have a masters in bioengineering and do a lot of genetics work right now. My role currently involves programming with the Hamilton Star and running samples through my methods. I did some FSE work prior on some bulk dispensers which is how I got into this. Recently had a mid year review and it's difficult to identify growth opportunities to pursue. I'm the only one here doing this sort of work so there's not much in the way of mentoring opportunities either. I'm doing fine and the boss is happy with what I've got done so far since starting, but I'm starting to get a bit bored now that I've got the bulk of my programming done. I'm not really a part of the actual science that's going on currently, but my group is more along the lines of helping therapeutic areas figure out how to get the data they want anyways. I'm happy to use my free time at work to do personal growth projects but having a hard time coming up with things. I'm not sure what sort of job comes next here but I was going to poke around various postings and identify some skills to work on. Any thoughts? Like I'm happy with my job but just getting bored now that the initial rush of learning a new system is over. I know it's kind of vague but TLDR: have some spare time and want to keep learning new things to prevent being bored, but also want it to be relevant to my current role.
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Jun 27, 2019 15:10
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Shrieking Muppet posted:Question for instrument service goons, how did you guys get your foot in the door? After I'd say to target the manufacturers of instruments that you've worked with (and fixed?) to start out with. Reach out to the FSEs that you've worked with in the past and ask them about their jobs. If you're generally helpful and saved them trips or do a lot of the troubleshooting they'll remember you and would probably refer you if their team is hiring. Otherwise just apply to the roles and be ready to talk about how you've troubleshot and fixed anything. Cars, lab equipment, bikes, Arduino stuff you've made, it's all fair game here and they'll be looking to see something that demonstrates you can turn a screwdriver or use an ammeter.
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Oct 25, 2019 14:25
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Could just be desperate people trying to get equipment. Supply chain issues may mean the manufacturer isn't able to produce them at the moment? Probably just a scam but if you actually worked with that instrument and have published on it maybe it's legit?
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May 22, 2021 20:29
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Anyone ever work for a super small startup? I just interviewed last week and it seems like I'm going to get an offer. I've set the floor to be about a 30%-35% raise over my current base salary and they didn't have any concerns with that. There is also an equity component to the offer that I don't know the details of yet. Here's my dilemma: I've got options with my current company that are worth about 1-2x my annual salary vesting through the end of 2022. I also get RSUs and options granted as long term incentives. I'm a bit unmotivated and disengaged in my current position which is why I interviewed, but there's a lot of expected change for me in my role this year which should help with that. I'd be employee #10-30 which could be exciting but I know it's going to be a ton of work. I also don't know what the science behind their idea is yet and that'll get disclosed before I have to decide if I want to take the offer. Any thoughts? I think I should just hang out with my golden handcuffs for another year and a half and reevaluate but I do like the people I interviewed with and wouldn't want to close doors with them by declining an offer..
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Jun 2, 2021 23:58
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Appreciate the input. 100% overthinking it but I haven't worked for such an early stage company. Worked for a few that are "run like a startup" (aka cheap) or are super small and established and had mixed experiences. Real stock options currently, but a pretty volatile price. Hard to evaluate because I won't know what the platform actually is until next week. Once that happens it might be easier to think of it as a good opportunity. Also might be having kid number 2 within the year, so this whole startup thing popping into my lap right now is throwing me.
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Jun 4, 2021 11:13
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Not quite mass spec but when I saw that the epMotion 96 stamp tool used an ipod touch for it's UI I was pretty shocked.
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Jul 22, 2021 00:34
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We generate RNAs (60-100nt) with places like Genscript, Axolabs and probably some others that I can't think of right now. They have done like 5mg for us pretty regularly of a single RNA sequence with decent enough purities. Can get expensive but worth checking out, can't imagine they wouldn't accommodate a bigger order. Mr Newsman fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Feb 2, 2022 |
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Feb 2, 2022 21:25
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Welcome to the 'get paid' club 
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Aug 24, 2022 13:53
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BRAKE FOR MOOSE posted:Does anyone have tips for first-step interviewing for discovery biology scientist positions? Basically, I'm a CRISPR and NGS guy mostly interviewing at early-stage companies and every interview goes through the same thing where they're kinda trying to figure out my experience and I can't figure out what the gently caress they really do but it involves RNA. I work for a flagship backed company that came out of stealth last year. I joined before they launched and they were very tight lipped about everything science related. I had even signed an NDA prior to interviewing and nobody was really giving up the goods at that point. Once I verbally said I was interested in an offer, I sat down with a VP and the CSO and went through their (essentially) pitch deck. As already mentioned, talk about a project you've taken from start to finish. I'd ask questions to get an idea about how well they're doing science which would dovetail into you demonstrating knowledge about the QC for NGS preps you do, or setting up controls, or whatever.
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Aug 24, 2022 20:12
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Snack Bitch posted:Is it standard to have to label every single box, chair, and piece of equipment with a form saying it has been cleaned/decontaminated? Probably depends on what you work with and what company you're using to move tbh. Definitely part of the process for the smaller moves I've done (BSL 1& 2). Usually just surface decon though.
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Aug 24, 2022 21:02
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Dobbs_Head posted:Our company has decided that buying a LIMS looks too hard, we’re just going to build our own. Enjoy your 1/4 finished LIMS that's going to be killed off in a year and a half when the dev in charge of it finds a new job 
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Aug 25, 2022 23:52
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ATP_Power posted:My PI's asked me to start looking into setting up an automated pipeline for prepping Illumina and Nanopore libraries for our lab. I'm totally ignorant of what's out there and what's good in the world of lab robots. Anyone here got any experience and recommendations? What's your budget / throughput? Automated liquid handlers like the Hamilton STAR will be like 200-300k. You can get a microlab prep from Hamilton for 30-50k. Automating bead-cleanup with a Cytena CWash or BlueCat BlueWash will run you 60-95k and is a huge time/tip savings. Bulk dispensers like a Formulatrix Mantis will cost 50-100k. Biomek and Agilent have low sample (>24), end to end prep machines that I saw at SLAS last year. nGeniuS is a closed system kit solution but I don't know if they do an nanopore stuff. Edit:SPT labtech has a lot of options in this space as well. Getting a 96head Integra, a plate washer, and something that can sub pool/normalize your samples will do a lot to get started for pretty cheap. Mr Newsman fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Aug 24, 2023 |
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Aug 24, 2023 17:03
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On the fully automated end of the spectrum, you can get a system built for library prep for like 40-60 plates a week from integration vendors like HighRes or Biosero for 1.5million or so all in (software, build, instruments).
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Aug 24, 2023 17:32
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Good call - there are third party vendors that sell used equipment but I don't have experience with that. Copia Scientific / Boston Industries are ones I've heard of. Another option for liquid handlers would be Opentrons. I haven't used one personally but it might be worth exploring. They recently had a product release.
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Aug 25, 2023 02:04
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crabrock posted:what's the best solution for just magnetic bead cleanup. that's the part i hate the most and we have to do it 4x for our prep. Centrifugal washers like the CWash or BlueWash are worth it if you can get the capex. Their tradeoff is beadloss. Doesn't impact our workflow at all though. I haven't bothered doing things to minimize it. Takes 2-3 minutes with 2-3 mins of waiting for beads to settle to do a 2x ethanol wash. Definitely worth the 60-90k, and you can recoup that cost pretty quick from the tip savings alone. Should be able to demo one pretty easily!
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Aug 30, 2023 11:00
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Also fyi I'm running both right now. CWash is integrated on a STAR, BlueWash is used standalone. BlueWash software is archaic but I've never had an issue with it. CWash software is polished but I've had a lot of issues with the hardware. Plates bind intermittently. Other people I know with one don't have this issue.
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Aug 30, 2023 11:32
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Ah yeah. I don't have experience with those lower throughput platforms - I did see the nGenius from Beckman at SLAS a couple of years ago and it was pretty slick. I didn't spend much time with them though due to the tiny throughput. We're processing 40-60 96w plates a month.
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Aug 31, 2023 15:10
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Did you already check/ask about the benefits to know that it wouldn't be covered? Depending on the type of startup you might have comparable benefits. I worked for a flagship company and the only thing I didn't get was a 401k match. There's obviously an entire corporate support structure with Flagship that may or may not be present with your opportunity. That said I used my wife's health insurance but their offering wasn't horrible.
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Oct 30, 2023 14:41
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 08:08 |
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Shrieking Muppet posted:Not yet, didn’t dawn on me I could ask a recruiter, Then again they would say anything to get a pay check. Might go through the interview ritual and see what they offer. Yeah I wouldn't bother with asking for benefits information at that point. Go through the motions, see if you're interested, then get the deets when it is time to negotiate a salary. RadioPassive posted:The job is so loving stressful I want to loving die. gently caress.
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Oct 30, 2023 20:07
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