Moving Up in the Science Field

[Delong]

I recently accepted a job as a Lab Tech. I am pretty happy about the job but I'd want to move on to something more like a Research assistant eventually. I don't know if anyone here is familiar with biology/biomedicine but is a jump like that possible? Thanks.

 

[Vanadium 50]

No, this is not possible.

 

[CrysPhys]

I recently accepted a job as a Lab Tech. I am pretty happy about the job but I'd want to move on to something more like a Research assistant eventually. I don't know if anyone here is familiar with biology/biomedicine but is a jump like that possible? Thanks.

What is your educational level? That's a key factor.

 

[RogueOne]

No, this is not possible.

Why would that not be possible? I'm not in the same field, but that would appear to be the natural progression.

 

[Vanadium 50]

A Research Assistant is a graduate student. That's not the career path for technicians.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Before readers find themselves shocked by @Vanadium 50 's reply note that there is some more history here: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/am-i-ready-for-grad-school.900790/page-2#post-5671972

@Delong I'm not unsympathetic to your situation of course. But it does look like you've ignored a lot of advice you've gotten here in the past.

-Dave K

 

[Vanadium 50]

Why is my response shocking? It's a yes/no question, and the answer is "no". Lab techs move up a different chain. You become a progressively more senior tech, and perhaps move into management - perhaps an ESHQ coordinator.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Why is my response shocking? It's a yes/no question, and the answer is "no".

"shocking" isn't the right word maybe. But I took it as a bit short and dismissive until I realized that you have tried to advise the OP in previous posts.

-Dave K

 

[Delong]

What is your educational level? That's a key factor.

I'm a bachelors degree

 

[Delong]

Before readers find themselves shocked by @Vanadium 50 's reply note that there is some more history here: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/am-i-ready-for-grad-school.900790/page-2#post-5671972

@Delong I'm not unsympathetic to your situation of course. But it does look like you've ignored a lot of advice you've gotten here in the past.

-Dave K

Well this IS the internet so you know it's not like my personal mentor or something... I like to go on this site for some perspective but a I'll admit I don't always listen to everything I read on here.

Also in my experience professors sometimes prefer to make me feel bad instead of five me life direction so I've learned to tune them out. Especially vanadium here I have blocked.

 

[RogueOne]

A Research Assistant is a graduate student. That's not the career path for technicians.

Oh I understand your perspective now, I think.

However, the OP has a bachelor's degree and was giving serious consideration to graduate school. Unless you are also implying that it is not possible for the OP to get into any graduate school, I still would not say that its impossible for this person.

Could the experience/exposure gotten from time as a lab tech gain this person any likelihood of getting into a masters program? Again, I ask these questions humbly and because I think they might add to the conversation's usefulness. Not because I think that you are wrong. I think you know about this more than I do, which is why I am asking instead of telling

 

[RogueOne]

I'm a bachelors degree

You have to be more articulate if you want to be a research assistant or graduate student.
You are not a bachelors degree.
You HAVE a bachelor's degree.

Make perfect articulation into a habit. Strive for it constantly. Do not allow yourself to ignore semantics. Communication is critical in laboratories, or any scientific institution.

 

[Delong]

Yea I have spent the past three years applying to graduate school twice and I recently got turned down again. I Will confess there have been some dark nights this past year when I got all my rejections. But it made me reflect that maybe I'm just not PhD material. I'm not the most disciplined student and accounts from others have told me that grad school can he quite a harrowing slough.

I'm focusing on getting work experience right now and maybe trying a few years later when I feel more experienced...I'm happy with my lab tech job for at least a year...

 

[RogueOne]

Work experience might actually sharpen your mental habits. I was more acedemically primed than ever, after I had taken a 2 year break from school. I worked in a lab and formed better mental habits. School was more interesting to me after I had cultivated my curiosity in the lab.

My problem with school in my first attempt at college was that I was not curious and I took no pride in my work.
When I went to work in the lab, the environment cultivated my curiosity. I went from a C student to straight As in a gruelling engineering program WHILE I was working full time.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Unless you are also implying that it is not possible for the OP to get into any graduate school, I still would not say that its impossible for this person.

I'm answering the question asked, without reading in any motivation. Besides, we don't need yet another thread on Delong and grad school.

 

[CrysPhys]

OK. There's obviously a lot of past history here. I think I had the same confusion as RogueOne, in that "Research Assistant", and various variants, is also a title used in industrial labs, and not restricted to grad students. In an industrial setting, one could advance from a lab tech to research assistant, either after X yrs of experience and a proven track record, or by getting a further degree part-time. E.g., in one industrial R&D lab I worked at, lead scientists and engineers, with a few exceptions, all had PhDs. Support personnel were classified as:

LA (HS): lab assistant
TA (2 yr associate): technical assistant
STA (4 yr bachelor): senior technical assistant.

At some point, HR decided "assistant" was not politically correct and changed it to "associate". Other labs use "research" instead of "technical".

 

[Delong]

Part of the reason I wrote this thread is to proclaim to the world that I have what it takes to work I'm a lab woohoo!

After working in a lab I realized that science is not always the glamour bomb that I fantasized. Scientists may still sometimes find their work tedious and it requires a lot of patience and dealing with uneventful isolated tasks. In the lab scientists still chat but oftentimes they are concentrating on their pipet work and need silence.

Even with this realization I still want to work in science but I realized I need to build up a certain tolerance for tedium.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Part of the reason I wrote this thread is to proclaim to the world that I have what it takes to work I'm a lab woohoo!

So yeah, let's take a moment to actually appreciate that. Tedious as it might be, it sounds like a decent job to have landed or a good start. You ARE contributing to your field (whatever the company does).

After working in a lab I realized that science is not always the glamour bomb that I fantasized. Scientists may still sometimes find their work tedious and it requires a lot of patience and dealing with uneventful isolated tasks. In the lab scientists still chat but oftentimes they are concentrating on their pipet work and need silence.

Even with this realization I still want to work in science but I realized I need to build up a certain tolerance for tedium.

I think very few scientists spent the majority of their time doing amazing whiz-bang stuff. So, not a bad tolerance to build. :D

Have you talked to the people you are working with? If the jobs you want exist in the company you are working for, they are the best people to speak with.

-Dave K

 

[dkotschessaa]

Well this IS the internet so you know it's not like my personal mentor or something... I like to go on this site for some perspective but a I'll admit I don't always listen to everything I read on here.

Also in my experience professors sometimes prefer to make me feel bad instead of five me life direction so I've learned to tune them out. Especially vanadium here I have blocked.

That's really too bad. I think you should re-interpret your experience in light of the fact that people actually ARE trying to give you good advice. Any feelings you are experience as a result of that are a result of your interpretation. They are not imposed upon you by the people giving it.

-Dave K

 

[dkotschessaa]

Work experience might actually sharpen your mental habits. I was more acedemically primed than ever, after I had taken a 2 year break from school. I worked in a lab and formed better mental habits. School was more interesting to me after I had cultivated my curiosity in the lab.

My problem with school in my first attempt at college was that I was not curious and I took no pride in my work.
When I went to work in the lab, the environment cultivated my curiosity. I went from a C student to straight As in a gruelling engineering program WHILE I was working full time.

I relate to this. My break was a little longer.. kind of a decade-ish. I wouldn't recommend that long a break for anyone else!

-Dave K

 

[Delong]

OK. There's obviously a lot of past history here. I think I had the same confusion as RogueOne, in that "Research Assistant", and various variants, is also a title used in industrial labs, and not restricted to grad students. In an industrial setting, one could advance from a lab tech to research assistant, either after X yrs of experience and a proven track record, or by getting a further degree part-time. E.g., in one industrial R&D lab I worked at, lead scientists and engineers, with a few exceptions, all had PhDs. Support personnel were classified as:

LA (HS): lab assistant
TA (2 yr associate): technical assistant
STA (4 yr bachelor): senior technical assistant.

At some point, HR decided "assistant" was not politically correct and changed it to "associate". Other labs use "research" instead of "technical".

I like your answer today a scientist at the lab I worked at recommended that I go for a Master's. It's not as hard to get into as a PhD program and I'll still make myself look better than just a bachelor's wielder. I'm on my way to look for good programs right now...

 

[dkotschessaa]

I like your answer today a scientist at the lab I worked at recommended that I go for a Master's. It's not as hard to get into as a PhD program and I'll still make myself look better than just a bachelor's wielder. I'm on my way to look for good programs right now...

Ah, so you think your issue getting into a graduate program was that you were applying for a PhD program? I usually thought that what happened (as in my case) was that if applying to a Phd Program you might get conditionally accepted in the master's program. After you earn your master's they re-evaluate.

-Dave K

 

[StatGuy2000]

Ah, so you think your issue getting into a graduate program was that you were applying for a PhD program? I usually thought that what happened (as in my case) was that if applying to a Phd Program you might get conditionally accepted in the master's program. After you earn your master's they re-evaluate.

-Dave K

I believe that is school-dependent, at least in the US. In Canada, typically students intending to pursue graduate studies apply for and are admitted to a Masters program first, and only after completing the Masters program can they continue to a PhD program (assuming they intend to pursue a PhD program at a Canadian university).

 

[Delong]

I don't know i talked with an admissions counselor and she said that some schools don't really want to admit masters degree students anyway. I guess because it doesn't ultimately benefit their program to offer just masters degrees.

Maybe I can just start doing research as a bachelors but so far none of the local institutions accept me. I got some luck doing research as a volunteer but that is not a feasible long term financial solution for me or anyone...

I literally have sent hundreds upon hundreds of jobs applications in the past four years and they all get turned down. I just want to do research I don't want to work at stupid restaurants anymore! Why does society have to be so difficult.

 

[Delong]

The more I think about how hard it is for me to get a research job the angrier I get. Rejection after rejection really turns you into a sour person eventually.

 

[Mark44]

Why does society have to be so difficult.

It's not that "society" is so difficult -- it seems to me that you are reaping what you sowed.

From one of your earlier posts in another thread:

I focused on my own interests and less on what answers the professor wanted to hear.

That, and as I recall, playing chess and otherwise not focusing on your classes. As they say, those chickens have come home to roost.

Since you have nothing new to report, I am closing this thread.