The Job Hunt Thread

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Yep.  When things chanced at LAR and we could no longer use ether to knock down rats, we moved to ketamine because it was 'recommended' and we also kept it in stock for the work on the monkeys.  Only problem is that it was almost impossible to titrate it to the rats.  We needed them to be still for 10 minutes and not move.  If you gave enough to knock them down, it killed them.  I was lucky if I wound up with 5 animals in a group of 10 at the end of a study (after starting with 12).  Using ether, I *might* lose 1-2, I'd still have the full group of animals at the end of a 4 month study.

All we were doing was collecting saliva from the rats, they didn't need any analgesia.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

We are using ketamine/xylezene.   It was suggested to try a different anathesia or eliminate the xylezne but she wasn't receptive to the idea.

They observed me today to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong.  They saw the same afib pattern I did.  They've all behaved that way.  Four have died, so far four have lived.

So at least it was validated that I am not causing them to drop dead due to not performing my job correctly.  I'll take that for now.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 25, 2015 13:14:56 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

We are using ketamine/xylezene.   It was suggested to try a different anathesia or eliminate the xylezne but she wasn't receptive to the idea.

They observed me today to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong.  They saw the same afib pattern I did.  They've all behaved that way.  Four have died, so far four have lived.

So at least it was validated that I am not causing them to drop dead due to not performing my job correctly.  I'll take that for now.

At this point, I'd be going to the literature to find out what others are using.  If you can put together a decent case of changing out the anesthesia, then this is one place that you can push back.  Losing 50% of your group is NOT good, especially if it's a longitudinal study.  Just be sure that you can defend your choices.

I have done this more than once.  I see something that works, albeit badly.  I research better options and propose them to my PI, along with the research defending my idea.  

Another idea....can you change the ratio of the 2 drugs?  Which of the drugs is causing the afib?  Are they already combined or do you combine them?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I titer based on the weight of the mouse so this isn't guess work on dosing so it's not that.

The initial dose is ket/xyl at 20/3 mg/mL concentration.   Then they get ketamine only for the duration of the experiment at 20 mg/mL titered to half the amount of the intial dose.

So if they got 0.14 mL at the start they get 0.07 mL as needed thru the rest of the experiment.

We noticed today it happens after the first/2nd dose of ketamine.   That's a good half hour or more after the initial dose.

They think it may be the xylenze but aren't sure.  She said usually xylenze is the culprit since it slows heart rate.   But they are dying long after I gave them xylenze, it should have worn off by the time they croak.

Watching it today it appears to happen right after I give the second dose of ketamine. 

For now she's decided we'll split the data gathering up into two days.  That reduces the amount of anathesia they need at one time and gives them time to recover between sessions.

Since we're doing noise baselines these mice have to be QUIET.  I tried dosing them with a smaller percentage but things got too noisy and they woke up before I could complete the exercise.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

We here will tell you all the time to go ahead and apply for jobs you do not meet all of the qualifications for, if you meet a good number of the qualifications, or are close to doing so. But please, be smart about it. Be close. Let it make sense. Don't be grasping at straws. Because then you just annoy the person who has to look at resumes.

I thought about this last night.   While I understand where you are coming from after having the lovely experience of signing up for unemployment in Nebraska I can also kinda understand where these people are coming from as well.

I had to apply for 2 full time jobs per week if I wanted to keep my benefits.  And it had to be a NEW posting every time, they weren't going to allow me to apply to McD's twice a week.

There are not 2 full time (or even part time) jobs per week in my field, if I there was I probably wouldn't have had to file in the first place.  I am lucky there are two new jobs a month.   Since I got hired on here there well has completely dried up.

If I was unemployed I'd be starting to send in random applications about now.  Nebraska doesn't care that the job requires a PhD, they don't look that close.  They are just going to see it is a full time positon in an area where I might have some expertise.

I understand I am annoying people when I do that BUT I also need to what I gotta do to pay the bills.  If that means pissing off a random hiring manager I am cool with it. 


Just an idea on why the people with the bachelor's may have been applying despite not being remotely qualified.

[shanendoah]

NomoreDramaQ1015 - I get where you are coming from, but WA unemployment works differently. You have to apply to 3 jobs a week, and in order for them to count (if you get audited - and C and I were both audited while on UE) they have to be appropriate level jobs. As an MBA with management experience, I could not have applied for receptionist level jobs and had it count. As a middle manager, I also couldn't have applied to CEO jobs a major corps and have it count. I did apply for COO jobs at small companies, and those worked. But WA unemployment laws want you applying for jobs you could actually get. Applying for jobs that you are patently unqualified for is considered the same as not looking for work/trying to cheat the system.
That, and both of those applicants are currently employed.

[Lizard Queen]

There's also the situation where help wanted ads tend to ask for everything under the sun that would make up the ideal candidate, but may have to settle for less.  How do they know where the line is?  Granted, someone with a bachelor's going for a job requiring a Phd is still  .




So, for my job search, it's still sort of on.  I'd found a couple possibilities, then my mom would take a turn for the worse, so I wouldn't apply right away, then too much time has lapsed.  Rinse and repeat.    

DS1 is going to a different elementary school in our home district.  Due to being, technically, a schools of choice student, he has to wait 3 weeks until he can ride the bus to the sitter's after school.  That puts me a month out for starting a job, as school doesn't start until the 8th.  Plus, there is nothing out there for me now--not the hours I can do anyway.      I am ready to get back to work.  I wasn't completely before, but I am now.  Money-wise, we're still okay.  Not good, not great, going through a little savings, but fine.  What bugs me is the total lack of progress.  I want to move forward in my career and retirement savings.  A new car or 2 would be nice as well, but we have the cash sitting around for that.  (As long as we don't spend it, it can be for various things.  If we spend it, it's just gone.)  I want to have a mom too...

Anyway, since this thread has slowed down as people have gotten employed over the last few months, there's my non-update. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Here's my 0.02....

In academia, there are positions where it is written in stone that you MUST have a PhD.  In a job title, Principle Investigator is usually the cue here, but not necessarily a Research Scientist.  So I'd likely have to see how the job description is written to determine if I would consider applying for this if I was looking here.

There are dozens of title descriptions for those of us who have done research, regardless of degree.  In my old job, I was a Senior Research Associate, which was the only title track that included possibly a PhD (I was working on it at the time), and not be a faculty position.  Because I was working on it at the time I received it, that was why HR stuck me in this track (probably with a lot of discussion from my boss).  There was also a position called Research Scientist, where the job requirements were a BS with 4 years experience or a MS with 12 years (IOW, lesser requirements).  No need for a PhD whatsoever, even though I'm sure that a PhD could apply for it.

[shanendoah]

Lizard Queen - sometimes stagnancy is the hardest thing. I hope things settle down and that you are able to find something soon.

The Walk of the Penguin Mich - We have multiple levels of Research Scientist/Engineer here, and they do not all require a PhD. However, the top level- Research Scientist - Principal Investigator, does require the PhD. The job description not only stated that a PhD and over 7 years work experience were needed, but also that the person in the position would be responsible for securing the majority of their own funding after an initial start up phase funded by the department. (It is the staff version of a research faculty position, and the reason it tends to be used instead of research faculty are either preference of the PI, or because it's faster to get someone on board with a staff position, and then do a faculty hire and search.)

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I understand.  For the most part it is incredibly hard to secure funding unless you have that terminal degree.  But why would the job be classified as a Research Scientist/Principal Investigator?  Wouldn't it make more sense to advertise it as a Principal Investigator and leave the confusing point about Research Scientist out of it?

[mojothehelpermonkey]

I had another strange interview. It was with a China-based company that is looking to start up a branch in my area. The hiring manager has only been in contact through phone, and we had last spoken on Thursday to schedule an interview for yesterday. He said he would email me the location, but he never did. I only had to company's general phone number to follow up, so I decided to just let it go. I wasn't that excited about the position anyway.
Then on Tuesday, 15 minutes after the time we were supposed to meet, another person called to see if I was still planning on showing up. I explained that they had never gotten back to me with the location, so I assumed the interview was canceled. They apologized and asked me to come in today. This time they sent the location right away.
The interview location was difficult to find since they just moved there and didn't have any signs up. I wasn't late, but I was kind of sweaty by the time I got there. The first round of interviews seemed to go well. For the second round, I was meeting with someone higher up, and they had to bring in someone from the R& department to translate. That was a little awkward. Especially at one point, when it seemed like the interviewer thought that I was interviewing for a different position that would require relocation. The guy who walked me out at the end was refreshingly honest. He told me that they really liked my technical skills, but I seemed really nervous during the interview. He also said that to really move up at this company, I would have to speak Chinese. That's been the case at me last 2 jobs.
Anyway, my SO and I have been talking more about moving back to my hometown. We would both have to do some retraining and I would probably never earn as much I did at my last job, but the cost of living would be much lower. Plus we would have a free place to live at first and would reasonably be able to afford something within a year or so of finding jobs.

[shanendoah]

The Walk of the Penguin Mich - Because the HR job title is Research Scientist - PI (instead of Research Scientist I, II, III, etc), and I am not allowed to change their titles.

mojothehelpermonkey - If you think you will be happy with the change and have the savings to afford to move without anything lined up, I can't see how it would hurt.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

That's too bad, because it is pretty ambiguous.  I suspect that the title is what is causing your problem.

i wouldn't look twice at a title with PI, but I would the Research Scientist.  The fact that Research Scientist comes first in the title makes it seem like that is the priority, not the PI.

jmho

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I agree.  I applied for several "Research Scientist" positions at companies where they didn't require a PhD.   They might ideally want one but they didn't REQUIRE one.

It's bad out there right now for anyone with a biology degree.  So while annoying to hiring managers I can't blame them for taking a chance.

Is it clear that you must have a PhD no execeptions or is everyone supposed to understand?

Reason I ask is b/c the ones that absolutely required a PhD stated it very clearly.  Some also went as far as to state no masters or bachelor's degrees will be accepted.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I received notice today that I have been awarded unemployment insurance benefits for the month of August. I was initially put into the system as "under review" because in my state if you work for school districts and don't actually lapse from one year to the next, you don't get unemployment benefits. However, because I transitioned from administration to teaching due to a layoff, I am not getting an August paycheck at all, even in the lump of paychecks that I received on June 30. 

On June 30, I received my June 30 paycheck and my July 30 paycheck. In my new district, I will not get a paycheck until September 25. 

I'm grateful that the state agreed with me. My husband actually told me not even try to get it because he thought it was futile and then I'd just be even more sad and annoyed. I'm really not working, so I had the time to at least try. I didn't want to have any regrets about not even trying, so I went for it. I'm only getting about 50% of my prior monthly net, but that's better than nothing!

[lurkyloo]

I think the two BA-level applicants probably didn't read the job description and just applied for anything that said Research Scientist.    Sloppy, but the callback rate on internet job applications is so incredibly low (at least in science) that I can understand people taking a shotgun approach.

Have to say, I've gotten some callbacks I never would have expected--one in an adjacent field, one in a field a few steps over, and one directly in my field where they wanted at least 5 years of managerial experience of which I have none.  Didn't get any offers, although for the last of those I think they discounted me when I said I had another offer pending...I would have loved to be able to take that job, but it wasn't as good a fit for DH and I would have had trouble balancing it with being the go-to parent for DS.

[emma1420]

Aug 25, 2015 7:40:20 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

It's one thing when you're a grad student and there's an end in sight, but it sounds like you're working more than 8 hours a day as a tech without getting paid for the overtime.

Yep, this position is salaried.   DH wasn't thrilled when I told him that.   He has a point that I've never been well compensated but at least I would get overtime if I had to stay late.  Now I don't get that so they can get several more hours of work out of me for "free" on top of the piss poor compensation academia already offers.

FWIW my bosses commiserate with me on that but their hands are tied when it comes to salary.   We talked about paying me $35k in the interview but that is the top of the salary range set for this position so the company said no.

I suppose I should be grateful they didn't try to pay me $27k.  That's the bottom of the salary range for this position.  

if the new overtime salary guidelines go into place in 2016, then you will have to be paid overtime.  Here is the report from the Department of Labor:


www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/NPRM2015/factsheet.htm

Right now, I think anyone who is salary but paid over 24-25K doesn't have to be paid overtime.  Starting sometime in 2016, that salary requirement will $47,892.  So if you make less than that (which you do), then they will have to pay you overtime.  It will be interesting to see how they handle that.  I think if that rule goes into effect a lot of organizations are going to be scrambling (including my own).

[emma1420]

Aug 26, 2015 14:07:29 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

Lizard Queen - sometimes stagnancy is the hardest thing. I hope things settle down and that you are able to find something soon.

The Walk of the Penguin Mich - We have multiple levels of Research Scientist/Engineer here, and they do not all require a PhD. However, the top level- Research Scientist - Principal Investigator, does require the PhD. The job description not only stated that a PhD and over 7 years work experience were needed, but also that the person in the position would be responsible for securing the majority of their own funding after an initial start up phase funded by the department. (It is the staff version of a research faculty position, and the reason it tends to be used instead of research faculty are either preference of the PI, or because it's faster to get someone on board with a staff position, and then do a faculty hire and search.)

Some people simply apply for anything that sounds interesting without even bothering to read the qualifications required.  It's why when we post an IT position we get people who work at Kinkos, fast-food workers, and all sorts of other people who have absolutely no training or qualifications.  It's even worse when we hire for an administrative position, because we get tons of people who read the job description and think they can do the job, and so apply without having any of the experience or qualifications.

It's just part of the drawback of hiring.  I think it's good to apply for stretch positions.  Where you have many of the qualifications/experience but not all, because you never know if an employer is having a very difficult time finding the right candidate and may consider someone with fewer qualifications or a little less experience (and in your case the person with the Master's is getting her CV passed along, which he/she wouldn't have done without applying).  But, I agree that doesn't make sense to apply for jobs that you are clearly wildly unqualified for.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

sometime in 2016, that salary requirement will $47,892. So if you make less than that (which you do), then they will have to pay you overtime. It will be interesting to see how they handle that

I can imagine it's going to make finding full time work in my field VERY hard and be a potenital death blow ot academic research.  We're paid jack shit b/c we're on grants which are limited amounts of money.  If there was enough money to pay for overtime I wouldn't be making jack shit.

That's why I am salaried.  That's why I kept getting a nastygram from payroll if I worked late at UNMC.

Work vent, I feel like I am NEVER going to get on top of this job and that all I am doing is pissing people off.  I wanted to leave at 4 pm yesterday so I could go to back to school night.  I got three mice done b/c I agreed to come in early.  I thought that was reasonable and I did a good job.

Apparently I supposed to finish the last mouse this morning.  We didn't talk about that we discussed doing a noise exposure.  The mice to be exposed are clean, the mouse from last night is dirty (norovirus) so I assumed we'd be doing the noise exposure in the morning, dirty mouse in the afternoon.   There was no email telling me otherwise and my bosses don't come in till around 9:30-10:00.   Guess I should have called one of their cell phones.  She admitted she should have sent me an email to make sure we were both on the same page.

So I set everything up b/c I can get her done before the afternoon.  WRONG.   She's super tiny so I managed to miss the injection mark just enough that she wouldn't go completely down.  I gave her a tad more and she still wouldn't go down. She's up and walking around now.  I didn't want to OD her so I called to ask what to do.  Boss is going to meeting can't talk, put her her in recovery.

Dammit dammit dammit.   Every time I think I am making progress I screw things up again.  

I think I will offer to stay later today.  I can't keep fucking things up since everything is already behind between stuff they need to do, their previous tech quitting on short notice and having to train me. 

I know I know everyone has a bad day/week but I can't really afford to.   Plus I am paranoid b/c I don't have the years of experience/knowledge to offset having a bad day/week like i did at UNMC.  One bad week out of five years is nothing.   Three dead mice last week and now a missed inection this week and I've only been here two months. .. bad.

And yes I am aware my self esteem/confidence is in the toilet and my insecurity is off the charts.    I am just so FRUSTRATED with this job I want to cry but that would be extremely unprofessional so I am keeping it all on here.

[flamingo]

Aug 28, 2015 10:39:34 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

sometime in 2016, that salary requirement will $47,892. So if you make less than that (which you do), then they will have to pay you overtime. It will be interesting to see how they handle that

I can imagine it's going to make finding full time work in my field VERY hard and be a potenital death blow ot academic research.  We're paid jack shit b/c we're on grants which are limited amounts of money.  If there was enough money to pay for overtime I wouldn't be making jack shit.

That's why I am salaried.  That's why I kept getting a nastygram from payroll if I worked late at UNMC.

Work vent, I feel like I am NEVER going to get on top of this job and that all I am doing is pissing people off.  I wanted to leave at 4 pm yesterday so I could go to back to school night.  I got three mice done b/c I agreed to come in early.  I thought that was reasonable and I did a good job.

Apparently I supposed to finish the last mouse this morning.  We didn't talk about that we discussed doing a noise exposure.  The mice to be exposed are clean, the mouse from last night is dirty (norovirus) so I assumed we'd be doing the noise exposure in the morning, dirty mouse in the afternoon.   There was no email telling me otherwise and my bosses don't come in till around 9:30-10:00.   Guess I should have called one of their cell phones.  She admitted she should have sent me an email to make sure we were both on the same page.

So I set everything up b/c I can get her done before the afternoon.  WRONG.   She's super tiny so I managed to miss the injection mark just enough that she wouldn't go completely down.  I gave her a tad more and she still wouldn't go down. She's up and walking around now.  I didn't want to OD her so I called to ask what to do.  Boss is going to meeting can't talk, put her her in recovery.

Dammit dammit dammit.   Every time I think I am making progress I screw things up again.  

I think I will offer to stay later today.  I can't keep fucking things up since everything is already behind between stuff they need to do, their previous tech quitting on short notice and having to train me. 

I know I know everyone has a bad day/week but I can't really afford to.   Plus I am paranoid b/c I don't have the years of experience/knowledge to offset having a bad day/week like i did at UNMC.  One bad week out of five years is nothing.   Three dead mice last week and now a missed inection this week and I've only been here two months. .. bad.

And yes I am aware my self esteem/confidence is in the toilet and my insecurity is off the charts.    I am just so FRUSTRATED with this job I want to cry but that would be extremely unprofessional so I am keeping it all on here.

First, take a deep breath. You can handle this job, you were hired because your bosses think/know you can do it. I know FOR ME, when I get that frustrated, everything just keeps going down hill.

Second, and please take this in the caring/loving spirit I mean it, have you thought about seeing a doctor for depression/anxiety? You've had a LOT of upheaval this past year. It might be worth a visit with your doc. No one should feel that anxious/worried all the time, and your posts seem to come off like you are ALWAYS worried/anxious/depressed. If you are never relaxed and always worried, other people IRL might start noticing (ie your bosses) and that could make a bad situation even worse.

Third, feel free to ignore me I'm not a psychiatrist, nor do I play one on TV. I would just hate for any of this anxiety to come out at work/IRL and cause you problems. And you (global you) can only hide it so long before it starts to leak out everywhere.

Good luck.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Second, and please take this in the caring/loving spirit I mean it, have you thought about seeing a doctor for depression/anxiety

Yes. I probably should talk about it at my physical.  I need to set an appointment for that.  I need to get my hormones checked out.  I am not sure if they are a cause or fuel to the fire.  I started weaning Abby around the same time all this happened and I know I got severely depressed when I weaned Gwen.

It's just HARD.  I know part of it is being alone.  I don't need anyone to hold my hand 24/7, that would make me a crappy technician.   However I wasn't prepared to be dropped into all this solo so quickly.  Neither were my bosses either so the learning curve became much steeper since they have had to be the ones to train me.

And it's not like machines where I can poke buttons and learn thru trial/error on a pretty quick basis.  With animals we have strict timelines and regulations to follow.  Every mouse I kill or don't inject properly pushes us behind.

It'd help if I would be permitted to go into the animal room to get the animals myself.  IDK why I am not allowed to do that, I could easily be given an email and find the appropriate box.  Instead I have to wait until my PI brings the animals which drags the day out.

IDK if I should bring that up or not.  Again not having someone else here makes it hard to know what to do.  IDK if that would be stepping on toes/be out of bounds or is a reasonable suggestion since I can't ask the other technician what they allowed her to do.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Some people simply apply for anything that sounds interesting without even bothering to read the qualifications required. It's why when we post an IT position we get people who work at Kinkos, fast-food workers, and all sorts of other people who have absolutely no training or qualifications. It's even worse when we hire for an administrative position, because we get tons of people who read the job description and think they can do the job, and so apply without having any of the experience or qualifications.

However, under normal circumstances, these people ARE applying for job titles that they are qualified for in this field.  This isn't a case of a fast food worker applying for an IT position, but a Research Scientist applying for another Research Scientist position.  Sometimes, field doesn't really matter depending upon position as there is enough overlap between biology/chemistry/physics (because a biology degree is required to have a significant amount of chemistry/physics hours) and there IS a field of biophysics, so applying for something in Engineering with a Biology degree is not a huge step.

<as someone who has a Biology degree and has gotten out of the first 2 years of requirements for an Engineering degree with my undergrad degree requirements>

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

There is also bioinformatics/statistics which is a hot field right now.  If you read the job description it's quite a bit of IT work so you'd think it's only meant for IT people. Yet a lot of people in biology have a strong stats background so they aren't totally unqualified for the position.

If you NEED a job, why not take a shot in the dark?  Worst case is they reject you and maybe you PO-ed a hiring manager.  At best you found a job where they'll train you in what you don't know in exchange for the skills you do have.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

It'd help if I would be permitted to go into the animal room to get the animals myself. IDK why I am not allowed to do that, I could easily be given an email and find the appropriate box. Instead I have to wait until my PI brings the animals which drags the day out.

IDK if I should bring that up or not. Again not having someone else here makes it hard to know what to do. IDK if that would be stepping on toes/be out of bounds or is a reasonable suggestion since I can't ask the other technician what they allowed her to do.

How many years experience do you have again?  I think it's 6 or so?  At this point, you should be able to work independently - and that includes retrieving your own animals and having access to the animal rooms.  Is there a particular reason why you do not have access?  Have you asked your boss?  When I first started out, I had my boss retrieve animals for me (and I retrieved them for him too as we were working together), but I know that access to the animal facilities have tightened up considerably since then.

I'd bring it up.  How the hell are you supposed to come in/start early if you have to wait for the PI to bring you animals 3 hours after you arrive to work?  One of the advantages of working in research is that (for the most part) you have the ability to shift your hours around, so making arrangements to come in early to work so you can leave early is not uncommon.  Sometimes, things all go to shit and you wind up coming in early and bailing on your plans because things HAVE turned to shit, but that's not common.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 28, 2015 11:32:45 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

There is also bioinformatics/statistics which is a hot field right now.  If you read the job description it's quite a bit of IT work so you'd think it's only meant for IT people. Yet a lot of people in biology have a strong stats background so they aren't totally unqualified for the position.

If you NEED a job, why not take a shot in the dark?  Worst case is they reject you and maybe you PO-ed a hiring manager.  At best you found a job where they'll train you in what you don't know in exchange for the skills you do have.

And not only that, having a degree in biology/chemistry/physics with the knowledge of statistics that they've acquired PLUS the need to be your own IT person many times in a research lab means that this person can be even more valuable than just being able to check the correct degree box off.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

, things all go to shit and you wind up coming in early and bailing on your plans because things HAVE turned to shit

That was a common occurence with the HPLC machine.  I dreaded having to replace things and would dwaddle as long as possible b/c I knew once I broke whatever seal needed to be replaced I'd spend the rest of the day trying to get it to stop leaking. 

Is there a particular reason why you do not have access? Have you asked your boss?

I have not been given one and can't think of a reason.  I've been thru all the training (it's the same stuff I've watched dozens of times) and they hired me specifically b/c I have worked with rodents off/on since 2006.

One of the advantages of working in research is that (for the most part) you have the ability to shift your hours around, so making arrangements to come in early to work so you can leave early is not uncommon

That's totally flown out the window for me.   I have zero flexibility.  I am here starting at 7:30 am and I do not get home till close to 6:00 pm.  Period. If one of the kids gets sick we're screwed b/c my hands are  tied.

I did my best yesterday to get as much work done as humanly possible.  If I had stayed last night till I was supposed to I could have gotten her done. If I'd made a mistake I could start over this morning.

Instead I postponed her till today so I could leave an hour early.   Then I managed to fuck up the morning and put myself behind.  Waiting for my PI to get around to give me more animals.

[flamingo]

IDK if I should bring that up or not. Again not having someone else here makes it hard to know what to do. IDK if that would be stepping on toes/be out of bounds or is a reasonable suggestion since I can't ask the other technician what they allowed her to do.


I for sure would bring it up. I might even say that I'm bringing it up because I have no way of knowing what the tech was allowed to do, since she's no longer there to ask. You don't know until you ask, and as you said, they are learning right along with you due to the sudden departure of the previous tech. 

In my job I'm the "boss". I hired 2 new people in the last 6 months. I had ONE staff member who'd been around long enough to help train the 2 new people. I've only been here a year myself. I know that if that one staff member had left, and I'd had to train the 2 new people, I would have been royally screwed. I know how to do their jobs, but it would have been really tough to train them since I don't do their jobs/tasks on a daily basis. I would have been ecstatic if one of them had said, Hey, instead of you bringing me the file to review when it's ready, can I just go in the back room myself to get it? Now, I also don't work in your field, so there may be regulations that don't allow you to get the animals yourself. BUT, just having hired someone competent to make a suggestion like that would have been a big win in my book (The 2 people who left to create these vacancies were not the sharpest crayons in the box  ).

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Waiting for my PI to get around to give me more animals.

This is absurd.  For you to do your job, you have to wait for someone to bring you your animals (and quite frankly, whose time would be better spent than retrieving your animals from LAR) seems to be micromanaging at its worst.

FWIW, Flamingo - a PI retrieving an animal is a phenomenal waste of time for everyone.  I have NEVER in 35 years of doing both animal and clinical research heard of anything like this.  Having a PI help with animal work?  Absolutely!  However, the only reason why I can think of the tech not having access to the animals is that they are afraid that the tech is part of PETA and were likely to sabotage research.  As Drama is an animal tech, this is pretty much in the job description!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

This is absurd. For you to do your job, you have to wait for someone to bring you your animals (and quite frankly, whose time would be better spent than retrieving your animals from LAR) seems to be micromanaging at its worst.

I know.   I am trying to do my best and work as efficently as possible to get as many animals done as possible during the day. 

If I could retrieve the animals myself I could have gotten started on another animal and been nearly finished.  Instead I am sitting around and will probably get crap for f*cking up with the mouse this morning. 

Course even if I HAD completed her I'd still be sitting around right now waiting.  That's not my fault.

I can understand not wanting me to fetch animals for noise exposure.  Once that is done it cannot be undone so if I grabbed the wrong animal we'd be screwed.  I can understand wanting to do that themselves.  Every PI has something they prefer to be responsible for.  As my Creighton boss put it "that way the only person I can be mad at is myself".

But there should be no reason I can't get animals for baseline recordings or post noise recordings myself as long as I am given a list and the cages are properly marked.   I used to manage a colony consisting of 26 translines without any assistance from others.  If I can do that and not destroy decades worth of research then I should be competent enough to select the right cage now.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Then this is on them.  Really nothing you can do until they loosen up the strings.  It's just a huge waste of time, and you get to spend it sitting around doing nothing (other than playing on the computer).  

I always appreciated my old boss.....I need to email him and tell him that again!