Terrible Research Job Experience

[TheNeuroGuy]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I graduated from college last May, and since October I've been working in a research lab to get experience and take time to study for the MCAT's again (I didn't do so well the first time).

It's been 4 months since I started working there, and I'm completely miserable. The lab was absolutely unprepared to have a entry-level tech. Essentially, I'm not being trained nearly well enough, there are no written protocols (I'm being taught and expected to pick everything up by just watching - although I write down what I can), and I'm being held responsible for everything that goes wrong in the lab, regardless of whether or not it's my fault. It's almost like I became the scapegoat for them. At first I put in 110%, thinking that if I just try harder they would trust me more and have more confidence in me. If anything that just made it worse. It's gotten to the point where I start to feel sick whenever I go into work because of the physical and mental stress.It just gets me so upset because I know I'm capable of a lot, but the PI and other techs in the lab treat me horribly. I'm not sure if I'm describing this with the right type of intensity or conviction, but please believe me, I don't think I can stand this much longer.

Okay, so I'm obviously thinking about quitting but I have major concerns, mostly related to how med school admissions are going to view this. The PI is NOT going to give me a good recommendation, so I'm not even going to ask her for one. I'm worried, though, that when I list this as prior work experience, the council will contact the PI and ask about me, in which case the PI will most likely say all this bad stuff about me.

Instead of quitting, the other option is to just stick it out and hope their opinions improve (which I don't think will happen - apparently someone who had worked there for 4 years had this problem the entire time he was there and finally, after 4 years, he had enough and quit).

I'm really not sure what to do. Any help/advise/suggestions would be great. Any insight on how the med school admissions would view this would be great, as well.

Thanks!

 

[typicalindian]

Find a new lab. you're only hurting yourself by staying there

 

[Luelinks]

there are no written protocols

😱

Gtfo of that lab.

 

[soundnin]

I'm being taught and expected to pick everything up by just watching

pretty normal

... and I'm being held responsible for everything that goes wrong in the lab... but the PI and other techs in the lab treat me horribly.

could you elaborate beyond you are being blamed a lot?

 

[Midwestern Blot]

I would say just deal with it. Lab techs/RAs get paid fairly well and it looks good to have research/work experience on an application. I'm in a slightly similar situation with my lab without the scapegoat issue. If it is really getting to the point where you can't stand it, just quit, assuming your financial and EC situation allows for it.

 

[sliceofbread136]

I would not subject myself to the scrutiny of losers who do not respect me. Look into finding a new lab and then gtfo.

 

[jkm07]

I would say just deal with it. Lab techs/RAs get paid fairly well and it looks good to have research/work experience on an application. I'm in a slightly similar situation with my lab without the scapegoat issue. If it is really getting to the point where you can't stand it, just quit, assuming your financial and EC situation allows for it.

😱.....

...there is such a thing?? haha Where have I been the last 2 years?

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

I graduated from college last May, and since October I've been working in a research lab to get experience and take time to study for the MCAT's again (I didn't do so well the first time).

It's been 4 months since I started working there, and I'm completely miserable. The lab was absolutely unprepared to have a entry-level tech. Essentially, I'm not being trained nearly well enough, there are no written protocols (I'm being taught and expected to pick everything up by just watching - although I write down what I can), and I'm being held responsible for everything that goes wrong in the lab, regardless of whether or not it's my fault. It's almost like I became the scapegoat for them. At first I put in 110%, thinking that if I just try harder they would trust me more and have more confidence in me. If anything that just made it worse. It's gotten to the point where I start to feel sick whenever I go into work because of the physical and mental stress.It just gets me so upset because I know I'm capable of a lot, but the PI and other techs in the lab treat me horribly. I'm not sure if I'm describing this with the right type of intensity or conviction, but please believe me, I don't think I can stand this much longer.

Okay, so I'm obviously thinking about quitting but I have major concerns, mostly related to how med school admissions are going to view this. The PI is NOT going to give me a good recommendation, so I'm not even going to ask her for one. I'm worried, though, that when I list this as prior work experience, the council will contact the PI and ask about me, in which case the PI will most likely say all this bad stuff about me.

Instead of quitting, the other option is to just stick it out and hope their opinions improve (which I don't think will happen - apparently someone who had worked there for 4 years had this problem the entire time he was there and finally, after 4 years, he had enough and quit).

I'm really not sure what to do. Any help/advise/suggestions would be great. Any insight on how the med school admissions would view this would be great, as well.

Thanks!

I'm sorry to hear about your lab troubles. While it's reasonable for them to expect you to pick up techniques after watching once or twice, you shouldn't be a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in the lab, especially considering that you started there fairly recently.

Regarding you bolded statement, you don't have to include every single thing you did on AMCAS. If you want to quit this job, there's no need to list it on AMCAS. And, if you don't list something on AMCAS, the adcom will not be aware of it and won't question why you don't have a letter of recommendation from the PI or anything like that. Move on to a different lab, EC, whatever. Best of luck.

 

[Midwestern Blot]

😱.....

...there is such a thing?? haha Where have I been the last 2 years?

Well, I get paid about $14/hr + health/dental insurance after I graduated (standard for an RA1 at Iowa) which I consider to be ok since it counts as research experience as well as employment. I only made $8.5/hr as an undergrad. I wish I got PTO for holidays, but it sure beats working at McDonalds.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

OP, if you're truly miserable, don't subject yourself to further misery. Find a different lab you'll be happy at.

 

[jkm07]

Well, I get paid about $14/hr + health/dental insurance after I graduated (standard for an RA1 at Iowa) which I consider to be ok since it counts as research experience as well as employment. I only made $8.5/hr as an undergrad. I wish I got PTO for holidays, but it sure beats working at McDonalds.

Wow. I get $800 month (before tax) on a full-time schedule with no health insurance (still covered by parents, fortunately). That amounts to about $5/hr. What am I doing here? 😱. I spend a quarter of my paycheck on gas alone!

 

[Bluvip]

I don't think I can stand this much longer.

I picture people yelling at you and making you cry. Man up or leave

 

[DrLAM]

That sounds identical to my current situation. Only factor in the fact that my first day of work (in a research lab, not an intern yet!) was 20 hours - from 7:00am - 3:00am and the first week was 7 days, with no time off. Talk about extreme! And despite the 9-5 description on the job profile when I applied, my boss gets upset if I try to leave on time. But I'm guessing I'll stick it out for now.

 

[StoicJosher]

I'm sorry to hear about your lab troubles. While it's reasonable for them to expect you to pick up techniques after watching once or twice, you shouldn't be a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in the lab, especially considering that you started there fairly recently.

Regarding you bolded statement, you don't have to include every single thing you did on AMCAS. If you want to quit this job, there's no need to list it on AMCAS. And, if you don't list something on AMCAS, the adcom will not be aware of it and won't question why you don't have a letter of recommendation from the PI or anything like that. Move on to a different lab, EC, whatever. Best of luck.

Do this. 👍

Next time, talk to the PI in advance. Ask him what he expects of his students, post docs, techs etc. Ask him (or others in the lab) about his teaching style - is he a hands on guy who is always a step behind you or if he lets the people who work for him loose. As a student, I would also recommend looking for a graduate student driven lab as opposed to a post-doc driven lab. While this might not be the situation at every lab, graduate student driven labs tend to do more training of new students (and a better job at that).

 

[Midwestern Blot]

Do this. 👍

Next time, talk to the PI in advance. Ask him what he expects of his students, post docs, techs etc. Ask him (or others in the lab) about his teaching style - is he a hands on guy who is always a step behind you or if he lets the people who work for him loose. As a student, I would also recommend looking for a graduate student driven lab as opposed to a post-doc driven lab. While this might not be the situation at every lab, graduate student driven labs tend to do more training of new students (and a better job at that).

To add to this, in my experience, working for an MD that does research is much better than working for PhD PI. This may only be an n=1 case but I believe MDs are typically more social/amicable than PhDs.

 

[RagingBeauty]

I graduated from college last May, and since October I've been working in a research lab to get experience and take time to study for the MCAT's again (I didn't do so well the first time).

It's been 4 months since I started working there, and I'm completely miserable. The lab was absolutely unprepared to have a entry-level tech. Essentially, I'm not being trained nearly well enough, there are no written protocols (I'm being taught and expected to pick everything up by just watching - although I write down what I can), and I'm being held responsible for everything that goes wrong in the lab, regardless of whether or not it's my fault. It's almost like I became the scapegoat for them. At first I put in 110%, thinking that if I just try harder they would trust me more and have more confidence in me. If anything that just made it worse. It's gotten to the point where I start to feel sick whenever I go into work because of the physical and mental stress.It just gets me so upset because I know I'm capable of a lot, but the PI and other techs in the lab treat me horribly. I'm not sure if I'm describing this with the right type of intensity or conviction, but please believe me, I don't think I can stand this much longer.

Okay, so I'm obviously thinking about quitting but I have major concerns, mostly related to how med school admissions are going to view this. The PI is NOT going to give me a good recommendation, so I'm not even going to ask her for one. I'm worried, though, that when I list this as prior work experience, the council will contact the PI and ask about me, in which case the PI will most likely say all this bad stuff about me.

Instead of quitting, the other option is to just stick it out and hope their opinions improve (which I don't think will happen - apparently someone who had worked there for 4 years had this problem the entire time he was there and finally, after 4 years, he had enough and quit).

I'm really not sure what to do. Any help/advise/suggestions would be great. Any insight on how the med school admissions would view this would be great, as well.

Thanks!

Hi,
I've been in a similar situation as yours. I know that the job market in this economy is tough but try to find other research laboratory opportunities ASAP. Your goal is to be in a scientific laboratory that you enjoy and the PI is willing to write a reference letter on your behalf. You may want to check out opportunities with NIH. Hope this helps.🙂👍

 

[tantacles]

Hi,
I've been in a similar situation as yours. I know that the job market in this economy is tough but try to find other research laboratory opportunities ASAP. Your goal is to be in a scientific laboratory that you enjoy and the PI is willing to write a reference letter on your behalf. You may want to check out opportunities with NIH. Hope this helps.🙂👍

As an addendum, I'd say don't quit until you have a new job. If they fire you, you can at least collect unemployment and start doing some hardcore volunteering while you're at it, but if you just up and quit, you're going to have a tough time of it unless you have a trust fund. Presumably, you have another year and a half before you would attend medical school, so it definitely would be best to get out of there as soon as possible so that you can start building up new experiences, but don't dig yourself a financial hole; that's more grief than it's worth.

On your applications to other jobs, consider carefully whether you wish to put this experience on your resume. If you have another adviser or authority figure (or even a peer) at the lab who knows you well and can write a letter and you think it would be beneficial, include this experience. The disadvantage of not including the experience, however, is that you have to explain away the last four months in terms of employment.

 

[Velour Fog]

Hey OP, where exactly do you work? Sounds vaaaaaguely familiar.

Feel free to PM and/or be as detailed as you want 🙂

 

[deleted393595]

At first I put in 110%, thinking that if I just try harder they would trust me more and have more confidence in me. If anything that just made it worse. It's gotten to the point where I start to feel sick whenever I go into work because of the physical and mental stress.It just gets me so upset because I know I'm capable of a lot, but the PI and other techs in the lab treat me horribly.

Sample conversation in lab:

PI: WTF? How did this end up going so bad?

Experienced Tech (Dude who actually messed up): I know how to do this right, doc. I think the new guy must have messed up. I don't like to talk negatively about other people, but we've tried teaching him everything as much as we can and we even go over procedures multiple times before giving it to him, but he doesn't seem to be picking up anything at all. Oh, what can we do?

PI: ********* that ***************!!!!!!



My guess, buddy, is that there are a few people (experienced techs most likely) trashing you to the PI and blaming you for everything in the lab. They're the ones who've probably poisoned the lab against you to cover their rears. Find them and deal with them. Talk to your PI one-on-one and express how you feel. If it goes good, then you're in the clear. If it goes bad... it wouldn't be any worse because it was already severely bad to begin with.

Trust me. There's no limit to how malicious some people can be.

 

[TheNeuroGuy]

Hi,
I've been in a similar situation as yours. I know that the job market in this economy is tough but try to find other research laboratory opportunities ASAP. Your goal is to be in a scientific laboratory that you enjoy and the PI is willing to write a reference letter on your behalf. You may want to check out opportunities with NIH. Hope this helps.

It's reassuring (but also upsetting) to know that there are people in similar situations, just for the sake of knowing there's just not something wrong with me. But you're exactly right. My main priority is to get research experience and get a reference letter while I'm at it. I've heard good things about NIH, and I actually applied to the IRTA program today.

My guess, buddy, is that there are a few people (experienced techs most likely) trashing you to the PI and blaming you for everything in the lab. They're the ones who've probably poisoned the lab against you to cover their rears. Find them and deal with them. Talk to your PI one-on-one and express how you feel. If it goes good, then you're in the clear. If it goes bad... it wouldn't be any worse because it was already severely bad to begin with.

Trust me. There's no limit to how malicious some people can be.

I think you're absolutely right. I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to "deal with them", but I definitely do need to talk to my PI about this. At this point I'm certain I'm going to find a new job, but bringing up the issue could make the rest of my time there till I find a new job bearable.

Next time, talk to the PI in advance. Ask him what he expects of his students, post docs, techs etc. Ask him (or others in the lab) about his teaching style - is he a hands on guy who is always a step behind you or if he lets the people who work for him loose. As a student, I would also recommend looking for a graduate student driven lab as opposed to a post-doc driven lab. While this might not be the situation at every lab, graduate student driven labs tend to do more training of new students (and a better job at that).

My undergraduate lab, until this current lab, was the only laboratory I was exposed to and I honestly had no idea how differently labs could be run. Everyone was given projects, collaborated with the PI, and given responsibility and had certain expectations. If there were problems, it was more a matter of trying to help that person figure out what was going wrong and help rather than reprimand. My current experience has almost tainted my view of research and I'm going to be very cautious of any other research tech jobs that I apply for. Thanks for the advice - I'll definitely look into those things when I go for the interviews.

That sounds identical to my current situation. Only factor in the fact that my first day of work (in a research lab, not an intern yet!) was 20 hours - from 7:00am - 3:00am and the first week was 7 days, with no time off. Talk about extreme! And despite the 9-5 description on the job profile when I applied, my boss gets upset if I try to leave on time. But I'm guessing I'll stick it out for now.

I'm sorry! That sounds terrible. I hope things improve for you. During your job interview did your PI give any indication that this wouldn't be a typical 9-5? I'm trying to look for warning signs so I'm not caught in the same situation again..

As an addendum, I'd say don't quit until you have a new job. If they fire you, you can at least collect unemployment and start doing some hardcore volunteering while you're at it, but if you just up and quit, you're going to have a tough time of it unless you have a trust fund. Presumably, you have another year and a half before you would attend medical school, so it definitely would be best to get out of there as soon as possible so that you can start building up new experiences, but don't dig yourself a financial hole; that's more grief than it's worth.

On your applications to other jobs, consider carefully whether you wish to put this experience on your resume. If you have another adviser or authority figure (or even a peer) at the lab who knows you well and can write a letter and you think it would be beneficial, include this experience. The disadvantage of not including the experience, however, is that you have to explain away the last four months in terms of employment.

I don't believe they'd fire me any time soon, regardless of their opinion of me. Their funding is too low and they've already spent a lot of time & energy training me, so firing me and then taking the time to train someone new would be almost out of the question for them.

I feel that I do need to get out of here simply so I can find something new and start building up new experiences. Unfortunately, I don't think there's anyone in the lab that would write me a recommendation. I really hate that I won't be able to put this experience on my application, because I've worked so hard. There is a post-doc in another lab that could write something for me, because I spoke to him daily and he completely understand my situation. I don't think that helps me any, though, 'cause he wasn't in my lab.

 

[notbobtrustme]

I'd drop it and either find a new lab or concentrate on other extracurriculars. Research isn't that important especially you don't want to do an MD/PhD.

 

[tantacles]

I feel that I do need to get out of here simply so I can find something new and start building up new experiences. Unfortunately, I don't think there's anyone in the lab that would write me a recommendation. I really hate that I won't be able to put this experience on my application, because I've worked so hard. There is a post-doc in another lab that could write something for me, because I spoke to him daily and he completely understand my situation. I don't think that helps me any, though, 'cause he wasn't in my lab.

Get him to write you a recommendation, then. If he's done any work with you, it indeed might help.

 

[dirigo]

Drama in Academia?! Say it ain't so! Seriously watch your back--let this be a cautionary tale to all undergrads.

 

[midi 21]

I'm sorry to hear about your lab troubles. While it's reasonable for them to expect you to pick up techniques after watching once or twice, you shouldn't be a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in the lab, especially considering that you started there fairly recently.

Regarding you bolded statement, you don't have to include every single thing you did on AMCAS. If you want to quit this job, there's no need to list it on AMCAS. And, if you don't list something on AMCAS, the adcom will not be aware of it and won't question why you don't have a letter of recommendation from the PI or anything like that. Move on to a different lab, EC, whatever. Best of luck.

Yikes! I had a couple friends who worked in labs where grad students/PIs were absolutely terrible to them. 🙁 One of them recently quit her longtime, much-hated position for a new job where she's already working on papers! She seems really happy, and instead of hurting her application, it actually seems to have helped.

I haven't actually applied yet, but from my own reading seems like adcoms mostly care about SIGNIFICANT experiences. If you didn't get anything out of it, there's no reason to list it. And if someone asks about what you did during the time period, just tell them you worked in a research lab briefly but moved on to something else. 🙂 Good luck! Don't be miserable!

 

[jellybean13]

I had a very similar experience after graduation. I was bright-eyed and bushey-tailed and ready to really dive head first into research. 2 months into my job it was a struggle going to work everyday because my lab/PI/co-workers were so miserable. I quit and never looked back and I am SO happy I did, because now I have an extremely rewarding experience. Also - if you think bench research may not be right for you try clinical research.

 

[TheNeuroGuy]

Okay, I think I'm going to give my leave notice next week. The thing is, I've spent almost 6 months there, and I really don't want adcoms to look at that gap and wonder what I was doing during that time. I've only just graduated in 2011, so I've obviously had a lot of time since then, and if I start shadowing & volunteering, I can only write down that I started doing that in February.

Is it a good or bad idea to write down this work experience? Will adcoms call and verify if I just worked there or ask about my performance? If it's for the sake of verification.. I can give the contact information of a higher up that would be able to confirm my employment.

 

[FattySlug]

Okay, I think I'm going to give my leave notice next week. The thing is, I've spent almost 6 months there, and I really don't want adcoms to look at that gap and wonder what I was doing during that time. I've only just graduated in 2011, so I've obviously had a lot of time since then, and if I start shadowing & volunteering, I can only write down that I started doing that in February.

Is it a good or bad idea to write down this work experience? Will adcoms call and verify if I just worked there or ask about my performance? If it's for the sake of verification.. I can give the contact information of a higher up that would be able to confirm my employment.

This is just personal experience but they didn't call my employers to ask about my performance or anything. However, I didn't work in a bio-related field after graduation. They didn't call my lab where I did research as an undergrad either.

 

[Ebola4Breakfast]

There are tons of toxic labs in academia. This probably won't be the last one you encounter. Get out while you still have a chance.

 

[StoicJosher]

Okay, I think I'm going to give my leave notice next week. The thing is, I've spent almost 6 months there, and I really don't want adcoms to look at that gap and wonder what I was doing during that time. I've only just graduated in 2011, so I've obviously had a lot of time since then, and if I start shadowing & volunteering, I can only write down that I started doing that in February.

Is it a good or bad idea to write down this work experience? Will adcoms call and verify if I just worked there or ask about my performance? If it's for the sake of verification.. I can give the contact information of a higher up that would be able to confirm my employment.

You can still list it as a work experience if you want. And if you have a higher up that can confirm your employment - great! List it when you apply and list this person as a contact. I haven't had any of the schools I've applied to contact any of my references (yet) and even if they did, it would be only to confirm the dates and times you listed. Most of my references are secretaries and admin assts who had no idea what I actually did.

 

[CoolWhipp]

You need a paper trail to save your ass in situations like these. This means abusing your email.

If there are no protocols, and you are writing all the notes by ear, you should have made a new protocol book for the lab. This is a guise to look as if you are helping the lab when you don't really care. It would give you a reason, though, to type up a protocol and have other lab members concur... in an email.

Good luck.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

😱

Gtfo of that lab.

This.👍