- Joined
- Dec 9, 2017
- Messages
- 198
- Reaction score
- 62
The PI in a lab I've joined is socially awkward and I knew this. Yesterday, he had scheduled to train me in something (my first time working directly with him). He showed up 5-10 minutes late and when I said hello he just kept walking without a word... and I followed. He didn't talk as I followed him through the building.
When I first gave it a try (working with mice) he was snippy and raising his voice (even just taking the lid off a cage "no no no!" and shooing my hand away). He interacted with others there without the usual pleasantries and they seemed a little on edge answering to him. As I got better with the mice over the hour, his attitude had improved but we went through all of it in silence.
I'm hoping he was just having a horrible day. Regardless I'm worried now that this may be someone I can't build a decent relationship with. I do want to gain experience here but also I will need a LoR from from him when I apply to med schools (considering the time I intend to put into research). To add to this, he agreed to bring me on and train me with the expectation that I will be hired and work for them full time in the lab after I graduate this spring. Importantly, I will need that paying job when I graduate. As a graduating senior, it would be a real challenge to find another such arrangement.
Any advice/tips for dealing with a PI (or even a boss) like this when you know you will need them to recommend you in the future? Is it even possible to get a glowing recommendation from such a person? I'll add, the person training me didn't get into the grad programs they applied to and I wonder if this PI simply wasn't much of a mentor and/or wrote about them with little effort.
When I first gave it a try (working with mice) he was snippy and raising his voice (even just taking the lid off a cage "no no no!" and shooing my hand away). He interacted with others there without the usual pleasantries and they seemed a little on edge answering to him. As I got better with the mice over the hour, his attitude had improved but we went through all of it in silence.
I'm hoping he was just having a horrible day. Regardless I'm worried now that this may be someone I can't build a decent relationship with. I do want to gain experience here but also I will need a LoR from from him when I apply to med schools (considering the time I intend to put into research). To add to this, he agreed to bring me on and train me with the expectation that I will be hired and work for them full time in the lab after I graduate this spring. Importantly, I will need that paying job when I graduate. As a graduating senior, it would be a real challenge to find another such arrangement.
Any advice/tips for dealing with a PI (or even a boss) like this when you know you will need them to recommend you in the future? Is it even possible to get a glowing recommendation from such a person? I'll add, the person training me didn't get into the grad programs they applied to and I wonder if this PI simply wasn't much of a mentor and/or wrote about them with little effort.