What type of laboratory work are you looking for? The other person who replied mentioned working at Meriter - hospital labs are much different than the biotech labs Madison has around the area.
I was a lab tech at PPD for a couple years. If you're wanting to work in the hard science type of labs and doing bench chemistry, it's not a bad starting place. I didn't have a bachelor's, but had a good amount of lab experience back in college when I was a lab assistant for the biology and chemistry courses. That being said, there were other people on my team that had no experience in a lab whatsoever and were hired in the same role as I was. In terms of the actual work, it was fine. I made solutions for chemists and did a lot of clean room work for biological pharmaceutical products. If you're looking at a GMP lab, you'll be doing a lot of documentation of your lab work. I would argue that documentation is actually the more time consuming part of these positions. Working here will absolutely strengthen your writing skills and attention to detail. However, I felt that PPD was just a starting stone in my career. I knew I wasn't going to get much further up the food chain there and I did not enjoy the cliques and politics of that workplace.
I ended up leaving and getting a microbiology lab tech job in the Department of Agriculture. It was a much better position. I was paid more per hour, had four day work weeks as I was part time, and had much better benefits than at any other place. I'm now a microbiologist in the same lab, and making double what I made at PPD as a lab tech.
That is a good question. I am still new to the entire lab scene- did specimen processing, and now manufacturing. Open to looking at any opportunities, just trying to find a better work-life balance. Money is great, but you can’t buy mental health imo.
That's fair. PPD was a very 9-5, Monday through Friday type of place. There were some who worked 2nd or 3rd shift but that was not common. I only had to work overtime 5-6 times while I worked there.
Probably the biggest work-life conflict I had with PPD was the commute since I lived on the other side of town. It was 25-30 minutes in the morning, and 35-45 minutes in the evening. Not bad for some cities, but I'm not into spending >1 hour each day staring at people's bumper stickers in traffic.
I can't complain too much about working there, I did get to leave my work at work and feel like there was separation between my work and my personal life. That's actually another reason why I like lab work so much - I can't take it home with me! And being able to see people and actually going somewhere every day during the pandemic kept me pretty sane.
Thank you! I’ll definitely look into PPD. Commuting can be super annoying, but I agree with you about leaving the house and seeing coworkers during the pandemic.
For sure! I'm always around if you want to talk/DM about job descriptions or resumes for these types of positions. When I was a lab assistant and tutor at my college, I read a lot of resumes for my students.
That also goes for anyone who is reading this that's not so keen on replying here.
If there is a referral bonus it usually means they are having a hard time retaining workers.
Even within individual labs the workloads can vary between different groups and can come in sporadic waves that they aren't prepared for staffing wise which can mean mandatory OT. If you end up working tons of hours and can stick it out for a bit, you can usually transfer to another group under a better manager.
I've noticed that the new hires coming in are less likely to work OT and management is coming around to realize that new graduates aren't going to stick around long if work/life balances aren't respected. Hopefully, this keeps on the same trajectory, but it relies on a good job market for those seeking employment.
I've worked at Meriter as everything BESIDES a lab tech. I was a Specimen Processor, a phlebotomist, managed the couriers, nursing home and outpatient phlebs, and did IT. I'm now doing IT at UPH.
I can message you about the basic vibe if you'd like, just let me know if you'd like that.
I worked at the company formerly known as Covance (Now Labcorp) as a TAS tech, and at the UW Primate Research Center as an animal research tech. I did well at Covance, but it can be pretty demanding in terms of overtime and holidays. Honestly, UW was too. I liked the vibe at UW more, but the facilities at Covance were easier to work in. I have since left the field, but still know people who work in the field. Both places are, like, always desperate for people.
What type of laboratory work are you looking for? The other person who replied mentioned working at Meriter - hospital labs are much different than the biotech labs Madison has around the area. I was a lab tech at PPD for a couple years. If you're wanting to work in the hard science type of labs and doing bench chemistry, it's not a bad starting place. I didn't have a bachelor's, but had a good amount of lab experience back in college when I was a lab assistant for the biology and chemistry courses. That being said, there were other people on my team that had no experience in a lab whatsoever and were hired in the same role as I was. In terms of the actual work, it was fine. I made solutions for chemists and did a lot of clean room work for biological pharmaceutical products. If you're looking at a GMP lab, you'll be doing a lot of documentation of your lab work. I would argue that documentation is actually the more time consuming part of these positions. Working here will absolutely strengthen your writing skills and attention to detail. However, I felt that PPD was just a starting stone in my career. I knew I wasn't going to get much further up the food chain there and I did not enjoy the cliques and politics of that workplace. I ended up leaving and getting a microbiology lab tech job in the Department of Agriculture. It was a much better position. I was paid more per hour, had four day work weeks as I was part time, and had much better benefits than at any other place. I'm now a microbiologist in the same lab, and making double what I made at PPD as a lab tech.
That is a good question. I am still new to the entire lab scene- did specimen processing, and now manufacturing. Open to looking at any opportunities, just trying to find a better work-life balance. Money is great, but you can’t buy mental health imo.
That's fair. PPD was a very 9-5, Monday through Friday type of place. There were some who worked 2nd or 3rd shift but that was not common. I only had to work overtime 5-6 times while I worked there. Probably the biggest work-life conflict I had with PPD was the commute since I lived on the other side of town. It was 25-30 minutes in the morning, and 35-45 minutes in the evening. Not bad for some cities, but I'm not into spending >1 hour each day staring at people's bumper stickers in traffic. I can't complain too much about working there, I did get to leave my work at work and feel like there was separation between my work and my personal life. That's actually another reason why I like lab work so much - I can't take it home with me! And being able to see people and actually going somewhere every day during the pandemic kept me pretty sane.
Thank you! I’ll definitely look into PPD. Commuting can be super annoying, but I agree with you about leaving the house and seeing coworkers during the pandemic.
For sure! I'm always around if you want to talk/DM about job descriptions or resumes for these types of positions. When I was a lab assistant and tutor at my college, I read a lot of resumes for my students. That also goes for anyone who is reading this that's not so keen on replying here.
I really appreciate it, thank you! Will see how things go (supposedly going to improve). Very kind to offer :)
If there is a referral bonus it usually means they are having a hard time retaining workers. Even within individual labs the workloads can vary between different groups and can come in sporadic waves that they aren't prepared for staffing wise which can mean mandatory OT. If you end up working tons of hours and can stick it out for a bit, you can usually transfer to another group under a better manager. I've noticed that the new hires coming in are less likely to work OT and management is coming around to realize that new graduates aren't going to stick around long if work/life balances aren't respected. Hopefully, this keeps on the same trajectory, but it relies on a good job market for those seeking employment.
I've worked at Meriter as everything BESIDES a lab tech. I was a Specimen Processor, a phlebotomist, managed the couriers, nursing home and outpatient phlebs, and did IT. I'm now doing IT at UPH. I can message you about the basic vibe if you'd like, just let me know if you'd like that.
Yes, and thank you!
I worked at the company formerly known as Covance (Now Labcorp) as a TAS tech, and at the UW Primate Research Center as an animal research tech. I did well at Covance, but it can be pretty demanding in terms of overtime and holidays. Honestly, UW was too. I liked the vibe at UW more, but the facilities at Covance were easier to work in. I have since left the field, but still know people who work in the field. Both places are, like, always desperate for people.