Advice
This is not a healthy place to have a long-term job. Maybe for a view months or as an intern, but not any longer. Turnover is incredibly high (5 people gone within the past 9 or so months in a lab that only has 10 people to start with). You'd think a 50% turnover rate would cause some review of management, but rather than deal with veteran employees causing problems, they sweep it under the rug and sacrifice the younger employees who aren't buddy-buddy with upper management. Training is subpar and you basically have to figure out your tests on your own and how to run them because the SOPs are so old and misleading that they look nothing like the EPA or Standard Methods documents which they are legally supposed to be based off of. But if you mess up you are toast, even though no one told you what to do and you're basically in the dark. No matter your experience or training, you will be subject to degrading comments about your work and told to take on more and more tasks at a faster and faster pace. A heavy workload is one thing, but for meager pay is just insulting. You will be taken into meetings randomly and berated for things you didn't even know you were doing wrong because your lab manager doesn't communicate with you and doesn't tell you there's even a problem to start with. How are you supposed to fix anything if they don't tell you about it? You feel like you're walking on eggshells everyday. The most enjoyable part of your job is when your lab manager isn't working that day, which is sad. There is no work-home life balance and you are expected to structure your home life around the tests you are running at work, some of which finish at all hours of the night. People in higher-up are constantly talking badly about coworkers and it causes dissent within the lab. People who speak up and question things are let go, and those that don't say anything are too scared to do so for fear of being fired. If you are not liked by someone or haven't worked there for 20+ years, you will be pushed out. Lab managers are ill-equipped to run a lab and do not have any communication skills. They also have no control over their emotions and will lash out, causing everyone in the lab to feel scared and on edge. It drains you mentally and physically so plan on being sick at least once a month. A typical day involves trying to stay under the radar of your lab manager so that you don't get screamed at or treated like one of their children. There is no respect for anyone. Stay away from this place if you care about your mental and emotional health at all.
