Just started a new job.....and I'm pretty sure I hate it.

[Evoman]

I'm a biologist (molecular geneticist) and I finished my grad school a couple of years ago. I've had a hell of a time finding a job, and so I've been working part-time in various university labs as a research technician (not in genetics). And finally, I found a job as a research technician with a corporate company.

And I hate it so bad. And I hate biology. And I hate research. I want nothing to do with research. Undergrad was alright, grad school sucked ass, but I soldiered through, but now I've come to realize just how much I despise working in a lab. And this place is worse that my university jobs.

I'm the only technician in this place, and there is one other researcher in the lab other than me (my boss). So I have no coworkers to communicate with. I think I'm more of a people person...being stuck in a lab with no one around makes me miserable. Second of all, I'm a little rusty in the genetics (which I actually did tell them at the interview), but it's the first day and my boss is already trying to get results out of me. Third, I need to be able to sit and plan what I'm gonna do next...I need to be able to think, then do. But my boss doesn't want to give me the time to do that because "we need results, and this is fast paced research". And when I have a question, she answers it, but I can tell she doesn't want to train me...and I have no co-workers to lean on while I get on my feet.

And when my girlfriend asked me how my first day went, I honestly felt like crying. Because I hate it. I hate what I'm doing. I suck at science.

Maybe I'm just being a wuss....maybe it's just the first day jitters. Honestly, I will give it a shot...because what other choice do I have? I need a job....

[Madrone]

1. I'm really sorry.

I empathize totally. :(

Hang in there though, you may find your legs and end up LOVING the job - you never know.

[Evoman]

2. Thank you so much for answering.

I think I just need to talk to people.

Everybody is so happy for me, because this is the sort of job I've been looking for for the past couple of years. And I don't want to turn around and tell everybody how much I hate it. And my girlfriend is going back to school, so we need the money.

It's all so fucked up. I basically just want to tell everyone to fuck off and just run.

[Madrone]

5. I've been *thisclose* to walking out the door @ my job and never looking back.

How that would have worked I have NO idea because if I don't pay the rent nobody does. I mean seriously - it was BAD. Now tables have turned and my job has really done a 180 --- I enjoy it much more now. Things can change. But I understand your feeling - and new jobs are scary!

I hope your girlfriend is understanding.

[Evoman]

8. My gf is a doll.

And she just about cried for me when I told her about my first day. She knows I hate this stuff. She is in pharmacy school (she got into grad school, it's how we met, but unlike me she didn't finish)....she knows what I'm going through because she hated grad school and research too.

But I gotta man up because I gotta take care of at least most of the rent so she doesn't rack up massive loans. But once she is done, I'm doing something else. I have to.

[Madrone]

10. Man up.

You are right, you certainly do. Just think about it like that - that you are sucking it up and doing what MUST be done. In the meantime keep your feelers out there and keep an open mind to different opportunities. You don't have to work there forever, and if you continue to hate it that badly then you can think if it as a stepping stone to better things.

Awesome that you have a great girlfriend. :)

[bluedigger]

3. Can you handle a little tough love, Evoman?

Pretend I'm your dad.

"How the hell do you go through grad school in as technical and boring a discipline as molecular genetics, and NOT HAVE A PASSION FOR IT?"

I think that covers it. Sorry your first day sucked.

[Evoman]

7. I ask myself that every day.

And I honestly did it because it was easy. And now I regret it.

I was in pre-med as a dumb first year, then decided I didn't want to be a doctor. So I just finished the degree that I had already started (biochem). Then when I was an undergrad, I showed such "promise" that I was recruited by a prof to do my honours. Which was fine, except he convinced me to go to grad school. Thats when I screwed myself and said yes. I got a big fancy scholarship/grant, and I did my masters (luckily, I knew enough not to get dragged into doing a phd).

I just did what was convenient and now I am regretting it.

Which is not to say I hate biology. In fact, evolution and phylogenetics still catches my interest. But I don't like the molecular biology work, and that's what pays the bills.

It's a year term....one year...one year, and I'm out of here. And doing something else. But when the first day dragged on and on, a year is looking very far in the future.....*sigh*

[bluedigger]

17. Use it as a resume builder.

Take time to learn the business side of it, if you want to advance. Give your boss time to get to know you. Sounds like he may not be used to much interaction with coworkers, either. Didn't Obama just announce a lot of funding for health research? There should be opportunities coming up. Good luck! And talk to the gf!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. My dear evoman...

I'm so sorry to hear how badly things are going.

Perhaps you might sit down with your boss, and tell her a sanitized version of what you've said here?

Help her understand your point of view.

And it is just the first day...

Hang in there, for a little while, at least.

:hug:

[ThomCat]

6. I am very, very sorry it is that bad.

:(

I hope it either improves a lot, or you find something else that you like much more.

[stray cat]

9. Do your best while your there but it sounds like you need to figure out what you want to do in life

You are unlikely to do a competent job if you hate molecular biology and I'm sure others would jump at the chance to advance in their chosen field. Do the best you can while you are there and don't pull down your boss whose career probably does depend on hiring people who have a passion for the field. In the meantime, explore your options as to what you wish you had done and try to get there even if it means doing something to get appropriate experience after hours.

[Evoman]

13. Thank you, some good advice.

[hunter]

11. There's worse jobs. I'm pretty sure there is.

I had a bad lab job once graveyard shift and the supervisor lived in another state more than 500 miles away. He'd fly his own airplane in when he thought something needed supervising which was usually when there was some new techno-gadget to play with or the work had become so monotonous and hideous people would quit and wander away into the night like mildly radioactive zombies and he'd look at whatever work they'd left undone scratch his head and say, "Hmmmmmm... I think we can make these numbers work."

I wish I could tell you some good came from sticking it out as long as I could, which wasn't long, except I left absolutely positively certain I'd never ever do that kind of work again.

[Evoman]

14. Yeah, I know.

I'm sure it's not that bad, but it sure feels like it.

I'm trying to be optimistic, I really am. I'm gonna give it a shot and stick it out for at least a while. But I just can't help but thinking that somewhere my life took a wrong turn.

But then, I bet a lot of people feel like that, don't they?

[omega minimo]

12. Karma

[Evoman]

15. huh?

[NNadir]

16. I suggest you go to business school, get an MBA, and learn how to build Ponzi schemes the size of

North America.

It's far more satisfying work and pays better.

[Evoman]

18. Ha....actually, that sounds almost fun. I could totally be a con man.

[Odin2005]

19. Can I have your job?

Sounds like the perfect setting for me.

And Why the heck did you go into the bioscience if you don't like it?

[raccoon]

20. I feel your pain. The field I went into wasn't right for me, either.

Sorry to hear this.

A few weeks ago, my dept. got some new management, and I was very unhappy with it. But I'm trying to take it one day at a time and see how it goes. I suggest you try that for a while. Maybe you're going through a "period of adjustment," as I am.

Could you work in a related field, such as teaching high school/college level biology? Or become a veterinarian?

[TZ]

21. Dude. Everyone in this field hates their job at first.

I haven't had a new job that I didn't go home in tears in the first few months because I felt totally stupid (one job my trainer actully did imply me and another new girl were slow and stupid..that was helpful).
Maybe after you get to like it it won't be so bad, although I'm not impressed with them rushing you along as a new person. Most corporations I've seen are usually good about taking the time to bring a new person up to speed.
And no, you don't suck at science. I've read enough of your stuff to know that. Pretty sure you know more than me when it comes to genetics btw.
GIve it some time...:hug:
BTW, you know I thought I was gonna be a wildlife biologist/animal behaviorist in school? And now I'm in immunology. I too wondered where did I go wrong. Largely content with my career right now though.

[dugaresa]

22. I cried on the way home the first week of work at my current job

the commute was awful and the people at the place were arrogant and rude.

I have now been with them well over 10 years.

How?

Because each day I got past my insecurities and realized that there were some nice people, i had a lot of freedom to do my job and I observed.

All the arrogant rude jerks and jerkettes left and now I am in management.