Rachel G.
About me
| Rachel G. | |
| Biology | |
| Biology | |
| Undergraduate | |
| 2015 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Assistant Scientist | |
| Minster Veterinary Practice | |
| United Kingdom | |
| 2002 |
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A day in the life of a Assistant Scientist in the United Kingdom
Where I hope to be in 5 years
I hope to eventually complete a PHD but right now I am trying to gain 'real life' lab experience.
My advice to students considering work
Get further work experience outside of your degree, it not only looks good on a CV, but can help you decide what sector you might want to go into in the future. Some experiences aren't advertised but it can be useful to just email or write to people to ask if they have anything available. Also, make sure you ask people appropriate people for references to make yourself sound as employable as possible.
Don't be afraid to sell yourself. The biology degree at York contains a lot more lab experience than other universities offer so make sure your prospective employer knows this. Extra experience is definitely needed to make you stand out but even work unrelated to science will help you gain other skills. Look into smaller companies as they may not always advertise as obviously.
My advice about working in my industry
Don't be afraid to sell yourself. The biology degree at York contains a lot more lab experience than other universities offer so make sure your prospective employer knows this. Extra experience is definitely needed to make you stand out but even work unrelated to science will help you gain other skills. Look into smaller companies as they may not always advertise as obviously.
What I do
I work in a diagnostic lab which is part of the vets. The lab is based in the poultry department so a lot of samples are from bird farms however, we also test small animals and farm animals. We run a range of tests including those for blood (ELISA and HI), bacteriology, water and egg counts. The samples vary each day so there is always something new to do. I am also responsible for writing up reports on my findings for the vets to prescribe medication from.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Extracurricular skills:
Attention to detail. I have mostly developed this from my degree, but I just concentrate and focus on one thing at a time so I do not get distracted. I work on numerous tasks at a time which has come with practice and prioritising important ones.
What I like most
There is a number of tests we do so there is a lot of variation in the tasks. I like this because lab work can get repetitive otherwise. Animal health and diseases is something that wasn't really covered in my degree so it is very interesting to learn new things.
What I like least
The lab can smell horrible and not that many people work there so it can be quiet at times.
Next steps...
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