Malazan Empire: A Lateral Jump of Career - Malazan Empire

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A Lateral Jump of Career can it be done?

#21 User is offline   Imperial Historian 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 10:15 AM

What Mez said. You've spent a long time training and those skills are transferable to a job which sounds more up your street.

Packing everything in and starting a completely new career like a mechanic sounds glamorous and exciting, but you'll have no idea whether you do genuinely enjoy that work or not, and it's a big commitment that might leave you in the same position 10 years down the line.

Shifting to an aspect of your career you enjoy more will likely pay off in terms of salary, job prospects and you have more idea if you'll enjoy it.

From my experience QA positions in the scientific field tend to have difficulty recruiting suitably qualified people with the right mindset.

Note on option 1, it will likely involve a lot of travel, whether that is a good thing or not is up to you.
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#22 User is offline   Macros 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 12:47 PM

do not, I repeat do no read A mans search for meaning.

if you are depressed or down this book will not help, it is fucking grim reading
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#23 User is online   Tsundoku 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 01:30 PM

View PostMacros, on 16 May 2020 - 12:47 PM, said:

do not, I repeat do no read A mans search for meaning.

if you are depressed or down this book will not help, it is fucking grim reading


OK I just googled that book. Yeah, grim sounds like an understatement. Sold 10 million copies though and is apparently listed as a top influential book by the Library of Congress.
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#24 User is offline   Gust Hubb 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 03:39 PM

View PostSlow Ben, on 16 May 2020 - 04:29 AM, said:

I don't know that i have any good advice, but 2 things that popped in my noodle.

Is it possible to teach what you're doing now? You might not enjoy the work, but if you already have the knowledge and you enjoy teaching.


If you really thing you'd enjoy being a mechanic, diesel mechanics can make decent money. If you'd invest in 6-24 months in a good diesel mechanic program you can make around 50-60,000/year.


Yes, there great needs for teachers at all levels of pre-med to med-school and beyond. For undergrad and below, I think I would need a Masters for teaching or something akin to that. I have taken passing looks in prior job searches and that is my limiting factor.

I took a stab a acquiring a med school teaching only role at this private school in my town, but I think the first time I was plying the waters and asked too much in salary and future attempts to acquire a job from that place were flat out ignored. So yes, there are teaching-only jobs in Med school and that is one thing I will be looking at.

Beyond (and even in most) med-schools, inhouse staff is used. I could teach right now if I wanted, but only after I got my other work done (or stayed later to get my work done, worked weekends, however to spend more time ontop of what I already do). Teaching doesn't pay the bills for these places and they often recruit or shanghai already working faculty to perform these duties.



View PostGorefest, on 16 May 2020 - 08:06 AM, said:

Histology is becoming quite a sought after skill again in scientific research. Did you consider becoming a research technician at a university or medical scbool? You'd get to keep doing the fun stuff you like but less of the work overload, and much more variety. Although I dont know what the US research climate is like. I know you said you didnt like the academic politics, but if you go the tech route instead of the postdoc route you avoid most of the exposure to it.


I agree this is a great idea. I do know, however, that histotechs are a separate field in the USA, with a separate educational track. Moreover, while greatly desired, histotechs are horribly abused in the USA in my experience. In research, I think the lab geeks do their own histology work, learning from each other and saving coin by doing the best they can (or at least that is what I saw in some labs I met). Maybe if I can get out of the USA...



View PostMezla PigDog, on 16 May 2020 - 08:24 AM, said:

I have two suggestions having made a jump from medical research to medical product design and manufacture to medical product regulation. Your point about quality assurance sticks out to me.

1. The lab you work in is probably certified to a laboratory quality standard by a US accreditation body. You could get a job with that body which would entail auditing labs like yours and checking they are following the requirements appropriately. It is a meticulous job and people don't like regulators very much - it's a huge deal when you turn up at their door so you get to keep some professional distance. Check out the ANSI website and let me know if you want more details.

2. Work for a digital pathology product manufacturer in R&D with a goal to move into QA. It's a huge development area as they are essentially making products to put people like you out of a job. Once you get into medical device QA you are set with a career for life because it isn't going away and you can translate the skills to any product type.

My two cents. Good luck.


Thank you.

I think this route is probably the most promising for staying in my profession (and current salary bracket, a greatly secondary asking when my health is deteriorating). I have been approached by an auditing group, but they though I was the head, head honcho (the medical director) at my previous lab, not a secondary director of a subset department. I haven't heard from them since, but I plan to pursue them. Traveling is problematic, since my family is hugely important and my genetic kids only float through holiday season and summertime when they are off school. Trying to manage who is home and when and being present when your kids have flown in from another state are going to be huge problems for me, whatever I do.

I would be happy to help a digital pathology company, even though putting pathologists out of a job is a pipe dream. Sections of tissue are just not that consistent in quality, the special stains used to identify certain types of cells are hit and miss and more statistical probabilities than binary (for instance, melanoma can be keratin positive, which makes it hard to use that keratin stain as proof positive it is a squamous cell carcinoma not a melanoma), and the actual histology of any benign or malignant cell can be so variable that you can have a group of pathologists claim the full spectrum of benign to malignant, as I frequently see when I take cases to people in my group.
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#25 User is offline   Gust Hubb 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 03:46 PM

View PostTsundoku, on 16 May 2020 - 01:30 PM, said:

View PostMacros, on 16 May 2020 - 12:47 PM, said:

do not, I repeat do no read A mans search for meaning.

if you are depressed or down this book will not help, it is fucking grim reading


OK I just googled that book. Yeah, grim sounds like an understatement. Sold 10 million copies though and is apparently listed as a top influential book by the Library of Congress.


Yeah, I am pretty sure this isn't midlife crisis. In my current job, a person resigned just as I entered, they forced out my mentor pathologist boss (when he threatened to resign for a sudden shuffle to move him to another hospital), and I know of a another pathologist resigning. And with hospitals reopening and thinking about the bottomline, the onslaught of new surgical cases on a grossly understaffed pathology department will continue to cull the ranks and pile up more on the survivors. But I am finding academic medicine in the USA seems to be almost universally toxic with rare exceptions. as evidenced by high turnover at least in these places. Pathologists (as with many doctors here) are work horses, patient cases are money, and more volume is more money, so work harder bitches.

Plus, of people in my profession and particular appointed position, I make much less than the 15-percentile of people at the same levels. I work for a horrible place.
"You don't clean u other peoples messes.... You roll in them like a dog on leftover smoked whitefish torn out f the trash by raccoons after Sunday brunch on a hot day."
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#26 User is offline   Gust Hubb 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 03:50 PM

View PostImperial Historian, on 16 May 2020 - 10:15 AM, said:

What Mez said. You've spent a long time training and those skills are transferable to a job which sounds more up your street.

Packing everything in and starting a completely new career like a mechanic sounds glamorous and exciting, but you'll have no idea whether you do genuinely enjoy that work or not, and it's a big commitment that might leave you in the same position 10 years down the line.

Shifting to an aspect of your career you enjoy more will likely pay off in terms of salary, job prospects and you have more idea if you'll enjoy it.

From my experience QA positions in the scientific field tend to have difficulty recruiting suitably qualified people with the right mindset.

Note on option 1, it will likely involve a lot of travel, whether that is a good thing or not is up to you.


With your experience (and this extends to others mentioning experience with medical tech and QA companies) do you have any contacts I could get a hold of? I need some direction in how to find these people and jobs (I will start with Indeed and LinkIn of course) and maybe a personal contact to help get their attention. I would love to work from home, absolutely crave it, but I think in the short term I would take a traveling gig in a heart beat.

I agree about the mechanic thing. I would need to know I would enjoy it (or be desperate enough to risk it) before investing any significant school time without having a job in the meanwhile. That is one of the barriers to teaching, obtaining that MA.
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#27 User is offline   Imperial Historian 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 04:24 PM

I don't have any US contacts, but I'd find out what standards you are audited too, and who audits you and look those people up on linked in. If you are audited speak to the auditor and ask for advice. If you are in the field you probably have some contacts somewhere start asking around in your network.
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#28 User is offline   Mezla PigDog 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 04:43 PM

I don't have US contacts either, sorry. The standards will probably be ISO 15189 or ISO 17025. Jobs in my field now come by direct contact or specialist recruitment agencies who always get in touch via LinkedIn. Put on your LinkedIn profile that you work in an "ISO xxxxx accredited lab" as a start and do what IH said above. A lot of auditing organisations I know will use external people on a contracting basis so once you worked in house for a while and got trained up you could go external and effectively pick and choose the dates you worked.

I would also get friendly with your lab quality manager and learn as much as you can. You might find internal lateral moves to temporarily soothe you.

Happy to look up US auditing organisations for those above standards for you if I get time and you think it would be useful?
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#29 User is offline   Gust Hubb 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 05:03 PM

View PostImperial Historian, on 16 May 2020 - 04:24 PM, said:

I don't have any US contacts, but I'd find out what standards you are audited too, and who audits you and look those people up on linked in. If you are audited speak to the auditor and ask for advice. If you are in the field you probably have some contacts somewhere start asking around in your network.



View PostMezla PigDog, on 16 May 2020 - 04:43 PM, said:

I don't have US contacts either, sorry. The standards will probably be ISO 15189 or ISO 17025. Jobs in my field now come by direct contact or specialist recruitment agencies who always get in touch via LinkedIn. Put on your LinkedIn profile that you work in an "ISO xxxxx accredited lab" as a start and do what IH said above. A lot of auditing organisations I know will use external people on a contracting basis so once you worked in house for a while and got trained up you could go external and effectively pick and choose the dates you worked.

I would also get friendly with your lab quality manager and learn as much as you can. You might find internal lateral moves to temporarily soothe you.

Happy to look up US auditing organisations for those above standards for you if I get time and you think it would be useful?


Great, thank you both of you. Yeah in the USA, auditors are often from the ranks of faculty pathologists, basically free labor with the payoff being travel accommodations and experience. There are auditing companies, etc, but those are usually pharma or ref lab based inspections, I think? It is complicated from what I saw when I worked for Pharma. I have already started by applying to regulatory/QA type roles and seeing where that gets me.
"You don't clean u other peoples messes.... You roll in them like a dog on leftover smoked whitefish torn out f the trash by raccoons after Sunday brunch on a hot day."
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#30 User is offline   Mezla PigDog 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 06:51 PM

So I would suggest you definitely try to flip to the side of the device manufacturers instead of the users. ISO 13485 or MDSAP auditing which is QA for manufacturers. It's the side of the fence where the work life balance is because the certification is essentially mandatory for manufacturers who want to sell devices so it is where the money is. You would probably need experience with a manufacturer for that - Leica or someone else equivalent in your field. Then you could get into an auditing organisation or FDA or similar.
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#31 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 07:01 PM

This thread is far too helpful and constructive. I'm disappointed in you people.
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#32 User is offline   Mezla PigDog 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 08:15 PM

Well Abyss already went there.

View PostAbyss, on 16 May 2020 - 03:13 AM, said:

Have you considered manwhoring?

Burn rubber =/= warp speed
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#33 User is offline   nacht 

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Posted 16 May 2020 - 08:16 PM

View PostAptorian, on 16 May 2020 - 07:01 PM, said:

This thread is far too helpful and constructive. I'm disappointed in you people.


Ha ha. And change your screen name. Even Skorgen is better. He atleast gets to hang out with Shurq
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#34 User is offline   Gust Hubb 

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Posted 17 May 2020 - 01:18 AM

Well, wish me luck all come Monday. I go to the boss-lady with my grievances and strong suggestions for improving my lot. I may be out of a job (or mental health) in the near future, haha.
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#35 User is offline   nacht 

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Posted 17 May 2020 - 02:11 AM

View PostGust Hubb, on 17 May 2020 - 01:18 AM, said:

Well, wish me luck all come Monday. I go to the boss-lady with my grievances and strong suggestions for improving my lot. I may be out of a job (or mental health) in the near future, haha.


Bah stop worrying. They will accommodate you but go with a positive attitude. It is good you are taking it up with your boss.
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#36 User is offline   nacht 

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Posted 17 May 2020 - 02:50 AM

BTW, when you talk to your boss. bluff (make sure to maintain the poker face)
tell her you are looking somewhere us. there has been interest from this company and that company.

recently i bluffed like crazy to get a promotion.
i actually looked outside and got an offer from 1 out of like 4 companies and it was not great but i used it to negotiate a better deal.
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#37 User is offline   Gust Hubb 

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Posted 17 May 2020 - 11:55 PM

Another question: Gig work, namely Uber and Lyft. Anyone with firsthand knowledge? What is the work like there? Is either company better? I am thinking short term for when I am out of a job and hoping for a new one. I will probably need to obtain short term work to bolster funds if I don't get a job in the next few months.

Edit: also other short term job option ideas are welcome. I know my ex was a pro at ebay buying and selling, even if she tended to overdo the buying part, which undercut profitability.

This post has been edited by Gust Hubb: 17 May 2020 - 11:56 PM

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#38 User is online   Tsundoku 

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Posted 18 May 2020 - 08:22 AM

No definitive idea about Uber or Lyft - never used either.
I have only heard Uber is like Amazon in that they are also a bunch of bullies looking to create a monopoly and pretty much fuck their staff over.
Uber eats is also fucking restaurants over here, please do not use them.

Apparently there's another bunch - Ola or something like that? Or are they only in Australia?

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 18 May 2020 - 08:26 AM

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#39 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 18 May 2020 - 02:27 PM

I have a bunch of friends who got into Uber early in CA. Apparently, the rates for new drivers are crap. The ones who got in early can make decent money, but it's hard for newcomers. Most seemed to have dropped it due to other stuff taking priority.
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#40 User is offline   Vengeance 

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Posted 18 May 2020 - 03:01 PM

View PostGust Hubb, on 17 May 2020 - 11:55 PM, said:

Another question: Gig work, namely Uber and Lyft. Anyone with firsthand knowledge? What is the work like there? Is either company better? I am thinking short term for when I am out of a job and hoping for a new one. I will probably need to obtain short term work to bolster funds if I don't get a job in the next few months.

Edit: also other short term job option ideas are welcome. I know my ex was a pro at ebay buying and selling, even if she tended to overdo the buying part, which undercut profitability.


If you have to do either uber or lyft. Do Lyft. They take less of fare.
How many fucking people do I have to hammer in order to get that across.
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