Hi! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Alexis Nast and I’m about to begin my last semester at Scripps. I’ll be graduating in December with a degree in neuroscience, and I’m hoping to have a job lined up by the time I return home to Seattle. I’ve been emailing professors at a local university in the hopes of finding a job as a lab technician for the next two years.

The first email I sent was a bit of a disappointment; the professor I contacted was on sabbatical and did not know of any available positions. However, he suggested another professor I could contact, who responded to my inquiry 15 minutes later saying he might have a position opening up late this fall or early winter, and I now have an appointment to talk to him about working in the lab set up for tomorrow afternoon. I did not expect a positive response so quickly, especially after hearing about the perils of the current job market.

Brainstorming a list of questions I had for him was challenging. I wanted to ask about hours, responsibilities, techniques, and opportunity for independent work, but since it wasn’t a formal interview and I by no means have the job I didn’t want to seem too pushy. I managed to get a lot of information by asking about what the current lab tech’s daily work looks like. Apparently she has stayed at the job for a long time (much longer than average lab techs stay), which suggests to me that the working environment is very positive.

Overall, the lab seemed like a good match for me; I would be able to use skills I’ve acquired at Scripps to contribute to the lab, and would also have plenty of opportunities to learn new techniques and gain experience.

During the discussion, the professor also brought up graduate schools and mentioned that working in his lab might help me if I wished to attend this particular university, and pointed out that there are two professors there that I seem to get along with, which is important in case one professor doesn’t work out (for whatever reason) and you need a different advisor. I need to keep this in mind next year when I start the grad school search in earnest.

The professor will not know if he can hire me and for how many hours a week until later this year, but we got along well, and it seemed like a very positive interaction. We agreed to keep in touch, which reminds me that I need to send him an email thanking him for taking the time to talk with me. I may also see him at a professional meeting later this year, which would be another chance to connect and see how things are looking in terms of the possibility of a job.

In the mean time, however, I need to start studying for the GRE general test (which I plan to take in January), and continue looking for other possible jobs in case this opportunity doesn’t pan out.