I don’t know what to do about my job
I’m a fresh lifescience graduate that stepped into a research job as a research assistant/officer (3 months in) and liked the process of learning (albeit making mistakes on the way).
2 months into the job, my professor called me into her room and explained that I am not performing well because I’m doing things very slow and made too many mistakes (which I expected given that I’m learning).
With that, she requested that I resign before the probation period ends and that research is not suited for me (but I’ve already spent 3 months in this job and was loving the process of research).
At that moment in time, it didn’t affect me but as I left the office, a wave of self-doubt hit me and has since affected how I see myself and my work.
Over time, I began feeling like my mentor and co-workers are talking bad about me behind my back and I can feel the tension in the air.
I’m getting anxiety attacks every Sunday dreading the work week ahead.
Am I normal for feeling so or am I just getting caught in my own thoughts and should I resign before getting another job offer (because honestly, this job has been draining me mentally ever since then).
Netizens’ comments
- Research in SG is a very small world, everyone knows someone else from another lab. So do not burn bridges. As someone in research, I am curious who this PI is. Feel free to PM me to see whether I’ve heard of her before.
There are good PIs and bad ones too. I’ve had my share of both.
Asking you to quit due to pipetting of all things seems a bit strange. Pipetting can be practiced with water and tubes. But given that you handle patient samples which are extremely precious, there has to be something else that is an issue… - hold up.
so you’re telling me that out of the blue, after two months, she told you that your performance was unsatisfactory?
that right there suggests “trashy manager”, because a good manager will have regular performance checkins with you and highlight the things they think you could improve on. - I would say, research experience is heavily influenced by the PI. Some are just indifferent or slave drivers. It sounds like this PI is not a mentoring one. If you really love research, try again in a different lab and see if things are better. Do try to ask former members of the lab of their experience first as a gauge
Editor’s note: PI = Principal Investigator (a person that is responsible for preparing and conducting research)