I hate my job

Vampireskiss

I am 31 and work as a QC Analyst in a multinational pharma company. I earn 31k a year and I just hate my job. I know in these hard times any job is better than no job and I do feel sympaty for those out of work but I just feel I want to tell people of my situation. Basically working in the pharma industry is a highly regulated industry and every little mistake you make has to be documented and recorded.The job in my opinion is just so Anal and rightly so but im just not suited to it and im getting really down about it. It takes great effort for me to be just about ok at it and I find myself being really depressed on a sunday evening having to face another working week.I don't want to sound too harsh the people I work with are fairly sound and the place in general is probably one of the best compared to other companies of its type, its just not for me. The problem I have is I am not sure what avenue to take, I have thought about going back to college again fulltime but that takes time and money and I would only be a grad again after 4 years.Does anyone have any advice?

Oasis44

Vampireskiss wrote: »

I am 31 and work as a QC Analyst in a multinational pharma company. I earn 31k a year and I just hate my job. I know in these hard times any job is better than no job and I do feel sympaty for those out of work but I just feel I want to tell people of my situation. Basically working in the pharma industry is a highly regulated industry and every little mistake you make has to be documented and recorded.The job in my opinion is just so Anal and rightly so but im just not suited to it and im getting really down about it. It takes great effort for me to be just about ok at it and I find myself being really depressed on a sunday evening having to face another working week.I don't want to sound too harsh the people I work with are fairly sound and the place in general is probably one of the best compared to other companies of its type, its just not for me. The problem I have is I am not sure what avenue to take, I have thought about going back to college again fulltime but that takes time and money and I would only be a grad again after 4 years.Does anyone have any advice?

First option you have is to quit and go look for another job elsewhere - unless you fancy being on the dole for the rest of the year I wouldn't recommend it.

Second option is to go see the HR manager of your company.Part of their job is to make sure their staff are happy (employee relations) and to help them solve issues you are having in the workplace. You are obviously hating the role your in at the moment and on the verge of quiting BUT the HR manager may be able to re-locate you to a more suitable department in the company (sales&marketing, IT, Logistics, Customer Service etc) so why not arrange a meeting with her/him and tell them your problems. If they see you as a good employee they wont want to lose you and may even have re-training programmes in the company that they can put you through. The pharmaceutical industry is generally a very secure industry to be in so I wouldn't walk away easily. Bottom line is have a think about what role you really want and see if its available in your current company.

j4vier

hey op
first of all to be on 31k at 31 years of age in a qc job is a very low salary
now i know qc salary ranges are between 30-40 but i am recently out of college and i was working in a area similar to qc where the starting was 30k

secondly i definetly know what part of the job u find frustrating , but after an year(working in probably one of the hardest companies!) i made up my mind and went back to do a phd
that level of stress isnt worth that money and the way i c it is that qc isnt gonna change for me, so i just had to take action and try another route..

i think u should really consider this option,especially now with so little jobs out there and so many unemployed people, a phd grant doesnt appear as bad, its actually pretty good cos its guaranteed for 3 years

if goin back to do a phd isnt an option for u, u should maybe start thinking about moving to qa, compliance, other areas where the level of responsability is slightly different

finally i can only advise u that if ur unhappy about ur job now, u really have to act now to change that, because qc is fairly dead end, and senor analyst is really as good as it gets

hope all goes well for u

random.stranger

Hi OP,
I'm sorry to hear your going through a tough patch. As oasis has said- it might be an idea to have a chat with HR. Generally Pharma companies are pretty good at looking after their staff & I would expect them to keep on the look out for something more suited to you.

You probably know a lot more than you realise & they would prefer to retain you than invest in bringing in somebody else that would have to get up to speed on how they do things.

Please let us know how it goes.

Good luck.

mikemac

31K is not a fantastic salary at your age and experience.

Is there an area in the company you'd like to move to?
Maybe you are more of a people person, sales maybe?

Go talk to HR and ask about available positions. Or talk to a career advisor, you probably have to pay for this but then a lot of this info in on the internet.
But hey, it's often worth paying for professional advice.

Good luck anyway in what you decide.

Red Hand

Vampireskiss wrote: »

I am 31 and work as a QC Analyst in a multinational pharma company. I earn 31k a year and I just hate my job. I know in these hard times any job is better than no job and I do feel sympaty for those out of work but I just feel I want to tell people of my situation. Basically working in the pharma industry is a highly regulated industry and every little mistake you make has to be documented and recorded.The job in my opinion is just so Anal and rightly so but im just not suited to it and im getting really down about it. It takes great effort for me to be just about ok at it and I find myself being really depressed on a sunday evening having to face another working week.I don't want to sound too harsh the people I work with are fairly sound and the place in general is probably one of the best compared to other companies of its type, its just not for me. The problem I have is I am not sure what avenue to take, I have thought about going back to college again fulltime but that takes time and money and I would only be a grad again after 4 years.Does anyone have any advice?

Would you have an interest in moving into QA? Or is that too similiar?

You have a degree in chemistry/biology? If so, you could take a H.Dip for teaching? Would you be interested in teaching?

Have you looked on the New Scientist website? There are some interesting vacancies out there for graduates, many which wouldn't be the OC area, but perhaps with your experience, you might have a shot at applying for some? Most would be in the UK/Germany though.

Vampireskiss

Thanks for the responses folks. Doing a PhD is not really an option because firstly I only have an ordinary degree so I would have to go back and do a hons degree and secondly I don't think I would have the academic ability or interest to do one.

The reason my salary is relatively low for my age is because I don't have that many years actual experience in the lab. I have worked in different positions in the pharma/med device industry eg production operator,quality inspector, all entry level jobs and I really only have 2 years lab experience and I don't have HPLC or GC

I have tried in the past to get a process tech job in either Wyeth or Bristol Meyer squib but haven't got any of these jobs. I will try for them again when they come up because I think working in manufacturing as an operator has less hassle plus the money in does 2 jobs in particular would be fairly good, I would imagine 40k plus 33% shift on top of that.

the thing about jobs like these is that the companies usually have assessment days with aptitude tests , behavioural interviews and role plays before you actually get a proper interview so it can be quite competitive.Does anyone have any experience or tips for succeeding in these assessment centre's.

I am actually thinking of asking HR for a transfer to manufacturing however would this look like a step back and would my other collegues in the lab snigger at this.