ImmunologyGrad

Well, this is depressing.

So I'm about to leave my Ph.D. program in hopes of keeping my sanity. My question for you is this: What is my job outlook with only a B.S. ? I've searched online and read about it, but I would love to hear from individuals. How hard is it to get a research assistant job right now in a fairly big city? What would I be looking at in terms of salary and work hours? Are most of these jobs 9-5? I am in desperate need of a 9-5 type situation with two days off during the week. If a research assistant job would be just as stressful and time consuming as a Ph.D. program, then leaving the program would be pointless. I'm not too concerned with salary as I would rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable... What other jobs are available in the sciences? I definitely want to stay in science, but WITHOUT grant writing and publication writing. Any suggestions?

Are there any job prospects out there for PhD graduates that DON'T involve long hours, grant writing, and publication preparation? Like I said, this is the part that I know I will never be able to tolerate. If I will not have any options like that after getting a phD (obviously academia is out, but I'm not sure about industry options), then I know getting a PhD isn't right for me. I don't want to waste any time if I know what lies at the end is not worth it. I have a meeting with a career counselor in 30 minutes. We'll see how it goes. Luckily my PI is out of town today so I have the freedom to leave lab for an hour to meet with her.

I think it is more my field than my PI. My department has a book full of "reviews" for PIs. After every rotation students must fill out a form about their PIs and add to the book. My PI actually has some of the best reviews in the book. I think he is shocked at my lack of experience and knowledge. Maybe the other students who reviewed him had more experience in the field. I really have no idea who I would rotate with next because this particular PI is the only PI doing research on x at this institution. I honestly believed I would join the lab after the first rotation because everything SEEMED to be so perfect....until I got here. Most of the other PIs in the book for my department have scary reviews.....so if my current PI is bad, I'm sure another PI would only be worse. I could be wrong, but I just have to make the decision whether to stay long enough to find out.

Thanks to both of you for the responses. Yes, this is my first rotation and my program requires 3. I have considered trying to tough it out for this first rotation and see if the next 2 are any better, but I honestly don't know if I can do it. As I said above, thinking about the meetings/conferences/poster sessions I have to attend in a month or two literally make me feel sick. I feel so far behind in this field that I don't even know how to graph my data, much less create a poster and present it. I think my terrible experience with this rotation has almost ruined it for me---I automatically associate this anxiety and misery with ANY PhD lab rotation, so I don't even want to try another PI. I know making this association is a bit unrealistic, but I can't change how I feel. Analogy: Getting bitten by a dog once and always being afraid of all dogs. I do know one thing for certain: writing grants, working long hours, and preparing publications is not for me. I love immunology and lab work, but not the "academia" part of it. Would it really be worth staying if I know this from the beginning? Even if I could tough it out and stay, what would be my job options with a PhD that do NOT involve writing grants and working evenings and weekends? I think family is more important than work. Time with my husband, traveling the world, and experiencing new things are what make me happy. I realize money is necessary to survive, so that would be my only reason for having a job (like 95% of the world, I'm sure). But since a job is necessary, a job is science is where I would most like to be. Does anyone know if lab jobs with a B.S. such as research associates have to work crazy hours or assist in writing grants?

I apologize for the long post....whoever reads this and gives advice, I thank you SO MUCH in advance. I've been in my immunology phD program for about a month. I'm absolutely miserable. The classes are super fast-paced, which is fine, IF I actually had time to study. Right now I am working with my PI about 8-10 hours a day in lab in addition to class time, so by the time I get home around 8 pm, eat dinner, take a shower, etc, I have NO time to study much less relax, talk to my husband, or generally enjoy free time and hobbies. I have not been allowed to take lunch breaks or any breaks at all during the day. I have already lost weight (which I did NOT need to do.) Also, I feel completely incompetent in lab. I have no prior immunology experience, so everything is brand new to me. I love learning new things, but my PI is not patient with me at all. He rolls his eyes and gives looks of disgust when I can't answer his questions. My anxiety has gotten so high and I am so afraid to screw up, that I am screwing up even simple things that I've done 100000 times in my old lab. Basically, I have too much on my mind to think straight. I felt this way after only the first day in the lab. I thought it would get better with time, but it is only getting worse. Next month I will have to speak at 2 meetings and attend a conference. The next month I will have to present my research at a 2 hour poster session. Just thinking about these things makes me sick to my stomach. When will I have time to prepare posters and talks when I don't even have time to study for my next exam? This bad experience has made me wonder if I am on the right career path at all. I know my life will be like this for the next 4-5 years in this phD program, then postdoc, then first "real" job.... The thought of writing grants and publications is just awful. The writing itself isn't so bad, but not the time constraints and the competition/pressure. I see what long hours these PIs work, and that isn't for me. I need a 9-5 type job with weekends off to actually enjoy life. I have recently realized that life is too short to not enjoy it, and working 24/7 is not enjoying it. I miss my husband and the time we used to spend together, and he is getting depressed about this as well. I think I would rather be poor and happy than semi-rich and stressed. I realize that I should have thought about this before ever joining a PhD program, but the small state school that I came from did not have enough of this environment for me to truly see this. Now, I am at one of the best immuno phD programs in the country, and I am terrified of what will happen when and if I leave the program (will they even let me go? will they ask for the stipend back?) What are my options? What jobs are available for someone with a B.S. ? I do still love immunology and love lab work in general, just not in such a high stress environment. If I quit now, how easy would it be for me to find a lab job such as a research associate? Would I ever have to take work home, or would most jobs allow me to work 9-5 and then be done for the day? I don't mind hard work, I just need a break every now and then. I have an excellent GPA, 3 years of research experience in undergrad, and 3 solid references, if that would help my job search at all. I'm afraid if I quit the phD program, I am going to end up in a miserable stressful job that takes up just as much time as the program. If that is the case, I might as well get a PhD out of the misery if I can stay long enough. As you can see, I'm going through a bit of an identity crisis. I've known I wanted to go into science since I was a little kid and everything has always fallen magically into place for me. For the first time in my life, I am completely at a loss. Helpppppppppppppppp