Today is my 12th anniversary of starting work as a lab technician.
At the time I was a single mother with a 6 year old daughter and desperate to get back into work, but worried about affording childcare. A job in a school felt like the ideal solution, at least temporarily. My mum had been a biology technician for years so I knew at least partly what I was getting myself into and I was delighted to be offered the post of physics technician at my local secondary school for 20 hours a week.
After 3 years there I decided I wanted to go full time and found a job at a nearby independent school, then 3 more years later ended up in my current position. I never expected to be a technician for anywhere near this long, but it turns out that it's a job I quite enjoy (usually) and at which I am reasonably good. I've found a school I love which pays just about enough to live on. If only I didn't have such a long commute to get here every day it would be perfect.
Across 3 schools I have experienced a great deal of variation in how technicians are treated, but here I feel like I am (mostly!) respected and (often) treated as a professional colleague by the teachers and management. My job is varied and interesing, I am constantly learning new things. For all my grumbling I would have to say that for the most part I am happy with my lot.
In another 12 years I'll be 50. Will I still be a technician? I really hope so.
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