Hi, this is Jeff, a lab technician in Mantacc. Today I want to record my experiences and learnings from my first year of work. I joined Mantacc last May through my professor's recommendation. The company has a great environment overall, with a particularly pleasant lab atmosphere. When we encounter challenges, everyone gathers to discuss and freely share their opinions. Although I was mostly a listener, occasionally offering my thoughts, I learned so much from my colleagues.
When I first started, I transitioned from being a basic lab technician to - well, let's say a research assistant (haha, sounds better, doesn't it?). Being completely new, I made many amusing mistakes, like forgetting to record temperatures in lab notes, missing batch numbers, and skipping steps in data analysis. I'm someone who takes mistakes very personally and am quite sensitive and competitive. Even though my supervisor never blamed me, and my mentor kept reassuring me that making mistakes is normal when starting out, I still felt quite discouraged. The downside of this personality is that I easily fall into self-doubt, but the upside is that it gives me constant motivation to improve, especially when I see excellent colleagues around me who inspire me to learn from them. Gradually, with help from my senior colleague and department head, I started to grow. I'm truly grateful for their patient guidance.
After two months, I began handling some routine projects, mostly modifications to existing testing protocols. Yet I still made mistakes, like forgetting to prepare reagent lists and data analysis reports. Thankfully, my senior colleague and supervisor taught me how to use analysis software and properly maintain lab records. After that first experience, things became much smoother. My lab documentation became more standardized, and errors decreased. About six months passed this way, until mid-December when the project department assigned me a flu detection project.
This project made me realize how much more I had to learn - my previous six months of knowledge was just the tip of the iceberg. At first, I naively thought it was just a standard flu detection protocol, so I quickly adapted an existing method and sent the report for review. Everything seemed fine until then. A few days later, someone from marketing rushed over asking if we had started validation. We joked that we were about to get data, but their face dropped. They had forgotten to tell us that the sampling swab was a client-specified brand, different from our usual one. The swab's performance was completely different from what we typically used, meaning all validation protocols needed redesigning. The office fell silent. I asked if they were joking, but they weren't - we needed to stop everything and start over. We really wanted to strangle them then, haha!
Since this was a new type of swab, we weren't familiar with it. Only after the supplier sent detailed specifications did we begin discussing how to proceed. These swabs collected smaller sample volumes and had different release efficiency, plus storage conditions could affect detection sensitivity. We decided to redesign the sample processing workflow, optimizing the lysis buffer to improve sample release efficiency. Then we methodically developed the protocol, ran preliminary tests, and analyzed data. After the New Year break, the Technical Director told me: "The client definitely won't accept this protocol. Just take it as a learning experience. I won't criticize you this time - just learn from these mistakes and don't repeat them." Our Director is quite strict, so when even he said this, I felt hopeless. I decided to just take it as experience and tackle any problems head-on.
That week, I immersed myself in the lab, listening to advice from senior researchers and technicians, working alongside them. One senior colleague remarked, "Your technique is quite standard - did you study clinical laboratory science before?" I replied, "Yes, you've got a good eye!" She laughed and said, "You're interesting - better than those other young folks." I quickly waved it off, saying, "No, no, I still have so much to learn from them - don't get me in trouble!"
When I sat down to write my project summary (it's my habit to create mind maps for each project, including my current thought process and how I'd approach it differently next time - I modify these notes constantly, believing that thinking things through helps me improve regardless of whether I'm right or wrong), I realized that many of my mistakes were avoidable with more careful attention. Future projects will require more thoroughness, as small details are often where things go wrong. Another issue was setting overly strict experimental conditions that didn't match real-world usage scenarios. I'll need to watch out for these issues in future projects. At 24, I still have plenty of time and a long road ahead, with so much more to learn. As the saying goes, a sword's sharpness comes from grinding, and plum blossoms' fragrance emerges from the cold. I'll keep pushing forward in the new year!