Friday Fun: Adventures in Small Business

This has been a looooong week.

I often modify tweets with hashtags #startup or #phdlife, to give readers a flavor for just how chaotic, random, stressful, yet strangely rewarding life at a small company can be. This week, though, takes the cake - here's a brief breakdown of the last four days:

• Haggled with Enterprise Rent-a-Car; planned an equipment-gathering "road trip"
• Set up safety training
• Toured a now-defunct medium biotech for info on soon-to-be-auctioned assets
• Arranged for large instrument crating and cross-country shipping
• Year-end software updates
• Convincing colleagues, granting agencies, and local gov't that, yes, we really are that small
• Scheduled an electrician to hook up (large, heavy) new toy
• Writing, writing, and more writing

Reflection. Seemed apt.

Oh, almost forgot to mention: chemistry.

Happy Friday,

SAO

Weekend Warrior...at Work

Chemists, do you work weekends? Should you?

Let me clarify: as a chemical professional, I know that I'll never work the "9-to-5" hours popular in the modern workforce. The reality ends up somewhere between forty-five and sixty hours per week. I also realize I have responsibilities to my employer that continue after I leave lab for the evening: 

1. Light email correspondence. 
2. Taking emergency phone calls. 
3. Reading through the literature to keep up with the "current art."

But when I say work weekends, I mean arriving at lab on Saturday and Sunday like you would on Monday-Friday: starting new reactions, taking TLCs, ordering supplies, reading drafts, everything. The Whole Nine Yards.

All work and no play make Homer
something something...

Yes, I was a graduate student once. I distinctly remember fourteen-hour shifts as de rigueur, with at least eight more hours over the weekend to keep momentum going. I worked this pace for the incentive of a terminal degree, with the promise of a brighter future where I'd at least get major holidays off. As a postdoc, your pace often intensifies, since you have limited time and resources to make a big enough splash that you'll be considered "marketable" to someone - someone who might offer you major holidays and two weeks' vacation. 

Maybe.

Well, the working world hasn't really panned out like I thought. Evening meetings occur more regularly, working lunches are standard, and now the work week bleeds into the weekend. Chores at home go unfinished. Family and friends are ignored. How's that old expression go? 

"All work and no play make Jack a dull boy."

Could this actually be counterproductive? Sure: tired workers make more mistakes, call in for more sick days, and generally don't feel as invested in company goals or culture. There's also the question of expectation - weekend work becomes an accepted part of your schedule, and employers will anticipate your future willingness to sacrifice personal time for career goals (Weekends? Nights? Holidays? Double shifts? Sleep under my desk? Sure!). 

I could tell you I was here this weekend, but...
Source: Abbi Perets

The irony mounts Monday morning, when the inevitable question comes up - "So, how was your weekend?" The person asking actually expects you to talk about things you did outside of work!

What's the solution? Companies could hire more employees or offer performance incentives, but the weak economy has subdued these approaches. Managers could sit with their chemists to identify where investments in equipment or sourcing could lighten their loads, but this assumes the capital exists to finance such ventures. No, I'd guess that, for the foreseeable future, the "weekend warrior" will continue to wage war...from work.

Pharma's 'Four Horsemen' - Small Companies Benefit

As the economy struggles to escape recession, many incentives of the "stable corporate job" once taken for granted have disappeared. Eight-hour work day? Nope. Full benefits, perhaps with retirement? Nowhere I've worked. Flexible work hours, or the ability to vacation without checking email? Don't even think about turning off that cell phone!

Yeah, some days. Only, with a lab coat.
Source: SciAm Blogs / istockphoto

I'll admit, I had spent some time in pharma when it seemed to have no upper limit: company parties, annual bonuses, guest lecturers, the whole enchilada. But nowadays, with news of mass layoffs at every major chemistry firm, and certain sites closing altogether, I've had the discussion several times about whether we'll ever see salad days again.


One of my ex-'Big Pharma' contacts forwarded along a cheery little document from Cliff Ennico, a lawyer who appears to specialize in small business and entrepreneurship. He had visited their campus to suggest potential career routes for laid-off employees. The tract essentially advocates for self-reliance through small business ownership, skill development, and networking. But his ideology caught me off guard: he compares current corporate practice to the Apocalypse! 


Here's Ennico's "Four Horsemen of Corporate America:"


Computers - If your function can be automated, you might be next on the chopping block.


Overseas Competition - China and India are specifically mentioned, which segues to...


Outsourcing - Well, if you haven't sent med-chem work to CROs, or offshore, you're in the minority. For another example, consider the contract positions seen on ACS Careers (three months, really?)


Overwork - Quoth the paper: 

"Big corporations these days are obsessed with 'maximizing productivity,' which often translates [to] 'getting the maximum amount of work out of your employees for the minimum amount of compensation.'"

"Hang on . . .which one of us was Outsourcing, again?"
Source: photobucket.com, user: the_pug

So, all doom and gloom, right? Well, maybe so, maybe not. After mass 'Big Pharma' layoffs, small companies - like mine - tend to benefit from an influx of well-trained, poised people ready to try something new. And while the hours are still long, and the pace hectic, it's both humbling and exhilarating to watch something grow from the ground up. Best part? They'll need you to "pinch-hit" on a variety of projects, which imparts some job security.


New grads, post-docs: Make sure to think 'small' when filling out those job applications. It's stressful, sure, but well worth the effort.