Patricia Groenewald

2. What technical skills are crucial for success in this role?

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I have provided a description of the skills required according to my main responsibilities (as per the job advert for the position I currently hold):

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• Research and Project Management: Take primary responsibility for analysing samples using the mass spectrometers

Skills required:

1.  Knowledge of the calculations used to calibrate the results of the analyses. You also need to know how to check the quality of the results obtained.

2.  You need to be a bit of a perfectionist. For example, if the weight of the sample needs to be 1.9 to 2.1 mg, you can’t weigh out 2.5 mg, because that will impact the accuracy and/or precision of the results.

3.  You need to know how to prepare the samples for analysis, which will be specific to the sample type and the analyses required. You may need to develop new protocols for the laboratory, as I had to do for the preparation of samples for sulphur isotope analysis.

4.  Organisation skills – you need to keep track of everyone’s samples and information about them to ensure they get analysed timeously and that the invoices get sent out once they have been analysed. You also need to keep track of all the details about a sample – you never know when someone will ask for a report on details about samples five years after they have been analysed (yes, this has happened to me).

5.  Laboratory safety – you need to take this seriously, because big accidents can occur if you don’t.

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• Laboratory management and equipment maintenance: Equipment maintenance, troubleshooting, assistance in basic repairs

Skills required:

1.  A steady hand to work with minute and fragile items such as capillaries and small screws.

2.  An understanding of how the instruments/machines fit together to perform the analysis so that you can troubleshoot when things go wrong (as they will) and repair the problem (or get the experts in). With this, it is important to have the ability to focus on finding solutions, and not just identifying problems.

3. You also need to develop a working understanding of how other equipment in the laboratory functions so that you can do basic maintenance/know when you need to call in an expert.

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• Education and training: Provide technical and scientific assistance to undergraduate (BSc) and post-graduate (masters and doctoral) students in the use of equipment and running of samples, especially for sulphur isotopes

Skills required

1.  You need to be able to explain the sample preparation protocols to someone else in-person and/or via e-mail. 

2.  You need to be able to pass on your knowledge of equipment and procedures in a way that allows the students to become independent laboratory users.

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• Purchasing and stock management: Manage and control consumables, materials and chemicals for the laboratory in conjunction with the laboratory manager.

1.  You need to keep tabs on things like consumables (chemicals, gases, pipette tips, centrifuge tubes, etc.) to ensure they don’t run out, and the dates when equipment needs to be serviced.

2.  You need to understand the procurement process used by your employer, and it really helps to have a good working relationship with the administration staff who are responsible for processing the paperwork.

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There are also some general skills that are crucial:

1.  Curiosity, listening skills and a “can do” attitude – the willingness to ask questions and to have the patience to sit down/work with someone else who knows more than you so that you can learn how things work. Once they trust you (which may take time), you will be given opportunities to try new things for yourself.

2.  The confidence to say, “I don’t know, but I will find out.” This does not just apply to being a scientific officer. I was talking to a forensic document examiner the other day, and she told me that if someone was too afraid to say, “I don’t know,” in the interview, she would not give them a job.

3.  People skills – get to know your co-workers, including your department’s support staff. Get to know other people in your field so that you maintain good relations when you need advice or to share the workload (e.g. if your lab is being renovated and you need to use their lab to analyse samples). 

4.  Computer skills – you need to know software such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and you need to know how to use the software specific to your instruments (for example we use software called IsoDat that was specifically developed for Thermo Scientific instruments)

5.  Communication skills – know how to write an e-mail, and check your spelling before sending. Mistakes will slip through but hold yourself to high standards. It also helps if you develop your public speaking skills, as you will be called on to present information about the laboratory to visitors, funders and at workshops and/or conferences.