Pros
You learn several techniques and there is opportunity for modest advancement if you pick things up quickly. The analysts are great to work with and generally work well together. There are several things that you can take to your next job. The corporate managers do give credit to profitable and efficient labs.
Cons
The departmental managers seem to think they know everything and do not like to be challenged and seem to think that many issues you have are unfounded. The salary is pretty low for the area. If you work in a small division you will feel like you are under a microscope at all times and many problems or mistakes are not reported because of fear of reprisal and some of the managers have long memories. You have to brown-nose and bend over backwards to get a 3-5% salary increase. There could be more cross-training and communication between departments. Senior staff tends to blame the junior level techs for any mistakes. Everyone has their hands in every aspect of the job from testing to report writing to lab maintenance, it get to be very overwhelming and 50-60 hour weeks are not uncommon at certain times of the year.
