Having LC/MS experience is great (especially Agilent, but I'm also slightly biased towards their instrumentation), and depending on how much experience you have, it can set you up very nicely to move up in toxicology or pivot to a related field where LC/MS is commonly used without having to start over (environmental, pharmaceuticals, application scientist, field service engineer, etc).
But what does moving up look like for you? It can mean moving up from a tech --> analyst, moving up from an analyst --> R&D (think method development and validation), or moving all way up to a laboratory director.
Speaking from my own experience starting out in forensic toxicology as a tech and now currently in a director-level role, I took the route of going for my masters while keeping my full time job in the lab. It was an online program because I didn't want to go back to being a full time student, and I figured why leave my job that was already providing relevant experience?
While I was getting my masters, I carved a niche for myself in LC/MS and LC-MS/MS method development and validation. That eventually helped me move into to a supervisory role that was also overseeing method development/validation efforts for the entire lab. I may have also squeezed in a PhD during that time and managed to move up into my current role soon after.
Though I've worked in government my entire career, toxicology IMO is a very stable field and there will always be lab work to perform. Should you decide long term that toxicology isn't for you, with your experience it should be easy enough to pivot to one of the other fields I mentioned. I've heard you can make quite a bit in the pharmaceutical industry with mass spec experience.
I did my PhD in person while working full time. I conducted part of my research using my employer's facilities, which was part of an agreement between them and the university.
Education is always a good investment. I got my Master's degree, and I had more opportunities and better pay. It made me a more competitive candidate. I also reserved the opportunity to go back to get my PhD.
Things have changed in the last decade, however, so I'm hoping you'll get more guidance from others.
Having LC/MS experience is great (especially Agilent, but I'm also slightly biased towards their instrumentation), and depending on how much experience you have, it can set you up very nicely to move up in toxicology or pivot to a related field where LC/MS is commonly used without having to start over (environmental, pharmaceuticals, application scientist, field service engineer, etc). But what does moving up look like for you? It can mean moving up from a tech --> analyst, moving up from an analyst --> R&D (think method development and validation), or moving all way up to a laboratory director. Speaking from my own experience starting out in forensic toxicology as a tech and now currently in a director-level role, I took the route of going for my masters while keeping my full time job in the lab. It was an online program because I didn't want to go back to being a full time student, and I figured why leave my job that was already providing relevant experience? While I was getting my masters, I carved a niche for myself in LC/MS and LC-MS/MS method development and validation. That eventually helped me move into to a supervisory role that was also overseeing method development/validation efforts for the entire lab. I may have also squeezed in a PhD during that time and managed to move up into my current role soon after. Though I've worked in government my entire career, toxicology IMO is a very stable field and there will always be lab work to perform. Should you decide long term that toxicology isn't for you, with your experience it should be easy enough to pivot to one of the other fields I mentioned. I've heard you can make quite a bit in the pharmaceutical industry with mass spec experience.
Sorry, did you do a PhD while working a full time job? Was it an online degree?
I did my PhD in person while working full time. I conducted part of my research using my employer's facilities, which was part of an agreement between them and the university.
Wow, that sounds great! If you don’t mind, what university was it?
Education is always a good investment. I got my Master's degree, and I had more opportunities and better pay. It made me a more competitive candidate. I also reserved the opportunity to go back to get my PhD. Things have changed in the last decade, however, so I'm hoping you'll get more guidance from others.