Vantaggi
Very interesting technology, very hands on role with multiple lab duties to learn. Pay started out a little low but the company does regular salary increases based on training and tenure. All of my managers were once lab techs that have been promoted, company 100% promotes from within. Initial training is fast but I was pretty self sufficient after about 3 months. The lab tech position definitely connects my university school work to a real world agriculture biotechnology job.
Svantaggi
Lab has been short staffed at times. 12 hour shifts are difficult at the tail end sometimes. Health benefits are affordable for myself, but for my family the price is very high. 15 days paid vacation is nice but it took me 18 months to get to that earning point. When I first started the Lab Techs had a bonus program, those bonuses were taken away and added into my base salary which pretty much evened out, but i do miss the "performance goal" part of my job.