Is a school lab technician a route to get back into science in industry?

[SunnyAgain]

Hi all,
Hoping for some advice as I had an interview for a part time school lab technician yesterday. The job would suit me perfectly at the moment, but in the long term I would probably like to get back into the type of job I’ve had in the past, working more hours (better pay) in industry. I have many years experience in lab work as a technician and scientist, but that was around 10 years ago. I have worked since, very part time, and not in science.
I am hoping that the school job will be a stepping stone for me to get back into industry in a few years when fitting round school hours and holidays isn’t so important. Is this feasible or is the school lab tech role a bit of a dead end? Would it put off potential industry employers in the future?
When I was interviewed yesterday there were 3 candidates but I spoke to one who is currently working as a school lab tech so may be out of the running anyway, but I don’t know if I should keep looking at this type of job given my long term aims.

Thank you for any guidance!

Sorry no practical advice on science/lab work.

Personally, I wonder if any job is better than no job though. It's in science but I guess you would be working under the requirements of the teachers. But you could probably spin the skills used/gained to be relevant to an industry job (working under pressure, accuracy, health and safety, working on own initiative etc etc). Maybe even improving practices or procedures. I'm guessing all this would be handy experience to talk about in an industry job interview.

In fact, that's what I found difficult at my last job interview, having relevant recent experience.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I’ve also decided that a job in a scientific area is better than something unrelated (I’m working in a non-scientific role at the moment). And I could emphasise the skills that are transferable.
I’ve just been invited back for a second interview so one step closer to the job!

My two siblings were lab technicians at a public school straight from university. Both are educated to masters level in science subjects.

One sibling now does curation in a hospital museum. The other is head tech at a different school. They have been able to progress so it's not a dead end.

Thank you, that’s good to know. Fingers crossed things go well at my second interview... I’ll report back!

Just a quick update to say I’ve been offered the job!

Depends if you are looking at a clinical or research role. For a clinical/hospital scientist job you won't ever get one without HCPC registration which requires very specific degrees/training programs etc, you'd only be able to get technician jobs in hospitals without HCPC registration. For research roles it probably depends more on your education. Research roles are competitive and most people find it impossible to progress in research labs without a PhD or significant experience in a very niche field so if you don't have one and have been out of the field for a while I'd say it'd be difficult for you to get a job in a research lab. You'd probably be better off looking at roles in education based areas, not necessarily schools, could be interactive type museum programs, that kinda thing. Good luck!

Congratulations!

I’m a school science tech and love it. I recently explored moving to a university lab tech job as a step up as I used to be a researcher and similar to you thought it would a good stepping stone back into it. They were very keen but in the end I decided to stay in school until my preschoolers are a bit older, school hours just fit so nicely with family life at the moment. But it’s good to know there is scope for progressing back to something more ‘interesting’ in the future so I’m sure it will be a good move for you.

Thank you! Yes, the hours are ideal for me at the moment, but in a few years I’ll be looking for something more full time, either in that field or will see what other opportunities would suit me at that point. I’m so looking forward to be “doing science” again - just the smell of the prep room had me excited!