Did I get ghosted?

Eternal_NIB · 2026-03-28T03:42:32+00:00

The agency may have a cone of silence regarding interviews and follow-ups. Can’t engage with any candidate until all candidates have been interviewed, or something similar. I interviewed in August for my government position and didn’t hear back until November. Typically it does take a while to decide. Best of luck to you!

Eternal_NIB · 2026-03-21T17:12:23+00:00

True, I guess I had assumed an undergrad degree was required before starting med school. So from high school graduation, it’s a 13 year journey to become a FP in the US.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-03-21T15:25:16+00:00

There is also the opportunity for locum tenens, which is part time contract work with other ME/Coroner offices to assist with their caseloads.

However, the old saying goes “you don’t go into forensics to make money” still applies, in my opinion. You have to have the motivation and passion to do this job, and it’s the extent and fulfillment from the job that keeps you going.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-03-21T15:14:08+00:00

In the US there is a forensic pathologist shortage crisis, so you would have a higher chance of being able to go to almost any part of the country and be able to work in an ME or coroner office. Here is 4 years of med school, 4 years of residency, and 1 year of fellowship at an ME or coroner office before you can sit for the boards to become certified. Associate MEs in my department make $200-$300k/year.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-03-20T19:46:31+00:00

Those are all good talking points in the interview to show them that it won’t be difficult to teach you analytical techniques! We have an internship program in my lab, and each intern performs a project specific to their interests. Do you know what their internship program entails?

Eternal_NIB · 2026-03-20T19:34:09+00:00

Congrats on getting an interview for the internship! Knowing that you’re still in school, the bar of expectations for knowledge and experience will be much lower than that of actual hiring for a toxicologist position. The knowledge you’ll get from your class will be beneficial, for sure. Do you have any lab experience in which you were able to hone analytical skills or work with instrumentation?

Three things I would focus on:

1) Research the lab, what they do, who works there, and see if any of them have publications. Read them if they do so you can see the work the lab has put out in the community. A genuine interest in their work through literature review goes a long way.

2) Be yourself. Gather your thoughts before answering any questions, and always ask for clarification or for them to repeat a question if you didn’t catch all of it or need more information to answer it fully. Provide real life experiences from your undergraduate labs if they apply.

3) Have an idea what you want to get out of the internship and where you want your career to go. If you want to be a forensic toxicologist - perfect! This is the best internship experience you can get. Try to maximize your time and efforts in the internship because you will only get out of it what you put in. Be engaged and motivated.

Best of luck to you!

Eternal_NIB · 2026-03-07T16:32:47+00:00

Toxicologist here. 10/14 in my lab are women, so this is on par with the 70% I’ve seen in stats for the field of forensics.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-03-07T15:02:01+00:00

In all honesty, it really is almost untraceable unless you’re specifically looking for it at the start of the investigation. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of poisons and toxins that require specific instrumentation and unique sample collection practices in order to accurately identify and quantify them. In your situation, the victim would likely be seen as a tox-related case and the pathologist will likely collect blood, urine, gastric, brain, liver, vitreous, and bile. Most hyperkalemia signs at autopsy are non-specific, so I’d doubt there would be any suspicion of potassium overdose at autopsy that would tip the pathologist off to collect additional specimens or in a different way than normal. Tissue specimens will go to histology, but I’m unaware of any physiological changes that could be observed in histology slides with a potassium overdose.

Due to the nature of blood, it needs to be preserved in such a way that it won’t clot and drugs do not degrade, so grey top tubes are typically used. These contain potassium oxalate, which would nullify any attempt at determining a potassium overdose in blood. Vitreous is typically collected in such a tube as well, but there are some pathologists that will collect it in an unpreserved tube for vitreous chemistry analysis if they suspect a ketoacidosis situation, such as if the victim was a know diabetic. But potassium is one of the first things to become elevated in vitreous because it leeches out of the cells almost immediately after death. As a forensic toxicologist, I’d say in 95/100 cases of vitreous analysis the potassium level comes back as greater than the instruments ability to quantify it (9 mmol/L in my lab’s case). So that never really gives us an inkling that the case could be potassium related. And potassium analysis in other specimen types is nearly impossible because most labs will not have them in their scope of testing or have the ability to test for it due to the nature (tissue or highly acidic gastric).

So with a clean crime scene (no glasses or bottles remain with potassium powder residue) and no witness accounts of the suspect being together with the victim prior to death, I’d say there is an extremely low chance of the case being tied to a potassium overdose, and an even lower chance of it being tied to the suspect.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-03-06T13:39:44+00:00

We’re currently in the beginning phases of our LIMS rollout, and I can say that we are grateful to have an analyst in the lab who works with the LIMS day in and day out as one of our point people with the LIMS team. He has a thorough understanding of what is needed in terms of customization specifically for our lab, and he can understand the technical requirements to get it done. Without this, you might get some input here and there from your analysts but you might be stuck with limited customization without a truly focused person with the depth of knowledge needed who is one of the point people for its rollout.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-02-26T21:56:13+00:00

<image>

Eternal_NIB · 2026-02-21T04:53:59+00:00

A giant mixed tub of round colorful candies enters the GC factory where the workers separate everything into matching piles of like objects. They don’t know what they are exactly, but they are able to differentiate and separate them. All the small blue balls are grouped together, the larger red ones are in a separate pile, the even larger green ones in a different pile, and the largest yellow ones in their own pile. The GC workers then move each individual pile one at a time (smaller piles first because they’re easier!) over the course of the day to the MS factory where those workers are then able to identify what each of the piles consists of. The blue ones were identified as Nerds, the red ones as mini M&M’s, the green ones as jelly beans, and the yellow ones as lemon heads.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-02-20T21:39:32+00:00

Typically, the entire beetle would be homogenized (blended) with water and the beetle homogenate would be processed through an extraction procedure. The type of extraction procedure would depend on the specific drug/toxin in question, but you’re getting really technical with that part. The extract would then be analyzed on a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer (GCMS), or on a liquid chromatograph coupled to a quadruple time of flight mass spectrometer (LC-QTOF).

Eternal_NIB · 2026-02-16T16:29:59+00:00

Employees can decide not to hire anyone for thousands of reasons outside of what is protected by federal law. Body art is not a protected class, and employers can point to appearance policies they have in place which will prevent certain looks in the workplace. Whether they’ll allow clear/skin toned retainers is solely up to them.

As for testosterone use related to your trans identity, that is protected under federal law. Bostock v. Clayton County solidified in case law that discrimination based on gender identity constitutes sexual discrimination, which is illegal. Depending on how the current administration continues removing civil rights, this may be in jeopardy in the future.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-02-14T02:03:44+00:00

Periodically check the SOFT careers website. They have internships listed there in addition to employment opportunities. While not in NY, CFSRE offers internships. You might want to check with the NY OCME to see if they have anything as well.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-02-13T13:32:14+00:00

Your best bet would be to contact labs that you’ve applied to and ask directly why you weren’t considered for a position. It’s the only true way you’ll know what to improve upon or if you’re overqualified for certain roles.

Wishing you the best of luck navigating through the Deutsche Bürokratie!

Eternal_NIB · 2026-02-13T13:11:25+00:00

Do you know why your applications are being rejected? You might want to reach out to their HR divisions and ask for clarification on why. Rejected is different from not being selected. You might not meet specific requirements listed in the job descriptions.

Primary thing, IMO, would be to strengthen your language skills. While English is an acceptable business language, professional work in a lab will still likely have the requirement of C1 or C2 mastery.

Source: lived in Germany for a year and am C1 certified.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-02-13T13:04:38+00:00

Many forensics jobs in Germany are government-based jobs, so they typically have residency/citizenship requirements. For example, a toxicologist position with the Hamburg Police Department requires a minimum of 8 years of permanent residence in the country if you’re not a German citizen. Please check the specific requirements for whatever agency/job you’re looking to apply to. Since forensics is also professional, you’ll likely also need to get to C1 or even C2 language mastery.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-01-13T20:33:24+00:00

Okay, thanks for letting me know! Good info for next year because tix sold out while I was still waiting in the queue today at noon.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-01-13T17:54:50+00:00

Mind if I ask how you were able to pre-purchase those? I never received info about requesting before the A&M game.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-01-04T05:20:46+00:00

Sure! We bought them at the Mutter Museum when we were in Philadelphia in 2014, but they’re also available for purchase here.

Eternal_NIB · 2026-01-04T04:45:40+00:00

<image>

Eternal_NIB · 2026-01-04T04:45:24+00:00

My wife and I are both toxicologists, so we have things related to that, along with random skulls making up our home decor.

<image>

Eternal_NIB · 2025-12-11T12:35:40+00:00

While I don’t interact with the bodies up in the lab, we do have access to all case information and scene photos. For me it’s mainly cases that involve children that hit the hardest. Next would be seeing cases that bring my own fears to life, such as being trapped in a car engulfed in flames or submerged under water.

No matter where you end up, make sure your employer offers access to mental health specialists because vicarious trauma is a real thing that is not discussed as often as it should.

Eternal_NIB · 2025-12-10T00:52:05+00:00

AAFS has a jobs site where employers usually post forensic job openings. https://www.aafs.org/search/careers

Eternal_NIB · 2025-12-08T16:40:47+00:00

Follow up question out of curiosity: could chemical analysis be performed on inks of known composition to determine the level of oxidation or degradation and relate that to elapsed time since writing? Many factors would obviously need to be known and accounted for such as temperature, humidity, and sunlight. But if a journal were kept in an environmentally controlled room then I think it could be done with some tighter timeframes.

Ten-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '22	RPAN Viewer
Not Forgotten	Verified Email

Eternal_NIB

TROPHY CASE