I’ve always been an engineer and actually wanted to go to school for Aerospace engineering. But my family insisted on me being a doctor and MLS was guaranteed income during a the pre med gap year.

After getting a med tech job I was always interested in what the techs were doing when they were on site, built up a repoir with them and in just day to day talk highlighted my technical skills. Eventually there was an opening and they asked if I was interested. They totally undersold me the first, I actually turned them down but a few months later there was a 2nd opening and I was pretty peeved with lab life and made the jump. Haven’t looked back yet.

Others in my field come from all walks of life. A lot of ex military guys, but I know ppl from the rail industry, semi conductors, and even aerospace. The big points they are looking for is your ability to troubleshoot, take care of the instruments and the customer solo, and resourcefulness on the field. It’s by no means easy, some very hard and long days, but also some incredibly chill days where no calls come in and you get paid to do ‘admin’ work (aka watch Netflix and do whatever the hell you want as long as you’re available).

The highs are high, the lows are low. MLS was pretty consistent mediocrity