Dylan Alleyne Biomedical Sciences, 2016

Medical Laboratory Assistant/Administrator

"The skills I gained at Southampton were skills such as aestepic techniques, good labortory practice, great academic acumen with regards to life science, great social skills, analytical skills, time keeping and organisational skills. These skills have been vital in my various occupations."

The skills I gained at Southampton were skills such as aestepic techniques, good labortory practice, great academic acumen with regards to life science, great social skills, analytical skills, time keeping and organisational skills. These skills have been vital in my various occupations.

"The aeseptic techniques I learnt at university surely contributed towards all the laboratory jobs I have had. Even the social experiences I had during fresher’s week helped build confidence which I displayed at later dates during interviews for example.

After the graduation

After graduating from Southampton, I quickly found employment working in a bar in London close to home. There I worked for 5 months, earning to fund my future backpacking travelling adventure across South America. On returning I quickly found employment working in a secondary school as a science technician before joining the microbiology firm Eurofins as a food processing technician for half a year. Gaining more experience in a laboratory setting prompted me to join a private school as a science technician for some months where I was scouted by start-up company entering the smart-wearable’s industry. Here I worked as a lab technician adopting aqueous chemistry techniques to follow a five-step process that coats fabrics with conductive metal at the fibre level.

What happened with COVID-19 pandemic

From here I decided it time to travel once again, all whilst deciding what career I wanted to pursue on my return. My trip was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in wanting to keep busy and contribute, I applied for the COVID-19 test operative role. I was successful and not only performed the puritan test on ‘patients’ at a drive through site by Twickenham Stadium, but also worked as a trainer. A month or so later, I was also successful for another job I applied for, a medical laboratory assistant (MLA) at Hammersmith Hospital (Imperial College NHS Trust). I worked both jobs simultaneously, the test operative job for eight months and the MLA position for 7. I then felt the need to further my experience and apply for a more specialised MLA role. I started working as a MLA in microbiology at the Royal Brompton Hospital (Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Trust) where I would float between bacteriology and virology laboratories and provide a professional laboratory service to patients of the Trust in mainly diagnosing respiratory diseases."

Dylan's advice to current students

"Try to, from an early position, find out what motivates and inspires you about your course. This will help in pursuing careers most suitable to you.
Be relentless in your applications and submissions for work experience/employment.
Try your hardest from the get-go. Some students mistakenly use their first year as a ‘trial’ year, however I believe it is more beneficial to treat it as any other year and try your hardest to gauge if your academic ability."