microbiology technician

laboratory technician

courier

laboratory analyst

technician

Certified Group

The work you will be doing at FSNS is repetitive and monotonous. Pray that you are a path lab employee so your days aren't entirely awful. If you are a main lab/prep lab employee you will be looking for a new job within a week once you realize the intensely small scope of your job. As a coworker put it, "the premise of your job is to transfer media from one container to another". The moods of the employees reflect this monotony, and tempers are easy to trigger over small things. Do not expect breaks, do expect your lunches to be shortened or not taken at all. Don't expect a consistent schedule as you will be put onto whatever days management wants you on to cover their lack of planning skill.

The COVID response this corporation had was laughable and caused a mass exodus of employees that only further strained current employees. Time was cut across the board DESPITE an increased work load. This lead to extremely busy days where there was zero down time, and all for the wonderful wage of 16/hr (or 15/hr if you're part of the unlucky main lab crowd). The amount of responsibility and task work simply necessitates a higher pay, and this is why you often see people being hired and leaving in a months time. Management has very little communication skills, and only ever contact you when they need something from you. No room for moving up in a reasonable amount of time, and your hard work will go unnoticed. Passive aggressiveness is common among one higher up, which adds to the feeling of lack of appreciation.

SOPs at this corporation are the worst I've ever seen. Information is scattered and many of your daily routines are not based fully in SOP. This is in large part due to the absolutely abysmal training that FSNS employs for new workers. You will be taking quizzes on information largely not relevant to your job description for three days to a week. You will have to take these quizzes once every year, and new ones seem to be added all the time. Once you finish these quizzes you instantly forget them as they are not pertinent to your daily routines. 

The site is also filthy as the general cleaning crew was not brought in for the entirety of the COVID pandemic. This led to employees being tasked with cleaning duties of bathrooms and the breakroom, despite being called "Microbiologists". At least the pay seems to match the title of janitor a little better.

Do not work for FSNS. It is stressful, low reward, monotonous work that you will not want to do for long. Use it as a stepping stone if nothing else, but do not plan for long term employment at this facility. The only thing that you will find light in at this place is some of the people you will have as coworkers. Misery loves company. I do not appreciate FSNS as a corporation and it should not exist as it stands. 

As a micro/main lab technician, you will be sampling food products or environmental samples using the same techniques each day. In this sense, you can gain a lot of experience quickly. The same is true as a pathogen lab analyst, however, both jobs require that you sample the items that day, meaning if there are a lot of samples that are received that particular day, you must stay to get the work done. In the time I've worked at FSNS, I've witnessed many main/path lab technicians come and go for overall the same reason: the workload now requires overtime from both departments. The Columbus location, in particular, continues to pick up more clients, however, it is not a 24-hour lab like others in the company and therefore requires technicians to stay long hours/work quickly to get the samples processed each day. The work itself can be quick to learn in both departments, however, management does little hands-on training. After quickly getting good at your work, you will be asked to train a new tech, but you will not be compensated for your hard work. They have told us that training others is part of your personal growth in the company, as training others helps you understand the work better/gets you promoted. That being true, I felt that they easily took advantage of this and made individuals train in addition to the large workload they needed to finish that day. Training offers you no additional pay per hour, and the job description also specifically notes there are no supervisory duties in your role. If you are looking to get promoted after being a trainer/putting in the overtime, you may find yourself with excuses as to why you haven't finished your own training required for promotion. This means you may not officially have the new title/get paid the new title's compensation, but you definitely feel like you are already working in this new position already. Overall, the work itself can be enjoyable and I personally liked to learn and grow as a technician. The main reason everyone dislikes the role is because of feeling over-worked and underpaid, in addition to non-responsive management. Many people have voiced their concerns and offered solutions, but management makes the same statement that they're continually "working on it". I also have not strongly felt the need to leave a review on any of my workplaces previously, but FSNS has made this an exception. 

I regretfully recount my deeply unsatisfactory tenure at Certified Group and feel compelled to share my negative experience. Working in this laboratory was disheartening and frustrating, and I strongly advise anyone considering employment here to think twice. 

First and foremost, the management displayed a shocking lack of organization and leadership. The lab was constantly understaffed, leading to an overwhelming workload and excessive pressure on the existing team members. Requests for additional support or resources were met with indifference or promises that were never fulfilled. This chaotic environment made it nearly impossible to perform our jobs effectively and efficiently.

Moreover, the lab's equipment and infrastructure were outdated and in dire need of maintenance. Malfunctioning instruments and unreliable testing methods were commonplace, significantly hindering our ability to deliver accurate and reliable results. It was disheartening to witness the disregard for quality and the overall lack of investment in providing a conducive working environment.

Communication within the laboratory was abysmal. Crucial information was often withheld or disseminated haphazardly, leading to confusion and errors in our work. Requests for clarification or guidance were frequently ignored, leaving us to fend for ourselves in critical situations. This lack of clear and effective communication severely compromised the integrity of our work and undermined our professional growth.

Additionally, the workplace was toxic and demoralizing. There was a pervasive lack of recognition for hard work and accomplishments, leading to low morale among the staff. Suggestions for improvement were disregarded, and constructive feedback was rarely given. This created an environment of apathy and frustration, making it difficult to find motivation or satisfaction in our roles.

Overall, my experience was a disheartening one. The management's lack of organization, outdated infrastructure, poor communication, and toxic workplace culture created an inhospitable working environment. I strongly advise job seekers to explore other options that prioritize employee well-being and professional growth.

If you have any qualifications or other options then it is in your best interest to keep looking. I am not going to put the accurate location I worked at because I worked with the company for years. I met many great people in my time that were passionate and helpful and I can only hope they get out before This place destroys them like it does anyone that ends up staying for more than 6 months to a year. 

This company does not care about it’s employees. You will not be paid appropriately, raises will not be amounts that even account for cost of living increases if they happen at all, you will need to do huge amounts of overtime to account for the people corporate won’t let be hired. If you want to enter a workforce of extreme stress such as the military, then you may want to consider working here for the stress training. Otherwise, if you would like to have any work life balance, weekend days off, consistency in schedule, or ever see your loved ones again then go elsewhere. 

It does not get better. You will not be properly trained if you are trained at all but you will be expected to tackle big projects with no help or resources to ask. Everyone else will be as equally stressed and overwhelmed and will not be able to help. Morale will be low because you are close to crying when you are only half way through your 15 hour shift for the day. You will have an extraordinary amount of people leave abruptly with no notice. If your “professional” job has higher turnover than McDonald’s then you know it is being run into the ground. If you do accept a position, get ready for your inevitable burnout but at least you can get in the door with no lab experience. 

When I was getting hired they promised the opportunity to advance within a few months. Absolutely nobody advances that fast, so they knew that was a lie while they were telling it. 

There is supposed to be so much time in between certain advancements. This time limit of course does not apply if you are a favorite. If you are not among the chosen few, then you would be lucky to get trained and advance anywhere close to the promised pace. They claim that it is only required to have a high school diploma to work at the lab and that is why the pay is so low. They prefer people with a masters degree and don’t treat the difference in education any different. 

They make new hires take a personality test to figure out if the person is “suitable” to the job. This test is either highly inaccurate or maybe just maybe a personality test is not a good gage for who would work well at a microbiology lab…. 

Everyone is overworked. They make jobs priorities to try to ensure they get done and anytime something gets missed, it then becomes a priority as well. After time goes by almost everything is a considered a priority which stresses out those that are in charge of getting it all done. There is animosity between the shifts. Because there is too much work for any shift to get done, the next shift always feels like they are having work dumped on them that they should not have to deal with. 

If you are reading any reviews like this one, know that they are honest and true for the various lab locations. Either head of HR or some other higher up goes around a belittles the people writing them. The responses to reviews made by employees or past employees makes it clear that they don’t give a s*** about any of their employees, just about their image.

I know the reviews say this is a great place to get some experience but it absolutely is NOT! You’re never properly trained so you spend half of your day asking the person next to you how to carry out different tasks. For a food safety lab, this place does not teach nor cares about cleanliness. You’d think they’d pride themselves in it so that they can provide the best results to clients but sadly that is not the case. There are about 30 cameras inside the lab and they all have audio so do not make friends or talk about anyone there because you will get reprimanded for it at a later date. These cameras are used by management to  help them cheat their way through their job. Instead of being on the floor providing employees with help and constructive criticism, they rewatch the video from previous nights to find employees doing things they didn’t know were wrong. You WILL be overworked. There’s no way around that. You will also be expected to hit 40 hours every week. If you’re short 30 minutes, management will email you on your days off to indirectly ask you to come in and make up those 30 minutes. 

They’re always understaffed because no one ever wants to stay here once they realize they’re doing more work than worth the pay. 

If you have a degree, please do not work here even for a beginner’s job. There are plenty of other places out there that will value you as a person and an employee. They say they’ll promote fast but they won’t because they’ll always be understaffed. 

As a current employee of this company, I can whole heartedly say I am unhappy. I had given them the benefit of a doubt despite what their ratings were because I truly love conducting lab work. It’s what I excel at (especially in school) so I was excited to come on board at FSNS and showcase my work ethic. My main lab supervisor fails to communicate with me about tackling big projects and expects me to complete them thirty minutes before my scheduled time to leave (which should be a two person job, but because we are severely understaffed it’s not possible). Upper level management expects you to work 12-15 hour shifts with a fake regard to your personal life. They instill this idea that they want us to have a quality of life outside of work, but that is impossible due to the constant heavy work weeks we experience. They blame the big projects for putting us behind in our TAT, but do not factor in how severely understaffed we are in the main lab department. I was laughed at by my supervisor and lead for wanting to leave 30 minutes early from my shift due to me physically getting sick in the parking lot. The work environment is highly toxic (especially from the path lab lead and supervisor) due to being constantly berated about requesting help to tackle the numerous reports given to main lab. The corporate and upper level management lacks the motivation to promote their microbiology technicians to senior microbiology technicians in a timely manner. You are being worked to the bone at very minimal base pay and overshadowed financially by incoming lab technicians with half amount of the work experience.

FSNS is a good place to start out at right out of college, but if you stay for too long you will be taken advantage of. If you work at the beginning of the week you will be trained properly and if you work at the end of the week you'll be thrown in for the ride. If you are being hired there, ask for the beginning of the week, even though that's probably when they don't need you. Management is fine but you can tell that they are stressed, which creates a domino effect down towards the other employees. As soon as the lab would run smoothly, everyone would quit at once and then whoever is left will be picking up the pieces. Not many people make it there over a year, and if they do they are typically promoted, but do not let the idea of a promotion glorify giving up your personal life. They are always getting new clients, so they are usually always hiring. Expect to meet a lot of diverse people in the process. Mandatory overtime is an actual thing at this company, and there have been many nights that main lab and path lab have stayed until the AM. There are no paid sick days, and your PTO will be used if you do not go to work, if you miss more than two days they will expect a doctor's note. Also, they do not fire people there, so do not let a mistake scare you. They are always so desperate for long-lasting employees that if you stay awhile nothing will happen. Overall, will set you up well for your next job or educational experience. Do not expect or wish for a life-long job experience at this company.

My experience working at Certified Labs had some positive aspects, particularly that I enjoyed the core responsibilities of the role. However, there were several concerns that made the position unsustainable long-term.

The job I was hired for did not fully align with the responsibilities and schedule I ultimately worked. The posted hours differed significantly from reality, with shifts frequently extending far beyond what was originally communicated. This made maintaining a healthy work-life balance very difficult and led to quick burnout.

There also appeared to be a high turnover rate, which impacted team consistency and overall morale. Communication and organization within the company could be improved, as expectations and processes were sometimes unclear or changed without much notice.

Additionally, concerns raised to leadership were not always addressed, and accountability did not seem to be applied consistently across the team. Advancement opportunities were limited during my time there, and compensation growth did not reflect the workload or expectations of the role.

While I appreciated the experience and the skills I gained, I would encourage the company to focus on improving transparency during the hiring process, setting clearer expectations for scheduling, and fostering a more supportive and structured work environment

This job has single handedly ruined my mental health and well being. You are expected to work 10-12+hrs everyday. Your hard work is only rewarded with more work until you reach a breaking point. Underappreciated, overworked employees. Lab managers are not hiring anyone new (recruiting agencies will not work with this location because of previous lies about "8 hour work days" -- leaving recruiters with unhappy folks and bad reviews!) 

The sample load is only increasing while the staff becomes thinner and thinner. This leaves the few remaining folks to do ungodly hours and workload (leading to inevitable mistakes or sloppy technique!).

Your good deeds or extra effort you put in, will never be recognized. In all honesty, you will probably get some promise of a future raise or promotion... that will never actually happen. Leading you to feel like you have a carrot dangling in front of you. Like you're a rat trying to ravenously get the cheese on the other side of the door. 

Side note. If you are not a strong, loud, opinionated person, you will suffer socially here. There is an unspoken social "totem pole" and if you are not considered a group favorite, you will be gossiped about when you are not around. 

Toxic, high-schoool-esque environment that has absolutely drained me in the 2 years i have worked here. 

There is no future for me here. I am only a pair of arms that can pipette and pour plates. This job has made me feel worthless. 

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