Lee and Peggy
I am sorry for the delay in sending this but it was returned by our mail
system
I strongly encourage everyone to fill out the survey.

Thanks you very much for your timely comments which  indicate that the
jobs are there but that people are not applying for them. This I feel is
true and is partly due to the lack of understanding by potential
applicants of what that job might  be in five years time. Money, while
an incentive, is not the major reason that many people change jobs. More
and more people are worried about the long term prospects of  jobs, the
benefits to them and their family and their need to be treated with more
consideration than the automatic stainer on the bench. A more desirable
job is one that recognizes the need for an individual to have some
flexibility in their hours and for regular, scheduled training. Most of
the complaints I hear relate to  expecting too much work in too short a
time, overtime without compensation, inability to take compensatory time
off,  lack of training opportunities
(and poor donuts in the cafeteria -my own personal complaint!!).
Many of these conditions can be traced to ignorance on the part of those
holding the purse strings.
The other problem is that many employers have no idea of what is  the
best place to advertise to attract those qualified histotechs. One step
in the right direction is to inform the appropriate individuals about
what we do and its importance. It is easy to blame managers and
administrators (and I believe that I just did), but how about us
personally inviting them to workshops, letting them know what we do,
informing them about the cost benefits of well trained individuals who
remain in their jobs for several years?   I would also suggest that we
concentrate on informing our legislators and the general public about
what we do. I suspect that many of our relatives would be hard pressed
to
describe what we do. How then can we expect legislators to fight for us
(and our votes) if they are even farther removed? A few years ago I
believe that the governor of Arizona proclaimed one of the days on which
the ASH held its convention as Histotechnology day. (Please ASH member
correct me if I am wrong on this terminology). Actions such as this can
be a great morale boost and great advertising.  How about having an an
annual appreciation of Histotechnology day or week at your institution?
I feel that we do need a well publicized nationwide system for job
advertising and placement. Perhaps the ASCP and NSH between them can
organize such a system and widely advertise it.  Histonet has already
played an important  role in advertising jobs and is free....keep up the
good work Histonet!!.
Barry