Pros and cons of being a locum in Virology - PCR

Having worked as a locum in the virology department of a very well known Hospital. I think I have a very good perspective of the pros and cons of working as a locum in a laboratory setting. This is a very fast paced laboratory with short turn around times.

Pros:

• you can choose how you work in terms of the number of days you work, the number of hours etc.
• You receive a higher pay rate 
• It works out that you get taxed less so you take more of the money you make home.
• In most cases you only require 1 weeks notice
• You could potentially get a permanent position if a vacancies becomes available and you are already trained in that area.
• You're first to know about new jobs, and can go for internal positions you wouldn't know about if you weren't a locum.
• It's quite flexible in terms of you only get paid for when you work.
• You can find out a lot about your career path , you can get firsthand advice, you get to see the real deal, you can potentially learn shortcuts to the way into the career.
• You can get good jobs without the hassle of interviews a great way to get your foot on the ladder, some jobs you may not be able to get by yourself due to lack of experience or just open to locum's as your agent pushes and sells you hard to the employer and helps you manipulate your c.v. to appeal to employers.
• If you're struggling to find a job to start your career this is a good way in 

Cons:

• Generally you will have to give a months notice.
• Permanent staff may treat you differently as they may see you as a threat/competition.
• Training can become an issue, you're usually hired to fulfil the needs of the lab that they are lacking they don't really need you for much else. Also some company's are reluctant to train staff who are locum as they can leave at any moment once trained 
• As there is only 1 weeks notice job stability isn't the best, unless you're within contract for a set period of time however the 1 weeks notice still applies.
• Some companies may not allow you to work weekends; as there is usually a higher rate for weekend work and overtime, as the company you work for has to pay a fee to your agency every time you work, this fee increases for weekend work and overtime and therefore this could potentially eat too much into their budget.
• If you have been hired to do one specific role you may find it difficult gaining experience or training up as you are not a priority the permanent staff are.
• Any events, training, meetings for the company you may get left out of as technically you don't need to be involved in that as you don't actually work for them you work for your agency/yourself.
• Permanent staff may not like you because they know that locum a get paid at a higher rate than them and sometimes they're doing the same job as each other.
• You can feel left out and not part of the team, constantly referred to as the locum after a while it isn't the nicest feeling. 
• Blame game! Locum's are easy to blame things on, watch your back it really is a dog eat dog world. 
• May not get trained properly by staff as they may have a thing against locum's.

This is everything I faced as a locum. I really hope this is insightful and helpful for anyone thinking of taking this path. Being a Locum has taught me a lot of things good and some not so good.

Feel free to ask any questions :)