I enjoyed Lab work, infact I got into Analytical chemistry not on the back of a chemistry degree but through an aptitude for working with the instruments (I did an MSc in analytical Chem 10 years after starting work).

I ended up in management by default really. I was hired by a company in Canada who already had someone they were considering as the manager. One day, I was aske to attend a meeting with him and the company owner as we were trying to get the owner to buy an LC/MS. However 3 minutes into the meeting manager guy freezes like a rabbit in headlights and stops talking. After what ssemed like an eternity of painful silence I opened my mouth ans started talking. I was no expert on the technique but was able to talk about the logistics and a little bit about how the buisiness was going and how the comany was generating thousands of sample/year but having to subcontract the analysis out losing revenue to the subcontractors.

From that, I ended up a year later as manger and ended up giving up 95% of the bench work. I loloked on it as a natural progression but I enjoy the new challenges and have never lost the enjoyment for the job/profession.

It's sad, but with the increasing University enrollment ,a BSc is not what it once was and getting a job with one is harder. I joined a company in the UK with BSc, when I left 15 years later the majority of applicants for entry level were split 50/50 with MSc/PhD level applicants.