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A friend's spouse wanted to be a professor. They completed a PhD in electrical engineering, and some post-docs. Finding the market too hard, they decided to go

A friend's spouse wanted to be a professor. They completed a PhD in electrical engineering, and some post-docs. Finding the market too hard, they decided to go back for another PhD, this time in Computer Science. The friend got a job at Google, and as far as I can tell, is supporting their spouse's dedication to this job search. I just don't have ... that. Give me a decent project and weekends, please.

nickd2001 3y ago
Sounds like a decent way to spend an over-inflated Google salary ;)
CoastalCoder 3y ago
Uugh. Do you think that aspiring professor is being irrational (in the sense of adopting a clearly suboptimal plan for overall happiness)? If I were doing that, it would almost certainly stem from an unhealthy fixation.
- jvanderbot 3y ago
  I don't know. If you ask a professor, they say it takes tenacity and grit, and accepting compromises regarding where you life, what work you do, etc. But that's a sampling problem. If you listen to that too much, you end up like this person. The 9X.YY% of those who want to be a professor probably had all that, plus a healthy dose of realism to get out while the getting is good. The absolute worst part of all this is that very few profs seem all that happy. Kind of like CEOs, but I think being a wage-earning, low-to-moderately successful founder has a higher likelihood of panning out than being a wage-earning professor by a long shot.
  - tho234uii32o434 3y ago
    Frankly, most 'hard-workers' aren't doing the innovative work. Tenure-track faculty have barely any time to breathe given all the hassle they have to go through. It's mostly done by grad students who are still learning the ropes. Ofc. this is different in places like Math depts. where it can't work the way it does in CS/EE.
    - jvanderbot 3y ago
      I think they'd say that constantly writing grants, publicizing, and coaching is the work they do now to keep those grad students fed, productive, and equipped. At least in my lab, the advisor was very attentive to make sure we were all doing our best work, even if he wasn't doing the work himself.
- paulusthe 3y ago
  Yes.
ke88y 3y ago
> The friend got a job at Google, and as far as I can tell, is supporting their spouse's dedication to this job search. Your friend is a saint. Those types of multi-postdoc job hunts usually end in divorce. I can't imagine that PLUS another PhD.

nickd2001 3y ago

Sounds like a decent way to spend an over-inflated Google salary ;)

CoastalCoder 3y ago

Uugh. Do you think that aspiring professor is being irrational (in the sense of adopting a clearly suboptimal plan for overall happiness)? If I were doing that, it would almost certainly stem from an unhealthy fixation.

jvanderbot 3y ago
I don't know. If you ask a professor, they say it takes tenacity and grit, and accepting compromises regarding where you life, what work you do, etc. But that's a sampling problem. If you listen to that too much, you end up like this person. The 9X.YY% of those who want to be a professor probably had all that, plus a healthy dose of realism to get out while the getting is good. The absolute worst part of all this is that very few profs seem all that happy. Kind of like CEOs, but I think being a wage-earning, low-to-moderately successful founder has a higher likelihood of panning out than being a wage-earning professor by a long shot.
- tho234uii32o434 3y ago
  Frankly, most 'hard-workers' aren't doing the innovative work. Tenure-track faculty have barely any time to breathe given all the hassle they have to go through. It's mostly done by grad students who are still learning the ropes. Ofc. this is different in places like Math depts. where it can't work the way it does in CS/EE.
  - jvanderbot 3y ago
    I think they'd say that constantly writing grants, publicizing, and coaching is the work they do now to keep those grad students fed, productive, and equipped. At least in my lab, the advisor was very attentive to make sure we were all doing our best work, even if he wasn't doing the work himself.
paulusthe 3y ago
Yes.

ke88y 3y ago

> The friend got a job at Google, and as far as I can tell, is supporting their spouse's dedication to this job search. Your friend is a saint. Those types of multi-postdoc job hunts usually end in divorce. I can't imagine that PLUS another PhD.