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As a physics PhD with two postdocs, this highlights almost perfectly my decision to leave for industry. When I defended the plan was to become faculty, but my f
by Cd00d 14y ago
As a physics PhD with two postdocs, this highlights almost perfectly my decision to leave for industry. When I defended the plan was to become faculty, but my first postdoc made it clear to me that goal was never going to make me happy, or allow for a balanced life.
I would add to the list one other important factor: getting papers accepted at desirable journals feels less like success for me now than it did when I was younger. The 14th edit of a paper just feels like pointless tedium and is time not spent making or testing something. And once you get a faculty appointment all the hands on time vanishes, and you're more of a professional writer/editor. I still need to be working with my hands.
That said, I'm finding it somewhat more difficult than I expected to transition to industry. I find that a lot of companies don't understand that graduate school and postdoc level research are not like college. I am also frequently treated with skepticism (from the CEO level to HR) that I really want to leave academia after developing such a strong academic CV. There still seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about the differences in environment from both sides.
- alatkins 14y agoI also found the post-PhD transition to industry a challenge. I highly recommend Jane Chin's 'PhD [alternative] Career Clinic' [1] for getting a handle on the perspectives of employers to PhDs, and ideas on how to avoid falling victim to some of the common stereotypes. Good luck! [1] http://www.amazon.com/alternative-Career-Clinic-Jane-Ph-D/dp/0975507214 http://www.amazon.com/alternative-Career-Clinic-Jane-Ph-D/dp...
- Cd00d 14y agoThank you for that - looks like a great resource.
- pyoung 14y agoI was talking to an HR guy from a mid-tier web company who said they were pretty adverse to hiring PhD's without proven industry experience. It sounds like they were burned a couple of times by people who couldn't make the transition.
- carterschonwald 14y agoWere you doing computational or theoretical or a combo thereof ?
- Cd00d 14y agoNeither. I'm an experimentalist. It appears to me at this point that if I were computational or a simulationist, the transition would be a bit easier. Some of my difficulty comes from the fact that I'm limiting my search to the greater NYC area. If finance was something I was willing to do, there would be more opportunities for my background.
- carterschonwald 14y agoWell, I'm based in NYC, let's grab coffee some time later this week or the next? I'd be interested in hearing what you're looking for etc. (and who knows, maybe someone I know is looking for you and doesn't know it!) Point being shoot me an email! (also include some random phrase in the email and in a reply to this message so I know it's you!)
- Cd00d 14y agoThanks Carter. I'm actually not local yet - finishing up in Ithaca for a few more weeks. It would be great to find a time for coffee.
- carterschonwald 14y agoidentity confirmed and email replied to! :)
- TheEzEzz 14y agoI just left a postdoc at NYU (math) to start a company. Shoot me an email if you want to grab a drink sometime (or lunch, if you don't drink).
- Cd00d 14y ago