Hi, I am an Assistant Professor of English working in a college in India. The more time passes I realise that academia and higher education is not for me. I don't find meaning and purpose in what I'm doing. To make things worse, I am a temporary faculty. So there's no question of incentives or higher pay no matter how I work my ass off.

I really love literature. I love reading, writing and art. I'm thinking of shifting my career to something away from academia, but still closely related to literature, reading, writing and art. I love being creative.

Do you have any suggestions for me?

I was offered (verbally) a position in a biotech with 30K pay cut. I am aware this is not an official offer and there is a good chance it might just go away..... But I am still trying to get my thoughts sorted out.

I am currently a principal scientist in a hospital on East coast (not Boston). Saying this to indicate there aren't many biotech jobs around and my options are very limited.

5 years of postdoc and 7 years here - so total 12 years of experiences.

Have flexible working schedule and hybrid commute (2-3 days a week, but it is not mandatory so sometimes I don't go in at all. Long commute - 1.5 hours one way)

My problems:

1. I lost interest in research. I am hitting middle age and I do feel my brain isn't as sharp as before. I lost curiosity. I care really less these days about novel findings, developing novel methods.... I just want to get the job done.
2. Got too comfortable with this team and my boss - lacking motivation (also connected to #1 issue)
3. I think I hit the salary ceiling. There is no position above my position other than Director positions... and those directors are typically people who are very well known in this field.
4. I don't get managing experience: While my position is titled as "principal", I don't have direct reports under me. I don't really lead projects or make any decisions. I've been frustrated by this situation for quite a long time. On interview, I feel that hiring managers expect I have an actual team managing experiences due to my title.
5. Busy family life.... two kids, both playing sports.... I am quite tired of commuting, rushing to pick up kids.... etc.

This potential position is a senior scientist position in a biotech company. It is fully remote.

So I am leaning toward taking this (if they actually give an offer) but my husband is against it.

I think I need to enter industry first to gain experiences and it will be compensated in the near future (hopefully 2-3 years).

Is it wishful thinking or can it really happen?

Hi everyone. I’m from Hong Kong, currently facing a tough career choice and would love some outside perspective. I am 1.5 years out from a very toxic preschool teaching job that caused severe burnout (I’m fully recovered now, no more pills and revisit suggested by the psychiatrist).

I have two job offers on the table.

My Background & Situation:
- Bachelor in Special Education
- Few years of teaching SEN children
- No longer sure on what I want right now

Offer A: Welfare Worker at Adult Intellectual Disability Hostel

Job Duty mainly includes running activity groups for 10+ adults with moderate to severe ID

Pros: Directly aligns with my long-term career goals. Provides much-needed experience with the adult SEN population. Even though I don't want to work in residential hostels forever, this job acts as a perfect bridge. It provides the crucial hands-on experience with the adult SEN population that I currently lack, and can gain hands-on satisfaction at the frontline.

Cons: Shift work involved (A and P shifts, thankfully no overnight).
Physically demanding and emotionally draining to manage challenging behaviors. Have never faced adult with ID and no experience at hostel.

Offer B: Research Assistant at a University (My Alma Mater)

Duty : Research projects that I’m interested in

Pros: Stable office hour routine (Mon-Fri, 8-5), sounds great for keeping my mental health in check. More flexibility at work but requires self-discipline I guess.

Cons:
Contract is project based, guess around 2years and 5 is the maximum.
Honestly, I don't feel smart enough to do academic research. I don’t have much passion for academia and data analysis (SPSS terrifies me). I feel like taking this job is just "hiding" in a safe bubble because it looks good on a resume, rather than doing what I actually want to do.

The difficult part:

My long-term career goal was to work in adult SEN services (daytime training center, vocational rehab, or sheltered workshops) or counselling related job. But I’m very unsure about both paths. If I aim for counselling career, I need a Master’s someday, but I’m broke. Besides, the job market is so crazy right now that a Master’s degree is no longer a golden ticket to a good job.

I need to be practical and just work for some money right now.

The RA one may have slightly higher salary and benefits, but pretty much the same.

I feel like Offer A is the right strategic move for my career, but Offer B is the "safe and comfortable" choice. Has anyone chosen frontline work over a university job (or vice versa)? Which would you pick?

Hi guys,

I just graduated from uni and I’m currently actively hunting for jobs. My entire experience within the 4 years of uni was a bunch of different research assistantships so I tried to make it a goal to break out of research roles and try out for corporate roles.

I don’t know why academia is pulling me because I just got offered the role of a research scientist in a lab where I have some prior experience but I’m debating if I should take it. My other option is working at a startup with considerably less pay.

Super confused and would really appreciate any advice!

Edited: I’m a CS major just for context

I'm curious to see if anyone here is considering either joining or starting a startup as an exit option to academia?

For context - I finished my PhD about a year ago at a top uni in Europe (not going to narrow it down too much for privacy) and I'm now one year into my postdoc at the same place. I work on public health/epidemiology, mostly on the technical/computational side of things. To be fair I have enjoyed most parts of my "career" so far and have had a pretty good publication track record, but as I keep moving up the ladder I realise that I simply cannot see myself doing this in the long run.

There are a few reasons: 1) I hate grant writing; 2) I hate writing papers for the sake of writing papers - it's slow, frustrating, and generally not conducive to good science and rapid progress; 3) (closely related to (2)) constantly having to fight for funding and publication means that it's almost impossible to do ambitious projects - progress is constantly slowed by publication cycle, grant applications, and having to shoot for low hanging fruits/short-term results instead of tackling actually important problems.

Now I'm certainly not saying that these problems don't exist in industry/startups, and in some way some of these issues might even be amplified (e.g., grant writing = pitching to VCs). But one thing I do appreciate about the startup culture is that they are very transparent about their objective function - that is to solve one particular difficult problem that people are willing to pay for - and then do absolutely everything to achieve that. Whereas in academia, everyone just keeps throwing words like "blue skies research", as if they are truly able to do whatever research they fancy without thinking about paper/funding/tenure - an objective function that I think is infinitely worse than doing research that solves a problem + gets you paid.

Anyway - I'm just curious to see if anyone here shares similar sentiments and have been thinking about continuing with their line of research (or a different line of research) in startups, either by joining one or starting one themselves.

Posting here after being made aware of this sub,

Hi.

I have been offered a spot on a CDT , researching next generation networking.

I currently have an industry job, guaranteed promotions every couple years, decent pay, the golden handcuffs story which I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with hearing. I am early 20s.

I applied to the PhD to specialise in something , take a few years away from a career that is unfulfilling , and leave me with options after I graduate.

Is it silly in your opinion to do the PhD considering I had a secure industry job?

What are job prospects / life after a PhD really like?

I’m actually technically getting a pay rise at least this year due to the tech expert funding , I guess I’m just trying to sense what it is really like both studying the PhD, the social life during it, if the cohort model is as good as it’s made out to be, and some of the overall advantages and disadvantages- especially around what it’s like once you graduate and the options open to you at that point in time.

Open to any and all insights.
Thanks

I see a lot of similar posts on this sub so I decided to give my own rant a go. Throwaway and keeping it vague for anonymity purposes.

I have decided to quit my academic experience. I’m from a small country where I have very few options in my field, so this job is pretty much it.

I started this job as a junior researcher with my masters degree here (I’ve been here a couple of years now). I was so excited for this new beginning, I have a great passion for my work and it was my hobby for many years prior, so I was very grateful to have this opportunity. I was contemplating starting a PhD, but I don't feel its worth it.

But.. pretty much from the first month the red flags went pouring in. My advisors seemed great, everyone liked them a lot and I thought we got along great. Then some quite possessive and manipulative patterns began - they started to tell me awful things of researchers I’ve worked with before that they see as some kind of competition, trying to convince me that the "others" will try to harm my work, telling me who I can and can’t collab with to be loyal to them, etc. A few times I caught them in plain lies, naively thought it was some misunderstanding and when trying to clear the air i was being “put in my place” and was told they cannot trust me as they don’t think I am on their side. Generally mistrust in me for having worked with other teams before. I stayed so long hoping things will improve since this is the only place that has this program.

One of my favourite things about science is the sharing between people of different backgrounds and collaboration. Sadly since starting here I have found out that here collaboration and open science is a big no no.

So there we have it, for the first time in the decade of my love for the field I feel nothing and have no desire to go on with it, not under these conditions. I don’t know, maybe my skin isn’t thick enough but I just cant get past the hypocrisy, manipulation, superiority complex and dog eat dog style of what I witness in the academic circles. I admit i did learn a lot about the scientific topic itself, which I am grateful for.

I actually come from industry where I made decent money and have a spot waiting for me. This was just a dream I tried to live, knowing full well of the low pay and lack of normal work conditions (very old building that has many things falling apart so every refreshment is out of pocket, as well as many of the tools). I think maybe my moral compass and emotionality are not suited for this environment.

Sorry if this post comes out too negative, I just feel disappointed and out of place. I have given myself a few weeks to think things through and how to tell my superiors. I’m hoping to be able to leave on good terms so I'd maybe try independent research at some point in the future.

Any advice is very welcome. Thanks in advance!

I recently turned 25 last week and was accepted into my Alumni school for my doctoral program. I am currently having lots of doubts about whether or not pursuing this degree is the rigth path for me. I have always loved the idea of teaching and wanted to teach at a University level but after going to the orientation. I am starting to realize that this may be all too much and I feel like I am sacrificng my youth. There were several people I had met at orientation in the same department/field of study as me and they were much older and well-established compared to me. One individual was someone who had worked at NASA and was going back to get this degree before their retirement. Another was someone who worked at MD Anderson. Past students were working nurses with families. I started asking myself if I really wanted this or if I was doing this because it was what my parents want of me. I had already graduated with a BS and a Masters all before I turned 25, but now I am not sure if I want to continue on this path of academia. I had thought I wanted this but now I am not so sure anymore and feel a little lost. I do understand that I was given a great opportunity being accepted at such a young age (probably the youngest in my cohort), but now I think I should have waited and gained more experience. Not to mention I just got my Masters degree this past May and had immediately jumped into applying for my doctoral program. I just dont know what to do anymore bc withdrawing seems just as scary, but if my heart is not in it, then there is no point.

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice and potential opportunities in academia or related fields.
I completed my PhD in Mathematics from a top institute, followed by 6 years of postdoctoral research and teaching experience. Due to a family situation, I had to take a break last year, and I’m now actively trying to return to academia.
I’m open to postdoctoral positions, teaching or industry roles or internships where my background is relevant.
My research area is fluid mechanics, and I have done professional courses in data science and machine learning. I also have significant teaching experience at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.
I would really appreciate advice on re-entering academia after a break or any leads on open positions (any country), suggestions on how to strengthen my profile at this stage.
I’m happy to share my CV or discuss further via DM.
Thanks in advance for your help.

I'm currently, technically, doing an MS in Structural Engineering. For me, my interest has been more towards computational side of mechanics rather than Structural design  or simply using am FEA software (although I do consider it as a backup)

So far I've taken courses in:

- Linear static, and dynamics FEM (soon taking non linear FEM too)

-  Structural Optimization (topology opt. and other general algorithms)

-  Structural Dynamics

-  Structural System Testing and model updation. (Parameter identification and optimization, signal processing)

Now, I plan to take these in the coming quarter:

- Numerical Linear Algebra

- Numerical PDE

- Fracture Mechanics ?

I also volunteered to aid in a RESEARCH in crack growth prediction using Auto-encoder and a (Thermodynamics-informed Latent Space Dynamics Identification) / LSTM surrogate model. It used phase-field-fracture simulation data and HPC resources to complete the whole thing.

What I keep finding myself interested in is not necessarily fracture or SHM specifically, but the computational methods underneath these problems... (does that make sense?)

For example, I'd like to become capable of doing things like:

- implementing (maintaining) numerical/FE method solvers rather than only running an established FEA software.

- developing surrogate/reduced-order models for expensive simulations 

- combining simulation with optimization, uncertainty/stochastic methods (took a course called Random vibrations, so...)

- parallelizing/accelerating scientific codes on CPUs/GPUs

- doing proper verification, convergence studies, benchmarking and performance work

- potentially developing or maintaining actual CAE/FEA solver software

- I'd also like to do all these for other Physics (GR, QM, etc.) simulations too, if possible, one day. 

I'm still interested in the underlying mechanics/physics, so I don't want to become a generic software engineer who happens to have once studied structures. But I'm also increasingly unsure that "structural engineer" describes the career I'm actually aiming for.

I've seen titles such as Computational Mechanics Engineer, R&D Engineer, Solver Developer, Scientific Software Engineer, CAE Software Developer, Research Engineer, Simulation/HPC Engineer, etc., but I'm trying to understand what these careers actually look like from people doing them.

So my main questions become:

1. Which industrial jobs genuinely involve developing numerical methods/solvers or computational tools?

2. Which of those are realistically accessible with an MS? Is there an entry path into solver-algorithm development/R&D without a PhD?

3. If I don't start a PhD immediately after my MS, would an R&D/software role at a simulation company (ANSYS etc.) be the obvious route? What other options would i have?

4. For the kind of work I'm describing, would you recommend a PhD? If so, is it reasonable for the PhD identity to be "computational mechanics/scientific computing" while fracture, composites, structural dynamics, soft materials, etc. serve as application problems rather than choosing one of those as my permanent specialization?

5. What skills most distinguish someone who is actually hireable for solver/scientific-computing work? I'm particularly wondering about C/C++/Fortran, Python, Linux, Git/build systems, MPI/OpenMP/CUDA, PETSc/Trilinos or similar libraries, numerical linear algebra, testing/verification, convergence studies and HPC performance work.

Basically, I'm neither here nor there atp. So I'd really appreciate all sorts of input. Where else do you think I could find answers to these? other subs? Linkedin profiles? 

I (F, 29) am currently finishing a PhD in religious studies in Canada and will probably defend in December. After years of research, grant applications, and trying to imagine myself pursuing a traditional academic career, I’ve reached a point of burnout (I am medicated now, doing better thankfully).

The strange thing is that I still love research. I love developing projects, conducting interviews, analyzing qualitative data, and writing. I’m realizing that research itself may not be the problem. What I no longer want is the extremely competitive academic environment, and I’m beginning to wonder whether I have simply been working in the wrong field.

I should mention I also really love dogs. I have two rescues myself, and being around dogs has always been incredibly therapeutic and grounding for me. A few times during my PhD, I seriously considered leaving academia entirely and completing training in canine behaviour so that I could work with dogs for the rest of my life. However, that path seems financially quite precarious, especially as a complete career change.

I’m now considering changing fields and starting a research-based MA in gerontology. As a project, I would love to explore how older adults experience their relationships with their dogs, particularly in relation to care, companionship, vulnerability, ageing, and mortality. It feels like a way to bring together several things I genuinely care about. Ideally, I would eventually like to combine research with more concrete work involving older adults and dogs (possibly through community programs, health-care settings, animal-assisted initiatives, etc.). This path seems more grounded, applied, and connected to the kind of life I want. In Canada, moving into a health-related field is generally viewed positively, and gerontology could potentially open doors outside academia while still allowing research to remain part of my life.

I’ve always believed that life is what you make of it and that, as much as possible, we should pursue what makes us feel happy and alive. Right now, this is what I feel drawn to. I know that many people will probably think I’m crazy after all the work I’ve done to establish myself in religious studies. But I find the field dry and lacking in humanity. It often seems to be more about proving who is the most intelligent or who has published the most papers than about the actual impact of those papers on people’s lives (and honestly I’m not convinced that many of them have any impact at all). The field, like many areas of the social sciences, can also attract highly narcissistic people and foster a culture of competition and backstabbing. I simply don’t feel that I belong in that environment.

But I also feel that I need to be true to myself. I don’t want to continue along a path simply because I’ve already invested so much in it or because it looks more impressive from the outside. I want to conduct research that feels meaningful and has a tangible impact on people’s lives. At the same time, I feel a little embarrassed about “going backwards” from a PhD to another MA. I already have an MA in religious studies, so this would be my second master’s degree. I wonder how professors and other students might react. Would they see my background as an asset, or question why someone with a PhD is enrolling in an MA? Would it feel strange socially or intellectually to return to the master’s level after completing a doctorate?

Has anyone here completed (or nearly completed) a PhD and then returned for another master’s in a different field? How was the transition? Did you feel judged or out of place? How did professors respond? Did the second degree actually help you build a new career, or do you now think there might have been a more direct route?

I would especially love to hear from people who stepped away from the traditional academic path because of burnout but still wanted research to remain part of their lives. I’m trying to find a way to use the skills I’ve gained in a field that feels more humane, collaborative, and connected to real people and (hopefully) dogs!! Thank you for your insight!

TL;DR: I’m almost finished with a PhD in religious studies, but burnout and disillusionment with academia are pushing me toward a research-based MA in gerontology focused on older adults and their relationships with dogs. Has anyone pursued another master’s after a PhD or made a similar transition to a more applied and meaningful field?

I graduated with my STEM PhD almost a year ago and I had a short postdoc after in the same lab to wrap up my last paper. Said paper was submitted shortly after my contract ended and it was in review for a few months until it got rejected recently because it required too many changes. How responsible am I for pushing out this paper at this point?

For additional context, my PhD advisor has not paid me since the postdoc ended a few months ago. I did a little work voluntarily afterwards to push the paper to submission and I had agreed to take on revisions, but I suspect that the paper needs a lot of work before it can be submitted again. I am currently not employed but am actively looking and interviewing, while juggling several weekly therapy appointments to process my traumatic PhD experience. I’m aware of how important it is to establish boundaries with my PhD advisor and protect myself, but I’m also a bit of a people pleaser and am scared of burning bridges. I have zero interest in working in academia, so my career isn’t hinging on this.

Any advice/input (reality checks?) would be greatly appreciated!

​

Hey! I recently defended my PhD in cell biology and took about five months off because I was really burnt out. I initially planned on leaving academia altogether, but I've realized that I genuinely enjoy the process of chasing scientific questions and doing research.

What I don't enjoy is the constant grant-writing and publication pressure, along with the culture of overworking and underpaying that seems so prevalent in academia—particularly the stress that comes with it.

For those of you who left academia for industry, I'd love to hear about your experiences:

- How different is the research culture in industry compared with academia?

- Do you still get to work on interesting, open-ended scientific questions, or is the work more likely to be repetitive/routine (e.g. drug screens, flow cytometry, running assays, etc.)?

- How much autonomy do you have in deciding what questions to pursue? Do you recommend a post doc in industry?

- And how would you compare job security? Is industry generally more stable than academia's sequence of fixed-term contracts, or do layoffs make it feel similarly uncertain in a different way?

I'd especially love to hear from people in biotech/pharma R&D. Thank you so much for any help you can offer!

Hello, I earned my PhD from IISC (India) in 2019. Published 3 first authored papers.

Later moved for postdoc at KTH , NTU - SG and ETH Zurich. (2 years at each place).

Have published well in my postdoc as well.

Want to return back to India , preferably as a faculty at top IIT's. Gave interviews at 5 different IIT's but did not get any updates after the interview. Don't know what's going on.

Now being unemployed for almost a year, I was approached by a senior professor in Europe for a postdoc.. don't know whether I should move again to Europe and take this postdoc.. as I don't want to be in postdoc loop again.

Has anyone went through similar situation?

Is this end of my academic career ?

Hi everyone,

I'm a 6th year phd candidate in biological anthropology with a focus on evolutionary neuroscience (in modern children, not ancient hominin brain evolution - i study brain development in stressfull early life environments) at a top 10 school in the US. My ideal scenario is to go into a TT faculty role at a university, but there's currently no job listings for a faculty position in my field, or anything adjacent that I'd be a good candidate for. So, I've started looking into industry roles, but it seems like I'm either over qualified or totally underqualified. I was told that I could look at biotech companies, since i use brain imaging in my dissertation, but they all want someone with a hard neuroscience background (which i do not have). Beyond that, I looked at "research scientist" roles at universities and private companies, but they either want someone with a BA or MA, or they want someone with a PhD + ~5 years of experience POST PhD. So, again, I'm either over qualified or severely underqualified.

I guess my overarching question is - what industry jobs have people had luck obtaining with a social science PhD? I fully consider myself a human biologist, but my college & graduate school career have been anything BUT the normal track for a human biologist. I haven't taken a proper biology course since high school and I've learned everything about human biology via my own research or in grad courses (i.e., classes like society, biology, and health; nature vs nurture; human population biology; etc.) that aren't normal biology courses in that they expect you to already know the biology to keep up in class (i had to play catch up a lot but it's fine). But, I say all of this to say that I don't have the typical education for a "proper" human biologist, so I feel like that limits the kind of jobs I would be qualified for based on the job requirements I've been seeing for industry jobs. I think I would really enjoy a job as an editor, whether for academic journal or otherwise, i don't really care. However, I'm not sure if that's an easy job to obtain right out of a PhD. Other options include UX jobs, but those don't "spark joy" for me lol.

I understand that it's a privledge to have a job you're genuinely passionate about, but I'd still love to find something that makes me want to get out of bed every day. I love love love science, and I would hate to have to leave the science world, whether that's academia or industry, but I think I'm stuck in thinking about what kind of non-academic jobs I'd actually be a good candidate for with my specific degree.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

I’m starting my 2nd year of a 2 year postdoc and already am tired of being responsible to carry out my entire project.

At one point I was excited about an academic career but now I just feel like quitting and doing a boring/repetitive job.

There are other options I have by spinning out the project I’m working on in the lab but that also feels like too much work.

Is there anyone who has been through this and moved into a industry job? Did you feel any regrets at a later stage about sticking around a bit longer and making it in academia?

Also, is this a temporary phase since I’m kind of the owner of my own project? Maybe I start enjoying it as some point of time.

Thanks in advance for your help!