- #1
ThePostDoc
- 1
- 0
Hello there,
I have a bit of a conundrum. I have been a postdoc for 10 years now, mainly because I loved my job so much. But its not a secure job and I wonder how much longer I can realistically do it, and taking the next step to a lectureship looks improbable due to fierce competition (and it was never where I intended to go - I meant to stay 3 or 4 years post PhD, but was just enjoying it so much I carried on), unless I move out of the UK permanently which is not for me due to family commitments.
Does anyone have experience of being a postdoc as a career? My case is perhaps a bit special because I work in particle physics (one of the major LHC experiments at CERN) and one would think there will always be a demand for people who know a lot more about its software for example, than a fresh grad student. So its not like I need to move institute every 2 or 3 years and start a new project. My conundrum is whether to carry on as a postdoc on the grounds (a) I love the job and (b) there is likely to be a long term demand because the experiments are scheduled to run for almost another 20 years currently in one form or another and (c) I do have an open-ended contract (though they made clear without any research grant, not being a faculty member would mean redundancy)
On the other hand I don't relish the prospect of getting fired in late 40's/early 50's because I suspect not many people will hire someone that old into a job. So maybe its better to leave and start at the bottom in a career that will have better prospects for jobs until retirement?
I was thinking mainly of software (I have 10 years of a lot of c++ work), but wonder if companies typically would want someone from academia at my age or they really need industry experience? There seem to be 2 routes - one jobs that need people with c++ and physics, but also just general software jobs. I suspect the former are easier to get for someone with my cv, but tend to be located where I don't want to live. The latter are where I live, but I wonder if they would take someone like me over someone with industry experience?
I am not sure really of sw is any better for job prospects though, so perhaps the grass is just greener. The third option is retrain from scratch into something where jobs are widespread, but I am not sure about that. Stuff like law or accountancy looks really tough to get a starter job (and again I would wonder if my age would go against me when they can get a fresh faced 22 year old instead).
Thanks for listening,
Paul
I have a bit of a conundrum. I have been a postdoc for 10 years now, mainly because I loved my job so much. But its not a secure job and I wonder how much longer I can realistically do it, and taking the next step to a lectureship looks improbable due to fierce competition (and it was never where I intended to go - I meant to stay 3 or 4 years post PhD, but was just enjoying it so much I carried on), unless I move out of the UK permanently which is not for me due to family commitments.
Does anyone have experience of being a postdoc as a career? My case is perhaps a bit special because I work in particle physics (one of the major LHC experiments at CERN) and one would think there will always be a demand for people who know a lot more about its software for example, than a fresh grad student. So its not like I need to move institute every 2 or 3 years and start a new project. My conundrum is whether to carry on as a postdoc on the grounds (a) I love the job and (b) there is likely to be a long term demand because the experiments are scheduled to run for almost another 20 years currently in one form or another and (c) I do have an open-ended contract (though they made clear without any research grant, not being a faculty member would mean redundancy)
On the other hand I don't relish the prospect of getting fired in late 40's/early 50's because I suspect not many people will hire someone that old into a job. So maybe its better to leave and start at the bottom in a career that will have better prospects for jobs until retirement?
I was thinking mainly of software (I have 10 years of a lot of c++ work), but wonder if companies typically would want someone from academia at my age or they really need industry experience? There seem to be 2 routes - one jobs that need people with c++ and physics, but also just general software jobs. I suspect the former are easier to get for someone with my cv, but tend to be located where I don't want to live. The latter are where I live, but I wonder if they would take someone like me over someone with industry experience?
I am not sure really of sw is any better for job prospects though, so perhaps the grass is just greener. The third option is retrain from scratch into something where jobs are widespread, but I am not sure about that. Stuff like law or accountancy looks really tough to get a starter job (and again I would wonder if my age would go against me when they can get a fresh faced 22 year old instead).
Thanks for listening,
Paul