what should I do after a phd and staying at home for two years? Advice needed.

[Anonymous]

If you are seriously considering option 1, and you guys are planning to relocate to the DC area (presumably for the economics opportunities for DH?) why don't you try to either get a patent examiner job at the USPTO or study for the patent bar and try to get a job as a patent agent/technical specialist. There are tons of IP firms in the DC area.

Later on you can decide whether or not to go to law school, and it is possible you could go at night, since there are multiple very good part time programs in DC (Georgetown and GW are two of the only top tier schools that offer part time programs). Sometimes the firm will even pay for your law school fees. It's hard to work full time and go to school with kids, but I do know at least one woman who did it. If that doesn't work with your life, you can go back to school full time, and the former legal experience will only make you a more attractive candidate when you are applying for jobs.

You can also consider some of the policy type jobs, like the AAAS fellowship, if that interests you.

[Anonymous]

I agree with 15:45 - a two year gap in a brand new area with no networking contacts is going to kill your career.

I'd work really hard to find an adjunct position, or develop some writing ideas into publishable form. Something to keep you at least minimally current.

I really don't get you - you're 28, you are finishing up a PhD in a field in which you do not want to work - are you just little burnt out? Why on earth did you get a PhD? I also hope you do not have crazy student loans and at least have fellowships or assistantships.

What groups have you joined? Are you in any "women in STEM" type networking groups? What conferences do you attend? What types of networking are you doing? Have you cultivated any mentors? I just can't see working so hard on a PhD and being so.........passive about it. you have to be smart, capable, organized, successful - maybe you're just burnt a bit having a baby in the middle of your program and being so close now to the end. But for gosh sakes don't throw it all away at this point! If you do nothing for two years, you will have nothing at the end of that two years.

What about any DC/policy type fellowships - could you look into something with AAAS? Or some other science organization?

[Anonymous]

Okay people serious 2 years is NOT going to kill her career in the grand scheme of things. She is young and hasn't really even started her career. Most people her age are living in their parent's basement. Its okay of the OP wants to take time and figure out what she wants to do. She picked the PhD probably very young so its okay for her to have *gasp* changed her mind!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are your analysis skills? Excel, SAS, Stata, R, etc. If you have really solid mathematical/analysis skills and a good track record with that on your PhD I would look into analyst jobs with either the government or think tanks.

Not so great. minimal use of stata

Hmm. That's not great then.

We have a number of colleges and universities around here - have you looked into adjunct positions? What about if you got some extra income by tutoring or conducting test prep classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay people serious 2 years is NOT going to kill her career in the grand scheme of things. She is young and hasn't really even started her career. Most people her age are living in their parent's basement. Its okay of the OP wants to take time and figure out what she wants to do. She picked the PhD probably very young so its okay for her to have *gasp* changed her mind!

Changing her mind isn't the issue, it's the potential two years of not working post-degree and glut of science PhDs that are the issues. What I and other PPs are doing is trying to help her figure out how to make the best use of the degree she's about to obtain, even if the obvious options (academia, research) don't interest her. There are ways to use a genetics PhD that don't involve those things, but you need to be both creative and deliberate in doing so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay people serious 2 years is NOT going to kill her career in the grand scheme of things. She is young and hasn't really even started her career. Most people her age are living in their parent's basement. Its okay of the OP wants to take time and figure out what she wants to do. She picked the PhD probably very young so its okay for her to have *gasp* changed her mind!

You know nothing, Jon Snow

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to take a breath and actually figure out what interests you. You've outlined 4 options that are all in different directions with no underlying thread other than "not a genetics research position." You've already invested substantial time and effort getting a degree in something that isn't your passion. Don't go lumping another (expensive) degree on top of that unless you're sure it will be useful.

The immediate thought that came to mind when I read you post though was genetic counseling. You obviously have the science background for it, you'd just need to add the counseling credentials (which is a 2 year program I believe). You mentioned healthcare and public health as possible career paths and this fits into that realm while still being tied to your PhD.

absolutely. you are still floundering. tried grad school and it wasn't what you wanted. Now you are looking for something else to try.

btdt

[Anonymous]

1. OP, have you ever worked anywhere you enjoyed? I'm guessing no. You should try to get a part-time job SOMEWHERE doing SOMETHING for a while just to see if you like any sort of work in the areas you outlined -- paralegal, CPA assistant, internship, etc. You need to know what things are really like. 28 is really young, but it's also pretty old to be floundering around so much.

2. If you "don't like research," you will hate the living fuck out of being an attorney.

3. Every career field has jobs that allow you work/life balance. Don't jump at random careers like CPA just because you think you can achieve balance there. Find something you love and find a way to do it with balance.

4. Caveat to the above: there is NO FREAKING WAY you will ever find a patent attorney position with work/life balance, unless you're an examiner.

5. You are likely not going to get an in-house or big law ever. I don't think you can pull off an outstanding law school career with one or possibly two kids. There are too many gunners at the good schools for that, and you need to shine in law school to get that sort of job right out of the gate. Otherwise it's going to be a lot of low-paying legal jobs or being out of work amongst a SEA of attorneys down here.

[Anonymous]

I had a friend like you -- the perpetual student.

Once she had her first child, she decided to SAH (going on 14 years). Of course, she still has a couple hundred thousand in debt toward degrees she will never use...

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of people here are being unfair. First of all, you are encouraged to stick it out, because chances are having a PhD helps you leverage to do other things. For example want to do patent law in biotechnology? Really helps to have a PhD. If you want to go into policy? A PhD helps. If you want to do certain types of scientific writing, it also helps. It's not always 100% necessary, but if you are towards the end it can keep some doors open.

Also, no one goes to a top PhD program taking out loans, unless she needed some student loans to help out with daycare. Every PhD worth attending in the sciences is full tuition plus stipend, so people commenting about this know nothing. They also don't know how rough it is in terms of getting jobs in academia, industry, etc. The 5-7 years it takes to get a PhD is a long slog, and people change.

A lot of people don't like research, and it has nothing to do with whether or not they would like being an attorney. I personally know a couple people who have made the transition, and they are happy. Bench research and being an attorney are completely different skill sets. Not enjoying doing experiments (and chances are you enjoyed it when you started, but you realized that isn't what you want to do forever) is not uncommon. As per the work/life balance issues involved in being an attorney, some of those people I know work for boutiques and mid-level firms, and especially if they aren't in litigation seem pretty happy with the work/life balance. It's not all Big Law or bust. In fact, a couple have told me that it is 100% better than the work life balance they had in grad school, at least those with really overbearing advisors.

[Anonymous]

5. You are likely not going to get an in-house or big law ever. I don't think you can pull off an outstanding law school career with one or possibly two kids. There are too many gunners at the good schools for that, and you need to shine in law school to get that sort of job right out of the gate. Otherwise it's going to be a lot of low-paying legal jobs or being out of work amongst a SEA of attorneys down here.

Maybe, but the sort of law OP would be most suited for in terms of her background tends to require a PhD, so a lot of the people getting hired would be in their 30s and in similar places in life. There are also a whole ton of people who go part time. If the OP is considering patent prosecution, a lot of the general advice about law school she should take with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are seriously considering option 1, and you guys are planning to relocate to the DC area (presumably for the economics opportunities for DH?) why don't you try to either get a patent examiner job at the USPTO or study for the patent bar and try to get a job as a patent agent/technical specialist. There are tons of IP firms in the DC area.

Later on you can decide whether or not to go to law school, and it is possible you could go at night, since there are multiple very good part time programs in DC (Georgetown and GW are two of the only top tier schools that offer part time programs). Sometimes the firm will even pay for your law school fees. It's hard to work full time and go to school with kids, but I do know at least one woman who did it. If that doesn't work with your life, you can go back to school full time, and the former legal experience will only make you a more attractive candidate when you are applying for jobs.

You can also consider some of the policy type jobs, like the AAAS fellowship, if that interests you.

This is great advice.
If you are considering the patent law path, also try to get an internship at the tech transfer office of Georgetown or GWU. This may help you see if you like the field or not.
The NIH and FDA have many non-bench career options for scientists: science policy, health program analyst, science writer, scientific reviewers and so on.And you can get hired by applying on USAjobs, contrary to what many people think.
Try to join a local networking group such as AWIS-DC or AWIS-Bethesda. You can build good contacts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay people serious 2 years is NOT going to kill her career in the grand scheme of things. She is young and hasn't really even started her career. Most people her age are living in their parent's basement. Its okay of the OP wants to take time and figure out what she wants to do. She picked the PhD probably very young so its okay for her to have *gasp* changed her mind!

I agree with this poster. 2 years is not that long. I would not panic.

IF there is truly something you feel you'd really benefit from getting a second degree, being in grad school with small child can actually be great (very flexible hours!). But your list is pretty ecclectic. I don't smell much passion in your list. Just a random list of "other degrees."

I would say that you might consider looking at the Versatile PhD. There are positions in grant administration, library services, writing and policy that might really use your scientific knowledge outside of a lab setting. You seem like you're desperate, but you have time (see first point) and you need not throw yourself into a next degree program just 'cuz.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

4. Get a master in accounting and work as a CPA. What’s the work life balance like? How is the pay/hours?

You can do this and probably find a job, but since you have no relevant experience you would be competing against 22 year olds straight out of undergrad. It helps if you are qualified academically to sit for the CPA exam, but I'm pretty sure you can't officially be licensed until you have work experience in most states. The job you would find in public accounting would likely involve long hours and regional or national travel and pay $50-60K. You would feel very old compared to your work peers as those your age would be at the Manager-Sr. Manager level. Your direct supervisor on many engagements would be about 24 years old. Finding a job in private industry might be better for work-life balance, but those jobs are harder to get with no experience. They also tend to pay less. You might be able to get a staff accountant job in a non-profit that pays around $50K, but most of them will be looking for someone who has already put 1-3 years in public accounting.

Basically, becoming an accountant/CPA is a good path to a steady job that pays reasonably well. If you work at it you can certainly make 6 figures eventually. However, you have to put in your time just like with anything else. Don't do this unless you actually want to be an accountant. Also, depending on what it is that you hate about research, you might hate accounting as well!

Thanks for the information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay people serious 2 years is NOT going to kill her career in the grand scheme of things. She is young and hasn't really even started her career. Most people her age are living in their parent's basement. Its okay of the OP wants to take time and figure out what she wants to do. She picked the PhD probably very young so its okay for her to have *gasp* changed her mind!

Agree.

OP, you sound like a twit who is looking for a reason not to actually look for a job. Stop trying to find reasons to delay and bite the bullet. Someone is soaking up your student debt and your milking it for all it's worth. You have a kid now, so it's time to grow up. Stop hiding in graduate degree programs.