Yeah, but the posters do have a clue about the other paths she is looking into. So yeah, maybe we don't understand what she needs to do to get a job in the sciences. According to you, she needs a post doc. But she says she doesn't want to do a postdoc, so that path is pretty moot. She's looking at other paths that are a jump in a total different direction. But since we know what those other directions require (like law), we're telling her she needs to think long and hard about spending $150k and busting her butt to do well in law school, only to have a job that requires tons of hours competing against a bunch of 26 year olds who don't have kids at home. So it doesn't really matter whether the people advising OP understand what it takes to get a job in her field - since she doesn't want to be in her field.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

After all the above education, you feel you only have 4 options, and, 2 of them involve further education?? How about getting a job?! Ya know, one that pays $$

Of course she has other options. She could wait tables or nanny or become a secretary--but that would make even less use of her education than the ones outlined above. If you think that getting a PhD means that you can easily get a job without further training, then you know nothing about how science works right now. For many jobs, it would require doing a postdoc (which if you are really unhappy at the bench would seem like a miserable option), which is basically like being a graduate student just for slightly more pay and no degree and no guarantee of anything afterwards (and while it used to be 2 or so years, I have seen people do postdocs that are now 5-7 years in the biological sciences these days). Given the way the job market is, for biologists in particular, to land a job in industry (or sometimes even things like being an editor for a journal), counterintuitively you need more training in the form of a postdoc post-PhD. To transition into law, healthcare policy, certain sorts of business roles, further education post PhD is either necessary or helpful for getting your foot in the door.

You could say, "oh you shouldn't have gotten a PhD." That's not really helpful, that's the "buy a time machine" advice. Given that 10% of PhDs in the scientists have the career that they are trained for (becoming an academic), it's pretty common to have a lot of issues figuring out how to pivot to a new career later on.

+1
It's pretty clear a lot of the posters have no clue about the biomedical PhD process and current job prospects.

Anonymous wrote:

After all the above education, you feel you only have 4 options, and, 2 of them involve further education?? How about getting a job?! Ya know, one that pays $$

Of course she has other options. She could wait tables or nanny or become a secretary--but that would make even less use of her education than the ones outlined above. If you think that getting a PhD means that you can easily get a job without further training, then you know nothing about how science works right now. For many jobs, it would require doing a postdoc (which if you are really unhappy at the bench would seem like a miserable option), which is basically like being a graduate student just for slightly more pay and no degree and no guarantee of anything afterwards (and while it used to be 2 or so years, I have seen people do postdocs that are now 5-7 years in the biological sciences these days). Given the way the job market is, for biologists in particular, to land a job in industry (or sometimes even things like being an editor for a journal), counterintuitively you need more training in the form of a postdoc post-PhD. To transition into law, healthcare policy, certain sorts of business roles, further education post PhD is either necessary or helpful for getting your foot in the door.

You could say, "oh you shouldn't have gotten a PhD." That's not really helpful, that's the "buy a time machine" advice. Given that 10% of PhDs in the scientists have the career that they are trained for (becoming an academic), it's pretty common to have a lot of issues figuring out how to pivot to a new career later on.

After all the above education, you feel you only have 4 options, and, 2 of them involve further education?? How about getting a job?! Ya know, one that pays $$

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I am at the age of 28 and is about to finish my PhD in genetics from a top 10 university. I genuinely need advice on life and career. Many thanks in advance.

Okay, here come the details of our current situation. My husband and I had our son during the middle of my PhD and this has not been easy as my husband is also doing his PhD in Economics. We hope to relocate to DC once my husband graduates but that will be in 2017. We have agreed upon the idea of me staying at home for two years after graduation. Meanwhile, I can actually spend more time with our son and have another kid so that their age gap will be no more than four years. As a side note, we don't have any financial problems and my husband is supportive and understanding.

The problem is what should I do when the younger kid is two or three year old and in school! I am definitely switching career and no more postdoc (too many reasons that I don't want to delve into)

Options that I am contemplating on include

1. Apply to law school and become a patent attorney.
Is the two or three year break from work going to hurt my law school application and future job hunt?
By the time I finish law school and start working, my kids will probably be 8 and 4 year old, how doable will it be? I might be naïve and assume kids at that age need less time and attention compared to babies/toddlers.
Are opportunities other than big law common, such as in house counsel? I am okay with taking on a less time demanding job with a pay cut.

2. Public health work in one of those DC NGOs (world bank, WHO, etc..) This route is very much less clear to me, like what positions should I apply for. I don’t have actual experience in public health although I could get a doctoral certificate in global health before I graduate but no idea how useful that’s gonna be.

3. Healthcare consulting. Are there any consulting work that requires minimal travel and a PhD in life sciences around DC? Traveling 4 days a week is a huge no no for us.

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

Thanks in advance!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i honestly cannot imagine investing all this time in getting a PhD in a field like genetics and then throwing it all away. You say that you don't like research. Would you consider teaching?

Have you ever worked 80 hour weeks for 30K a year? Screamed at by your boss? Hard work stolen by a competitor? Yeah science is a real fun roller coaster.

No, I got a PhD from a top school in a field that I still love (economics) and make over 300k. But my sister got a PhD in bioinformatics and slaved as a post-doc for an insane advisor for 3 years. That said, she loves her work (cancer research) and just started her first job in a start-up. So I do know a thing or two about perseverance.