I have good research and publications as a grad student, but I'm tired of the ups and downs in doing research: data unavailability, insignificant results, unsolvable models, being judged all the time, etc. I just want to get my PhD degree and go to industry (which I can easily do), but my advisor and professors have thought highly of me. How should I tell them and find a decent way out?
Grad students tired of research...
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I’m in a similar position. I’m tired of the bs and frustration and want to f*ck off to industry/gov ASAP, but I also want to go on the market to see what it’s like, for the experience. So I’m waiting till my paper is polished enough
Me too. Sick of feeling like I'm on the chopping block 24/7. Will go to government and live a normal life in a city of MY choosing.
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One year later I did it! Private city, not government. Making lots of money, bought a house and finally started my life.
I’m in a similar position. I’m tired of the bs and frustration and want to f*ck off to industry/gov ASAP, but I also want to go on the market to see what it’s like, for the experience. So I’m waiting till my paper is polished enough
Me too. Sick of feeling like I'm on the chopping block 24/7. Will go to government and live a normal life in a city of MY choosing.
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Dude, even if the advisors are really disappointed (they most likely don't care), this is your life. If you don't enjoy research now, don't spend your 30s in a rat race for tenure. You'll be 40 and miserable. you want to do that so you can avoid a potentially awkward chat with your advisers?
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I used to think that people who kept telling me there was a whole bigger more interesting world in industry were sour grapes, until I got burnt out in academia and then I realized they had been right all along.
IDK if there are others like me (considering how academia is for the rich nowadays) but I grew up poor, and one way of keeping my sanity was through knowledge and books. It wasn't so much as differentiating myself from my surrounding peers but more that I could find inner peace in learning new things beyond what poverty limits you in your formative years. So I spent the better half of my life 100000% sure I was going to be a professor.
Then grad school happened, more unexpected things happened, when you think things can't get any worse, guess what, they just get worse, and somehow I ended up leaving. Surprisingly things weren't that bad, and life picked up somehow. I'm working in industry now and my company has government contracts, so it's interesting to see how things move so quickly and innovation exists in the true sense of the word. I do miss the slower paced intellectual environment sometimes, and I also wonder what could have been if only I had done X or Y differently, maybe I'd at least be an associate prof at LRM. But who knows, maybe in my next life.
So anyway, I wouldn't advise someone to go for industry or academia only. Keep your options open. If you can't, well, that's life. So try to live in the present
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god just solve it numerically you tool
I have good research and publications as a grad student, but I'm tired of the ups and downs in doing research: data unavailability, insignificant results, unsolvable models, being judged all the time, etc. I just want to get my PhD degree and go to industry (which I can easily do), but my advisor and professors have thought highly of me. How should I tell them and find a decent way out?
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One year later I did it! Private city, not government. Making lots of money, bought a house and finally started my life.
I’m in a similar position. I’m tired of the bs and frustration and want to f*ck off to industry/gov ASAP, but I also want to go on the market to see what it’s like, for the experience. So I’m waiting till my paper is polished enough
Me too. Sick of feeling like I'm on the chopping block 24/7. Will go to government and live a normal life in a city of MY choosing.
Yeah, "working in a city of your choosing," "government," and "PhD" are largely incompatible unless the city of your choosing is in the DC area.
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I have good research and publications as a grad student, but I'm tired of the ups and downs in doing research: data unavailability, insignificant results, unsolvable models, being judged all the time, etc. I just want to get my PhD degree and go to industry (which I can easily do), but my advisor and professors have thought highly of me. How should I tell them and find a decent way out?
Advisors hear "I want to leave" a lot from students, even those who decide to stick it out in academia and remain miserable. From their own selfish POV, advisors want you to get a job at a great school so that they can put you as a "success story" on their CV for leverage for salary raises, moving to a new school, etc. If you are somewhat talented, then you can be a part of their research network. If you leave academia, then they get nothing-- only the potential of one of their peers hanging a non-academic placement over their head in competition for future raises / promotions / responsibilities.
Remember, the ONLY way to get things done in academia is through social pressure. Your professors have learned this over their time in academia: the best policy is to constantly whine at people and try to guilt them into doing something that you want them to do, even if they don't want to do it. It's ridiculously irritating to anyone who's spent more than 5 minutes outside of the ivory tower. Since your advisors have probably been in academia for at least 10 years and have been at least moderately successful, they are likely pretty good at using this tool as leverage when they need it.
Just realize that, unlike non-academic fields, the system infantilizes these faculty into thinking this is a normal way of interacting with their work colleagues. It's not. Act like the adult, be direct in what you want and how to achieve it, and they will eventually stop whining and forget about you.
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OP, do what you need to do to get the PhD and when you go on the job market, only apply to industry. Econ jobs are plentiful and pay well, and going on the market for industry is infinitely more pleasant than going for academia.
I’m in govt and it’s great. My friends in industry have great quality of life and work life balance. Some even do research when work is slow (some weeks I barely break 20 hours per work, others go up to 50-60).
Talk to people you can trust and won’t judge you about all the options. We truly are blessed to have such a good job market.