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• Thread: 192 Goods vs 85 No Goods

1. Economist
   609f
   

   ulrm loosing hoap in academia....op hrm?

   What other skills did you need to learn to make yourself more attractive for industry?

   This part got deleted, so I have to retype it.

   I am lower mrm PhD wise. I have a reasonable amount of social skills, and come from a math, econometrics, and stats intensive research field of Econ. I was not great at coding by any means but could code in R, Stata and a bit of Python. I think its mostly about leveraging the skill set you have and trying to transition it. For example teaching helped with public speaking and general social skills. Its also about trying to optimize the stack of things you have or can acquire quickly.

   I stopped everything for 6-8 months. All the papers I was writing, all the grants I was applying for, I taught with minimal effort possible to not raise red flags. I only told 1-2 of my junior colleagues I was getting out. Now I know how mormons feel when they leave the church! The look on their faces...

   I wanted out! If you want out, you have to make the commitment and beef up the skills asap or transitions the ones you got. If you are an aspie, read books/vlogs on how to "fake" being good with people, if you such at coding, spend all time coding and reading about coding. Again its about optimizing your skill stack. Not everybody starts out with the same stack. This is life.

   4 years ago # QUOTE 4 Volod 0 Vlad !

2. Economist
   945d
   

   damn OP, I feel sad for you. All those years in academia and you have to work with the students you were teaching. Too bad you couldn't hack it.

   4 years ago # QUOTE 0 Volod 11 Vlad !

3. Economist
   945d
   

   The way you write with terms like "skill stack" makes me think you're mentally disturbed person.

   4 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 4 Vlad !

4. Economist
   609f
   

   damn OP, I feel sad for you. All those years in academia and you have to work with the students you were teaching. Too bad you couldn't hack it.

   lol, well you win some you lose some!

   4 years ago # QUOTE 2 Volod 0 Vlad !

5. Economist
   609f
   

   The way you write with terms like "skill stack" makes me think you're mentally disturbed person.

   I actually heard it from the Dilbert cartoon creator. He mentioned that he was not the best drawer, not the funniest guy, but had a good "stack" of skills. That was the key to his success.

   4 years ago # QUOTE 0 Volod 0 Vlad !

6. Economist
   95c3
   

   damn OP, I feel sad for you. All those years in academia and you have to work with the students you were teaching. Too bad you couldn't hack it.

   Shame he couldn’t stay in academia and spend time with people like you...

   4 years ago # QUOTE 3 Volod 0 Vlad !

7. Economist
   95c3
   

   Great thread. I am now in the part of my life where I want out, but am afraid of failing outside. I’m starting a business outside while remaining in academia with my salary...

   An old scenario on EJMR:

   I am in an academic position and its terrible, can I get out?, what about my prestige? My background is X, can I do Y?

   I'm sure it will be fine. Chill out. Hey, I have been there. But, you have a PhD in a solid subject, most likely from a solid school (globally speaking). Even the dreaded theorist can figure some career out with some retooling.
   Leaving academia feels like you are leaving a religion. When you are locked into that world, getting out seems impossible and ego shattering. You wrap every part of yourself in this suit, and (like a JMC) even if it doesn't fit you try to lie to yourself into thinking it does.
   I left the ivory tower. I hated where I lived, what money I made, and ultimately with some outside perspective discovered I did't really even like what I researched (always felt like square peg-round hole). I hated fighting with reviewers over minutia that doesn't matter. I hated teaching students who just want their piece of paper. Applying to grant calls with topics that bordered on ludicrous. Always having to shoe horn my research into areas it was not useful. I felt like a liar.
   Flash forward now: I like where I live, I make great money, I have great coworkers and gosh darnit I even like what I do! I and am genuinely happier.
   Just apply. Do not be dismayed if you do not get tons and tons of industry interviews. It will take time. They may not really believe you want to leave, are too far away, are too advanced of an AP etc etc. You can not control that.
   You can control your applications and you can control your preparation.
   When I decided I couldn't handle it anymore and wanted to leave, I devoted every ounce of my life towards getting out and prepping for that new life. A large part of this prep will be learning (or re-learning to code), or pivoting other skills.
   You need to take the search and pivot as serious as you took your previous academic research career. You need to be open to new areas of work, but at the same time try to find out what core things you wanted to keep in the pivot. For me the new job needed a modeling and simulation component. So I focused my search there. I am no longer directly in the field I did my PhD in, but I use the same skills and am developing new ones as well. Its been a wild ride. I am actually excited about my future.
   At the end of the day you will get out and probably be happier. It may not be as "prestigious" but you will learn that was all a brass ring. Ever reaching, never obtaining.
   Happy hunting. Keep your chin up, and be self aware.
   -ExAcademicBro

   4 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 0 Vlad !

8. Economist
   48f5
   

   Good for you, OP. Just one word on “prestige” though, you’re not missing out leaving academia. If you haven’t noticed already, you will soon learn that absolutely no one outside of academia gives a crap about the self-delusional prestige academics attach to the profession. Sorry for the hard truth, but being an academic is not prestigious outside of academia.

   4 years ago # QUOTE 21 Volod 4 Vlad !

9. Economist
   609f
   

   Good for you, OP. Just one word on “prestige” though, you’re not missing out leaving academia. If you haven’t noticed already, you will soon learn that absolutely no one outside of academia gives a crap about the self-delusional prestige academics attach to the profession. Sorry for the hard truth, but being an academic is not prestigious outside of academia.

   This self delusion is what makes it so hard to leave. Its a big activation energy to overcome. When you are on the search you feel so ashamed of how "low-prestige" the jobs you are interviewing for.

   When you leave, the illusion is shattered.

   Sorry for the hatefest academics. If you are happy/satisfied/content whatever in your academic job. That is awesome, but gee golly I wanted out.

   4 years ago # QUOTE 10 Volod 2 Vlad !

10. Economist
    238e
    

    Inspiring!

    If pathological verbosity, inane clichés, and mind-numbingly obvious statements are "inspiring", then this missive supersedes MLK's "I Have A Dream", and was appropriately posted today.

    What a neckbeard.

    4 years ago # QUOTE 2 Volod 0 Vlad !

11. Economist
    945d
    

    And being in industry isn't prestigious TO ANYONE.

    Good for you, OP. Just one word on “prestige” though, you’re not missing out leaving academia. If you haven’t noticed already, you will soon learn that absolutely no one outside of academia gives a crap about the self-delusional prestige academics attach to the profession. Sorry for the hard truth, but being an academic is not prestigious outside of academia.

    4 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 0 Vlad !

12. Economist
    945d
    

    The people who want out of academia are the weakest of them all. It's just an empirical fact. The % of talented academics moving to industry is less than 5%. Almost never happens. This thread here is just a circle jerk of industrytards. The idea that workign in industry, like say econ consulting, is somehow more prestigious than being a professor at a major University is ridiculous.

    4 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 17 Vlad !

13. Economist
    6d0d
    

    My older grad school pal left academia for a job in state government where as he said, "he finally had real colleagues"

    4 years ago # QUOTE 5 Volod 0 Vlad !

14. Economist
    945d
    

    The truth is that academia isn't for everyone; in fact, it's for a very small number of people. Most adults need supervision, support, schedule, etc. That's why PhDs who werent meant for academia feel so much better in industry. It's like getting out of jail for these people. The real problem is that you made the mistake of enrolling in a PhD program to begin with. Please don't come on here and start spreading bs about academia vs industry. You just started your industry job after beig in graduate school for several years. Let's see you how you feel in a couple of years when you start to get sick of the repetitive nature of industry work and you finally realise that your "real colleagues" are imbeciles.

    4 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 6 Vlad !

15. Economist
    609f
    

    The truth is that academia isn't for everyone; in fact, it's for a very small number of people. Most adults need supervision, support, schedule, etc. That's why PhDs who werent meant for academia feel so much better in industry. It's like getting out of jail for these people. The real problem is that you made the mistake of enrolling in a PhD program to begin with. Please don't come on here and start spreading bs about academia vs industry. You just started your industry job after beig in graduate school for several years. Let's see you how you feel in a couple of years when you start to get sick of the repetitive nature of industry work and you finally realise that your "real colleagues" are imbeciles.

    I do not agree with you.

    I loved doing my PhD and am glad I did it. I also was an AP not merely a grad student. I am glad I got the chance to be an academic. It gave me a lot of perspective.

    True industry is still shiny and new, but I would not say the people I work with are imbeciles. Sure they are not all great, but that was true in academia as well.

    4 years ago # QUOTE 3 Volod 0 Vlad !

16. Economist
    079d
    

    Good for you, OP. Just one word on “prestige” though, you’re not missing out leaving academia. If you haven’t noticed already, you will soon learn that absolutely no one outside of academia gives a crap about the self-delusional prestige academics attach to the profession. Sorry for the hard truth, but being an academic is not prestigious outside of academia.

    Although I agree that prestige is overrated, this is not true at all.

    4 years ago # QUOTE 0 Volod 0 Vlad !

17. Economist
    4282
    

    Being a professor is not that prestigious to most people. They think you just teach Econ 101 all day

    4 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 0 Vlad !

18. Economist
    079d
    

    Being a professor is not that prestigious to most people. They think you just teach Econ 101 all day

    That must be why academics are often invited to TV shows to comment on world events, policy and whatnot. People have no idea how to compare different departments except the most obvious ones (Harvard, MIT, Princeton) and they have no idea how hard research is, but they do know professors are pretty smart. And just to be clear, I also think we act like idiots chasing prestige and many times in situations that a lay person would not give a s**t (e.g. you published in AER?... so what?)

    4 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 1 Vlad !

19. Economist
    945d
    

    who cares what average joe thinks.

    Being a professor is not that prestigious to most people. They think you just teach Econ 101 all day

    4 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 0 Vlad !

20. Economist
    945d
    

    Ok, good luck with all that. tenure is pretty sweet deal if you can get it.

    The truth is that academia isn't for everyone; in fact, it's for a very small number of people. Most adults need supervision, support, schedule, etc. That's why PhDs who werent meant for academia feel so much better in industry. It's like getting out of jail for these people. The real problem is that you made the mistake of enrolling in a PhD program to begin with. Please don't come on here and start spreading bs about academia vs industry. You just started your industry job after beig in graduate school for several years. Let's see you how you feel in a couple of years when you start to get sick of the repetitive nature of industry work and you finally realise that your "real colleagues" are imbeciles.

    I do not agree with you.
    I loved doing my PhD and am glad I did it. I also was an AP not merely a grad student. I am glad I got the chance to be an academic. It gave me a lot of perspective.
    True industry is still shiny and new, but I would not say the people I work with are imbeciles. Sure they are not all great, but that was true in academia as well.

    4 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 1 Vlad !

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