Why do you choose industry rather than academia?

AbbVie
hiKde83

Go to company page AbbVie

hiKde83
Nov 19, 2020 88 Comments

Why do you choose to go to industry rather than stay in academia after getting your PhD/PharmD/MD? Have you ever think about going back to academia?
#pharma #biotech #academia

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  • Google
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    Go to company page Google

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    Nov 19, 2020 1
  • My goal when I started my PhD was to become a prof. So, I spent my entire PhD writing so many papers, collecting many citations, mentoring, teaching, writing grants, etc. I even went to the academic job market and had offers from reasonable schools with good rankings (I had three offers -> 1 was top 20 and the other two were between 30 to 40 in CS). In my opinion, academia is only worth it if the school is a top school and located in a good city. Professors in top schools do earn lots of money. My advisor was making about 300K in Atlanta ( he wrote so many grants and brought so much money to the school). However, this is not the case in 99.9% of cases. Most of the schools are located in crappy cities and getting to top schools is extremely challenging. In order to get to the top schools, you need to come from a famous school, work with a well-known advisor, sexy dissertation topic (e.g., ML, bias, NLP), fantastic record, and so muuuuuuuch luck (can't emphasize how important is to be lucky).
    Nov 20, 2020 7
    • Intel
      hdxbrt

      Go to company page Intel

      hdxbrt
      I think the only thing that I real is job security. You can work till you are 70 without any fear of getting canned , and without really updating your skills
      Jan 1, 2021
    • VMware
      Xjbc61

      Go to company page VMware

      Xjbc61
      Industry! because unlimited grad student slave labor combined with tenure means full time jobs in research I want to do don't exist.

      I can't afford to pursue a PhD and limit myself to adjunct or post doc part timer gigs until after I retire from my day job and am living off rental income.
      Feb 6, 2021
  • Google
    QKFk84

    Go to company page Google

    QKFk84
    Professorships are super competitive and don't pay well by comparison. You also get stuck to a particular school. Your goal is to work in say UW but instead you're out teaching somewhere in Oklahoma because that is what was open.
    Nov 20, 2020 2
    • Knew some UW phds who moved to OK just like this :)
      Dec 28, 2020
    • I would agree here. Academia is in a fast pace to part time adjunct poverty level jobs. To get a desirable job your university BA needs to be top uni. Ms and PhD then top school. After that great research papers. You might end up 40 with finally a decent job trekking across the US in jobs. After how much time and freedom you have for your own research depends on the school. Overall chances of happy job life is way lower than in industry. Academia is going on a downhill.
      Jan 10, 2021
  • Okta
    Oktanaut1

    Go to company page Okta

    Oktanaut1
    Nov 20, 2020 0
  • “Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low.”
    Nov 20, 2020 1
    • Financial Services Company
      chipSolder

      Financial Services Company

      chipSolder
      I wish I knew this going in.
      Nov 21, 2020