Lofty PhD expectations

My boss's boss's boss came through my lab and asked me what I was working on. I told him, and he mentioned that he didn't think the direction could work. I explained initial results and he blew them off and said, "Academics have gotten similar results, and those will never be viable products."  There's a real disdain/disbelief in industry of academic results. Well, most industry. I've seen a few situations where they have faith in academic R&D.

This encounter resulted in a lot of arguing. I maintained my cool the whole time. He yelled. And a lot. And a lot more. I sat there and continued to argue, and at the end of the argument he said, "We need to start reevaluating your priorities." Then he left. Now, I'm used to this kind of arguing, and actually I secretly enjoy it since I'm correct most of the time, and learn stuff when I'm wrong.  What happened afterward was interesting...

There's a guy with a master's in engineering on our team that was in the room with us during the argument. He said, "I'm glad I don't have a PhD and don't have to constantly justify my work as much." He doesn't come up with general ideas, he comes up with methods to implement our ideas. He's a great engineer. So his comment got me thinking about expectations. 

As PhDs we have expectations that we are all-knowing, brilliant human beings, that can answer any question in our field. My company has an invisible ceiling in promotion in science and engineering unless you hold a PhD. We are expected to be able to have very productive input in every team meeting for every product line we have. In fact, the person I replaced had a BS, and every time I'm introduced to someone new, they say, this is Phindustry, they replaced Previousperson, but Phindustry has a PhD. It changes the expectations because of the PhD culture. 

But having PhDs, and knowing other people with them, we know how full of shit this is. We know a lot about a few specialized things, and more-than-the-average-Joe about other things, but we're not God. We have holes in our knowledge and abilities.  I don't know how to combat this stigma (which is good, I guess), or if it should be combatted. But I realize that I'm on the offensive/defensive more frequently that our 'lesser' degree counterparts, and I prefer a more casual discussion type of atmosphere. 

Time spent on applications

I was thinking about how stressful the job search has been, and I remember the industry search being far less stressful.  During my industry job search I had already finished my dissertation and was just touching up my defense slides.  So I got to wake up, work on applications, not worry about traveling for interviews, with any schedule I wanted.  The past few months I've been putting in my usual 40-70 hours a week at my job, and working on my application materials (research statement, teaching philosophy, cover letter, CV) in my time off at home.  This includes trying to spend time with my wonderfully supportive spouse, my cute dog, keeping my body fit, house duties, etc.  And this has sucked!

I feel like I'm going to be at a competitive disadvantage to my PhD sisters and brothers because, from what I've seen post-docs do, they have more time than I do, since they work on their faculty applications while in their current jobs. Those PIs out there: don't kid yourselves. They're doing it. In industry, you would be fired instantly for working on your apps for your next job while on the clock in your current job. So, this means they've had far more time than me to develop ideas, write then up, and even try it in the lab. I'm hoping that my experience on the translational medicine side (after all, my products have to into people quickly if we're going to make a profit) will offset any weaknesses in my application, such as no preliminary data. If I got that data in my current lab, I would be fired in an instant. 

When I look at total time on my application materials, it's around 80 hours. This is spaced over a couple months, but I can't help but think about how much better the application could have been if I had more time to fine tune the documents and collect some data to support my hypotheses. Looking at my post-doc friends, they all still have the grad school experience (freedom, work hours, interesting work, relaxed work environment) and they could be better positioning themselves for faculty jobs than me. My salary might be almost 4x their's, but if it ultimately leads to the demise of my academic dreams, then what's the point. But that's totally a first-world issue. Unless I was a working in Zambia, then it'd be a third-world issue. 

Dressing like a doctor*

I started this blog at the perfect time since my butt has been sitting in a plane-seat a lot, and there's only so much work and sleep one can do. At my most recent trip to a hospital for a study, I wore casual attire since I normally dress in scrubs. It turns out the study had been cancelled, but this allowed me to talk with the doc about future projects and direction. A very useful talk; except for the end. He mentioned, "You should be mindful of your attire when talking with customers and colleagues."

I'm no style guru, but I dress quite nicely in and out of work. My parents always said, "Don't ever be the least dressed person in a room."  They're referring to formality, not nakedness, although I guess it could apply to nakedness, as well. In academia I dressed like I do in the outside world. Hair done, clean, wrinkle-free casual but formal-enough. On a scale of 1-10 where 10 is what the Obama's wear to the ball, and 1 is a tank and underwear (both with holes), I hover around a 6. At work, I'm slightly higher than business casual (8). Everyone's at a 7 at work, and outside they're usually at a 5 (jeans and a T). But I wonder, if everyone was their own boss (ala academia) would they constantly be rocking the 5 or less?  

That's one thing I dislike about industry. I feel like I'm judged a lot on the way I look, whereas I've regularly seen asst profs wearing shorts. And they still maintain success. What's funny about the industrial attire, too, is my 8 is always covered by a lab coat! I could be naked and no one would notice. Maybe that's what I'll do on my last day here. My friend always calls this the "monkey suit". He/she typically rocks the 3, so they're ultra upset about the industry attire.  They made an interesting point, too, non-PhDs have less freedoms in attire. After this was mentioned I noticed this, as well. Does this mean, as PhDs, we're punished? The salary is higher, but the managerial responsibility is relatively low. Why should we have to dress like business-men/women?

In my introductory posting I should have also wrote that I want to enter the ivory tower because I can dress a little more casual when I feel like it instead of the company "allowing" me to do it on Fridays.  Unless we have a visitor, then 8, here I come. 

Saying 'hello' to my soul again

Sooooo, I finished my PhD a couple of years ago in a bioengineering-type field. I had always been industry-focused because I wanted the real-world relevance. I even took a break between my undergrad and grad educations to get a few years of industry experience.

About a year from graduation I started to apply for industry positions in the medical field. I lined up an offer very quickly for one of the most publically reputable companies in the world in a fast-paced laboratory. It was my dream job. Was. About 6 months before graduation a lot of my results came together and I learned more about academia and I realized I made a huge mistake. I wanted to enter academia. I wanted the freedom, the mentorship and teaching of students, the core search for good, expanding my knowledge-base beyond what is needed for profits, and working with people who are genuinely brilliant. I don't mind the politicking and endless committees and egos because I'm going to have that stuff anywhere. I had all these good things in graduate school (self-funded through my own research grants) and I didn't realize how much I liked it until too late. I ultimately decided to continue on the industry track because I knew it would give me experience beyond what a typical post-doc would have. And the pay. I am easily making 2x my old advisor. 

I've already developed a couple products in my industrial R&D lab and feel like I've gotten all the real-world experience I want. To be honest, I feel like I'm getting dumber in industry. I'm learning a lot about one little field and how to think like an evil business man, but I don't have exposure to anything else. I've been reading all I can, but there's only so much time. The academics out there are thinking "duh. Of course we're smarter". And I would say "you're not all smarter, but you're definitely less evil than industry scientists." I'm looking at you, Monsanto. 

With that, I'm going to make the shift to academia. So far, I have applied for 20 R1 universities and will talk about the hardship of the transition and my application process if it happens this year. If it doesn't I'll just continue on the journey to next year's application season. So I've been kissing a lot of butt, and trying my hardest to switch mindsets to creating an academic application package those already in the ivory tower will like. Here's to a year of depression in an overpaid job if I don't get any offers!