Luck

Having the right skills and mindset is important, but most of the time, finding a new job is down to luck. Luck, because the timing between you and your future employer has to be just right. You have to be looking when they are hiring, and conversely, the employer will have to send out an ad at the right time for the candidate to be looking.

I thought about that a lot during my postdoc, since my ex-supervisor used to sagely say that "whether you get a decent applicant or not is down to luck/timing". And my thoughts haven't changed - I know a person working in my industry, who tried to get a job in another firm, but didn't. She did half a year later, when she sent in her CV again. (Turns out that there was a little mix-up during the first try...)

In industry, especially in a "service" industry (I use that term loosely, as in any industry that has to work with a client to provide a service for them), business dictates the size and capacity. If you happen to send in your CV during lean times, they won't hire you even if you are good (they might if you are brilliant).
However, people come and go. And positions that were not available (or existed) when you first contacted the firm, may open up 6 months down the line.

So, I guess, the point is - be nice to the HR person you are contacting. You never know when you have to get back in touch with them.

Answer 4

Whilst I construct a meaningful answer to Andrew and labrat's questions, I shall answer Sophster's one (because it is easier).

...did you take a bit of a hit in salary changing career and was it worth it.

Yes, and yes.

I always knew that I would have to have a pay cut in changing. There was absolutely no doubt about that. To tell you the truth, I really don't understand why some postdocs (that I knew) don't understand that changing careers means taking a pay cut - you might be a PhD, and have years of experience, but you're still a novice in another world. And your so-called transferable skills are untested in another industry.

I also knew that there was more of a scope for my salary to increase, and there is more chance of lateral movement between companies within the same industry. Furthermore, I wouldn't have to be worried about my pay being stagnant or become less, after my contract has ended and when I start a new one, either at the same institution or another.

One thing I hated about a postdoc position is that you already know how much you will get paid, and also know how much it will rise by. It's fixed. And during my postdoc career, I was cheated on 2 pay points, then I took another pay cut. I liked science and I enjoyed doing lab work, but I really resented that, especially when other people was on a higher wage with lesser experience.
I also resented that your pay depended on when you started. During my postdoc career, there was one major bump up of pay - so whoever started their career 3 years after I did, was on a much much better starting salary (even considering inflation).

This is the problem with grant based funding. Every grant application goes for the minimum spine point, to make it easier to fund. There is no scope for someone with 5, 6 years experience as a postdoc getting their worth, unless they stay with one group and write their own postdoc grant (which doesn't always happen, like for me), or they can cope with a slightly shorter contract (which defeats the whole purpose of it, surely).

So is it worth it?

Yes, because even if you get a pay cut now, the future is more exciting and promising than being in academia. Delayed gratification to a certain extent, but there is scope for much increase (as well as decrease), and at least that increase is not predetermined as in the spine point system.

You also have a better prospect of lateral movement within the industry. To me, near the end of my postdoc career, there wasn't a worse position than being stuck in a frustrating job, even if it paid (slightly) better. Taking a small pay cut for a few years was and still is not a problem for me. Having an interesting job, where I enjoy working, where people appreciate my work/role, is more important for me. And the possibility for moving on (to either another company, or a slightly different industry) in a couple of years, should I choose to do so, is enticing.

I might not be saying this in 5 years time. But at the moment, it will do.


I will also add that my current salary is ~15% less than what it used to be. It really is not that much of a cut if you think about it - per month, after tax, the difference is less than 150 pounds.

Answer 1

Anonymous asked:

Would you consider a post-doc position to be helpful for your industry position?

The answer is "Yes".
It's not necessary to have it, but I think it has come in helpful. I would say that what helped was the so-called transferable skills I gained during my postdoc, as well as maturity (that comes with doing a few postdocs!). I must say that whatever I was actually studying hasn't come in handy - mainly because I didn't do any research in a pharmaceutically profitable area like oncology or neurology.

Firstly, transferable skills.
In the industry I am in (medical communications), finding out information is important. Being able to find good information, even through Google, is important and useful. To be able to filter out the wheat from the chaff, is useful...(and this is more so because I have been looking into a few different therapeutic areas, and getting up to speed pronto is a must).
So being able to skim read reviews, and get to grips with a new area fast, is handy.
Knowing things like impact factors and their meaning, have come in handy. Knowing that different journals have different readership aims, or niche markets, is handy.

Knowing that you can get useful information from blogs is useful. I've been reading Derek's blog for a while now - and it's come in handy to get information. Ah, to think that I stumbled upon it coz he has the same name as a former Red Sox pitcher, and kept on reading because he's a chemist...serendipity.

Secondly, as for maturity...I have the capacity now to understand how people of different ages, different business area work. Sure, I still moan about how some people do things without explaining, some others expect me to somehow read their minds. And I do wonder about how things could be done better organizationally. But I think about it overnight, moan about it to my friends, think about how miserable and bored I was doing a postdoc, and it all is ok.

Though I do think that thinking about my previous position is a great, great incentive.

...Answers to Andrew's question (well, it was mine, but anyway :D) is coming up in the future.