The two that matter most for promotions are research and fundraising. Making a transition to business can often be a surprising, and not everyone is comfortable with that environment.
Some prefer staying in academia. Industry is likely to offer more and broader opportunities to move out of science. To a point, you can even do both.
It is not difficult to get some kind of honorary position with a research institute when you work in industry. The key to mobility is to tell people about what you do, to leave a trace, and to be relevant. An article on the PennState Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences website notes that being a good scientist means publishing papers and producing good work. Another factor is finding a match with your skill set. In addition to degree, we want to see that graduates have relevant experience in the lab, internships or have completed thesis projects.
I think those are skills that should be taught. A good cover letter gets the reader to look at the resume. A resume is more equivalent to a highlight reel, and is best designed to pass the so-called second test, where a busy HR or technical manager will be able to get the gist of who you are in 30 seconds, which will be designed to call you in for an interview.
Hiring a professional resume writer is often worth the investment, if for no other reason than that a pro will have seen hundreds, even thousands, of resumes, and will know what works and what does not. Networking is about connections. A good early start with networking, besides meeting people at conferences and being as friendly as your social skill set allows, is to ask for advice. Collaborate with colleagues. Internships in industry, even visits by appointment to get a sense of what a company is like, are a way of gaining entry to the industry culture.
If you are looking at biotech, however, share options and similar ownership schemes need to be a key consideration, since these are a major rationale for assuming risk—more on that below. Finally, you may have more specific needs to consider, such as a spouse also in need of a job. The two-body problem has always been tougher in academia than in industry, and probably always will be. If you are both academics, note that industry often has good contacts with local universities, and can facilitate interviews.
Being a star certainly helps, so don't be afraid to negotiate. In fact, a general rule of thumb is that it never hurts to make your specific needs known, within reason. Academia will try to accommodate them as a community, while on the other hand business particularly large, diversified companies may have resources to address them that you wouldn't have expected. Nobody wants to hear a peremptory demand, but if a company wants you, be sure to let them know anything that might offer them a way to attract you.
There are needs, and then there are desires. Do you want riches? A life at the frontiers of knowledge? The hurly-burly of the business world? How do you really feel about teaching, publishing, managing, interacting, traveling, negotiating, collaborating, presenting, reporting, reviewing, fundraising, deal-making, and on and on? Though it may seem obvious, this is a good time to decide what really drives you.
First, the obvious. Do you want to teach? If lecturing is in your blood, your decision is made, although if a smattering will suffice you may have the option from within industry of an adjunct academic appointment. By the same token, if you are not so enchanted with lecturing, grading, tutoring, etc.
Do you want to publish? However, it might be largely on your own time, and you will likely encounter restrictions in proprietary matters, though in practice you can generally find ways to work within them. Ask about publication at the interview, both policies and attitudes, and watch out for any defensiveness. An important question, surprisingly often overlooked, is how you want to actually spend your time, day by day and hour by hour.
In academia, you will immediately be plunged into hands-on science, and your drivers will be to start out on your career by getting results, publishing, networking, and building your reputation with a view to impressing your tenure committee. A career in industry may put more of an early emphasis on your organizational aptitude, people skills, powers of persuasion, ability to strategize and execute to plan, etc.
A somewhat more cynical view would be that in business you will spend seemingly endless hours in meetings and writing plans and reports, while in academia you will spend all that time and more in grantsmanship—in this regard, you must pick your poison. Finally there is the elephant-in-the-room question: Do you want to make money, or to help people? This is, of course, a false dichotomy, but many people consciously or unconsciously frame the decision in just this way, and you had best deal with it.
Try thinking of it not so much in terms of the profit motives of the respective institutions, but in terms of the people with whom you would spend your career. You should have encountered a good sampling of scientists from industry during meetings, internships, collaborations, interviews, etc.
If you are left in any doubt as to their ethics or sincere desire to relieve human suffering as efficiently as possible, or if you feel these are somehow trumped by the corporate milieu, then by all means choose academia—but only after applying analogous tests to the academics you already know well.
In my experience, business doesn't have a monopoly on greed, nor are humanitarian impulses restricted to academia. That said, in the final analysis you must be comfortable with your role in the social order and not finesse the question. Not surprisingly, some personality types are better-suited to one environment or the other.
Although the pace of academia may have quickened of late, it is still stately by comparison with industry, and much more scheduled so many years to tenure, so many months to a funding decision, etc. If you are impatient, industry offers relatively fast-paced decision-making and constant change.
If you thrive more under structured expectations, academia would be better for you, for although industry has all the trappings of long-range strategies and career planning, the highly reactive environment means these are more honored in the breach.
For one thing, reorganizations are common, and in the extreme case mergers I have experienced two can reset everything, for good or ill, and devour many months. In this, you have the freedom to choose when, and with whom, you collaborate.
Collaboration : In industry, researchers are working toward a larger, shared goal. Workplace Culture : Academia is highly research and discovery focused, and much research is done for the sake of learning. Workplace Culture : In industry, the works are typically more deadline-driven, as teams work to the business-focused problem.
This work allows researchers to feel a sense of immediate impact in real-life applications. Flexibility : Working in academia is the freedom to dictate your own schedule, choosing when to teach, conduct research, and publish your work.
Flexibility : Research in the industry mostly fixed on a standard 9-to-5 workday. I was able to reap the benefits of working in industry while still always remaining an anthropologist. This reality is a possibility for anyone who wants to say no to the industry vs academia dichotomy. It turns out freeing myself from the rules and responsibilities of university life also allowed me way more opportunities to actually do anthropology.
I started out searching for academic writing jobs for beginners , and in my first few years as a freelance writer and editor, I was able to conduct and participate in more academic research than I ever did when associated with a university. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need a university association to be an academic. The idea that you need a university job to pursue your research interests is a complete myth.
And doing contract work for businesses gives you the freedom and flexibility to earn good money and pursue your passions.
Industry versus academia is an unnecessary dichotomy — you can do both at the same time if you want. Many businesses are looking to hire contract researchers for short-term projects. There are entire freelance platforms and categories dedicated to this service and need.
Freelance work is something university-associated academics can and should do. Whether your plan is to supplement a university career or make this switch to business entirely, contract work offers benefits to address the challenges of both industry and academia.
Job security is an issue no matter where you work. You build a portfolio of clients that will come and go individually, offering you some income stability that can never be guaranteed when you work a single job. Contract work can also smooth your transition from academia to industry. Instead of quitting one job and putting all bets on another a drastic change , contract work is something you can gradually get into.
This means those of us looking for work in the business world should start adapting our strategy to cater to this demand. You can always go back to academia in 2 or 5 years, or after a decade. Experience in industry can boost your CV and give you a cutting edge when applying for academic positions in the future. You can work in industry and academia at the same time, either by keeping your university job and doing contract work on the side, or becoming an independent contractor with skill.
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