Experimental Error is a column about the quirky, comical, and sometimes bizarre world of scientific training and careers, written by scientist and comedian Adam Ruben.When I was in grad school, we had one professor in our department known as The Guy From Industry. Unlike his colleagues, who had presumably hatched from leathery postdoctoral eggs directly into the tenured positions they would hold for the next 600 years, this professor had ventured outside academia for a time.
It turns out that industry is a lot more complicated than what my grad school peers and I imagined. I worked in it for more than 10 years, and I can verify that it’s real science—just not necessarily the same kind of real science you’re used to. “Industry” is not monolithic. Just as academia has good situations and bad situations, kind bosses and mean bosses, wonderful co-workers and crazy co-workers, doomed labs and thriving labs, so does industry. Anyone who tells you their own industry experience based on one job is not giving you a full picture of what you might experience.
Work-life balance is not necessarily better in industry than in academia. Surprise! Again, it all comes back to where you work. Some companies are very 9 to 5, especially for hourly employees, but others will still have you work obscene hours, just like in grad school. Such is the nature of science.
ScienceCareers Ich war früher faktenorientierter Ingenieur und resultatliefernder Manager. Beide Rollen orientieren sich an unterschiedlichen Kriterien bei ihren Entscheidungen ex ante: wahr/unwahr und richtig/falsch. Als Manager muss man dieses Dilemma zum Wohle des Betriebs bewusst ertragen.
ScienceCareers Much less stress, much more recognition, much more pay!
ScienceCareers Academics and industries cooperate each other to gain better results related to health.
ScienceCareers Define 'industry.'
ScienceCareers It’s mainly money envy, to be honest
ScienceCareers The last part of that is the most important imo. It's only one way because of academia's obsession with a rigid, age restricted career progression model derived from and by the absurdly privileged.