It's a hard and frustrating career. I work on an academic lab but the chances of me having an independent research program are very low. However, everyone who wants something from you -- especially your PI -- will string you along in the hope you will stick to your low paying job. I am trying to find a better job in industry but the jobs I see posted tend to be for data science (I am not a strong stats person) or too junior for my experiences.Finding the right fit is very hard when my contact network is limited to clinicians and academics that tend to have anti-industry sentiments.
A job being "too junior" for someone often means they can't get it even if they want it - the organization is looking for someone with little experience who is presumably young and can rise through the ranks.
And willing to do it as a postdoc making too little to pay rent without more housemates than there are bedrooms in the house. Everyone needs a first job I guess, to learn how much more they're worth than they got paid in their first job?
I have already done the post-doc part. It was so painful that I really don't want to do a second one. There's that glass ceiling in academia when it comes to respect and salary they is very hard to break through without being promoted to a full PI and given your own lab.
Postdoc pay is ridiculous, I had a job I was really interested in but the second they said it was a postdoc all I could hear was "this will not pay the rent". I don't get it. Urban universities are just so preferred that they can pay the same amount or less than a university in a lower rent town. It only makes sense if you're getting a giant reputational or career boost, or have personal reasons.
I dunno. I'm about where you are I guess. Stuff is either too junior or the stuff I want to do is just enough outside my field that it's hard to figure out who to talk to. It's depressing, even moreso now where you have to really work at it to "run into people".
The best I've ever figured out is to take the thing I'm really good at, and find places that happen to need that but also do the thing I want to learn. It doesn't work great. I guess I suggest conferences but I wouldn't go to one during COVID... I'm bad at this I guess though.
I have the same problem. COVID has made it much harder. I finally have some decent publications and was hoping to go to some of the bigger Cancer Genomics conferences this year to try to build a network but it's not the same when it's a virtual meeting.
