Thread by @LizyLowe

It's been 6 months since I made the transition from academia (postdoc) to industry (extension scientist).

I know many academics are curious about this, so here's a thread of my experiences so far:

One big change is having known expectations. They expect a lot, but it's all laid out and it feels achievable.
Not like the "just be in the top 2% for everything and you still won't be achieving enough" expectation in academia

I felt like the world had lifted off my shoulders when I no longer had to worry about how many FTE years post PhD I am or what my H index is.
Now I'm measured by the quality of the work I do, the interactions I have and the skills I have. And that's good!

Progress is measured in money, client satisfaction and skills learnt.
Again, I'm actually ok with this. It feels much more real and achievable.
I hated measuring my worth in papers/impact factors/grants

I also feel like my current job is a better use of my skills.
I can really throw myself into user engagement and application of research now, where as in academia those aspects always felt like an add on which wasn't fully appreciated.

But time really is money.
I have to allocate every hour of the working day to a particular project.
This is taking some getting used to, and it's harder to fit in big picture thinking and collaborative work

And if you can't find someone who wants to pay big bucks for the research it's definitely not going to happen.
This means you are sometimes limited in the novelty of research you can undertake

(It also makes side projects next to impossible, I'm so sorry to all my lovely academic colleagues who keep inviting me onto cool projects I no longer have time for!)

In industry you can have REAL impact, and fast!
If we see something that needs fixing, we do the work to find a solution and we deliver it to the people who can implement it. I really like that

But I'm finding interactions with people are often WAY more formal.
I used to be almost instant best buddies with most of my colleagues. And @BehaveEcologyMQ were my family away from home.
Most people I interact with now are lovely, but we get the job done and thats it.

This may just be because I'm new to the industry, or because I work mostly remotely, we'll see

But I also think it is because this is a JOB to people working in industry, not their entire lives and identity like it is academia (and I'm noticing that in how I feel about the work too, it's an adjustment)

One odd thing: my self deprecating humour was never a problem in academia, but I feel like now there's a risk that people just think I'm an idiot 😂
I definitely feel like I need to take myself more seriously
(I'd be interested to hear if others feel the same way)

I miss having time to sit and talk with students or to spend a day workshopping wacky research ideas.
And I miss the real explorative nature of academic research

But I don't miss the job insecurity and intense pressure to be beyond outstandingly excellent.
And I love my new sense of purpose and ability to do work on shorter time scales that has real impact

Of course, these feelings are very specific to my situation!
I'd love to hear others thoughts about moving away from academia.
And I'm always happy to to answer questions from those who are considering the move
#ecrchat #phdchat #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter #AcademicJobs