"It seems too late to get back in."
The author appears to be alive, and astrophysics still seems to exist. So, what exactly is the problem? I expect wrong answers only.
I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
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Re: I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
#22Let me just say to all those out there who have left academia and went into industry: academia would be happy to have you back! I went into "academia" (or close to it), doing software engineering for a telescope being built. Astronomers are a great little community out there, and they really need help writing code. A lot of them aren't familiar or have experience with best industry practices that could save them so m…
I read it as being difficult to go back to the same type of work they were doing before they left. Marcel's expertise was in simulations and theory. As you note it's (relatively) easy to get a job in telescope software development coming from industry, but it's much harder on the theoretical (and probably experimental) side where it's less about technical skills and more about being up-to-date on the literature and advocating for your ideas. You would have to essentially start over at the thesis stage of grad school to regain the domain knowledge and build up a body of work. You'd probably work faster than you were the first time just because of the additional knowledge and wisdom, but I doubt many professors would be willing to hire you at even a Postdoc salary without a second thesis-like investment.
Re: I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
#23Let me just say to all those out there who have left academia and went into industry: academia would be happy to have you back! I went into "academia" (or close to it), doing software engineering for a telescope being built. Astronomers are a great little community out there, and they really need help writing code. A lot of them aren't familiar or have experience with best industry practices that could save them so m…
Agree with you - but I think the author of the article wants to get back in as a tenure-track professor rather than a programmer or data scientist on a scientific project. They would probably see coming back in as “staff” as an unacceptable loss of status and prestige in their field. (I think that status distinction is a terrible and stupid feature of academic research but it is very deeply-ingrained as folks are socialized in PhD programs to believe that the tenure track is the only route to happiness and academic success).
I wish more people thought like you and very much agree that academia could benefit from an influx for folks with industry experience and programming best practices!
Re: I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
#24> I think I have gained skills and experience that can be very valuable to the astronomical community, but I know that that is simply not what candidates for academic positions are selected on.
t seems pretty damning to suggest that a community selects its members based on something other than having "skills and experience that can be very valuable" to that same community. Is that really true? Hopefully we're putting the best people in place for these academic jobs, and not simply the well-connected people who happened to go to the fanciest schools.
Re: I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
#25Slightly related - I’d like to hear from someone who left academia for industry for a ‘research scientist’ role. How does that compare to academia?
Re: I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
#26The mind has a way of tricking us into remembering many of the good things and fewer of the bad ones(or sometimes even rationalizing bad things into good ones). Not to say that the regret here isn't valid, but just to be careful how much stock to put into missing the 'good ole days'. "The people who questioned my decision to become an extronomer were right. I was wrong. It seems too late to get back in." This mindset…
> You are not wrong because you took a leap in life and it didn't work out perfectly, its a valuable learning experience.
The author obviously understands this is a learning experience--that's why they wrote the essay in the first place. The challenge is that, on a practical level, starting over will likely take too many years, with too great a risk of not getting a job in academia. This is hardly "pouting and trying to let yourself down easy." It's the disheartening wisdom that sometimes you learn things too late in life to benefit from them.
Re: I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
#27You can definitely go back -- academia loves people with industry experience. Few people go back because they typically earn less money in academic jobs. So you now have something academia loves, and there is little competition of other people having that kind of experience.
I think what trips people up is that the opportunities to return are not necessarily the same as the ones that you would look for if you were still on the direct path.
To start with, if you're tied to an area, you have to start your search with the area and get creative finding the right job title instead of the other way around.
Re: I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
#28The thing is if you don't quit then there is going to be another post about regretting not quitting. I have gone past the age to feel strongly regret to any choice I made. As long as I made a desicive choice without much delay I'm good with it (of course unless something really bad happens), because I know I'd regret if I choose the other way (or not), anyway.
as much as I dislike the 'the grass is always greener...' cliche, it's fundamentally true. :)
Re: I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe this is true for your country, but not true here (there is even a limited number of years you are allowed to work in academia by law)
Very interesting, could you tell me where that is? At least in the US, tenure is a really big thing. But there are plenty of people who are paid employees at the university and aren't teaching, and I'd also consider that academia.
And I'd love to work assisting cutting-edge research, but I also am not willing to cut my salary that severely. I wonder if there is a way to do this that doesn't presume near-grad-student rates.
Re: I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
#30The mind has a way of tricking us into remembering many of the good things and fewer of the bad ones(or sometimes even rationalizing bad things into good ones). Not to say that the regret here isn't valid, but just to be careful how much stock to put into missing the 'good ole days'. "The people who questioned my decision to become an extronomer were right. I was wrong. It seems too late to get back in." This mindset…
This perspective IMO is informed by a slow-burning (like, career-scale) FOMO where if you're not as successful as the person getting $200k+ offers from FAANG right out of university then you are behind and a failure.
This is a persistent sentiment in CS and adjacent circles, I've noticed, and a serious hindrance to finding fulfillment in life and career.
It's not a race, it's an Iron Man, and for the vast majority of people just finishing somewhere they feel proud of is (should be) enough.