Advice for those with/pursuing PhD in Life Sciences.

So, as usual, I've been going back and forth about a career on the bench versus a career off the bench or in industry. To be honest, I went into graduate school unsure of what to do. I actually interviewed for MD/PhD programs when starting off, but didn't get into any programs, so I decided to do PhD. For the life of me I can't figure out why just doing the MD didn't pop into my head.

Anyways, I am passionate about what I am doing, only because I believe it can eventually lead to a therapy for disease. The reality of it though is that there are many obstacles both intentional and unintentional that can get in the way of this, therefore, I explore other opportunities, and try to cultivate my other interests which includes biotech management/business development/equity research. I was having a conversation with a friend who has his PhD and now works in industry. I think what he said to me is some of the most revealing advice I have ever received, and think it might be helpful to others who are in grad school, recent grads, postdocs, junior faculty, etc. Please share this and let me know what you think:

It took me 8 years of postdoc to finally make the move. After my first postdoc at NCI (this is where we met-MT), I gave myself 3 more years to endeavor through an academic career. Trust me, it was not easy, but once I've decided, I moved quickly. ‬ ‪I went through two postdocs, a research faculty position, and finally landed on industrial position in a mid-sized but established company. There are lots of things to share with you if you would like to hear, I'll do my best to write them briefly here:‬ ‪

The more Postdoc experience you get (i.e. the more senior you get), the more difficult to make the transition. You will be overqualified for most positions and senior positions need good and practical experience for the job. If it was 5 years back, fresh PhDs can enter biotech industry easily, nowadays, postdocs in a company become more popular. It is a sad trend. So the translation: If you want to move, move early and quickly. This is the first point I want to make. ‬ ‪

To be successful in an academic career, you not only need talent in research/teaching, but you also need to be able to secure funding and, importantly, establish yourself in a trending field. For this, you need a boss/mentor who can really support you extensively to pursue your career. That mentor needs to make an effort to help you succeed in research, grant application, networking, and should not see you as a future competitor. If you are lucky to find a mentor like that, your chances of a successful academic career will be higher than most people. The translation: A good and supportive mentor is extremely critical to a successful academic career. This is my second point. ‬

‪The research field is becoming extensively competitive. For me, I cannot do the types of research I would like to do. Thinking about working very hard to secure (continuously) funding for 40 years (say you got an independent faculty position at 35 and retire at 70), but constantly changing your research focus may not interest you at all. I think of it and feel frustrated. In 2014, we wrote/co-wrote 9 grants, and only got 1. Research is an engaging job and being a principle investigator is 10 times more engaging. This is the third point I want to make. ‬ ‪

Except for a few, people working in the academia are massively underpaid. People are living in sub-par standards. Think about the education and effort we've been through to get a PhD. You are not well compensated for your good work and experience (starting pay for most postdoc positions is ~$40k-MT). The worst is that as your experience grows, the positions that are available become more limited. I see many excellent researchers replaced by junior postdocs simply because the bosses don't want to pay higher salary. It is really not worth it unless you are so passionate about science that you don't even care about supporting your family. This is the fourth point I want to make. ‬

‪Once I stepped out of academia, it really opened up my eyes a lot. Now I see things in a completely new perspective than a year before. I've talked to many people with or without biology background. I've been looking at different career options and actually received offers from other career paths even after I've accepted my offer. These offers may change my career path entirely.

Now I feel very confident in my future whether or not I would be staying in the science field. ‬ ‪As for working in the company, the feeling is quite different depending on which department you will be in and how big the company is. Nonetheless, even the busiest workday is only about half the intensity compared to academic labs. You will be busy and travel a lot for sales or marketing positions, but the pay will certainly be higher. ‬ You'll get more respect and reward from your hard work when you're outside of academia. This is the fifth point I want to make today.