Behold ... my future
This article paints a rather bleak picture of my future.
I think the article paints things in somewhat bleaker terms than the situation is now or will be in a few years (given the NIH's recent commitment to raising the minimum salary for postdocs over the next few years, etc.), but it raises some good, if discouraging points.
I don't worry so much about someone deciding my research isn't interesting enough, at least I am not creating myself to be someone's replacement in any of the labs here -- I am learning all I can from as many people here as I can, which occasionally has the downside of nobody really owning my projects except me, but has the upside of my projects really belonging to me.
And there are always other options. The label that Greenspun places on the people who are denied tenure is a bit harsh, as switching career fields successfully I think has more to do with being determined to do so and figuring out how to acquire necessary skills you don't have market those you do than anything else. But maybe I'm wrong about that.
Along those lines, at least I am more motivated to really learn the things that I'm sort of an unconscious competent with, because I think I will want that flexibility later. Also, this article has made that O.D. I was considering getting (more to aid in research than anything else) much more tempting to pursue.
I think the article paints things in somewhat bleaker terms than the situation is now or will be in a few years (given the NIH's recent commitment to raising the minimum salary for postdocs over the next few years, etc.), but it raises some good, if discouraging points.
I don't worry so much about someone deciding my research isn't interesting enough, at least I am not creating myself to be someone's replacement in any of the labs here -- I am learning all I can from as many people here as I can, which occasionally has the downside of nobody really owning my projects except me, but has the upside of my projects really belonging to me.
And there are always other options. The label that Greenspun places on the people who are denied tenure is a bit harsh, as switching career fields successfully I think has more to do with being determined to do so and figuring out how to acquire necessary skills you don't have market those you do than anything else. But maybe I'm wrong about that.
Along those lines, at least I am more motivated to really learn the things that I'm sort of an unconscious competent with, because I think I will want that flexibility later. Also, this article has made that O.D. I was considering getting (more to aid in research than anything else) much more tempting to pursue.