I have a PhD because I thought I wanted to go into research. And while I loved research, that didn’t come close to cancelling out how much I loathed all the non-research shit you need to do for funding and keeping a job.
Then I went from academia into corporate R&D, and realized I basically started to hate doing chemistry in general. Mostly because it reminded me of all the stuff I hated.
Im now super happy as a safety consultant, and my PhD sometimes helps in convincing people that I do in fact know more than them. It also covers an ugly spot in the wallpaper, a purpose it fulfills much more frequently.
Ah shit are you me a few years in the future? Currently in the corporate phase, only, instead of my PhD convincing people that I know what I’m talking about, I get told to pound sand and, for everything I do, every slight change I make, consult our minored-in-chemistry EHS focal points whose only hands-on lab experience is neutralizing bicarb with food-grade acetic acid solutions inside a molded clay vessel. And, for “reactive chemistry” concerns, consult the ChemE “expert” in another time zone who can’t read even structures of organic molecules.
EDIT: actually in retrospect I don’t believe that they have done even the bicarb thing because it involves gas evolution, which is a big no-no.
thats what i heard in college and in other discussion boards, basically just grant chasing for your career. and then i recall while i was in courses with these professors, they said they spend most of thier time chasing grants. i wanted to be in research to, but at the undergrad level, i needed experience in the field, and i wasnt eligble for MS, and the jobs out there are next to impossible without significant experience by the time of graduation.
I have a PhD because I thought I wanted to go into research. And while I loved research, that didn’t come close to cancelling out how much I loathed all the non-research shit you need to do for funding and keeping a job.
Then I went from academia into corporate R&D, and realized I basically started to hate doing chemistry in general. Mostly because it reminded me of all the stuff I hated.
Im now super happy as a safety consultant, and my PhD sometimes helps in convincing people that I do in fact know more than them. It also covers an ugly spot in the wallpaper, a purpose it fulfills much more frequently.
Ah shit are you me a few years in the future? Currently in the corporate phase, only, instead of my PhD convincing people that I know what I’m talking about, I get told to pound sand and, for everything I do, every slight change I make, consult our minored-in-chemistry EHS focal points whose only hands-on lab experience is neutralizing bicarb with food-grade acetic acid solutions inside a molded clay vessel. And, for “reactive chemistry” concerns, consult the ChemE “expert” in another time zone who can’t read even structures of organic molecules.
EDIT: actually in retrospect I don’t believe that they have done even the bicarb thing because it involves gas evolution, which is a big no-no.
thats what i heard in college and in other discussion boards, basically just grant chasing for your career. and then i recall while i was in courses with these professors, they said they spend most of thier time chasing grants. i wanted to be in research to, but at the undergrad level, i needed experience in the field, and i wasnt eligble for MS, and the jobs out there are next to impossible without significant experience by the time of graduation.