Am I good enough to be a researcher?
How to spot a bad supervisor?
How I can find industry jobs?
Should I continue my postdoc?
When you pursue your research as a graduate student or postdoc, you face questions and issues like the above that are not directly related to your laboratory work but quite critical to your personal life. When that happens, you want to talk with somebody who can listen to these issues, not the progress of the project. If they can give you realistic advice about your future career? it would be the icing on the cake.
Unfortunately, there are not many such mentors or friends available around science nomads like us. It would be even worse if you had already left your hometown and living in a foreign community.
Why don’t you discuss your future career with a professor or a boss and talk about your current life with your colleagues? Well, it could be an ideal case if they can deliver what you actually need. However, for various reasons, this could be hardly the case.
Because
- They are busy, busy and busy.
- They don’t know or care about things outside of academia.
- Conflicts of interest may arise. With colleagues, you may be in competition within the project, or your quitting research may be negative for their careers. In the case of a boss, normally she/he wants PhD students or postdocs to stay with her/him longer and only focus on the current work.
- What if they don’t have the mentoring skills to listen to you?
- Why bother? Is there a direct benefit for them in doing so?
Given this limitation, until recently, thirst for a mentor was such a problem without foreseeable solutions. Even if people who share the same concerns meet in the lab, it is difficult for any junior researchers to have a broad and objective perspective to see the current issues around them, and the seniors in the next level tend not to turn around and help youngsters because they are occupied with imminent problems, forgetting the time of vulnerability. Maybe you just don’t know where to find them and also potential mentors don’t know how to reach you.
In that case, what if you could listen to the story of someone in a similar situation? what if someone tells you realistic alternatives to these issues? Luckily there are some people who attempt to provide a new way of communicating and mentoring fellow researchers, using the power of the internet and social network service. After I discover them I realised that the audio and the video have a special appeal over the text. So, let me show a few examples of these new type of online mentors that could quench our thirst.
YouTubers
- Grad School Advice
Justin now a scientist in the industry was a former postdoc at Havard medical school. Based on his personal experience combined with other advice he got from others, he explains fairly useful tips. He provides standard golden rules for grad students and your postdocs. Channel is in its infancy, so if you leave a reply you could get direct feedback.
- This is for – when nobody told you how to write a CV, how to contact PI
- Contents – tips for each step such as contacting PI, writing a CV, the fame of PI vs school
- Mentoring level – like former alumni, less formal
- Background – biology
- Feeling about academic – no hard feeling
- PhDCoffeeTime
Dr Vera Chan, a former biologist, now a medical writer, who did 6 years of postdoc wants to share her tips for a successful PhD. From Hongkong to the USA to France, she can share a wide variety of tips and decision advice.
- This is for – PhD students who need various tips in general
- Contents – using graph program, thesis writing, practical tips
- Mentoring level – friendly, informative youtube
- Background – biology
- Feeling about academic – positive
- Andy Stapleton
Channel name is his own name, a former chemist, stopped working as a postdoc, now uploading many useful tips about PhD life questions, and tips. originally from the UK and studied in Australia.
- This is for – somebody wondering should I do PhD?
- Contents – all the questions about PhD
- Mentoring level – friendly, informative youtube
- Background – chemistry
- Feeling about academic – disillusioned
- Cheeky Scientist
They offer services of mentoring and interview as a commercial consulting group. So not all of their contents are free but their website and youtube channel already provide tons of useful practical information without a subscription. I think the amount of stuff they offer for free is already quite generous and fairly detailed. Their way of pitching the idea is super direct which is quite unique and interesting. They don’t mind criticising the current academic system. If you want to make a full transition to the industry from academia, you definitely want to check this. They mainly deal with stuff in relation to the US market.
- This is for – who wants to make the full transition to the industry (in the US)
- Contents – how to write a resume to how to negotiate your salary, wide and in-depth, professional
- Mentoring level – professional and commercial
- Background – all domain
- Feeling about academic: they think the current academic system is fooling and exploiting youngster
- Lucy Kissick – The PhDiaries
Lucy Kissick, in a final-year PhD student at the University of Oxford,
“The PhDiaries is a YouTube channel for PhD students to find advice, relatable misadventures, and comfort in knowing they’re not alone in their problems, all in under five minutes and usually once or twice a fortnight.” (direct quote)
- This is for: thinking about doing grad or young PhD grad.
- Contents – advice and tips about the life of a PhD
- Mentoring level – like a friend
- Background – earth science
- Feeling about academic – positive
- Tibees, or keyword ‘quit PhD’ in YouTube
This YouTuber mainly deals with fun scientific facts. Only fes clips with personal testimonials are fit with this post. Due to the pandemic, there are more people making youtube about quitting PhD, so search ‘quit PhD’ in youtube to check more testimonials across the world.
- This is for: who wants to listen to an honest testimonial
- Contents – fun scientific facts
- Mentoring level – like a friend
- Background – theoretical physics
- Feeling about academic – no hard feeling, disillusioned.
- Navigating Academia
Jay Phoenix Singh is a professor of both UPenn as well as Cambridge. He is also offering coaching services on his webpage. He deals with various topics mainly heading towards young faculty members but also general tips for PhD and postdocs also. postdoc/grad Interview questions, how to publish more, book writing, or ethical issues in academia.
- This is for: young professors or students wondering what professors point of view.
- Contents – Advice, tips, QnA
- Mentoring level – professional, with tones of typical YouTubers
- Background – clinical psychology
- Feeling about academic – Positive
Podcasts
“Career & Life Balance Exploration. for Academics and Graduate Researchers” (direct quote). I could see Dr. Vera Chan also as a speaker (connected!). Especially if you are French speakers, more useful because half of contents are in French.
https://recoveringacademic.net/
“What happens when you leave academia? How do you handle the transition? What do you do next?” (direct quote).
“A Podcast for people interested in career possibilities after a PhD” (direct quote)
Podcast: The Theory of the Postdoc Evolution
from Queen’s University Belfast. “It aims to provide postdocs with information helping them to develop their careers” (direct quote)
“Got questions about life after academia? We’ll get answers” (direct quote)
“Wouldn’t it be nice if someone shared the secrets for success at every stage? Admissions, rotations, classes, quals, research, dissertations, job-hunting” (direct quote)
“Listen here for the hard-won financial wisdom of your fellow graduate students, postdocs, and PhDs with Real Jobs.” (direct quote) Talking about finance! Unique!
https://anchor.fm/gccunconference
“peers behind the curtains of our professional lives to reveal some of the thoughts, feelings, best practices, and questions that we have about work as graduate student/postdoc career professionals (and sometimes about chickens.)” (direct quote)
Blogs or personal homepages
http://thesociablescientist.com/
http://www.leavingacademia.com/
http://www.elizabethafrank.com/
Consulting, career coaching
https://christophercaterine.com/
Christopher L. Caterine author of ‘Leaving Academia: A Practical Guide Book’
https://roostervane.com/about/
https://www.scientificphd-nowwhat.com/
Keep coming up!
Oh, and don’t forget! The classics ‘PHD Comics’ can always give you bitter laughing.
Coffee Break Special 
A nice 13 min clip, ‘9 Tips (HARD TRUTHS) when considering a Career in Physics’
LikeLike
This Physicist Works for a Bank: Jobs for Math/Physics Majors
LikeLike