To feel anxious that I am so behind in my career

[confusedcareer]

I am 24 and graduated this year with a master's in biomedicine. I am trying to plan my next steps but feeling quite overwhelmed. I was planning on going travelling this year (obviously now not possible with COVID-19) whilst applying for PhDs. Then my plan was to pursue a career in academia.

However, I am back in my hometown for now and seeing old friends has made me suddenly feel anxious that I am behind on my career. I have friends who did not go to university or those who graduated at 21 or 22 and they have made a lot of progress in their careers whilst I haven't even put my foot on the first step.

I am now worrying as a PhD (if I manage to get one!) would mean three more years of being a "student" on a low stipend working long hours. Compared to friends I feel like my life has been quite stagnant... However, pursuing a PhD has been what I have been working towards for several years now and something I think I would definitely regret not doing. If I wasn't accepted this application round I would get a part-time job and try again the next application cycle. However, that's two years of "waiting" and then 3 years of the PhD and I'll be nearly 30...

The alternatives are getting a PGCE and becoming a biology teacher or working in industry, they would get me into a career quicker which would give me some financial security at least.

I am feeling so restless and unsure of what to do.

I’m 36 and still can’t get full time work as an academic and I have colleagues 10 years older in the same boat. I’m essentially on a zero hours contract every year. The longest contracts local universities seem to give to female academic are two year ones - it’s awful. I love my job but even I’ve considered retraining.

It’s true that you’d have better prospects working as a school teacher or in industry. I know someone who had a Biomedical degree and did a two year Dentistry Course and is now doing incredibly well financially. She’s 26 now and bought her first home last year.

If you are serious about wanting to teach Biology and good with tweens and teenagers look into Teach First as well as PGCE. You’d get paid whilst you train and work and also be coached for leadership positions so could move up quite quickly. If you wanted to do PGCE you’d be paid a bursary as you are in a shortage area.

Thank you so much for all of your replies. I really needed to hear all of this. I am the first from my family to go to university and now I am back in my hometown I am mainly spending time with friends who didn't go to university and I think it was a bit stressful coming out of the bubble of academia and realising how many other options there are outside of that.

As for working in retail for two years, that is just my pessimistic worst-case scenario. Ideally I would get work experience in my field. I am planning to apply to work in one of the coronavirus testing labs. My background and experience is limited as I have never worked in a medical laboratory before but I know they have entry-level positions and have accepted undergraduates before.

I love the idea of submitting writing to blogs. I will definitely look into that. I have recently started a science blog to practice writing and start networking and have really enjoyed it so far.

I know academia is a very tough job market. My other alternative is to go into science writing/science communication. I would love to work for a research journal. My favourite part of university was writing essays and lab reports .

I think the plan for now is:

• Apply to lots of funded PhDs
• Apply to work in COVID-19 testing lab/other labs
• Continue with my science blog and try and submit work to other blogs
• Maybe consider online tutoring biology, particularly if we go into lockdown again

Sounds like you’re in a completely different position to the poster on the other thread, it’s just that your chosen career path has a very flat start in terms of progression.

We need scientists to do phds and go into research, not all drop out into quicker route to earning money.

But I do understand why so many do. Really scientists should be paid a lot more than they are but unfortunately that’s not the case. I would think about how important money and lifestyle is to you, and speak to people in the field about their experiences.

If you want kids, think about where you want to be in your career and financially before you have your first child. How do you hope to navigate the early years of child-rearing, financially and career-wise. Then you can make a medium-term plan to get to that point. If you would only want kids if the man would do the bulk of the caring, then you won’t need to consider a pause in progression, but then your earning power becomes more important so that would feed into the plan too.

Go abroad and get a well paid PhD position.

OP I'm 34 and in Y2 of a Microbiology degree and will be doing a Masters and PhD, I'll likely be 40 by the time I'm done, fuck it.

My friends range from being well established Lecturers, nurses, teachers, Civil Servants, translators, and I'm right at the beginning of getting my qualifications.

They all own homes and have cars, I don't.

So fucking what. Go at your own pace.

Also, why get a retail job when there must be a lot of demand for people who can run RT-PCRs these days.

A PhD isn't like an undergraduate degree, people do them at all stages in life and they are much more like having a job. If you can get a job as a research assistant in a university/lab related to your area of interest, it will be fantastic preparation for your PhD as you will learn about the research process etc and make contacts. Also, once you get known as someone hard working and smart who is interested in doing a PhD, you might find that senior academic try to recruit you for their PhDs! You could also do a PhD whilst working full time as a researcher. PM me if you want to discuss further :)

Sorry for the delay in replies, I have had quite a busy week.

@MoreToExplore I really struggle to think ahead, up until now I only think of the next step when it has arrived, I didn't plan on applying to university until everyone at sixth form was starting their applications so I just did too. I have no idea whether I want children (I probably do) and what kind of life I want. I think the most important thing I can think of is I would like some element of consistency. I like routine and structure, I think that that's why academia appeals to me so much.

@GirlCalledJames I will look into PhDs abroad, thank you. :)

@HigherFurtherFasterBaby Yes, that's true! One of my lecturers at university went into science in her 40s whilst juggling raising young children, she was great. :)

@GirlCalledJames I only have very limited experience with RT-PCR (literally one lab class during my master's). However I will apply to work in COVID testing and see but I am not completely optimistic whether I will get it.

@letsmaketea Thank you for your reply, I will PM you. :)

Why languish in low paid roles while waiting for the PHD?