The longer I was a PD, the more I wanted to hear voices of folks who "didn& #39;t make it." Often, when I expressed anxieties about being able to get a TT job, faculty said "If you work hard enough/care enough/its meant to be, you& #39;ll make it"

This is so insulting to the folks who worked INSANELY hard and still didn& #39;t & #39;make it.& #39; What happened to them? Where did they go? We were told they& #39;re failures, did THEY feel that way? You can& #39;t convince me that the 90% of PhDs who don& #39;t become TT faculty are lazy & dispassionate.

I thought about some of these conversations the other day and realized, that& #39;s me. I& #39;m one of those 90%. I don& #39;t want to sound arrogant, but I believe I worked really hard and care passionately about science. I was strategic in my steps to try and be competitive. And I & #39;failed.& #39;

Sooooo. I& #39;m here! Grad students, postdocs, if you too have found yourself wanting to talk to one of those people who & #39;failed& #39; to find out what happened, REACH OUT. What are your questions? How can I help you?

Undergrads staring down grad school who want to know what their options are or paths they could take, share your questions!

If you are also someone who "didn& #39;t make it" in the academy and willing to be a resource, please share what your degree is in and what you are doing now (work/life, whatever)

Some off the top of my head: @danielgoduti @NakedCapsid @yeastgrrl @SarahMackAttack @SusannaLHarris

I have a PhD in biology and did a 4-year postdoc. My academic research was all "basic" cell biology. I now work at @Abcam leading a team of awesome folks growing and messing around with cells to make sure our antibodies are as AMAZING as possible for scientists and clinicians!