The longer I was a PD, the more I wanted to hear voices of folks who "didn'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'll make it"

This is so insulting to the folks who worked INSANELY hard and still didn't 'make it.' What happened to them? Where did they go? We were told they're failures, did THEY feel that way? You can't convince me that the 90% of PhDs who don't become TT faculty are lazy & dispassionate.

I thought about some of these conversations the other day and realized, that's me. I'm one of those 90%. I don'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 'failed.'

Sooooo. I'm here! Grad students, postdocs, if you too have found yourself wanting to talk to one of those people who 'failed' 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'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!