u/polinomio_monico

I'm in my mid 30s (34 to be precise) and, since 1 year or so, I came to the conclusion that it was time for me to change jobs. For a bit of background/context: I live in central EU, I have a background in Computer Science (PhD in CS) and I am currently a senior researcher in academia. It's fairly specific, but this context matters: I arrived at a point in my life where a major burn out happened. It built slowly, and one day I realized that I was physically unable to turn on my computer to work. Years of PhD, postdocs, constant travelling, fixed-term contracts made me realize "what the f**k am I doing, I'm not happy with this". Additionally, I feel the deep desire to settle down, choose a place I want to call home and start giving myself the chance to build a family. For all these reasons, I decided to look for jobs outside of academia.

In the past year I invested time into getting some basic certifications, building some tiny projects by myself, improving my CV. In the last 6 months I started applying for jobs. I wouldn't say it went bad, especially considering the state of this economy: out of 30 applications, I got 5 interviews, 4 of them with multiple rounds. I always managed to arrive to the last round, but, of course, there's always someone who has "experience in the field", who will eventually get the offer. Which, I get it. People coming from academia are "weird/scary" and hiring them feels like you're taking on a huge risk. At the same time, if I don't start somewhere, how am I supposed to gain experience? I have applied to everything, from junior to internships. Junior is wild, companies are always looking for someone with 1-3 years of experience in the field. I also struggle with internships, because, well, I am old (job-wise).

Staying in my current job is a no-go, plus my contract will end with the beginning of next year and it cannot be prolonged. I have to be honest: right now I feel mentally drained. I started this process taking every rejection with a simple "ok", while I kept looking. But I just received the last one yesterday, and I took this one very personally, which is a sign I need to pause for a second. I feel like, at 34 and with ~6 years of experience in my field, it's impossible for me to put my foot in the door, so to speak. In addition, all the automatic AI-generated rejection emails, all the talks about "we're deeply investing in AI to automate processes in this company" have made me grow all the more resentful towards the current job market, companies in general and the way we are treated as pieces that can be replaced.

I sincerely don't know what am I looking for with this post, maybe some words of wisdom, some empathy, or some tips and tricks from people who have been through a similar path?

TL;DR: trying to change careers at 34 from academia to the industry, feeling stuck and lost.