u/primary_scientist_1

I’m so sad.

Backstory:
I am in the US.
I moved back to my hometown for a family medical emergency. My parents and I are first generation. They’ve depended on me basically my entire life and I was the default English learner for our family. They aren’t doing amazing health wise and needed me here to help them. I’ve been lucky enough to leave my home state to pursue a PhD.

I’ve done a 3 year postdoc already, though I was in the middle of my major project and never got to finish. My advisor was supportive of my leaving and is on the lookout for jobs in the area for me.

I’ve done 6 postdoc interviews in the area. All of which are with labs that either do exactly the thing I did in my prior postdoc, or have major aspects of their lab which I have strong technical expertise in.

I’ve been interviewing for a little over 7 months now and all of the answers from these labs have been the same. Issues with funding or budgeting. This was surprising to me also since some labs would put up job listings for PD positions, I targeted these thinking they’ve already budgeted for this position.

I am my own biggest critic, so instinctively I thought it was all my fault. I even asked my previous mentors and colleagues if they thought I could be doing anything incorrectly - if they thought I could be better at any aspect of interviewing. They assured me it was the state of funding in the United States… though I can’t get that little voice out my head telling me that it’s me.

Let me know how you’re coping if you’re in the same boat, experiencing something similar. Family obligations compounding with a bad job market is extremely stressful.

I don’t know how people juggle their career vs family obligation

This is mostly a vent. I’m at my frickin’ end.

For context, I am the only child to immigrant parents in the US. They’re getting older, and have asked me to come back to be close in case something happens. I’m spending a lot more time with them, which I’m enjoying. My mother has had some cancer scares in the past and we are keeping an eye.

My parents function okay in the US, together. They’ve split up the labor that only one of them had to learn half broken English - just enough to get whatever docs signed and whatnot. I’m so proud of them for being able to survive in the United States - this is something they pioneered especially because they came from farming families. They have worked super hard and have given me a good and stable life which has afforded me to be able to create my own network and build myself into what I am today.

I can’t find a job related to my career at all right now and I’m losing my mind - I don’t know how I will keep dealing with a constant stream of rejection from 100s upon 100s of places of employment. I’ve been spending lots of time tailoring my resumes to the specific roles and have had significant interviews but none of them bore fruit. - I have a great amount of experience that would make me overqualified for over 80% of the roles I’m applying to. I am willing to take even lower pay than what is typically paid for a role just to DO SCIENCE AGAIN.

I have a PhD in biochemistry and have done a postdoc. I’ve been out of the science sector for almost a year and it feels like I’ll never be able to get back in.

I don’t know what to do. This job market for life sciences fucking sucks - even though I am in a hub for it!

Kind advice appreciated.

This is mostly a vent. I’m at my frickin’ end.

For context, I am the only child to immigrant parents in the US. They’re getting older, and have asked me to come back to be close in case something happens. I’m spending a lot more time with them, which I’m enjoying.

My parents function okay in the US, together. They’ve split up the labor that only one of them had to learn half broken English - just enough to get whatever docs signed and whatnot. I’m so proud of them for being able to survive in the United States - this is something they pioneered especially because they came from farming families. They have worked super hard and have given me a good and stable life which has afforded me to be able to create my own network and build myself into what I am today.

I can’t find a job related to my career at all right now and I’m losing my mind - I don’t know how I will keep dealing with a constant stream of rejection from 100s upon 100s of places of employment. I’ve been spending lots of time tailoring my resumes to the specific roles and have had significant interviews but none of them bore fruit. - I have a great amount of experience that would make me overqualified for over 80% of the roles I’m applying to. I am willing to take even lower pay than what is typically paid for a role just to DO SCIENCE AGAIN.

I have a PhD in biochemistry and have done a postdoc. I’ve been out of the science sector for almost a year and it feels like I’ll never be able to get back in.

I don’t know what to do. This job market for life sciences fucking sucks - even though I am in a hub for it!

Kind advice appreciated.