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chemantics
New Contributor

Should I Try For an Industry Job or Head For a Post-Doc?

Alright people, I will be graduating soon in Materials (specializing in photonic crystals) and am trying to decide if I should dive head first into industry, or do a post-doc.

Here are my circumstances:

I am married with 2 children, my wife stays home to take care of the kids, and we are very sick of living off a grad student stipend.

I would prefer to work a job that is <50 hours a week so that I have time for family.

The most ideal job I can imagine would be teaching chemistry exclusively, and would make ~100k/year.

Since my ideal job doesn't exist, I am looking at other options including teaching at a junior college and doing something else on the side.

I also would like to work in an area that makes the world a better place, so some areas of industry are appealing.

If I decide to try for a straight-up teaching job (i.e. no research), is a post-doc overkill?  Would a post-doc hurt me?

Thanks for any advice you all might have.

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BryanBalazs
Contributor II

Re: Should I Try For an Industry Job or Head For a Post-Doc?

Seeing as this is how I got started, I'll make a plug for doing a post-doc at one of the national laboratories.  They're often overlooked for career possibilities, and (at least where I currently work), post-doc salaries are very competitive for entry-level PhD positions (again, where I work, this equates to $80k to $90k per year).  Positions at the national labs can be a good mix of basic versus applied research, and often on topics in the greater national interest.

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