{"id":2550,"date":"2019-05-08T10:52:45","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T10:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/they-told-me-that-if-i-ever-left-i-would-be-a-failure\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T13:18:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T13:18:42","slug":"they-told-me-that-if-i-ever-left-i-would-be-a-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/they-told-me-that-if-i-ever-left-i-would-be-a-failure","title":{"rendered":"They told me that if I ever left, I would be a failure"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you know\u00a0I left academia about one year ago and started working in biotech, selling analytical equipment to researchers in and out academia. It was a painful process, and at first I didn\u2019t really want to leave \u2013 but life just lead me to expand the horizons on my job search and now I\u2019m really happy with my job.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A big part of my job\u00a0is to visit customers, and in the academic world, professors that currently own or may be interested in purchasing our equipment. And even though I still live in the same city where I used to be a postdoc, I\u2019ve never really taken the time to visit my former university.\u00a0At first, I thought that I didn\u2019t know exactly what to say or how to behave, so I\u2019d rather do my first visits with a more experienced sales fellow. So that\u2019s what I did, and it was great! If felt so good to be in an academic environment again, and to talk to professors about research, grants, etc. I felt I could really contribute to this, because I understood the complexity in academia in a different way than someone who has never been there. Professors also like the idea of dealing with a PhD – not as a status thing, but also as a peer thing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But still, I didn\u2019t go to visit my university. I thought, \u201cI\u2019m still too raw into this whole biotech thing, I need to learn more about the instruments and the applications before I go there.\u201d So I did it. Went to trainings, attended a lot of webinars, talked to professors, made quotes, and learned from all the specialists that help me to put together an instrument. After my vacation, I felt like I was ready (or let\u2019s say as ready as one can be) and I literally had no excuse not to go there. I had a business lunch with a staff scientist from my university and he pointed me in the direction that I should move. He\u2019s been at the University for many years, and I\u2019ve known him for a long time. He is one of those people professors seek for advice regarding instruments\u2019 purchases. So after we talked, I made a few appointments and scheduled today to be \u201cformer university visit day.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

From the moment I woke up, I was feeling weird. It took me forever to find a good outfit. I didn\u2019t want to look too dressed up, but couldn\u2019t look too casual. Should I bring brochures? OMG, everything was a big problem and a huge decision to make. But still, I couldn\u2019t understand why I was feeling that way. So I asked Twitter about it, and @sennoma nailed it: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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@Doctor_PMS<\/a> Because academia instils a little voice in your head saying “if you leave, you fail” and it takes time to kill that fucker.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bill Hooker (@sennoma) May 11, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n