Watch out for burn out. Working too much makes you work more but at the same time actually do less work in a self perpetuating cycle. Been there, done that, and it has the potential to be much more damaging to your career than stepping back and taking it a bit easier… We need 48 hour days 🙂
Ah! Well, obviously, if you forgo the research, then a professorship is a very easy job.
The committees are often quite a waste of time and just dumb politics. But it is still hard work.
Teaching is not so bad if that’s all you’ve got to do.
So, I think that, in theory, academia is a job for the lazy. In theory, you could take the job, work hard for tenure, and then, once you’ve got it, just have an easy ride. Some do it. It is a very small minority.
Uccai Siravassays:
When I was working in a startup company, I used to work from 9 am to 10 pm with about 2 hrs of break in between. At that time, I was also teaching a course in a small California State University nearby. It appeared to me that the full time professors had a very easy time. Most only show up for the class time. All of them fight really hard to minimize their teaching commitment. Meetings go on for ever without any agreements. None of the faculty members were active in research.
The startup failed and I applied to the University for a tenure track position and was offered one. However, just before I was about to accept the offer, I got a position in a large company in the Silicon Valley with nearly 3 times the salary and I decided to decline the University offer.
Sometimes, when my workload is high at work, I think, I should have taken the univerity position. I guess the grass is greener on the other side.
Watch out for burn out. Working too much makes you work more but at the same time actually do less work in a self perpetuating cycle. Been there, done that, and it has the potential to be much more damaging to your career than stepping back and taking it a bit easier… We need 48 hour days 🙂
Ah! Well, obviously, if you forgo the research, then a professorship is a very easy job.
The committees are often quite a waste of time and just dumb politics. But it is still hard work.
Teaching is not so bad if that’s all you’ve got to do.
So, I think that, in theory, academia is a job for the lazy. In theory, you could take the job, work hard for tenure, and then, once you’ve got it, just have an easy ride. Some do it. It is a very small minority.
When I was working in a startup company, I used to work from 9 am to 10 pm with about 2 hrs of break in between. At that time, I was also teaching a course in a small California State University nearby. It appeared to me that the full time professors had a very easy time. Most only show up for the class time. All of them fight really hard to minimize their teaching commitment. Meetings go on for ever without any agreements. None of the faculty members were active in research.
The startup failed and I applied to the University for a tenure track position and was offered one. However, just before I was about to accept the offer, I got a position in a large company in the Silicon Valley with nearly 3 times the salary and I decided to decline the University offer.
Sometimes, when my workload is high at work, I think, I should have taken the univerity position. I guess the grass is greener on the other side.
Stress is one basic cause of heart diseas. And I avoid it as much as I can.