Signup date: 01 Nov 2014 at 3:43pm
Last login: 01 Nov 2014 at 4:19pm
Post count: 1
I am about a year or so away from graduating and I do not want to continue my current line of research. I want to transition to another field, but I do not believe I am competitive at all for postdoc positions in this other field. I've inquired with a select few researchers in this other field who have caught my eye and they have basically told me outright that it's going to be very hard for me to get a postdoc position in their lab (though they hesitated to say in general that it would be hard, which is fair enough).
I will say that this other field is not just a whim, I've been actively keeping up with this field for a good 2 or 3 years in terms of current developments, broad ideas. So I'm in a weird position: I know enough about the field where it's beyond just a whim, but I also have no proven research track record here and I do not believe I will have the time to establish one.
I'm wondering what the hell I should do? I do not view my current thesis as all that valuable to me in terms of my career, my own personal interests, etc.
I know some programs strictly prohibit getting a 2nd PhD unless they are very different fields, and I will openly admit, the fields aren't different enough where I can get away with this. I don't want to disclose too much information, but I would say its tantamount to the difference between getting an experimental physics PhD vs. doing a purely theoretical physics PhD. They sound very similar, but you are learning drastically different things in terms of what it's like day to day.
I see myself as having four options:
1) Dropout and transfer
2) Graduate and try to get a postdoc in this other field
3) Graduate and try to get another PhD
4) Move on with my life
Any advice? Feedback? Thanks you in advance.
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