I think the main problem is that lots of people car about CO2 emissions but feel (and largely are) powerless to do anything about it as so much of globally emissions are from business.
Governments need to support CO2 reduction and force businesses to cut emissions.
On top of that we need CO2 capture, and yes, we are not going to reduce emissions enough so we will need to adapt a changing climate.
I have moved from scientific research to the tech industry working on inane problems to working in health data science. I get infinitely more reward working on what I feel are important issues than I did working for something I didn’t care about (even though the money was much better!).
The important issues as I see it:
* improving health care, access to health care and generally helping people to live healthier lives.
* helping in some way those in poverty around the world.
I was in academia for a decade or so and was at stage of applying for academic positions and now work in a scale-up. I was in Genetics research and now work as a data scientist so not exactly the same but anyway.
The thing you lose leaving academia is freedom to work on whatever you want. What you gain is as you say a group of smart people working towards a common goal. About 20% of my team have PhDs! I now make more money 2 years in than I would have at Assistant Professor level. I also work remotely which means I can live where I want to and not where the university is. Overall I’m very glad I made the jump.
If you decide to do it I would say don’t rush into it and take some time to find the right position working with people you will enjoy working with.
I’ve been through two loads of interviews in the last year as the first company I went to ran out of money. So yeah the second time around I did probe a bit more on finances. Other than that, I asked questions to understand the actual role and how it fitted in the existing company and the other main thing was to meet as many people in the company as possible to get a better feeling of culture-fit (ugh, don’t like that term but you get the idea).
Open for: Data Analyst, Product Analyst, BI Analyst, Data Scientist
Spent the last few months in a social AgTech, now looking for something new due to funding problems. Looking for something working with a friendly product-focussed team doing something positive for the world.
Two thoughts here, one is that finding a different job that you find more fulfilling - maybe in some sort of mission driven or tech for good type company might be good. The other is that it sounds like you might benefit from speaking with a coach of some sort, they can be great at helping you find your way.
I think most of this comes down to leadership. The company I work for is trying to grow rapidly in terms of users and doesn’t make a profit currently, but does care about quality and does have some slack and most importantly cares about its staff and its users. The company is in the mission-driven social enterprise category so maybe that helps.
Governments need to support CO2 reduction and force businesses to cut emissions.
On top of that we need CO2 capture, and yes, we are not going to reduce emissions enough so we will need to adapt a changing climate.