I'm an X year "forever" post-doc. I have a wide range of tech and analysis skills but employers look at my CV and see no industry experience and will immediately dismiss me as an entry-level tech worker. Also, no one seems to be hiring at the moment despite the deluge of linked-in postings (I no longer trust most of these as legitimate, and instead see it as companies signalling "growth").

I enjoy my work, it feels meaningful, and I get great feedback from it, so I'm happy to put the extra hours in.

I've built good networks in academia over the last few years and I am constantly being courted by separate labs to win me to their team, but the pay is flat and isn't great.

Hence my desire to continue what I am doing, but officially for two teams and officially as two jobs.

You asked HN if it’s worth it. My personal take: To me, no, it wouldn’t be worth it. I have a hard time seeing myself trying such an arrangement. I would rather try consulting instead. But your mileage may vary. If you feel that you have good reasons to try it, just do it. Then evaluate after 6-12 months.

That's fair, and much appreciated on the honest feedback

Are the entry-level roles you're looking at paying less than what you make as a post-doc?

If you took one, would you be making more or less money in 2-5 years?

That's a really good question. Right now I'm making £55k, which is not terrible money, but it's way less than my industry peers are making whilst doing arguably less.

I actually don't know how quickly my pay will scale in 2-5 years in industry. My general feeling is that regardless of how good I might be (or think I might be…), I'd still be older than the other entry-level candidates, and when a promotion would come up, my age might become an issue (e.g. I would be more likely to start a family in the next few years and therefore my work would come second).

I want something that pays at least £65k, which I don't think is unreasonable for my skill set, but without industry experience, I can see why employers might cover their mouths and laugh a little.

Age definitely shouldn't come up during promotions. Once you have a role, people are invested in helping you grow so you can get more done.

You could probably reach out to some people in the areas you're looking to work and ask them out for a cup of coffee to find out what career progression can look like, or you could just check out public information like on levels.fyi: https://www.levels.fyi/

I'd also look into improving at the skill of salary negotiation: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/

Career transitions and non-traditional backgrounds are much more common in tech than in other fields so I'd worry less about that and just start interviewing and see what happens. Worst that can happen is you get no's or low offers, but you might be shocked at what you actually do get.

Those are great links -- thanks a lot for this