Dear Recruiter (2023)

Dear Recruiter

I was mad yesterday

Added up all the years I've been analyzing data

Twenty-two, started undergraduate research

Twenty-three, published my first paper

Thirty-two, got my PhD

Forty, finished three postdocs

Forty-one, got my first job as a data scientist

Twenty years!

Half of my life was spent collecting, analyzing and presenting data

At forty, I changed career

From a neuroscientist working in a laboratory

To a data scientist working from home

For me, science was all-consuming work done in isolation with little reward

I didn't take care of myself

I felt like I was never enough

Faculty job rejections cut deeper

A committee member once asked if I considered myself a tinkerer

Questions aimed to reveal if I possessed the magic touch 

That would bring in grant dollars for the next thirty years

And if I will have the energy to entertain the students

At forty-two, I'm on the job market again

Odds are low but you hear from industry quickly

Now I'm stronger mentally and physically

Some days I am hopeful that I would land somewhere

Other days, rejections and feelings of inadequacy get me down

Twenty years I've been working with data

My skills must be needed somewhere!

Today, I got a couple of inquiries and follow-ups so I'm hopeful

Dear recruiter, I'm waiting for your call

Nervous but excited

I hope I hear from you but if I don't

I'll keep shopping

Until I find the shoe that fits 👠👩‍💻

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