Veronica's Journal of Madness

[Stasher]

That is a question I don't fully have the expertise to answer. For the service provider side of things, with the large scale retirement of an aging population (Boomers) and less younger generation workers available, we are experiencing a severe shortage of skilled workers. They Canadian health care system is something I am proud and grateful of but we desperately need those skilled new staff to make it function properly. We are currently building a brand new hospital in my community, it will be ready in about 18-24 months. During the last update the forecast is showing a need for an additional 200 staff to meet the functionality and capacity requirements of the new Hospital.

[chenda]

Similarly the NHS is always recruiting from abroad. I don't know how the whole visa process is but I would imagine your skills are much in demand.

https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/search

They currently have apparently almost 300 vacancies.

[Veronica]

Scientific asylum in Europe perhaps? Significant pay cut in exchange for some semblance of stability.

I wish you good luck in unpredictable times!

Thank you; I have been starting to assemble a list of places in europe that might be interested.
Luckily I don't care much about the money; one of the benefits of embracing the ERE mindset. I just need enough that I'm not being taken complete advantage of and to keep my hands busy for a while.

[loutfard]

Thank you; I have been starting to assemble a list of places in europe that might be interested.
Luckily I don't care much about the money; one of the benefits of embracing the ERE mindset. I just need enough that I'm not being taken complete advantage of and to keep my hands busy for a while.

I understand your biomedical research is your field of work and you prefer a university context. I'm sure you know the biomedical reputation rankings better than me.

For Belgium, apart from the obvious KU Leuven and Universiteit Gent topping the rankings, you may want to also have a look at the KU Leuven university related Collen foundation. I have every reason to deeply respect the integrity of the foundation's founder. Might be a good fit for an EREmite.

If into reproduction biomedical research, VUB might also be interesting.

[Veronica]

I understand your biomedical research is your field of work and you prefer a university context. I'm sure you know the biomedical reputation rankings better than me.

For Belgium, apart from the obvious KU Leuven and Universiteit Gent topping the rankings, you may want to also have a look at the KU Leuven university related Collen foundation. I have every reason to deeply respect the integrity of the foundation's founder. Might be a good fit for an EREmite.

If into reproduction biomedical research, VUB might also be interesting.

Thanks for some potential leads! I will definitely be looking into them.
I'm actually open to both industry and academic contexts, as I have experience in both. I'm just becoming extremely jaded about having to rely on external funding, as I've seen people with decades of experience having to now wind down extremely beneficial programs and/or career pivot entirely.
Frankly, I am willing to do so but I don't think it's wise.
I would much prefer to continue doing what I am doing, but I'm aware that I serve at the pleasure of the american tax payer. If that means I need to give up and work at a sock factory, so be it. But you can't really blame me for seeking a way to actually utilize my skills properly.

[Jean]

I wasn't joking about switzerland. You wouldn't take a pay cut, the country is gorgeous, our unis are the only ones that rival anglo saxons in rankings.
Col is comparable to the us, but qol is way above, unless you need to own acres of land with restricted access.
Feel free to ask any question or join the meetup in july to take a look. It doesnt matter if you don't climb.

[Veronica]

Short update

I was able to find "a job", but not a great one. Part-time, front desk patient registration at my local emergency room, night shift.
Basically a complete waste of my skills and background, but at least I have money coming in.

I have about 30k or so stocked away in various liquid accounts and a modest cost of living, so I won't be homeless.
My goal is to take this time to continue simplifying my life, pare down possessions to the ones that I need the most, and to continue to build my skills. Luckily learning and reading is a pretty affordable time-sink with nothing but upside.
I'll still be aggressively applying to jobs in my field (computational and structural biology), even internationally, and just see if the market improves.

Mentally, I'm struggling to maintain a good headspace. It feels as if the US has betrayed me in a major way, even though I know this isn't a healthy perspective to have. I ask for very little, and it seems I can't even get that. Frankly put, there is no excuse why someone of my background should ever have to consider taking such a dramatic cut in pay and responsibility. But the only way is forward, so I'll just keep myself occupied in the most productive way I can and see if things ever get better