Why I went from the lab bench to the street side
About lab coats, fundraising vests, and the dreaded “overqualified” label.
In my first note, I introduced my overall background and stated goal in fiction writing
Since then, I published my debut novel “Overqualified: Lab Bench to Street Side” as an eBook (Get it here).
What I want to do now is what scientists are always asked to do: Explain yourself! Justify your existence!
Okay, okay, in academia that’s usually sugarcoated and called “Grant Proposal” or “Fellowship Application.” 😉
I published this article originally on Substack on (2-October-2026).
What inspired me to write “Overqualified: Lab Bench to Street Side”?
I worked as a scientist (postdoctoral researcher) in Quebec City, Canada until 2025. During my final year, it became clear to me: I loved doing research, but I did not love the job insecurity.
I also had a complicated relationship with academic recognition. Working in the lab alongside friendly, wonderful, and brilliant people brought me joy. Yet, it frustrated me that people outside the academic environment hardly recognized the usefulness of scientific research and the immense effort behind it.
But how could they? And why should they?
Academia is an opaque system that is complicated to understand even when you are a part of it. There are many great efforts to make science more accessible, and I doubt I can add much to that. I simply want to add another perspective. By writing stories from the point of view of scientists, I hope to make them more accessible.
Why the title “Overqualified”?
Once I decided to look for a job outside of academia, I repeatedly collided with the label “Overqualified.”
It wasn’t a concept I had considered before. Throughout my life, I have worked as a paramedic, an office clerk, a telephone interviewer, a tutor, a warehouse laborer hauling boxes, etc.
Sure, these were part-time and summer jobs before or during my studies. (This doesn’t include my time as a PhD student because, trust me, working full-time in a biochemistry lab leaves no space for a side hustle.) But I personally never felt “overqualified” for any job. If something needs to be done, you do it. If I am hired to move boxes, I will move boxes. Simple.
Yet, the time in research and the PhD degree earned me the dubious honor of being “overqualified” in the eyes of others. Suddenly, HR departments, career coaches, and well-meaning acquaintances started telling me what I actually wanted.
Don’t worry, I eventually found a job. 😉
Naturally, when I sat down to write a fiction book about a scientist struggling to find a job, there was only one fitting title: Overqualified.
Why the subtitle “Lab Bench to Street Side”?
By January 2025, my time in Canada was running out, I was finishing up my last research manuscript, and my anxiety was reaching the boiling point. The thought of moving back to Austria in February without a way to pay rent or buy food terrified me. I wouldn’t have starved, but watching my savings vanish did not sit well with me.
Meanwhile, my corporate job applications were going nowhere.
While I managed to avoid the dreaded AI video interviews myself, though someone I met later filled me in on that nightmare, I was still trapped in the algorithmic machinery that had been sorting corporate talent pools long before the advent of LLMs. There was a systemic prejudice: the “overqualification” label, paired with a general prejudice against scientists: the awkward, “non-pragmatic,” and antisocial nerds, who can’t handle rejection.
The irony is that scientists work in teams and with international collaborations. They need to be essentially pragmatic, and academia is a high-rejection, high-pressure environment. However, that is not how the outside world perceives the ivory tower. So, I decided I wanted a radical change.
I wanted to work with clients in a highly communicative, high-rejection environment. I wanted to do something useful with the time I had—and, crucially, to earn money to sustain myself. The logical conclusion: apply to an NGO to do face-to-face fundraising on the streets of Vienna.
What, you mean that’s not an obvious choice for a PhD?
And just like that, I went from the lab bench to the street side.
Overqualified: Lab Bench to Street Side (Check it out here)
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