A lot of this post really resonates with me. I'm busy right now, but I'll try to think about it today. Thanks so much.
9 karma · joined September 9, 2012
Re. 2: I'm still not sure what my "dream future" is since my "real" dreams (academia) are almost certainly out of reach at this point.
Regarding 2-5: your advice requires N years here ... which is surely fine, but how can I avoid falling even further behind (in terms of CV, being a loner, ...)?
Re. 6: I typically eliminate myself from a lot of positions not because I couldn't do the job (Excel, anyone?) but because there's no way I'd get through screening (see 20120910's comments on the reasons for this).
Thanks again.