Good Job is Slate’s advice column on work. Have a workplace problem big or small? Send it to Laura Helmuth and Doree Shafrir here . (It’s anonymous!)

Dear Good Job,

I started my job in academia and gave my boss or “mentor,” as they see it, a false impression.

I made it seem like I was in this role for the long haul. Typically, someone stays in my position for a good amount of years, about four or five, before moving on to a professorship.

But the thing is, this is never what I really wanted! I always wanted to find a job outside of the academic space in order to start making more and have a better work-life balance. But when I took my role a year ago, this was all I could find, and I went with it. I’ve led my boss to believe this is what I wanted, even though I’ve been sear

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