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Completing a PhD is a major accomplishment but it is only the start of an academic career. A study by The Royal Society found that only 3.5% of students that complete a PhD secure a permanent research position at a university. Of those lucky few, only 12% (or 0.45% of the total) make it to professor level. Those lucky few that make it must surely have some wisdom to share. I asked academics in HRI what advice they would give their younger selves. While talking to Rob Sparrow, Alan Wagner, Mari Velonaki, Guy Hoffman, Kimmo Vanni, Amit Kumar Pandey, and Franziska Kirstein about their careers certain patterns emerged. Perseverance, focus, patience and luck are amongst the factors that influenced their academic careers.