What do Shakespeare and The Clash have in common? Apart from the fact that they are both English, the bard and the venerable punk group have each posed a well known question. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the troubled Dane asks “To be or not to be?”, and in The Clash's 1980s classic, they ponder: “Should I stay or should I go?” Both of these sentiments are relevant to the final instalment of our “Surviving in Science” series. On page 782, we look at how to resolve serious career questions — the kind of decisions that could see you switching from academia to industry, leaving the bench for an off-the-bench position, or even quitting science entirely. We also offer perspectives from people who have grappled with these problems.

To celebrate the close of the series, all of the instalments are available for free on our website (http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/magazine/editors-choice.html). And, with apologies to The Clash, I offer my take on their song, summarizing the dilemmas faced by scientists, from graduate student to postdoc to junior faculty member:

Doctor, you've gotta let me know/ Should I stay or should I go? I ask for help, get nothing back/ It's time for you to cut some slack You say my data do not fit/ Should I stay or should I quit?

This fellowship is number four/ A strategy to keep me poor E. coli's got it in for me/ Don't know which culture even suits me My lab book's full to no avail/ Should I stay or should I bail?

I'm simply howling at the moon/ Must get a proper contract soon Lost out again on tenure track/ Left the lab no turning back Industry has got the dough/ Should I stay or should I go?

These are the questions. I hope this series has provided a lot of the answers.