My 9 years in industry, 5 years in academia, and 4 years as a postdoc tell me this about getting a regular (tenure-track) faculty appointment:

On a very simple level, one who wishes to be in lofty pursuits (an academic position at a research institution, where the goals are noble and the intellectual rewards are pure and at least some people respect you) would follow this conventional-wisdom paradigm:

First get a Ph.D (or MD/Ph.D), next get a postdoc, and then get an assistant “prof.” position.