3 ms·
Why do you think PhD is a waste of time?
by tejaswidp 9y ago
Why do you think PhD is a waste of time?
- a-saleh 9y agoI would say that PHD is not a waste of time only if you plan to stay in academia. If writing papers and chasing grants is your jam, go for it. If you are looking for one more thing for your CV, don't bother with phd.
- bitL 9y ago...unless you are in Europe, where it's an almost required gate to upper management.
- gaius 9y agoOnly in Germany, certainly not in the UK - here Eton trumps PhD every day of the week.
- bitL 9y agoI probably should have written in German-speaking countries. I never understood the "reputation" component in the UK education that also made it to QS rankings where Oxbridge are propelled by near perfect reputation while lacking in other, more-academic categories.
- gaius 9y agoCoincidentally I wrote a comment that explains it the other day https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15088782 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15088782
- robotresearcher 9y agoThe main reason to do a PhD is for your own personal drive and satisfaction. Unless you value the work for its own sake, it is unlikely to pay off.
- busterarm 9y agoDegree-less person here and vehemently disagree. Maybe across the field in general, but some of the most interesting areas of work have Ph.Ds and/or significant levels of domain experience as gatekeepers.
- enraged_camel 9y agoNah. Many high tech fields in the private sector recruit PhDs for research positions. Intel for example has a ton of them.
- johan_larson 9y agoGenerally speaking, you should get the qualifications you need for the job you want. If you want to be a software developer or program manager, a B.Sc. is sufficient and a PhD is overkill and a waste of time. If you want to be an academic or a scientist in industry, a PhD is essentially required.
- binarysolo 9y agoEven better: get into the PhD program and then drop out. You have all the signalling of being selected in a fancy PhD, but it also shows that you're practical and interested in work and industry. Anec-data: me and several other PhD folks who all dropped out of CS/Stats/ML and got plenty of offers for jobs and funding. :)
- VygmraMGVl 9y agoHow do you properly signal that you dropped out of a PhD program to distinguish yourself from someone with a Masters?
- a-saleh 9y agoMaybe having few good papers/conference talks?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]