3 ms·

You may want to consider looking into academia. Everyone knows the pay isn't as good, but that can be an advantage. Academia loses (or never gets) a lot of tale

You may want to consider looking into academia. Everyone knows the pay isn't as good, but that can be an advantage. Academia loses (or never gets) a lot of talented engineers due to the pay, lack of fancy perks, etc. There actually are perks though. Also, for some, the sense of personal fulfillment depending on the field or project you're working on can be of significant value (just not monetary). There's also the fear that academic jobs are solely dependent on grants, which is true in some cases, but there are positions that are funded by the institution itself. Also, I wonder how much more "job security" the typical person really does have in industry. Regardless, It's something to think about.

_hardwaregeek 7y ago
What kind of academia? Because the traditional PhD -> post-doc -> prof track is absolutely not a good place for work/life balance. Or are you talking about being a programmer for a university?
- chenning 7y ago
  Yes, I was referring to programmer (or related) for a university.
- azhenley 7y ago
  The job market for professors in CS right now is great. No need for a postdoc and only a few pubs will get you multiple offers from R1 univerisities in the US. (I'm a CS prof.)
  - _hardwaregeek 7y ago
    Wow, that's incredible. I didn't get that impression from the CS PhD students I've met, but I'll take your word for it. But you'd still need a PhD, no? And grad school is definitely not a great place for work/life balance.
    - azhenley 7y ago
      Grad school (and tenure-track) isn't considered great for work/life balance, but it seems mostly self-induced. If I had limited myself to 40 hours a week in grad school I think I would have been just as successful. Anyone I know that wanted a tenure-track position did get one (and had options). I graduated from an unranked department and had a positive experience on the market.
deleted 7y ago
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CalRobert 7y ago
My experience with academia was sheer poison. My advisor lied, accused me of cheating with no evidence, and patented the ideas his students generated. Appreciate the comment but... No.

_hardwaregeek 7y ago

What kind of academia? Because the traditional PhD -> post-doc -> prof track is absolutely not a good place for work/life balance. Or are you talking about being a programmer for a university?

chenning 7y ago
Yes, I was referring to programmer (or related) for a university.
azhenley 7y ago
The job market for professors in CS right now is great. No need for a postdoc and only a few pubs will get you multiple offers from R1 univerisities in the US. (I'm a CS prof.)
- _hardwaregeek 7y ago
  Wow, that's incredible. I didn't get that impression from the CS PhD students I've met, but I'll take your word for it. But you'd still need a PhD, no? And grad school is definitely not a great place for work/life balance.
  - azhenley 7y ago
    Grad school (and tenure-track) isn't considered great for work/life balance, but it seems mostly self-induced. If I had limited myself to 40 hours a week in grad school I think I would have been just as successful. Anyone I know that wanted a tenure-track position did get one (and had options). I graduated from an unranked department and had a positive experience on the market.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

CalRobert 7y ago

My experience with academia was sheer poison. My advisor lied, accused me of cheating with no evidence, and patented the ideas his students generated. Appreciate the comment but... No.