When I started a PhD, everybody warned me that it would be very hard to get a permanent position. Turned out it wasn't (at least in my field and in my country).

When I started a PhD, everybody warned me that it would be very hard to get a permanent position. Turned out it wasn't (at least in my field and in my country). Also, contrary to what other comments say, my PhD wasn't particularly stressful (probably less than all other jobs I had in my life). Overall, it was very interesting. I traveled the world, met interesting people, learned about science, research, academia. There were other issues though: 1. being a professor is quite different from being a PhD student 2. research is a global competition, and most likely, you won't be a superstar but an average researcher surrounded by big egos. Just like a skinny guy in a room full of people who value the size of their muscles above all. 3. The pay sucks, esp. if you can earn many times more somewhere else. I didn't care when I was 20. But as I grew older, I started to get more concerned. 4. A lot of cool stuff happens in companies, and the smart people are there too (maybe even more so)