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I think you're heavily discounting/missing "ability to work independently" which I think is a huge win for most softeng jobs. If they can code (if), you'll find

• quanticle 13y ago
  >I think you're heavily discounting "ability to work independently" Really? I mean, anecdotal evidence and all, but I haven't found that PhDs can actually work more independently in a commercial software setting than non-PhDs. I think it's because academic settings are just too different from commercial settings. In academia, your project is your own. You're responsible for it, from start to finish. But in commercial software, your project is often just one component or subcomponent of a much larger system. This requires a much greater level of communication and cooperation with other developers and business-people. So yes, a PhD may be able to work more independently on a project that allows for independent work. But most commercial software development is a highly cooperative activity, where the sort of independence that PhD holders exercise can often turn into being a loose cannon.
  • Schwolop 13y ago
    So take your 20 man project - all of it - and give the entirety to the Ph.D. In fact, since you'll be saving so much money, get three Ph.D.s to work on it simultaneously and independently. In fact, tell them it's first to publish - sorry, I mean launch - and you'll probably see them work 24/7 until it's done. In fact, what you've just done is start an industry funded research project. You should now go to a university, "collaborate" such that they get to put their name on the project, and you get to harvest their Ph.D. candidates for minimum wage, and you're laughing all the way to the bank!