> " ... a PhD is training to become an academic." Back in the day, so was doing an undergraduate degree. If you wanted a job in industry, that's what you did.

> " ... a PhD is training to become an academic." Back in the day, so was doing an undergraduate degree. If you wanted a job in industry, that's what you did. University was for academic pursuits. > "It's reasonable to assume that a PhD has lowered themselves to work in industry because they couldn't get a post-doc. Whether that's true or not it starts out the interview on a bad footing." It's not reasonable to assume that at all. Last time I checked, the majority of PhDs leave academia after their degree (they don't want a post-doc - so don't even try). I do understand why non-PhDs in industry may harbour false impressions about the degree and why that can set things off on a bad footing. > "What if a guy walked into your company and said 'I couldn't get a job at Google so I thought I'd try you schmucks'?" This is completely independent of whether or not someone has a PhD. Undergrads can do this too.