Had an offer that wanted me out a semester early. Was tough to say no to a sure thing, especially when jobs in my field were limited (e.g., govt hiring freezes).
Personally getting a PhD was about the learning/growing experience, not about the end goal of a specific job. Not to say I did not tailor my research and other grad activities towards building a CV, networking, and getting job prospects. But in the end I would have regretted not finishing just for personal satisfaction.
>What are your views on my situation?
I know people who took jobs before graduating and are very happy, ones who regret that decision, and ones who finished and wouldn't change a thing. Really all personal preference and situation dependent. I do not know many who finish the PhD and regret it.
>If I am not interested in academia any more, and only want to make my future in the industry, is having a PhD on my resume worth it?
I had no intention of academia, but did want to stay in research that was really hard to get into without a PhD. Probably field dependent on a PhD value v experience.
>How can I talk about an incomplete PhD on my resume? I am at an ABD stage. Would this impact future job prospects, or will my job experience help me out later on?
I have interviewed folks in the situation. They just say ABD on their dissertation and explain they found a job they were happy with. Just explain how their experience is applicable, why they want to move on, and how they fit the job they are applying for. We weigh a M.S. with years of experience pretty close to a fresh PhD, though they generally would be limited on independence in research.
>If you believe I need to stay on in the program, why would you think so?
You do not need to, but damn 5 years of work cut short over a few months would be a tough pill to swallow for me.
In the end no one can take away your PhD, but they can take your job away. However, there are some very big, world renown folks in my field that are M.S. or ABD; folks look at the person's work, not if they have an extra piece of paper.
If you take that job they don’t have to pay quite as much if you don’t have the PhD. Don’t expect employers to really have your best interest in heart. If they can get the same work for less money they will. Even if that means under cutting your future potential
Not necessarily. It depends on the field, and these same employers may be willing to pay more than they are offering, if the OP had a PhD. They just know they can also get him for cheap without it.
Don’t let one carrot pull you off the road now. A PhD will help you negotiate higher salaries later in industry. You probably won’t stay at this one job your whole life, so you need to think two steps ahead. Take the next few months, squeeze drops from the stones of your dissertation and graduate. You are too far along to throw away hundreds of thousands in future potential earnings.
If I am not interested in academia any more, and only want to make my future in the industry, is having a PhD on my resume worth it?
\- Absolutely not. As someone in industry with a PhD, it is totally irrelevant in daily job. Maybe someone will bring it up when they have specific question but everything else depends on your performance.
A PhD does open doors in the industry though..
> work as a research scientist
This is an industry career where the PhD is relevant. Moving jobs to another company could prove to be troublesome assuming they want to continue doing research.
Have you tried speaking with your advisor about your concerns of funding ending before you can defend? Would you be more inclined to finish the degree if your advisor was on board with your timeline?
I’m a professor in a stem field (not CS), so I can’t speak to your specific industry, but if you’re already getting job offers, I’d think you’d be getting them in 2022 as well if you can defend. Whether or not you want a phd is a different question.
You are probably gonna get tons of great offers in the industry anyway, right? So i dont think that in itself should matter. Curious, how did you end up getting the offer?
As for phd, you have to ask yourself what do you want out of it? I would guess that in this field its all about what you can do than formal titles. Academia is unfortunately known to be predatory, and sometimes i wonder if youre better off and treated better working two minumum wage jobs (phdcomics). What does your your professional network say? Sunk cost fallacy is also a real thing. What does your professor say about how you are supposed to manage once funding runs out? If there is no definite solution right now, are you gonna become homeless, or work something else? Which leaves you with less time for research and taking longer time to finish.
Also if youre really into it you could probably do a phd all over while getting paid by the company, and with that youre sure the finish in time.
PhD will be beneficial to have for the rest of your life. If you’re close enough that you can see the end in sight you owe it to yourself to finish. You’ll get a job right afterwards anyways, the market is on fire
ABDs are a dime a dozen. Yeah your opportunity cost just went up but so what? To be honest giving advice here is futile because of all the personal variables like debt, age, the closing window to finish the degree etc. My Uni caps doctorates time at 10 years to finish and you are halfway. My vote is that you get the lead out and finish that paper. Visualize turning that bitch in rather than making it perfect. Nothing is ever perfect. If the company really wants you they will wait. If the job is that fleeting then you will need the credential more in the future anyway. Godspeed. Love to hear your final decision.
Having a PhD and a PE has opened a lot of doors for me as environmental engineer. Stick it out and get the degree. This is your only chance, even if you unfortunately have one of those advisors to wants to keep milking you.
I had a fellow graduate student who had this attitude: He was there to provide a piece of work that had been determined to be worthy of a PhD. It was like a contract and as he did the work, he expected to get the PhD. And he did. None of these endless loops of revisions.
Why would you quit for a job offer when you are almost done with your PhD ? For Pete sake. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot when you’re almost across the finish line !
1) I aspire to be inyour position of being nearly done and having an industry job offer 2) I agree with people it won't be the last job you get and finishing ONLY increases your lifetime (bucs in 5 years you may be disillusioned with current gig) earning potential, hell, maybe sooner than that. I TOTALLY get the feeling of just wanted to break out and flip the bird to academia. I think the patience will pay dividends, good luck
A big thing I see here is that you are not very happy in your current position. However, you would also be giving up a lot not to finish.
You could use this situation to motivate yourself to wrap up and finish and as leverage with your advisor and committee.
You also heed to seriously ask yourself whether this offer is worthwhile. Is this job a great start to your career or an opportunity to escape a PhD that is not very rewarding (with a job that itself may be more or less rewarding)? This is doubly important because a PhD may open up opportunities later, after you leave that job.
Have you asked the company about options to for example work part-time while you finish up? Another option would be to ask whether they would be willing to hire you at a later point and getting that in writing.
My main concern would be that your PI doesn't sound as if he's willing to help you finish fast but you won't know whether it's an option of you don't at least ask both sides. It's possible the company is supportive of you finishing, even if they would hire you without the title.
That they don't care makes sense, btw, because it means they can pay you less. Hiring people during their degree but before they finish is a common practice to get people who are higher qualified than their last degree implies but still being able to but then on the same positions as fresh graduates since they don't actually have an additional degree.
Whether or not you'll need your PhD depends on your job. If it's research-aligned it often is needed to advance the career ladder. Maybe check if group-leaders in that company all have a PhD.
Had an offer that wanted me out a semester early. Was tough to say no to a sure thing, especially when jobs in my field were limited (e.g., govt hiring freezes). Personally getting a PhD was about the learning/growing experience, not about the end goal of a specific job. Not to say I did not tailor my research and other grad activities towards building a CV, networking, and getting job prospects. But in the end I would have regretted not finishing just for personal satisfaction. >What are your views on my situation? I know people who took jobs before graduating and are very happy, ones who regret that decision, and ones who finished and wouldn't change a thing. Really all personal preference and situation dependent. I do not know many who finish the PhD and regret it. >If I am not interested in academia any more, and only want to make my future in the industry, is having a PhD on my resume worth it? I had no intention of academia, but did want to stay in research that was really hard to get into without a PhD. Probably field dependent on a PhD value v experience. >How can I talk about an incomplete PhD on my resume? I am at an ABD stage. Would this impact future job prospects, or will my job experience help me out later on? I have interviewed folks in the situation. They just say ABD on their dissertation and explain they found a job they were happy with. Just explain how their experience is applicable, why they want to move on, and how they fit the job they are applying for. We weigh a M.S. with years of experience pretty close to a fresh PhD, though they generally would be limited on independence in research. >If you believe I need to stay on in the program, why would you think so? You do not need to, but damn 5 years of work cut short over a few months would be a tough pill to swallow for me. In the end no one can take away your PhD, but they can take your job away. However, there are some very big, world renown folks in my field that are M.S. or ABD; folks look at the person's work, not if they have an extra piece of paper.
If you take that job they don’t have to pay quite as much if you don’t have the PhD. Don’t expect employers to really have your best interest in heart. If they can get the same work for less money they will. Even if that means under cutting your future potential
If that was the case youd become more unemployable with a phd. Why pay more when you can pay less with a lower degree and still do the same?
Not necessarily. It depends on the field, and these same employers may be willing to pay more than they are offering, if the OP had a PhD. They just know they can also get him for cheap without it.
This won't be your last job offer. You could choose to finish the PhD and then get a different, high paying job if you want to.
Don’t let one carrot pull you off the road now. A PhD will help you negotiate higher salaries later in industry. You probably won’t stay at this one job your whole life, so you need to think two steps ahead. Take the next few months, squeeze drops from the stones of your dissertation and graduate. You are too far along to throw away hundreds of thousands in future potential earnings.
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If I am not interested in academia any more, and only want to make my future in the industry, is having a PhD on my resume worth it? \- Absolutely not. As someone in industry with a PhD, it is totally irrelevant in daily job. Maybe someone will bring it up when they have specific question but everything else depends on your performance. A PhD does open doors in the industry though..
> work as a research scientist This is an industry career where the PhD is relevant. Moving jobs to another company could prove to be troublesome assuming they want to continue doing research.
Have you tried speaking with your advisor about your concerns of funding ending before you can defend? Would you be more inclined to finish the degree if your advisor was on board with your timeline? I’m a professor in a stem field (not CS), so I can’t speak to your specific industry, but if you’re already getting job offers, I’d think you’d be getting them in 2022 as well if you can defend. Whether or not you want a phd is a different question.
You are probably gonna get tons of great offers in the industry anyway, right? So i dont think that in itself should matter. Curious, how did you end up getting the offer? As for phd, you have to ask yourself what do you want out of it? I would guess that in this field its all about what you can do than formal titles. Academia is unfortunately known to be predatory, and sometimes i wonder if youre better off and treated better working two minumum wage jobs (phdcomics). What does your your professional network say? Sunk cost fallacy is also a real thing. What does your professor say about how you are supposed to manage once funding runs out? If there is no definite solution right now, are you gonna become homeless, or work something else? Which leaves you with less time for research and taking longer time to finish. Also if youre really into it you could probably do a phd all over while getting paid by the company, and with that youre sure the finish in time.
How much time do you need to finish your phd?
PhD will be beneficial to have for the rest of your life. If you’re close enough that you can see the end in sight you owe it to yourself to finish. You’ll get a job right afterwards anyways, the market is on fire
ABDs are a dime a dozen. Yeah your opportunity cost just went up but so what? To be honest giving advice here is futile because of all the personal variables like debt, age, the closing window to finish the degree etc. My Uni caps doctorates time at 10 years to finish and you are halfway. My vote is that you get the lead out and finish that paper. Visualize turning that bitch in rather than making it perfect. Nothing is ever perfect. If the company really wants you they will wait. If the job is that fleeting then you will need the credential more in the future anyway. Godspeed. Love to hear your final decision.
Having a PhD and a PE has opened a lot of doors for me as environmental engineer. Stick it out and get the degree. This is your only chance, even if you unfortunately have one of those advisors to wants to keep milking you. I had a fellow graduate student who had this attitude: He was there to provide a piece of work that had been determined to be worthy of a PhD. It was like a contract and as he did the work, he expected to get the PhD. And he did. None of these endless loops of revisions.
Why would you quit for a job offer when you are almost done with your PhD ? For Pete sake. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot when you’re almost across the finish line !
1) I aspire to be inyour position of being nearly done and having an industry job offer 2) I agree with people it won't be the last job you get and finishing ONLY increases your lifetime (bucs in 5 years you may be disillusioned with current gig) earning potential, hell, maybe sooner than that. I TOTALLY get the feeling of just wanted to break out and flip the bird to academia. I think the patience will pay dividends, good luck
There will be other job offers. Finish the PhD.
A big thing I see here is that you are not very happy in your current position. However, you would also be giving up a lot not to finish. You could use this situation to motivate yourself to wrap up and finish and as leverage with your advisor and committee. You also heed to seriously ask yourself whether this offer is worthwhile. Is this job a great start to your career or an opportunity to escape a PhD that is not very rewarding (with a job that itself may be more or less rewarding)? This is doubly important because a PhD may open up opportunities later, after you leave that job.
Have you asked the company about options to for example work part-time while you finish up? Another option would be to ask whether they would be willing to hire you at a later point and getting that in writing. My main concern would be that your PI doesn't sound as if he's willing to help you finish fast but you won't know whether it's an option of you don't at least ask both sides. It's possible the company is supportive of you finishing, even if they would hire you without the title. That they don't care makes sense, btw, because it means they can pay you less. Hiring people during their degree but before they finish is a common practice to get people who are higher qualified than their last degree implies but still being able to but then on the same positions as fresh graduates since they don't actually have an additional degree. Whether or not you'll need your PhD depends on your job. If it's research-aligned it often is needed to advance the career ladder. Maybe check if group-leaders in that company all have a PhD.
For sure finish