Permanent Head Damage
I’ve just had a long talk with my supervisor. Basically, other than the relatively good news on my FYP (which I’m not comfortable with sharing), he also offered me an opportunity to do a PhD with his team.
On one hand, I have an option of taking scholarship, even be paid to take PhD, so financially it’s not so much of a problem. On top of that, PhD is like a gateway to higher paying jobs, those which utilize as much of whatever brain cells left in my head before they die. PhD is also one of the options that I’ve considered, albeit admittedly one of the last.
On the other hand, I’m currently feeling a bit sick of studying, so adding another 3 years seems to be quite a torture. And, knowing what happened during my FYP, there’s no guarantee that I can complete PhD studies satisfactorily. And… the biggest issue here is that I think it will be a waste of my 3 years if I don’t end up staying in academia, either as a lecturer or researcher. It also brings up the issue of overqualification, where my certificate may be too advanced for the type of job that I really want to do.
I have until next Friday to decide… Any inputs, anyone?
April 4th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
What do you want to do? does research makes u happier? Is it your goal in life or will make or break what you intend to do in life?
Hopefully these questions help.
April 4th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Congrats man!!
Like what Tian Hong said.. Do you like research? PhD will not be like normal studies. There will be some parts which are better (no lectures) but some which are worst (papers etc).
But I’d say don’t look at PhD as a means to a high paying job. That is not necessarily true..
And finally, make sure it’s an area you are interested. I mean you will be spending all you time in that area for next 3 years, will you get bored?
It’s a tough decision, but I think a bit of soul searching should help.. drop me an IM if you wanna discuss more..
April 4th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
More often than not, PhDs end up earning less than their peers. 3 years is roughly the equivalent of one job contract, so if you enter the job market straight away, after 3 years, your pay is likely to have risen to match (or even exceed) that of a fresh PhD.
But that’s if you go into academia though. Industry hires quite a lot of PhDs as well, and they pay a lot better than academia (plus more benefits, and even stock options).
Oh yeah, no one ’studies’ for a PhD. There’s only two or three oral exams, and how well you do on that depends on how much time you spend in the lab, not how much time you spend hitting the textbooks.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Thanks all for the comments… I’ve decided not to take up the PhD offer in the end.