If you have stumble into this blog from a search engine such as google, yahoo or bing, it means you are in Dilemma. You are either in the following situations:-
1. Nearing graduation with good marks, considering getting a job or continue with a PhD
2. Have been offered a scholarship/grant/place in a good University and not sure to take it or not.
3. Unsure if getting a PhD means more MONEY for your future dream job
PhD is definitely a prestigious degree to obtain and an achievement to be proud of. Not everyone can be accepted to do a PhD in university, and not everyone can finish a PhD.
As a PhD graduate myself from an engineering background and currently working in the industry straight after. I have met numerous people from both the academia and industry and shared their views about being a PhD student as well as employing or working with a PhD student.
There are many reasons to do a PhD:-
1. Research Interest
Many people gain research interest mostly during their final year project. Excelling and enjoyed the thrill of researching work from previous candidate in the same field. Having vision and ideas for improvement. Remember PhD is not a final year project; it is a three year programme minimal and can even last up to seven years in some cases. During this period great discoveries can be made which can be very rewarding, through minimal guidance.
2. Industrial PhD
Industrial PhD are very common nowadays and still hard to obtained. There are no fixed numbers of industrial PhD positions published/available each year in any university. It entirely depends on the funds from government body or industrial interest. If an industrial PhD is offered, it is difficult to refuse. It would help open up either an industrial career opportunity or long-term academia with potential funds boost.
In this situation its common to have 2 supervisor to report to, an industrial and an academia. Its always a challenge trying to please both, as vision of research expansion and work ethics can potentially contradict.
3. Moving along the academia route
Do you see yourself teaching the younger generations, inspire them about your field of work and be the brains of tomorrow? No doubt you should strongly consider research and teaching if this is what you like. Having good interest in the field is important as well. Please be advise to do a research which will potentially generate interest in industrial sector or certain funding bodies. No use working on a field which interest you and inability to gain funds to support a research group after. After all you need to pay your bills. Its not just a 3-5 years plan but potentially a 25 years plan.
4. Role Model
It is very common PhD students join very charismatic lecturer's journey in discovering the wonders of the world. It is not easy to inspire young people, if one can he will tend to have followers. Remember end of the day you will have to spent alot of time working with/for that person.
5. Interest of Location
Some subjects like biology, archaeology, marine science etc, may potentially have research outings expeditions in foreign lands. This beat sitting at your own desk the whole day. Its always advisable to move around different countries to do you PhD and learn culture and preception from different countries. Remember not to sit in a room with 4 walls doing your PhD ALONE. Issac Newton didn't discover the three laws of motion sitting in his lab or workshop!
Reasons not to do a PhD
1. Because your mother told you so
Honestly don't do a phd cause someone told you so, cause when you hit a brick wall in your research. You will play the blame game. Remember its your own responsibility for your chosen career path.
2. You want a DR in your title
Same as the first reason, You shouldn't do a PhD cause you want a fancy title. It doesn't help with the women cause you are not a real doctor and you cannot save life. It doesn't get you first class airline upgrade. It doesn't get you a better job either.
3. No Funding No PhD
Its quite common that I've come across PhD students working on a 4 year project with their parents paying for everything including accommodation and expenses. Very common among Asian students. Seriously it cost easily £40-£50k and does not include your first degree. Why pay the Uni or the Professor money to do work for them??? Think about it!
4. If you expect to finsh in 3 years
Its very unlikely students finished their PhD in three years; inclusive of research, write up, viva and final correction. 3 years is minimal and expect lot of time investment. Not only that, it involves lots of mental stress and strain. Many people give up half way through and many lose confident along the way. Be very prepared for one. Being top of the class doesn't mean you can finish a PhD easily.
5. One man team
Some people are solitary worker. They love to work alone at their own pace. PhD nowadays require alot of collaborations and team working environment. We do no roam the jungle alone like Bengal tigers. Having someone to speak to and discuss work helps progress alot. Hence the need of conference and technical paper presentation to gather feedback on your work progress
Feel free to drop me email for any personal questions you may have. I am always more than happy to help
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