what are the differences between MS and PhD career wise for engineering?

[child of 2]

At this point, I'm striving for working in R&D at a manufacturing company. I don't think I'm driven enough to go into academia. If I can get the same positions in industry with a masters as I can with a PhD, then I'll just do a masters and finish school. In addition, there is also the issue of over qualification for phd's.

on the other hand, I have heard mixed opinions on getting a phd that oscillate between 'rewarding experience' and 'waste of time'.

[kateausten]

Not an engineer but I work in tech recruiting. The annoying answer is that it just depends. PhDs in industry are most useful in research-focused positions in specialized sciencey areas of engineering, like optics or chemicals. For most R&D positions, a master's is helpful but anything beyond that isn't a big difference (especially compared to a few more years of industry work experience). Conversely, it could make some employers wary of you, sometimes they assume that someone with a PhD will be dissatisfied without a very high-level position or without working strictly in their specialty. For a few very specialized positions a PhD is preferred and very rarely is it required. You may not make any more money with a PhD, but you may get more interesting projects if you really like the niche areas. Having a narrow specialty can also help you build a consulting career, if that's something you'd like to do eventually (rather than stay at one company). Since your field is chemical engineering, I definitely wouldn't call it a total waste of time, but not necessary either.

[ghanada]

I have a Masters in engineering and am going for my PhD this fall. As kateausten said, it depends. Getting a PhD is all about the ability to independently work on a specific topic, research it, conduct experiments, and do something meaningful enough to publish the results. If that is the type of work you want to do in industry, that is what they are looking for. If you are interested in the research side of R&D and want to LEAD a team of researchers or be the MANAGER of those teams, PhDs are often required. If you are more focused on product development, simulations, quality assurance, etc, than a Masters is fine.

The best way to get a sense of this for your specific job interests is to do a job search. Find jobs you like, read the descriptions to see if that is what interests you, and then read the qualifications. That should give you a good sense of whether or not a PhD is necessary. I know for many research focused industry jobs, they often say things like "Masters with 5 years experience" or "PhD" required. So if getting a PhD and being heavily involved in research does not interest you, a PhD is probably not the way to go. And if you don't mind working your way up, a Masters will definitely get you into decent starting jobs.

The other side of industry that a PhD can help is for start-ups. If you are trying to create new things that aren't mass produced, than obviously research and specialty knowledge is critical so a PhD is pretty much necessary in start-ups if you want to be at the VP or CEO/CTO level. Also, start-ups need to back their products up with solid research and it always helps to have someone with a PhD title associate their name with said research. So sometimes just the title alone can be helpful.

[child of 2]

I got different people telling me different things. I hear things like PhDs are typically overqualified, and a masters will give you more opportunities. Then, I hear masters are overqualified because most post-graduates can do most of the things masters can. And finally, my friend urges me to just find an oil company and get filthy rich...

the more I think about it, the more confused I get. I guess the only way to find out is to try to find some good opportunities in industry and see what's out there, get my priorities straight, and then make a decision. Going to grad school right away is a decision you can't really undo.

Edited July 23, 2012 by child of 2

[ghanada]

I got different people telling me different things. I hear things like PhDs are typically overqualified, and a masters will give you more opportunities. Then, I hear masters are overqualified because most post-graduates can do most of the things masters can. And finally, my friend urges me to just find an oil company and get filthy rich...

the more I think about it, the more confused I get. I guess the only way to find out is to try to find some good opportunities in industry and see what's out there, get my priorities straight, and then make a decision. Going to grad school right away is a decision you can't really undo.

I can't stress this enough, DO A JOB SEARCH! It took me like 5 minutes of looking up job postings in my own field to figure out that all the jobs I want require a PhD. Absolutely REQUIRE. This may or may not be true for you, but you won't know unless you find the jobs you eventually want to get.

But I agree, don't do grad school unless you know EXACTLY what you want to do.

[imonedaful]

I am not in engineering, but I am in business and I do know that if you want to to R&D for a manufacturing company a PHD is not required for most jobs you would be looking at. If you want to work in industry and do not really want to spend more years in school, stick to the master's degree. A PHD is only something you should do if you REALLY want to do it. Most PHDs do go into academia or into specific research jobs in organizations. I agree with the poster above, do a job search. It will give you more specific information.