PhD job hunting concerns

[Mrcelloman999]

Hello all. I am a senior undergrad in electrical engineering and I have been accepted into some PhD programs. I would really like to pursue a PhD, but I'm concerned about life after, ie, finding a job in industry. I've read that getting a PhD can hinder you there. I would like to get a R&D position somewhere, but I know that may not be possible, and academia doesn't look promising either. I do want to get a PhD, but not at the expense of a stable career, especially if I have a family by the time I get out. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Quantum Buckyball]

Hello all. I am a senior undergrad in electrical engineering and I have been accepted into some PhD programs. I would really like to pursue a PhD, but I'm concerned about life after, ie, finding a job in industry. I've read that getting a PhD can hinder you there. I would like to get a R&D position somewhere, but I know that may not be possible, and academia doesn't look promising either. I do want to get a PhD, but not at the expense of a stable career, especially if I have a family by the time I get out. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Have you calculated the opportunity cost for going after a PhD? It's best to talk to the people in the industry for some realistic feedback. My cousin has a Masters in Computer Science and he has a fairly stable job right now. He said that it would be harder for him to land a decent job if he had a PhD in CS because the field he's in grows so fast and most of the new innovations are done by someone without a PhD...

[Mrcelloman999]

Thanks for replying.

 

I'm aware of the opportunity cost; I could probably make more money faster with simply a masters. The optimum amount of money isn't necessarily my goal though. I want a PhD so that I can do antenna R&D someday. But I'm also being realistic here and don't want to shoot myself in the foot jobwise in case a research or academic position does not work out.

[phdcandidate022014]

If the phrase 'opportunity cost' enters into your calculus, it sounds like PhD isn't the ideal path.  If you do a research-based master's degree, that can certainly put you on a path to technical positions within R&D at start-ups or established firms. 

 

Also, that's too general of a statement to say that having a PhD hurts your job market prospects.  It depends on the individual and the field.  And doing academic/research work AND industry-type work are not mutually exclusive.

[Icydubloon]

 

I would like to get a R&D position somewhere, but I know that may not be possible

 

I would assume for most R&D positions you need at least an MS and a PhD is usually preferred.

[juilletmercredi]

Hello all. I am a senior undergrad in electrical engineering and I have been accepted into some PhD programs. I would really like to pursue a PhD, but I'm concerned about life after, ie, finding a job in industry. I've read that getting a PhD can hinder you there. I would like to get a R&D position somewhere, but I know that may not be possible, and academia doesn't look promising either. I do want to get a PhD, but not at the expense of a stable career, especially if I have a family by the time I get out. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

I honestly think this has been overblown.  The unemployment rate for PhDs (overall) is about 1.2%.  It's probably even lower for a person with a PhD in engineering.  I have heard a lot of people say that they have heard that getting a PhD hinders your job prospects for industry jobs in engineering, but I have yet to hear an actual job candidate state that they had a hard time finding a job with a PhD.

 

You may want to visit VersatilePhD.com; they have a STEM forum.  The website is focused on helping people with PhDs (mostly humanities and social sciences, but also STEM fields) find non-academic jobs and they have plenty of stories of PhD holders in a variety of fields getting industry jobs.

 

For what it's worth, if you know that you want a shot at the academic/researcher lifestyle then you need a PhD.  If you accept the possibility that you may not get an academic career, but want to try anyway, then you should definitely go for it.  There are certain steps you can take to make yourself marketable after the program - like doing a summer corporate internship or working a part-time job during your grad program.  You can also take classes and learn skills that are useful outside of academia, like computer programming or certain types of quantitative analysis.  If you do stuff like that, then you will be employable after the program.  You just may have to be a little creative with the kinds of positions you look for.

 

I'm not an engineer, so take me with a grain of salt on this next one.  But I would imagine that for a research & development position, a PhD would only make you more competitive, not less.  Yes, sometimes employers think that you will automatically demand more money because you have a PhD, but having read the abovementioned website and other career resources (AskAManager.org), there are plenty of ways around that - including addressing that in your cover letter.

[zipykido]

From my experience so far in an engineering graduate program, you won't hinder your chances of landing a job in industry by pursuing a PhD. The degree itself makes you very versatile even if you don't work on your dissertation topic after you graduate. While it may make you overqualified for typical BS/MS type jobs, but you're opening a lot of other doors in startups and management positions. You don't really sacrifice much by pursuing a PhD as opposed to a masters, a few of my labmates have families and young children, you have to really focused financial planning and spouse income helps a bit but it is doable.