grad school vs job

[demros]

I've always known I wanted to a get research job. I'm now graduating with a bsc in physics. I've gotten in to some top notch programs (read as top 10), but I also have a very nice offer from Intel that's kind of a perfect job for someone with just a bachelors on physics. Id be doing research in the area I want.

Should I take the job or go for a phd. I have lots of concerns. On one hand the pay is nice,  and the job really sounds good on paper. On the other hand I may need to switch jobs later on and would need to a phd to get a research position later on. 

[DiscoTech]

1 hour ago, demros said:

I've always known I wanted to a get research job. I'm now graduating with a bsc in physics. I've gotten in to some top notch programs (read as top 10), but I also have a very nice offer from Intel that's kind of a perfect job for someone with just a bachelors on physics. Id be doing research in the area I want.

Should I take the job or go for a phd. I have lots of concerns. On one hand the pay is nice,  and the job really sounds good on paper. On the other hand I may need to switch jobs later on and would need to a phd to get a research position later on. 

Take the job.

Graduate school will be around in a couple of years time. This Intel offer might not. More importantly, you'll get a flavor for what working in industry is like. No, it probably won't be anything like what you'd be doing with a PhD, but you'll get a sense for the pace and priorities inside industry. Aside from the obvious benefits - entering graduate school with some savings - there's a good chance working at Intel will sharpen your focus if you go to graduate school in the future. A lot of people end up wasting their first couple of years in graduate school because they are trying to get a hang of what they're really interested in and what type of advisor they want to work for. This was true for many of my peers. If you get decent exposure to areas of research that you're interested in, you can probably hit the ground running when you come back for the PhD and be done a lot sooner. 

Finally, working for a couple of years might help you figure out that you DON'T want to do research. This would a valuable insight to have before signing up for a PhD.