What can I do with my PhD BESIDES the TT?

[1f3_2kf2]

Hello,

I am considering attending a lower ranked (50-75) computer science department. I feel like this won't be enough to land me a TT position. However I realize rankings don't matter NEARLY as much for work outside academia.

So what can I do with a CS PhD besides the tenure track?

and out of curiosity, what can one do with, say, a Classics PhD besides becoming a Classics professor?

[rising_star]

My mom has a PhD in psychology and has never taught or TA'd a course so clearly she's not on TT. You get jobs in industry, for nonprofits, for government, etc.

[repatriate]

My brother went ABD in CS (had problems with his dissertation and didn't want to spend another 1-2 years to fix it). He now works at a very big component maker, writing drivers and making pretty darn good money.

[johndiligent]

So what can I do with a CS PhD besides the tenure track?

Uh... Anything that requires specialised knowledge of CS?

and out of curiosity, what can one do with, say, a Classics PhD besides becoming a Classics professor?

I've known PhD's in Classics who have gone on to teach high school Latin (there's a lot of call for this in the U.S.), work in libraries (in fact, I think there was a presentation at the APA this year about how to get library positions with an MA in Classics as opposed to Library Science), work in museums in a variety of positions, work as a journalist, work as a conservator (though this required returning to graduate study), and work as a consultant on films set in and television shows about antiquity.

Classics is both a specialised and general degree: specialised in the sense that it deals with a specific time period and region, but general in the sense that the study of Classics involves language, literature, linguistics, religious studies, history, art history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, archaeology, etc. Because of this broad background, a Classicist's employment options are really only limited by her imagination.

[PaperChaser]

Hello,

I am considering attending a lower ranked (50-75) computer science department. I feel like this won't be enough to land me a TT position. However I realize rankings don't matter NEARLY as much for work outside academia.

So what can I do with a CS PhD besides the tenure track?

and out of curiosity, what can one do with, say, a Classics PhD besides becoming a Classics professor?

CONSULTING!!! After law school/legal practice, I've seen that there's a HUGE need for integrating and improving legal software. And lawyers can generally afford to pay you pretty well

[psycholinguist]

Yeah, as johndiligent says, teaching high-school is a possibility. There were three teachers with Ph.D.s at my high-school (which was private and fairly uptight, but at least it was good academically): one in CS, one in English, and one in history.

[1f3_2kf2]

Yeah, as johndiligent says, teaching high-school is a possibility. There were three teachers with Ph.D.s at my high-school (which was private and fairly uptight, but at least it was good academically): one in CS, one in English, and one in history.

No offense to your teachers but I'd rather kill myself than teach high school.

But really, what else can I do with a CS PhD from a school ranked 50-100?

[johndiligent]

I'd rather kill myself than teach high school.

I'm not touching that but holy extreme reaction!

But really, what else can I do with a CS PhD from a school ranked 50-100?

Honestly, I don't understand why you're having trouble coming up with back-up plans. CS still means Computer Science, right? And people still work with computers outside of the academy? Maybe I just don't know enough about your field (I'm in Humanities), but I would think that CS would be one of the easiest fields to find work in the private sector, well-paid work at that. Could you not go on to work with Apple or something?

I think your question has a lot more to do with what you really want to do, rather than what you possibly could.