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Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

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Re: Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

#131
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that to be a funny statement. Would you actually argue that every single phd has "great value to history and humankind"?

I find it sad when people have no other metric of value other than $$$. "I can't sell this, what is this?"

It's not about money.

The large majority of phds collect fewer than 20 citations. Most papers are ready by only a handful of people. "Screaming into the void" is a pretty accurate representation of many phds (including my own).

Re: Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

#132
I have a lot of PhD friends (physics and CS) and I personally dropped out of PhD program after 6 months to work in industry.

The people who absolutely needed their PhD were those that loved research and were and are amazing at it. They are now professors, researchers, etc. and are obviously doing what they enjoy.

Others took PhD to support their self esteem. Some felt it was easiest to continue studying and not go to an industry job yet.

The saddest category thought they would find meaningful career in PhD work but only found dead end academic career path and burned out or just switched careers.

I don't regret not doing my PhD. Software engineers are generally recognised for their skills, not for their degrees.

It sounds like you are considering PhD out of fear and not out of love. I would advice against it...

Re: Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

#134
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it sad when people have no other metric of value other than $$$. "I can't sell this, what is this?"

I’ve always been curious about why people write “$$$” instead of “money”. maybe you could elaborate

I can't speak for the person you replied to, but sometimes this is done as a way of disparaging money and the desire to have some, perhaps in the same vein as writing "Micro$oft".

Re: Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

#135
It sounds like it might not be the right move for you. If you do go into a Ph.D, I do think it's important to have a clear idea of what you want out of it.

I did a Ph.D and have no regrets - for me, it resulted in more interesting work and rapid advancement once I was in industry. I picked up a lot of relevant knowledge on distributed systems (not know-how or techniques, but generally how to think about them and evaluate them) that comes in use every day. Exploring the (vast) space of potential system designs and figuring out how to evaluate them is something that I picked up in the Ph.D and is incredibly useful in my job. A Ph.D doesn't give you that knowledge on a platter, but it can give you the time and resources to learn and practice it. I think a lot of engineers in the industry are... not great... at doing this and in many cases don't even realize it.

Anyway, doing a Ph.D. gives you a big blank space to fill in with self-directed learning and research. For some people that's a golden opportunity. If your goal is to be taught skills that you will directly apply in your future career, a Ph.D is a crapshoot. You might get that if you have a hands-on advisor in the right area.

One thing I've noticed is that whether work is interesting is as much a function of the individual, environment and team as it is of the work itself. A curious individual who is engaged with their teammates and is given autonomy to do their job in the best way they see fit is likely to be a lot more engaged in a "dull" task than someone who is working in an "exciting" area without those things.

Re: Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

#136
Only continue with a PhD if you really love research and learning. Even the best international positions are ridiculously underpaid and you will have to move around the world multiple times and travel way too much.

I spent 10y in academia. Loved my PhD and subsequent research positions. Went back to industry because I wanted to spend more time with my lady.

For me the research years have paid of exceptionally well. Lots of interesting people and projects, and enabled work I would never have been able to get off the ground without the training and network.

But my case is very uncommon.

Re: Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will sound rude and I’m sorry but there is no way your entire life is ruined because you decided to get a PhD from one of the top 5 most prestigious institutions in the entire world.

As sort of rude as this is I have to agree. If your life can be fundamentally ruined by this then there's a major blindspot in play.

Oh look, victim blaming.

Re: Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

#138
Don't ask "will it lead to..." That question always ends in trading present misery for an illusory brighter future.

Instead ask "is this how I want to spend my short time on earth?" If doing research and writing papers sound exciting, then DO IT.

Follow that approach and your life will be interesting.

Re: Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

#139
post #135

It sounds like it might not be the right move for you. If you do go into a Ph.D, I do think it's important to have a clear idea of what you want out of it. I did a Ph.D and have no regrets - for me, it resulted in more interesting work and rapid advancement once I was in industry. I picked up a lot of relevant knowledge on distributed systems (not know-how or techniques, but generally how to think about them and eval…

What was your PhD in? How did you go about studying distributed systems? I'm really curious about this topic and appreciate any advice on getting started.

Re: Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?

#140

CS PhD from Stanford in dynamic program analysis. Lost all my friends. Ghosted by companies for jobs directly related to my research. Everyone I knew who went directly into industry is doing way better than me. My salary has only tracked inflation. I sorely regret the decision and consider it to have fundamentally ruined my life beyond repair.

>I sorely regret the decision and consider it to have fundamentally ruined my life beyond repair. Are you sure you would not feel the same way had you gone straight to industry? Musing over those who stayed, got their PhDs, and are in fascinating, high paying jobs? My suggestion is that you try not to have an external locus of control. I spent 7 years in grad school, realized a PhD won't get me the job I was seeking,…

It's also easier to have rewarding high paying career in the industry.
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