I know this isn't /adv/ but I'd like to hear from other anons in this board, I'm close to graduating and having doubts about the following path. Over an year ago I decided not to do a PhD because of experiences I had on my first research project: low grants with huge gaps of time where I wouldn't even get paid (agencies/advisors being late), stress and dedication only for something completely out of the blue to shit over my project (again, agencies), and, among many other reasons, hearing my graduated colleagues' experiences. Everyone doing a PhD said they either regretted their decision or were already privileged enough to treat it as a passion project. Huge stress, essentially being overworked, no benefits or retirement funding, Academia idiosyncrasies. The worst of all was their future perspectives: the best jobs in our country are federal positions where you pretty much can't be fired while also having some decent to great salary, and plenty of these require a PhD. Problem is, we barely get these public tenders, so every 5 years the pile of PhDs and post-docs applies and only the chronically academic 35-40+ years old contestants have a chance because they decided to spend 2 decades farming titles for such an opportunity. I can't even imagine stressing myself doing these projects for ten years, only for a CHANCE at getting a good job. Meanwhile, the industry feels tempting given the immediate salary is already higher than any grant and I hear less stories of industry folk getting fucked when compared to PhDs. I'm well aware what I make won't be "mine" (not that I care for titles or authorship), and I've also heard that it can be difficult to return to studies once I'm already in (funnily, I've heard the opposite as well). I'm still measuring the possibilities but man, what tires me the most is the feeling that we're always closer to failing than having success, because the good opportunities are scant and you have to plan ten steps ahead, constantly.
>>16864747What country do you live in? If it's a shithole you should probably just didge it and go to a better country with better job prospects
>>16864756How much better exactly? Industry is industry, but I haven't heard Academia is thriving anywhere really.
>>16864747This is coming from a BSc holder.If you can do the PhD, do it.As much as 4chan loves to circlejerk "eDuCatIon is A sCam", I have realized there is big career opportunity difference between a BSc and an MSc, and there are quite a few positions in the industry that only PhDs can get into.And guess what? These are the best paying ones.Not to mention that a PhD can just walk into and grab any BSc or MSc position he wants.If your country is shit, either leave after the PhD if career is your focus, or depending in the industry you can look for remote work.
>>16864747I didn't even finish the highest level of high school math, yet managed to apply thinking ability to investment research well enough to multiply an investment of almost $1000 by 30, as well as find an asset that multiplied by 1000 eventually. Wasn't simply handed that money, though, I wouldn't call 13-hour days of moving boxes at Amazon the hardest thing to do either. My brain cells only finally thought about investing after I fell ill, lost the job and was looking for work. So to you who managed to do what you've done, if you have the spare money I'm sure you can do just as well if not better... with respect to the fact that not every year has the same opportunities. However, I couldn't even work when BTC first appeared, nor was I into investing when ETH came to be. Didn't stop me from finding opportunities. /biz/ is a starting point, but one thing people often told me is make sure YOU understand why a project does or does not have potential, so you don't buy just due to hype, nor sell out of sheer panic over a price dip.
>>16864786I think long-term this makes the most sense, after all the higher positions do indeed require a degree. At the moment I would rather at least get some part-time job or really anything so that I don't have to depend on the PhD grant for the money, since it's genuinely bad. I don't see myself stagnating in either areas because I'm not too fond of the corporativist environment anyways, but I understand why it happens. Sometimes it feels like people realize how bad a PhD could be and decide it's better not to bother, but on the other hand I noticed most people who do a PhD often do so without much planning or higher reasoning. It's more of a "well I'm already here" inertia mentality, which is essentially throwing it up to luck. I'm not the luckiest so I've got some issues in my team, asides from not having a perfect project in mind where I could at least be satisfied with getting better at it. The time off-Academy will be useful for delineating the project, and also planning on who to work with; also, not relying on the grant bs will be an already excellent start.>>16864792I do actually have to study investment, thankfully I'm stingy enough to always think ten times before any big purchase so I'll have more resistance to the whole "upgrading your life standard until you actually risk losing it"
>>16864747The best position to be in is working for an employer who would be willing to fund your PhD part-time while working for them full-time. If you do a PhD I agree with you that those 4-7 years of opportunity loss of not working and having a normal salary is a huge factor in not pursuing a PhD. Salaries for PhD is also variable, some not even much higher than an entry level Bachelors grad. People regret doing a PhD because they realized that those 7 years they spent in school could have been spent working for a company and working up the ladder.
>>16864786>Not to mention that a PhD can just walk into and grab any BSc or MSc position he wants.All things equal. The opportunity cost of your PhD is the time you won't get work experience. Compare someone with a PhD and someone with a BSc/MSc + 5 years experience and the latter wins. Most employers don't know what to do with a PhD holder and there are too many PhD holders out there.
>>16864786>Not to mention that a PhD can just walk into and grab any BSc or MSc position he wantsCouldn’t be farther from the truth. HR roasties get the ick because they see someone who’s more ambitious and productive than the goycattle they were assigned to hire. It’s like saying bachelors in mathematics have an easier time applying to construction work jobs.
