Ph.D. does not mean that much at all. I got one and so what? The industry
world is huge and there should be an opportunity for you. I worked so hard
for my Ph.D., and only lost several years.
Take it easy. The previous message suggesting working hard on coding and a
master degree is right. For most people, earning a Ph.D. in Engineering only
trains them the ability to convince themselves that earning it is
worthwhile. When you step out of the campus, you will know that the effort
of publishing papers and dissertation is nothing.
If you care about economic return, then perhaps the only worthwhile degrees
come from Medical School, Law School and Business School. Even for Computer
Science, it still depends on your research direction. If you don't believe
me, go to a commencement and take a look on how many engineering Ph.D. are
graduating each year. The more graduated, the less valuable the degree is.
In my eyes, a EE master + an MBA pay you much better.
If you are a Niu Ren, you don' t need a Ph.D. to prove that; if you are
unfortunately not one, like me, a Ph.D. title does not help either. You can
certainly consider investing your time on work experience, networking,
professional major degrees, etc.
Several years ago, I got an offer to the US for a Ph.D. and my friend said
he got a son. Now, I got my Ph.D. and landed on a mediocre job and my friend
's so is going to a primary school. Several years ago, I was respected to
have a dream. But the dream lasts for too long. Is it worthwhile?
Last Thanksgiving holidays, I met a full professor in my department in
school. I wondered why he was there. He said that he is working on his new
book. I asked him the question: is it worthwhile to lead an academic life,
at the costs of fighting for teaching, coaching Ph.D., applying fundings,
etc. You know what? He said that to grow up, sometimes you must learn to
avoid questions that you don't like to think over.
That is the truth. In many cases, what we need is only a reason to be happy.
Whether the reason really makes sense does not matter; you need to learn to
get these reasons when things do not go your way.
