Master's degre and PHD: a bad idea?
-
I agree there.. You CAN reach a level in a profession where your knowledge' is more high level.. typically I would not even consider a PHD level person for anything below CIO or some other highly strategic position and I find it hard to believe that a PHD person would even bother applying for one. ...actually, no I am not surprised I guess because many of the PHD level people I have come across 'think' they can do anything well. I think that is something that is comes part and parcel with having gone that far in the educational process perhaps? A kind of educational arrogance?
I know got 2 phd coworkers. One's working here part time while teaching full time, and is being used primarily as a technical expert in the same area as his degree. I'm not entirely sure what the 2nd is doing; he was supposed to be 50/50 between my project and a second but the other ended up monopolizing his time. My projects interest was that the implementation methods of his research would (theoretically) have let him spin up much more quickly on the sort of analysis he'd be doing; normally we start people in the role as interns to do the extensive training needed while they're still relatively cheap.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
-
I always suspected this but this blog explains it much better[^]. Take a peek at the links she provides in the post. They're very interesting, too.
Of all forms of sexual aberration, the most unnatural is abstinence.
-
I do agree that, if you are considering a PHD right now it better be because you have an employer that is paying for it and there will be some direct impact on your financial bottom line (ie: raises, etc...) A Masters program however, as was pointed out before, is not that much time and ion the grand scheme of things, not that much more money on top of your Bachelors. However, you need to consider what you are getting it in. I think that there are far to many MBAs out there... Consider an educational track that is closer to your personal plan rather than something like a general business degree. But, remember that sometimes doing something from money is NOT the best way. I have decided to get my Masters so I can try to teach at the university level. I am not planning on teaching to get rich, or planning to do it as my only career. I want to do it as a way to help form the minds of those interested in an industry that I really feel needs educational help. One That I love and believe in and that I think, if taught correctly, can lend a lot to society in the long term.
PhD is not something you do because someone else is paying for it or you can earn more by getting the degree. You do PhD because you want to do it!! PhD is long and hard journey, unless you do from crap school, and you need lot of patience and focus over long period of time. PhD is not about learning facts from variety of subjects but it about the way you do things. -Saurabh
-
I always suspected this but this blog explains it much better[^]. Take a peek at the links she provides in the post. They're very interesting, too.
Of all forms of sexual aberration, the most unnatural is abstinence.
Man, sometimes I really hate being contrarian. But..... I got a Masters many years ago while working full time and it helped my career immensely. Not only that, I loved the topic I was researching and the people I was working and studying with were and still are doing stuff that really cant be found in text book. I've been working on a PhD part time for several years now and again, I am having a blast. For me, there are two reasons to continue. First, I love the material. Secondly, in the field I am studying it helps to have access to people who are pushing the field. I don't know (or frankly care) if I will ever finish but I am having fun doing it.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
-
I've been working on one part time in physics for a long time. You don't really need to take off from work if you can get into the right program and have an employer who will allow you to attend to you studies when necessary.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
-
I've been working on one part time in physics for a long time. You don't really need to take off from work if you can get into the right program and have an employer who will allow you to attend to you studies when necessary.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
-
Sava Savanovic wrote:
"Going to grad school is like going into the military." Except you have to pay for it, you can drop out anytime you like, you can both work and go to school, you don't have to wear a uniform, you get a diploma when you leave and sometimes drill sergeants know what they are doing.
Plus you can keep your favorite hair-cut and not be afraid of getting killed. :-D
My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"
Xiangyang Liu ??? wrote:
and not be afraid of getting killed.
we obviously went to different schools. ;P actually, home was more dangerous. :-D (that's why I moved 232 miles away!)
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."
-
I always suspected this but this blog explains it much better[^]. Take a peek at the links she provides in the post. They're very interesting, too.
Of all forms of sexual aberration, the most unnatural is abstinence.
I think getting a Masters or PhD just for the sake of the degree is a waste for many of the reasons outlined. However, I think there is a difference when you specialize into a specific field, or if you have the experience to be sure where you want to be, or have a job help you pay for it. If I can ever stay out of the desert for a semester I would like to return to school. There are many reasons to get a degree, the first and foremost is that in my job every degree has a salary cap. You get a degree you up your salary potential. that does not mean you automatically earn it, but it means you don't slam into the salary wall like a bug in the white sands 500. Getting a degree just for the sake of getting a degree is almost always a waste of time. But there are programs that work with businesses to get realistic education, and businesses that work with schools to put their workers through. Find one or the other. :) that's my 2 cents... keep the change. :)
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."
-
a PHD isn't something you do because you think it would be fun, it's something you do because you're unable to stop yourself from doing so....
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
dan neely wrote:
it's something you do
... to meet chicks. :cool:
-
Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote:
Did you start it right after college?
More or less. Allowing me to get the MS was part of my negotiated employment benefits when I got my BS and started work. The PhD course is something I informed a previous employer that I would be doing. Between the two programs I took about five years off.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
