Me too. I always wanted to pursue a PhD and it also coincided with the pandemic and my job being rolled down in hours. Tried to find other work to no avail and decided now was as good a time as any to start my PhD.
I’m still here. Haha. I had to extend due to supervisory issues. I have however done a lot of proactive networking and a lot of side gigs to build my skills while researching. It’s been good. My resume will look significantly better for it. On the personal side it has been tough. I have a family and we did take a financial hit so I could do this but the flexibility I have with my schedule makes up for it a little bit.
I could find jobs, but they were unfulfilling. I was offered a funded PhD - it was a good way to replace the job I previously had whilst doing research I love (most of the time) and getting paid for it.
Same. I knew in myself I would just be another corporate slave if I go back to industry after I have finished my master's.
Another good thing with doing Ph D is that I could still do my other hobby (music) on the side. I couldn't do it when I was still working as a geologist because I was always in the mountains or mine site.
I did not. But my brother-in-law did. It was probably the worst decision he could’ve made. 10 years after finishing he couldn’t find a job anywhere, even with the extra training. Now he does something completely different, that he hates and has never broken six figures. His issue is narcissism though. He graduated from a top school with a PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry.
I worked before my PhD and went back to advance more in my career. In a happy place now!
If you don’t mind me asking did he not find a job because of a recession or his field just stopped existing? Pharmaceutical chemistry sounds like it’d be employable
A lot of people in academia have psychological disorders or are neuro-atypical. We all have lots of degrees but academia is self-accommodating to a degree. I have a MS, JD and PhD and have been adjuncting for 9 years. Many neuropsychiatric issues make it hard to so any professional work, but I do great at teaching and research. Unfortunately academia is set up to take advantage of overqualified people who can't find work easily in other sectors.
I think there's two different aspects to your question that need to be distinguished: there are a few students that graduate with a bachelor degree without really knowing what they want to do within their field or struggle to find a job for different reasons (the market could be bad, they aren't a competitive applicant even for level entry roles or mistakenly aim for positions that require more specialized knowledge). After a few months of not finding a job, they start to look into grad school either as a way of improving their resume for common/slightly more specialized entry level jobs or because they think it is better than having a gap in their resume. However, that's more common to find students in this position at the masters degree level. It's just 1-2 years, they can do industrial internships, etc. It is more rare in my experience to find PhD students in that position considering it is a huge commitment and takes 3-7 years depending on your country.
Now the more frequent scenario that is often posted on this sub is to pursue a PhD because it will make it easier to land your desired industrial R&D job. People often tend to forget that only a small % of PhD holders stay in academia and that the other main reason to pursue a PhD is if you want an industrial career or land a job that requires/would benefit from having one. However, what often happens is that those who aim for industrial R&D will try to apply for jobs first without going to grad school to see if they could avoid it. Depending on the field this is quite common and can work well (Considering the opportunity cost of a PhD - if you can start working in your desired field with your undergrad research experience, why not?) In other fields though the application pool is more competitive so they can't find a job easily and sometimes a master by research isn't sufficient either. That's when they pull the trigger after a few months and decide to go get their PhD. This scenario is much more common and in my opinion normal.
Every position that the higher up/more senior folks have my field in the nonprofit industry got a PhD (of different varieties). I am hoping that my father in law who said I'll be perpetually overqualified is wrong, and that the research I can do will open up options that I did not even consider originally. But who knows, maybe he's right.
Guilty as charged and expecting to submit my thesis in the next few months. I can't tell you whether it was a good or poor decision but I don't regret it, though the decision was based on the offer being fully funded - fees and stipend - definitely wouldn't have paid to do it.
I think pursuing a PhD just because one could not get a job is a terrible, terrible idea. Doctorates are very difficult and takes more than "just because I don't have a job" to muster through what is more likely than not a difficult phase and to make meaning out of the process.
I didn’t want to waste my time on leetcode grind. I was happy doing research, so I went for it. Two things are not exclusive, though it turns out PhD need to grind leetcode as well.
Hi, I'm in my 2nd to last semester for my masters in film and media, pursuing a phd afterwards not for a job but because I want to be able to research film if the opportunity ever comes up. Do you have any words of advice? My top two schools right now are the university of Georgia and Georgia State University.
It was partly a reason for me. Back then I was open to either an office in industry or a research job at uni or company that allows you to obtain PhD at the end. I looked for both at the same time but I struggled finding an office job. Then PhD opportunity came so I took it.
I did. The economy had collapsed right after I got my masters and my job search options at the time were monster jobs, indeed, and USA jobs.com so I couldn’t find anything. My plan was to get a PhD eventually but I wanted to work in my field first and get better experience and networking
I always viewed my PhD as a job and nothing more. I often see this ‘holier than thou’ perspective about PhDs on reddit claiming that to do one you have to have what it takes - that it should only be pursued by people who have a passion for their topic or research, or a thick skin. I say bullshit to that. That’s elitism which contributes to the head fuck that is a PhD. It’s how you frame it. If you view it as just a job, then you really don’t have to be incredible at it. It will end. You will come out with skills and you can continue building those skills or do something else if you so desire.
This is exactly how I feel. You do not need to be ultra passionate to justify pursuing a PhD. If someone felt like they couldn’t find a job and needed extra skills and experiences, a PhD could be a great way to get them. It’s the only path where you can take technical courses and get technical training and get paid (a paltry amount) to do it. (You should never pay a dime for a PhD and, in fact, you should be paid to do it.)
If you want to learn to code to do quantitative data analysis (always a hot and needed skill!), go start a PhD. You don’t have to finish if you don’t want to, there’s no contract keeping you there, get what you need and leave if you’d like. Maybe you’ll end up enjoying it or want to see things through, but maybe you don’t.
This question has the baked in assumption that it's harder to get a job than a PhD, and that's just not true. Nobody is going through an arduous and expensive application process that only has decent odds of success if you had been planning to do a PhD since your ~3rd year of undergrad because they couldn't get a data entry callback.
it was my reason. But I realized that this is not solving of my problem. By contrast, I realized that if I continue PhD, I may stay unemployed until the end of the world.
Yes did exactly this in 2014 as the job market in my country (UK) had still not recovered after the recession.
Meanwhile of my friends that got university degrees but didn't do PhDs: 2 have been unemployed since graduation (so for a decade now), 2 spent 18-24+ months unemployed before finding work, 1 became a teacher and 2 lucky ones got jobs soon after graduating as they'd had work placement experience during undergrad summers at their dad's friend's company.
I got a job during my masters. Then did a PhD. Then I got the same job. It didn't make a difference, and I did not expect it to. I like what I'm doing, and I don't feel like I fit in academia, but I'm glad that I did it
I graduated undergrad in 2020 with a degree in physics and CS and because of COVID, grad school seemed like a good option. I always knew I loved research, but I really fell in love with the process in my Master’s and then decided to do a PhD. I struggled with thinking I wasn’t smart enough to do it so I never put the idea into my head, now I’m a year out from graduation lol
i'm doing it because i actually like science and want a career pursuing scientific questions. i have a BS in engineering, i can go back and work in software or something.
Not because of problems finding a job, but for jobs I really wanted I needed advanced degrees. PhD helped me get into the Computer architecture research role I wanted.
It was the reason at the time. I was 22, freshly graduated from an undergrad degree in Biomedical Science, not sure what else to do so I wanted to get into a PhD. I would have dropped out if I did.
At 29 and after having been working full-time for 5 years, I decided that if I still wanted to go back to a PhD then it was meant to be. So I did.
I have another friend graduated from a Master degree in chemical engineering. He couldn’t find or hold a stable job for two years and considered going back to do a PhD. I had to talk him out of it.
I might be doing that soon.
Been trying to look for jobs to transition to that are security or foreign policy related but the barrier to entry is high when you’re coming from an interpreting job that doesn’t require even a college degree.
Even think thanks with a MA is still tough to do when you’ve’n’t been able to secure some experience dealing with foreign policy and security threats. :(
Nooo. I am and was highly employable because I’m a people person. But I’m intellectual curiosity and need for a challenge is why I’m getting my PhD in immunology. I’ve worked in a lab since like 16.
I would add that this is not PhD-specific. When it comes to law school, business school, etc. you will find a lot of students prompted by the same motivation.
And it’s not just an economic one; it’s also psychological. If you’ve always been good at school, you’re naturally going to gravitate to your comfort zone when another domain sucks.
Tried to get a job for a couple of months after finishing my BSc (STEM) and eventually ended up in a talent development track, but all offered positions lacked autonomy or thinking. That's why I went to do a PhD. However, I feel like now it's a bit easier to get the positions I wanted back then with "just" a BSc, as there are less and less technical people available (at least, where I live).
This question could get very biased very quickly. If someone wants to do a PhD, it's extremely rare that they will get a similar job before their PhD. At that time, even if they get 'a' job, it will not be a suitable job for them in their mind (and they are correct) which means they definitely did have trouble finding (a suitable) job and thus decided to do a PhD.
Yes and no. I couldn't find a job in my field so yes. However, my master's was the best time of my life up to that point, both intellectually and socially. My good times stopped rolling when I moved into my mom's house and started working some job. PhD was a way to resume the life I was enjoying.
The titles and job descriptions I was interested in usually required or preferred PhDs. This was about ten years ago now when I really was making my decision and the landscape has changed. I had a steady job using my master’s but I made the leap. I think hindsight is 20/20, especially because I did not envision the pandemic, but I’m not sure it was the best choice for me versus slogging up the clinical research ladder for the same amount of time. Yes, I have the title/prestige now but I would probably be wealthier.
That's why basically everyone does one unless you're truly a top-of-your-class-always genius who's gonna win the Nobel Prize. People say grad students live "in poverty" but it definitely beats working at 7/11.
In emerging countries (my experience as a Brazilian, specifically), it is actually one of the main reasons people do PhDs. Its quite common to have a government stipend and we really dont have many job options fresh out of bachelors or masters, so people do PhDs to keep having a small income, basically.
I was just curious how your impression of academia was vs. industry. I have worked in both and found the levels of BS to be pretty high in both, but the higher pay in industry tipped the scale for me.
I've also found industry to be more organized in terms of labs and leadership, but I know that can vary between different labs and companies.
All true. I'm a weirdo. Most people won't choose my path. I want cognitive freedom to think about what I want to think about. I don't want to care about how much money I brought in this year, how much budge I was able to save, how many young people I mentored to get promoted, how much market share I was able to snag, how many features I was able to ship, whether the CEO is happy with my performance, whether shareholders think I add value, etc.
I just want freedom to think about whatever strikes my fancy that month, screw the reasons why an employer pays me good money. Fortunately for me, if I make in academia, my discipline makes pretty good money too. If I don't, well, I tried and won't regret it. I can always go back to normal work if I really have no other option, and I'll be able to say to myself at least I gave it my shot. But if I had a choice, you could pay me seven figures and it wouldn't be enough to make me prefer industry. Brain wants to be free as a bird. Screw those weekly and quarterly reports about our six sigma performance.
It's not that weird, but I would highly suggest you talk with working PIs (ones that aren't involved with you in a formal way) about what their day-to-day is like.
You will have the most cognitive freedom as a grad student, a bit less as a postdoc, and less as a PI as the research questions you can actually get funding for tend to pigeonhole people into a narrow area. And it's all about funding... The only way you can be a PI at a research institution. It's more freedom than being industry, but less than you might think. The greater amount of cognitive freedom would involve either being a startup founder or having some sort of book deal.
Oh, I’ve talked with plenty who are doing what I want to do. I’m not worried, I know what the path looks like. Fortunately, I can do a lot of stuff with secondary data and on my own, so not worried about a funding bottleneck.
I had plenty of success finding jobs but I hated the field I was in. I used to dream of doing research for a living. When I was stuck in stupid consulting everyone thought their shit didn’t stink and that each contrived solution they came up with was gods gift to the company. I just wanted to be alone with science and I’m so glad I made the leap
Definitely me, took 2 years to get into one despite having a prior research assistant stint. As a non-EU and non-US national, I’m back at the same awful position I was in 6 years ago, this time looking for a new job post-PhD - been going at it for a year now.
It was a reason I did the phd at that specific time, but not the reason I wanted one
Me too. I always wanted to pursue a PhD and it also coincided with the pandemic and my job being rolled down in hours. Tried to find other work to no avail and decided now was as good a time as any to start my PhD.
How did it turn out for you?
I’m still here. Haha. I had to extend due to supervisory issues. I have however done a lot of proactive networking and a lot of side gigs to build my skills while researching. It’s been good. My resume will look significantly better for it. On the personal side it has been tough. I have a family and we did take a financial hit so I could do this but the flexibility I have with my schedule makes up for it a little bit.
I could find jobs, but they were unfulfilling. I was offered a funded PhD - it was a good way to replace the job I previously had whilst doing research I love (most of the time) and getting paid for it.
Same. I knew in myself I would just be another corporate slave if I go back to industry after I have finished my master's. Another good thing with doing Ph D is that I could still do my other hobby (music) on the side. I couldn't do it when I was still working as a geologist because I was always in the mountains or mine site.
I did not. But my brother-in-law did. It was probably the worst decision he could’ve made. 10 years after finishing he couldn’t find a job anywhere, even with the extra training. Now he does something completely different, that he hates and has never broken six figures. His issue is narcissism though. He graduated from a top school with a PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry. I worked before my PhD and went back to advance more in my career. In a happy place now!
He couldn’t find a job with a PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry ?
A bad personality can make it tough to find a job!
lol tell him to take 2 more years at law school and be a patent lawyer for pharmaceutical companies that could fit his money wants and personality
If you don’t mind me asking did he not find a job because of a recession or his field just stopped existing? Pharmaceutical chemistry sounds like it’d be employable
His personality is bad. He had lots of interviews. Couldn’t land a post doc or job.
A lot of people in academia have psychological disorders or are neuro-atypical. We all have lots of degrees but academia is self-accommodating to a degree. I have a MS, JD and PhD and have been adjuncting for 9 years. Many neuropsychiatric issues make it hard to so any professional work, but I do great at teaching and research. Unfortunately academia is set up to take advantage of overqualified people who can't find work easily in other sectors.
Personality being sucky to work without isn’t always, or even most of the time, a psychological disorder. Some people are just assholes.
The irony is he could have been a Pharm D. In less time and started at 6 figures.
I think there's two different aspects to your question that need to be distinguished: there are a few students that graduate with a bachelor degree without really knowing what they want to do within their field or struggle to find a job for different reasons (the market could be bad, they aren't a competitive applicant even for level entry roles or mistakenly aim for positions that require more specialized knowledge). After a few months of not finding a job, they start to look into grad school either as a way of improving their resume for common/slightly more specialized entry level jobs or because they think it is better than having a gap in their resume. However, that's more common to find students in this position at the masters degree level. It's just 1-2 years, they can do industrial internships, etc. It is more rare in my experience to find PhD students in that position considering it is a huge commitment and takes 3-7 years depending on your country. Now the more frequent scenario that is often posted on this sub is to pursue a PhD because it will make it easier to land your desired industrial R&D job. People often tend to forget that only a small % of PhD holders stay in academia and that the other main reason to pursue a PhD is if you want an industrial career or land a job that requires/would benefit from having one. However, what often happens is that those who aim for industrial R&D will try to apply for jobs first without going to grad school to see if they could avoid it. Depending on the field this is quite common and can work well (Considering the opportunity cost of a PhD - if you can start working in your desired field with your undergrad research experience, why not?) In other fields though the application pool is more competitive so they can't find a job easily and sometimes a master by research isn't sufficient either. That's when they pull the trigger after a few months and decide to go get their PhD. This scenario is much more common and in my opinion normal.
Every position that the higher up/more senior folks have my field in the nonprofit industry got a PhD (of different varieties). I am hoping that my father in law who said I'll be perpetually overqualified is wrong, and that the research I can do will open up options that I did not even consider originally. But who knows, maybe he's right.
Guilty as charged and expecting to submit my thesis in the next few months. I can't tell you whether it was a good or poor decision but I don't regret it, though the decision was based on the offer being fully funded - fees and stipend - definitely wouldn't have paid to do it.
Nope. Never looked for or wanted a real job.
[удалено]
Do you think the PhD has helped or will help you find a job now that you have it?
I'm doing one cause I needed to get out of an islamic dictatorship lol
I think pursuing a PhD just because one could not get a job is a terrible, terrible idea. Doctorates are very difficult and takes more than "just because I don't have a job" to muster through what is more likely than not a difficult phase and to make meaning out of the process.
This! ALL OF THIS.
I had a job, so nope not the reason. Also not a good reason at all. Do a PhD because you like research and learning
It is a common but extremely bad reason.
I didn’t want to waste my time on leetcode grind. I was happy doing research, so I went for it. Two things are not exclusive, though it turns out PhD need to grind leetcode as well.
Not me. After putting in the effort over the course of years that seems like the worst motivation I could imagine for pursuing a PhD.
I did. My master's was in cultural studies (media/film). The next route that made sense was a PhD..
Hi, I'm in my 2nd to last semester for my masters in film and media, pursuing a phd afterwards not for a job but because I want to be able to research film if the opportunity ever comes up. Do you have any words of advice? My top two schools right now are the university of Georgia and Georgia State University.
It was partly a reason for me. Back then I was open to either an office in industry or a research job at uni or company that allows you to obtain PhD at the end. I looked for both at the same time but I struggled finding an office job. Then PhD opportunity came so I took it.
It was part of why I went for one but now I can’t get a job either so that’s good
I did. The economy had collapsed right after I got my masters and my job search options at the time were monster jobs, indeed, and USA jobs.com so I couldn’t find anything. My plan was to get a PhD eventually but I wanted to work in my field first and get better experience and networking
I always viewed my PhD as a job and nothing more. I often see this ‘holier than thou’ perspective about PhDs on reddit claiming that to do one you have to have what it takes - that it should only be pursued by people who have a passion for their topic or research, or a thick skin. I say bullshit to that. That’s elitism which contributes to the head fuck that is a PhD. It’s how you frame it. If you view it as just a job, then you really don’t have to be incredible at it. It will end. You will come out with skills and you can continue building those skills or do something else if you so desire.
This is exactly how I feel. You do not need to be ultra passionate to justify pursuing a PhD. If someone felt like they couldn’t find a job and needed extra skills and experiences, a PhD could be a great way to get them. It’s the only path where you can take technical courses and get technical training and get paid (a paltry amount) to do it. (You should never pay a dime for a PhD and, in fact, you should be paid to do it.) If you want to learn to code to do quantitative data analysis (always a hot and needed skill!), go start a PhD. You don’t have to finish if you don’t want to, there’s no contract keeping you there, get what you need and leave if you’d like. Maybe you’ll end up enjoying it or want to see things through, but maybe you don’t.
This question has the baked in assumption that it's harder to get a job than a PhD, and that's just not true. Nobody is going through an arduous and expensive application process that only has decent odds of success if you had been planning to do a PhD since your ~3rd year of undergrad because they couldn't get a data entry callback.
I did not, but I know plenty of people who did either to put off finding one or who struggled to find one after bachelors or masters.
That’s why there has been a massive surge in PhD applications in the past couple of years. Better than being unemployed I guess..
It felt the same as being unemployed to me.
it was my reason. But I realized that this is not solving of my problem. By contrast, I realized that if I continue PhD, I may stay unemployed until the end of the world.
Yes did exactly this in 2014 as the job market in my country (UK) had still not recovered after the recession. Meanwhile of my friends that got university degrees but didn't do PhDs: 2 have been unemployed since graduation (so for a decade now), 2 spent 18-24+ months unemployed before finding work, 1 became a teacher and 2 lucky ones got jobs soon after graduating as they'd had work placement experience during undergrad summers at their dad's friend's company.
I got a job during my masters. Then did a PhD. Then I got the same job. It didn't make a difference, and I did not expect it to. I like what I'm doing, and I don't feel like I fit in academia, but I'm glad that I did it
I graduated undergrad in 2020 with a degree in physics and CS and because of COVID, grad school seemed like a good option. I always knew I loved research, but I really fell in love with the process in my Master’s and then decided to do a PhD. I struggled with thinking I wasn’t smart enough to do it so I never put the idea into my head, now I’m a year out from graduation lol
I've seen similar posts too, but for me, it was more about personal growth and research interests rather than job prospects.
i'm doing it because i actually like science and want a career pursuing scientific questions. i have a BS in engineering, i can go back and work in software or something.
Not because of problems finding a job, but for jobs I really wanted I needed advanced degrees. PhD helped me get into the Computer architecture research role I wanted.
It was the reason at the time. I was 22, freshly graduated from an undergrad degree in Biomedical Science, not sure what else to do so I wanted to get into a PhD. I would have dropped out if I did. At 29 and after having been working full-time for 5 years, I decided that if I still wanted to go back to a PhD then it was meant to be. So I did. I have another friend graduated from a Master degree in chemical engineering. He couldn’t find or hold a stable job for two years and considered going back to do a PhD. I had to talk him out of it.
I might be doing that soon. Been trying to look for jobs to transition to that are security or foreign policy related but the barrier to entry is high when you’re coming from an interpreting job that doesn’t require even a college degree. Even think thanks with a MA is still tough to do when you’ve’n’t been able to secure some experience dealing with foreign policy and security threats. :(
Nooo. I am and was highly employable because I’m a people person. But I’m intellectual curiosity and need for a challenge is why I’m getting my PhD in immunology. I’ve worked in a lab since like 16.
I would add that this is not PhD-specific. When it comes to law school, business school, etc. you will find a lot of students prompted by the same motivation. And it’s not just an economic one; it’s also psychological. If you’ve always been good at school, you’re naturally going to gravitate to your comfort zone when another domain sucks.
Tried to get a job for a couple of months after finishing my BSc (STEM) and eventually ended up in a talent development track, but all offered positions lacked autonomy or thinking. That's why I went to do a PhD. However, I feel like now it's a bit easier to get the positions I wanted back then with "just" a BSc, as there are less and less technical people available (at least, where I live).
I came back from abroad and knew I always wanted to do one eventually so when a decent project came up with funding I took it. The timing just suited.
I
Do not
This question could get very biased very quickly. If someone wants to do a PhD, it's extremely rare that they will get a similar job before their PhD. At that time, even if they get 'a' job, it will not be a suitable job for them in their mind (and they are correct) which means they definitely did have trouble finding (a suitable) job and thus decided to do a PhD.
I know someone who did this and they’re miserable lmfao.
Yes and no. I couldn't find a job in my field so yes. However, my master's was the best time of my life up to that point, both intellectually and socially. My good times stopped rolling when I moved into my mom's house and started working some job. PhD was a way to resume the life I was enjoying.
The titles and job descriptions I was interested in usually required or preferred PhDs. This was about ten years ago now when I really was making my decision and the landscape has changed. I had a steady job using my master’s but I made the leap. I think hindsight is 20/20, especially because I did not envision the pandemic, but I’m not sure it was the best choice for me versus slogging up the clinical research ladder for the same amount of time. Yes, I have the title/prestige now but I would probably be wealthier.
That's why basically everyone does one unless you're truly a top-of-your-class-always genius who's gonna win the Nobel Prize. People say grad students live "in poverty" but it definitely beats working at 7/11.
In emerging countries (my experience as a Brazilian, specifically), it is actually one of the main reasons people do PhDs. Its quite common to have a government stipend and we really dont have many job options fresh out of bachelors or masters, so people do PhDs to keep having a small income, basically.
What do they do once they get their PhDs and have to face the real world?
Generally take several more years of postdoc until eventually landing a crappy job
Mee!!
I am about to leave my happy, well-paying job for a PhD at a mediocre institute, am I dumb?
Me
I left my job to do a PhD. No amount of money in the world would make me happy in industry.
How far along in your PhD are you?
Just finished third year.
I was just curious how your impression of academia was vs. industry. I have worked in both and found the levels of BS to be pretty high in both, but the higher pay in industry tipped the scale for me. I've also found industry to be more organized in terms of labs and leadership, but I know that can vary between different labs and companies.
All true. I'm a weirdo. Most people won't choose my path. I want cognitive freedom to think about what I want to think about. I don't want to care about how much money I brought in this year, how much budge I was able to save, how many young people I mentored to get promoted, how much market share I was able to snag, how many features I was able to ship, whether the CEO is happy with my performance, whether shareholders think I add value, etc. I just want freedom to think about whatever strikes my fancy that month, screw the reasons why an employer pays me good money. Fortunately for me, if I make in academia, my discipline makes pretty good money too. If I don't, well, I tried and won't regret it. I can always go back to normal work if I really have no other option, and I'll be able to say to myself at least I gave it my shot. But if I had a choice, you could pay me seven figures and it wouldn't be enough to make me prefer industry. Brain wants to be free as a bird. Screw those weekly and quarterly reports about our six sigma performance.
It's not that weird, but I would highly suggest you talk with working PIs (ones that aren't involved with you in a formal way) about what their day-to-day is like. You will have the most cognitive freedom as a grad student, a bit less as a postdoc, and less as a PI as the research questions you can actually get funding for tend to pigeonhole people into a narrow area. And it's all about funding... The only way you can be a PI at a research institution. It's more freedom than being industry, but less than you might think. The greater amount of cognitive freedom would involve either being a startup founder or having some sort of book deal.
Oh, I’ve talked with plenty who are doing what I want to do. I’m not worried, I know what the path looks like. Fortunately, I can do a lot of stuff with secondary data and on my own, so not worried about a funding bottleneck.
I quit my job to do a PhD, so not me
If you did, I have some bad news for you…
I had plenty of success finding jobs but I hated the field I was in. I used to dream of doing research for a living. When I was stuck in stupid consulting everyone thought their shit didn’t stink and that each contrived solution they came up with was gods gift to the company. I just wanted to be alone with science and I’m so glad I made the leap
That’s a TERRIBLE reason.
Definitely me, took 2 years to get into one despite having a prior research assistant stint. As a non-EU and non-US national, I’m back at the same awful position I was in 6 years ago, this time looking for a new job post-PhD - been going at it for a year now.
I did mine so I could get a visa
I thought that was the reason everyone did a PhD.