Most PhD students have been in academia their whole working life. There are the few who have dappled in industry but decided that academia life is the way forward. As a PhD student, there are benefits from this, no taxes… etc. When the high life (for some PhD students) ends, what happens? This is what a lot of people ask… what you are going to do when you finished. Eight out of ten of us, don’t know.
“Is it bad to apply for a post doc even though I am unsure if I want to stay in academia?”
“Will my PhD actually helps to me get a job in the “real world”” (supposedly when you are a student you are not in the real world :-))
Surveys have been conducted to see people’s opinion relating to the jobs.
Benefits of staying in academia [1]
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More freedom
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Less strict
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Relaxed atmosphere
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Travel
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Slower working pace
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More learning
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External credit
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Independence
The academic life has its benefits, as listed above. People could say that the brain is always active when is in this environment. There are opportunities to go to conference (possibly abroad) and attend other Universities in the field (also, possibly abroad). The atmosphere can be relaxed as you make it. You are expected to be a self-starter and good at developing your own research questions.
Benefits of going to industry [2]
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9-5 lifestyle
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Location flexibility
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Pay is better
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Less paper work
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More politics
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Less pressure to publish
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More career advancements
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Better funding
In industry, there is more of a common goal and an understanding on what is expected as a member of a larger team with clear objective given to you. Coworker camaraderie in industry is supposed to be better as, “you work with peers on a team to accomplish a shared goal. As a junior employee, your senior teammates can serve as mentors to help you rapidly improve your skills. There is also a strong sense of camaraderie when a team works well together to overcome challenges” [3]. There is a lot of pressure to publish which can take the enjoyment out of learning. Peter Higgs (very famous physicist) believes that NO University would employ him as he is not “productive” enough. In his time, he has only produced less than 10 papers and look what he has achieved [4].
Each University has career services which are more than happy to help. When looking at statistic, you can see the proportion of people paths they take. For example:
The list can be endless, it is all down to preference. The best thing, which any of us can do is make your CV look as interesting as possible. All that can be said is do not worry, it will all come together in the end. Even if you end up doing nothing relevant to previous work. Most importantly enjoy what you are doing!
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By Olivia Kemp - Olivia is a 3rd year EngD student and she is using PeakForce Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to understand the nano-mechanical properties in vitro and in vivo.
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