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time to ask again... how is the job market or econamy to you?

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boykster:

--- Quote from: pinballjim on February 27, 2011, 12:40:54 am ---Dude, we need to talk.  Cut your starting figures in half and forget all that "decide the direction" nonsense and you'll be approaching reality.

You do realize you're going to need to do 4-7 years of post doc, right?  And if you want to be taken seriously, those years need to span at least 2 different institutions ideally in two different states.  You'll also be making less than technicians.  Oh, and now they're expecting all the industry PhDs to go get an MBA.

Academia?  You're staring at the worst funding situation in modern history.  Best of luck unless you're a bomb or a bank.

At the end of the process, it's a soft touch comfortable life, but they're going to make damn sure you play the game before you get there.

--- End quote ---

I agree with some of what you're saying, and disagree with quite a bit of it.  It really depends on what field the Ph.D. is in though.  Cutting starting figures in 1/2 depends on the state and field.  We hire fresh Ph.D's for industry post-doc positions in the 50k salary range (biotech) in the seattle area.  A Ph.D. with a full post-doc resume but no industry experience might get 5-10k more than that to start.  Starting techs make less than that (40-50k) but their ramp is much less steep.

As for industry expecting PhD's to get MBA's, that's a load of bunk.  We turn away MBA/PhD's for research/development positions - marketing or sales, sure, then it's an asset.  As for cred being based on 4-7 years + multiple institutions?  Yes, that's true.  Academic funding being bad?  Yes, absolutely - its a big crunch now and institutions are scrambling to keep positions funded and are shuffling a ton of staff to 'soft money' funded positions - essentially 100% grant funded spots that are crap, low paying, and no stability.

And as for directing your own research - nope - not going to happen unless you're a fast track Nobel candidate or land a monster grant that aligns with your research.  Eventually you might, but any research director in industry that says they truly control their research focus is lying to themselves as much as to you - industry marches to the beat of profit and marketable products. 

Not trying to kill your dream - just some info from someone who's been in industry in biotech for 15years and is a director of a department....

shateredsoul:
well maybe i shouldn't call it industry.. but not sure what to call it

She works at a research institute that tries to get more women into computer science careers, she applies for her own funding and the institute takes 30% overhead (less than what a university takes). I'm not sure, but I think it's the sort of position where you apply to grants to pay yourself. There's a few of these around that focus on education as well.

Alternatively, I've heard that a graduate from our program that's directing a nonprofit's research program in Oakland to decide what medical needs people in the community have and how to create programs that will be used by community members.

Now, I'm sure if I worked for Microsoft I'd probably have no choice, unless they wanted to use my area of expertise (crosscultural research) to develop some way of improving their customer service in India for US callers. Dunno  :dunno

They also are hiring our type (social scientists) in the military now a days, but I'm not as interested in that.

The other option is going for that 50k job, but moving to a place where that's income can get a better lifestyle than California. A lot of jobs in academia are in the midwest nowadays.. so who knows.

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