Hi everyone. I’m a third-year Ph.D. student doing ML-related research and have no publications so far. I do have a couple of ongoing projects that will lead to first-author papers in the next few months. I’m also at a point where I think mastering out and getting a job might be a better option. But I also worry that I might regret not getting a Ph.D. I love research but I feel the academic environment is not a good fit for me. I just want to hear from people who were in a similar position as me. Did you stick through your PhD or did you master out? How has the life been after that?
I started my PhD straight out of my undergrad so I didn’t get any industry experience. So I’ve been thinking that getting a job with my master’s and spending some time in the industry could be a good option. Then I can return back to grad school if I still have that urge. Or I can simply brave through my current situation and just get a PhD and then work in the industry. Any opinions are welcome!
I did, and I regret it. I’ve found that all the interesting jobs are closed off to me without a PhD, and I’m incredibly bored at the job I have now.
Also, once you’re out, it’s almost impossible to go back, so really be sure it’s something you want.
Also, once you’re out, it’s almost impossible to go back,
Why is this so, im about to do masters and hope to go for phd in my mid 30s. Is that a bad plan?
There is a terrible job market right now. You’d be competing with phds who have experience. Stay in school and wait for the market to improve.
I quit near the end of my 3rd year for a tech job. The stress of the PhD was affecting my health and relationships, and quitting was a very positive change in my life. I am happier, healthier, have more money, and more time for hobbies.
I could give my two cents, but this post probably isn’t aimed at me. I associate-ed out of my bachelors.
I’ll let others comment whether continuing or not makes more sense, but one thing I’m sure of: you won’t go back.
Stick with it and finish your PhD.
Alternative: find an easy job that you can do while finishing your PhD. If you’re close to a few publications, you should be able to use those to write your dissertation. I’ve worked while getting my PhD (defense in feb) and gained a lot of valuable professional experience in a low pressure job. Also the job market is terrible right now.
OP, I am one of the more experienced and knowledgeable recruiters. I don’t want to dox myself but there’s a good chance my network is representative of your target jobs market.
I will echo what others have said: New Grad hiring is not an active activity in the top ML projects, as in, there is no headcount for entry level positions almost anywhere.
Where you start your career matters more than most people think. There is absolutely a career inertia that is very difficult to break out of in a career trajectory.
I would recommend waiting until the market has returned so that you can choose between a number of options, instead of taking the hard fought roll-the-dice opportunity today. It will pay long term dividends.
Thank you so much for your insights as a recruiter! :) I’ll stick through it.
I’d love your input given your experience.
I am in a slightly different situation, having graduated with a masters a year ago and worked in a university research lab since. Now, I’m out of the lab and trying to stay afloat on contracting work. What’s your perspective of maintaining career intertia in the coming years while still paying the bills? Is there any options for recent grads w/o industry experience, perhaps not directly in an MLE/research scientist role? Am I SOL and have to find a job outside ML to pay the bills? If I do, am I screwed on making it back into ML?
Most PhDs are useless and offer no additional knowledge over a Masters , unless you want a career in the Academia. There are a few exceptions to this, a PhD in ML/DL/RL is one of the big ones. I would suggest to stick with it even if you were in your 1st year, let alone few months from publications.
The lack of an internship is no ideal but your are still the prime candidate for the FANG (or MANA those days) + Microsoft. Not to mention financial/banking/investment people. There are a lot of interesting stuff happing in the startup world in AI. Mainly US, but there are opportunities in UK, EU and China as well.
Hold on, you almost there.I left mine 3 years in, was getting my PhD in CS (ML/statistics focus) at a (the?) top school for it. Lots of factors including depression, RSIs, and dissatisfaction with inevitable job prospects. I loved research and being surrounded by brilliant people, but felt disheartened that my passions outside of school were getting severely deprioritized. I know it’s not strictly true across the board, but from my POV, the successful people in that field eat, sleep and breath their research, and it’s essentially their life’s purpose. I never felt that way, and I didn’t really feel the need to compete with people who obviously were so obsessively passionate about their research.
The thing that finally allowed me to leave is that I started a company during my PhD that was completely unrelated to CS that became profitable very quickly. It was too much to balance the PhD and the company, so I left to do the company full time. I recognize that’s a hard situation to manufacture, but for what it’s worth, I am so insanely happy with my life and would never even consider going back. I have zero regrets – the only thing I miss is being surrounded by a high concentration of super smart people.
If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of company did you start?
Damn I’m too stupid to be in this sub.
What I would do… focus on one of your phds, get that done. Then if there is still a need decide if you can do one more… in general any experience running a company is far more worth than a phd!
I think you should stick to the PhD if you are interested in conducting research. After all, researchers also get paid well. Or you will have a leverage in becoming professors after Phd completion.
This is kinda not the right market to go halfway and expect the big bucks