Greetings friends in LYN,

I would like to share my situation and seek your views and advice.

I have been working at a 9-to-5 job for the past 5 years. Currently, I am enrolled in University Malaya in a taught Masters programme (evening and Saturday classes) and expect to finish by end of 2012.

Since the part-time Masters is working out rather well for me, I initially planned to continue and do PhD in the same way. But now I'm thinking of quitting my job altogether and do PhD full time.

Reasons:

1. I want to finish PhD in the normal 3 years - I've been told that doing PhD part time has a high risk of finishing very late or never finishing at all.

2. I am considering a career move, and ideally plan to become a lecturer in a local uni after PhD.

My questions:

1. If I do my PhD overseas with funding from abroad, will I face difficulty in finding a job in local uni as I won't be attached to any institution?

2. What are the prospect for someone like me, i.e. would my 5 years work experience pre-PhD be of any worth to be considered, or would I have to start as a junior lecturer anyway?

3. In general, what is your view/advice for someone like me - I've shared my idea with some friends and a few think that it is unusual for someone with a stable corporate job to want to join academia (the impression they have is that it will be for less pay). Also a family member told me that I was "too old to only start now in academia". This is because by the time I finish, I would probably be around 34/35 and there are PhD holders in early and mid twenties for me to compete with.

Thanks in advance for your views. Please be gentle with a LYN noob.

Thanks for your responses.

ron4: I also feel like a "waste" since I've spent a considerable amount of time in the industry and have since climbed a few rungs. However, I'm not so fortunate - I don't exactly love my job. It's not BAD, but I always feel like wearing a second skin when doing a job in the office.

This is opposite to how I feel when doing stuff like researching for an assignment, presentation (in front of class) etc. But it could also be that I'm just happy to do something outside of work, so I can't be sure.

But I've been asked to do "short course" for the company before where I gave a talk / 101 on my subject for the lay-workers, and by far, this talk (in 2009!) was the best thing I've done during my 5/6 years of work.

I wonder if this is indication that I'll be happier in an academic environment compared to the 9-5 desk job.

Starbucki: yes, those are the exact questions I've yet to have concrete answers to

I remember when I was doing my bachelor's degree, I couldn't wait to start working to "apply the knowledge". After working for a few years, I felt the "application of knowledge" at my work is very limited, and was worried that I would become outdated. So I turned to do my Masters.

During Masters study, I discovered a sub-field which peaked my interest very much. This is important to me, as I have not encountered things that interest me much throughout the course of my career.

I wonder if this is just a fleeting "escapism" thing or something that I should pursue to get a more fulfilling life and career.

ron4, if you are willing to resign and take full time PhD, MyBrain scholarship is definitely a good option for you to take. I myself receiving MyMaster for my Master studies, although since I am still employed, they only pay for the university fees, and I don't get any pocket money.

LoveMeNot, teaching part-time is a really good idea. I've been thinking about doing that as well before and have applied to several places. But maybe because I haven't completed my Masters, my application was not well entertained. Hopefully after completing Masters, I can find a part time teaching position, then I can have a feel of what it's like to teach.

Please share if you know of a better way to apply for part-time teaching, as so far my only avenues are applying online (the universities' websites) and also looking on jobstreet.

I'm in the legal field. Yeah, I will definitely try again once I finish my masters.

Right now I don't have any friends in universities. Most of them are either in private practice, with the government or do corporate legal work like myself.

Thanks for all your views. Right now, I'm going to concentrate on my final semester. Hopefully if I graduate with a high CGPA, I can apply for the UM Brightspark or something similar.