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To PhD or not to PhD
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dreamer101
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 Aug 18 2015, 09:35 PM
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10k Club
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TS,
1) Social / Family
A) Are you married?? -> No.
B) Do you have a girl friend now??
Essentially, you are delaying starting a family for 4 to 6 years. It may or may not matter to you. But, your future wife need to be less than 40 years old. Or else fertility could be a problem. I have friends that delayed starting a family until their wives is above 40 and they could not have a child even they tried all those fertility treatment.
This may or may not be a concern for you but it is something for you consider.
2) Financial
A) Financially, could you save money and grow investment with 20% pay cut?
B) How much more can you make a director? 10%?? 20%?? 30%??
C) If you do not make it as director, do you make more money as lecturer??
D) Will you get pay raise during this 4 years?
3) Career
A) Is it possible that being a Phd that you are too specialized and over-qualified for most jobs??
B) What is the likelihood that this specialization could turn out to be useless aka not marketable??
C) How bad is the problem of age discrimination in your area?? Please note that most engineering career has only a limited time span due to age discrimination. You are trading off 6 years of your best earning years for a Phd.
Dreamer
This post has been edited by dreamer101: Aug 19 2015, 12:39 AM
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dreamer101
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Aug 18 2015, 10:34 PM
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10k Club
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TS,
My gut instinct tell me that you want to do it and you are willing to pay the price. So, my general advice to you is to take up the Phd offer. My question is more along the line of letting you know the full price that you are paying by taking up this offer.
Unfortunately or fortunately, for most major decision in life, we have to THINK with our MIND but go with our HEART. That is what I LEARN.
Dreamer
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dreamer101
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Aug 19 2015, 12:43 AM
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10k Club
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QUOTE(Geminist @ Aug 18 2015, 11:31 PM) Many thanks for the comments! Thanks for the advice. I wanted to ask the question publicly as I know how narrow our vision can get when we are emotionally invested in a decision. My gut feeling tells me I want to do it, but I still want to make sure I weigh the pros and cons, and understand what potential mess / downfall I could be walking into. Geminist, I am ENTP. I met and dated my wife for less than 8 months. We had been married for 20+ years. So, do not try to get a mate. Just be what you are. Somehow and some where, at the right time, you will meet the right person.. Dreamer |
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dreamer101
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Aug 23 2015, 02:09 AM
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10k Club
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QUOTE(rara_ana @ Aug 23 2015, 01:16 AM) What do u mean by being entp?im also an entp, a female entp, rara_ana, NT normally get along and married SJ type person... Dreamer |
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dreamer101
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Nov 16 2015, 10:48 PM
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10k Club
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QUOTE(Geminist @ Nov 16 2015, 07:17 AM) » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... « Hi All
Following on my previous post, there has been some changes to the situation. While my company is still sorting out the paperwork, a different startup heard about this and approached me. Essentially the startup offered to fully cover the tuition fees but the total amount is less than what my company offered because the offer includes expenses + conferences costs etc.
Note that the startup is unlike the IT world. It's currently making a healthy profit and is not reliant on external sources of investment.
So in summary:
Startup Pros
* My research is interesting to and aligns with the work of the startup, but the primary reason is they wanted me to join them.
* Very flexible working arrangement, i.e. remote work from home and not fixed hours + some shiny new gears (engineer here!)
* I know the startup and the people well, so for a start I know they will do what they reasonably can to help me, i.e. I wouldn't be immediately tossed aside.
* Offered profit sharing
Startup Cons
* It's a startup so the company currently has a good 1 year workload projection but not beyond that. (Note the tuition fees will be paid upfront).
* I might burn bridges with my current company if I were to leave after all the effort they put in.
* The funding covers tuition fees only so I'll have to make up the rest via different funding. The startup tentatively suggested depending on financial performance they could cover those too.
Company Pros
* Funding is twice as much as the startup.
* Big company so better prediction with workload.
* Big company with a number of experts in there that I can more easily tap into.
* Maintaining the current reputation and relationship I built.
* I wouldn't burn bridges.
Company Cons
* Standard work arrangement, i.e. 9-5 office work.
* Salary offered is ~18% less than the startup.
* No profit sharing scheme.
* Less flexible than a startup due to the size of the company.
Personally I'm leaning towards going with the startup, provided I don't burn bridges with my current company. Can anyone think of anything else? Any opinions and suggestions are very much welcomed and appreciated, many thanks!  Geminist, It is a tossed up. But, in general, I leaned more towards places that really want you and will do anything to get you. Hence, the start up. Dreamer |
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