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What are the pros and cons of a Ph.D?

What are the pros and cons of making a shift to Software Engineering at 30, after a PhD in a different field?

  • I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. I had planned to be in the academia, but now, I am totally disillusioned with it. My research does not make me suitable for many Mechanical Engg. jobs, and I also find the opportunities too slim. I am planning a career shift to Software Engineering. I am studying CLRS, Coursera algo course, the usual route for self-taught programmers. However, is it a good idea to jump ship and change careers at 30? I will probably always be behind my peers who have been doing this since college. How do people who change careers think about their efforts in their whole previous career going waste?

  • Answer:

    A hero is a coward with no other options.  What are your other options.  Can't think of any?  Then jump out of the airplane, hope you have a parachute, and wave your arms wildly as you fall down. Changing careers is a terrible idea.  If all of the other ideas are worse then..... One advice I have to Ph.D.'s is *get out of school*.  Do whatever you can do *not take a class*.  The trouble is that you've been in school all your life.  The quicker you get out of school, the more quickly you will aclimate yourself to the "real world." Also changing careers is not a waste.  I'm the only person in the world with my career profile.  You are the only person in the world with your career profile and skill set.  Now the challenge is to find something that keeps the money flowing in with your profile.

Joseph Wang at Quora Visit the source

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If you want to go out and code social media apps, you will be behind your peers who have been doing it since age 10 (not just since college) However, there are some other options here. Have you considered Systems Engineering rather than Software Engineering?  Basically, this is the art of putting together complex hardware/software systems. These days it is a very software-intensive field, with highly sophisticated modeling tools, especially tools and methodologies that use SysML (Systems Modeling Language) This is a field in which you can move into software in stages - without having to throw your PhD and accumulated knowledge in the trash can. To learn more, google "SysML"  or "INCOSE" (International Council on Systems Engineering) or "MBSE"  (Model-Based Systems Engineering) or send me an e-mail offline . Hope this helps! David Hetherington

David Hetherington

At the  end of the day, if you've done a PHD you can make a shift into Software  Engineering. It is NOT rocket science... if anything, software engineers  should be asking if they can handle or have the ability to do a PHD  like you have... Go for it... you will only know if you try. This is the ONLY sure way of knowing if your choice was the right one. You have done a PHD, so you know how to learn, how to understand complex things, and depending on what you researched, you have spent a lot of time focusing, researching, writing, developing ideas, testing, and much more I bet, and these are all great skills that enable you to do MORE than the average person. I know many people in their 30's who switched careers and had to learn from the beginning and are quite successful. These people have a strong mind, and are determined and focused. DO IT...but only if you can see past the excuse makers and people who see limits only.

Sasha Crseven

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