Alrite I have an exam so I really shouldnt be spending too much time here. but I have to decide this too, and soon.
Heres the thing. My current profile is newly graduating MS in CS. turned 24 this month. I took research oriented courses (lotsa AI) but ensured I kept quite a bit of breadth so coursework wise Im a bit of both.
I was doing a phd an year ago, and wasnt really very motivated but was doing it cause it covered for my tuition and because the advisor is one of the biggest names in my field. As it turned out I had to drop out because of stuff and move to another lab which was still research but commercial research.
Now, I have a decent research base, six publications overall which is above average for a newly graduating masters.
Heres the thing. Im graduating this term. And I dont wanna stay here in this country for more than ..say 4-5 years. I have to offers before me, one two continue doing the research work that Im doing, which is in AI algorithms for distributed processing, and go for a completely different, completely tool oriented job in data warehousing. The latter is about 10k better paying than the former, and has more market value. the latter is also marginally more applicable in pakistan.. tho i dont know how much. but bah.. its just glamorized databases
But as I said, I have a nice research base currently and can perhaps leverage that better in the long term. besides this new stuff sounds so mundane in comparison. and whats actually influencing me is that my research base just got stronger with two publications in conferences people (i.e. formerly me) talk about then drop the idea since its too hard to get in there.
either way I plan to do a higher degree like an mba or a phd sometime.
yeah yeah im tooting my own baja lekin hm.. what advice would u give someone. i wanna do something with myself not spend my life in a uni writing papers :-/
so what exactly is the question ravage??? pooch kya rahay ho??? mujhay sahi se post samaj nai ai :p
khair
i think you should go with the field you are interested in and which excites you because that is something that you need to motivate you in a long and gruelling academic program.
at this point, ignore stuff like what is better paying and what has better prospects, coz pay might increase later or something and u can always earn after finishing your studies, right now concentrate on the academics, and as far as potential in pak is concerned, as long as u r a PHD in CS, u're good, dont need to worry abt concentration area that much.
naheen karni toh naheen karo. masters toh kar hi lyay haen. ab get a job and start ur life qissa khatam. who says u have to do phd?
and u can also do MBA. thats what i am planning to do inshallah. ya toh masters ya phir mba ya phir umm dono
p.s. age is an attitude of mind, not a number of biological significance
aray isi ka toh jawab dya hae ke do something which excites u and u find interesting, something which will have u hooked for the long period of time :p
heh to be honest i've been doing what excites me for a very long time.. since my last year of undergrad.. and while its been fun its been 'fun' and not necessarily monetarily beneficial. i have to start thinking seriously about selling out for the sake of money now
and i have to start thinking about my exam tomorrow :-s
Ravage dude… I can relate somewhat since I went through the same phase after my CS research internship at Johns Hopkins… I had to decide whether to go to MIT for further research in Language & Speech Processing which is what I had been doing for a year before, or opt to test out the waters as a practitioner, and I opted for the latter… worked for two years and then did my MBA with the pure intention to better my credentials for the industry.
The reality is that if you want to stick to a research oriented track, even though its in an industry setting, an MBA will not be as valuable as it would be if you were interested in a management based career track.
Lastly, just from personal experience, almost invariably, you’re going to come across higher paying “commercial” (as you termed it) jobs, but after experiencing all three types of work – as a researcher, practitioner and a consultant, I keep coming back to research because I’m addicted… I just don’t feel other types of work rewarding enough despite the higher monetary earnings.
In the end, I’m splitting my time between research and consulting (to get more hands-on experience, and a sense of the industry and market status).
Aur haan, lastly, tools based work can get quite mundane compared to what you’ve been doing – lets not even talk about DB stuff.
umar bhai.. thanks. i got crazy busy over these days and couldnt follow up on a lot of stuff (heh I know u must be wondering about one other thing I was supposed to do)
As I understand it you're in your last year of Phd? How did you do the bulk of your Phd research in ONE year??
right now what Im thinking of doing is doing a little bit of both. Im keeping my research job and Im following up on the industry one.
also Im thinking seriously of attempting a Phd again. maybe in england where you're out and done with in 3 years and not slaving away for years.
^ ravage yaar, I'm not quite in my last year but will be entering my last year in the summer right after my proposal defence - so inshaAllah. I'm hoping to be out by summer 2006 which will be around 2.75 years from when I started. Still good enough... fingers crossed :)
You're right - doing a Ph.D. in Britain is a breeze compared to North America... no comprehensives and very little coursework if any... you can get started on your research study right away. That being said, if you intend to come back to the U.S. or Canada, it can be a challenge finding an academic job.
The academic job market hasn't been all that great lately - according to recent surveys, most schools now look for significant industry experience as well as a Ph.D. - so Alhamdullilah, I'm safe, and would highly recommend a couple of years of work experience before opting for a Ph.D. ... who knows... you may like it enough to change your mind.
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