pouët.net

I got a spam today.

"Bacheelor, Degree, MasteerMBA, PhD]) (non accreedited) available in the Field of yoµrr chõice so you can even bécome a doctôr and receive All the benefits Thaat comess withh it!"

Which made me wonder, what exactly are these "benefits for being a PhD"? =)

Free sausages.

for some people it enables them to do the stuff they want to do. to be a reseacher for example.

depends on the area.

if you're a chemist and want to do r&d, no phd typically means no job. if you're a computer scientist, a phd is absolutely worthless except if you want to stay in academia or if you're in germany.

If you buy a PhD to do research in chemistry, you're bound to get fired pretty soon in any case..

true that.

My parents are both physics professors. Like most professors they praise all the time going for a PHd. They always beg me to go for one. I think if you are going to follow an academic carreer and be elected for a position as professor it pays of well.

Ph. D is basically a driver's license and a necessity for an academic career and research. Otherwise, I'd say its applications are somewhat limited, with the exception of some R&D positions perhaps.

But of course, knowledge is cool on its own. I have a lot of respect for people who go that route.

Most young people I know go for postgraduate studies. Apparently practical jobs not in the academia but for us programmers like working in a company or something, maybe being an academic doesn't matter as much as having more practical knowledge or knowing what you do. Apparently maybe I have no clue though so I stop here.

But there is the phenomenon (and sorry I interrupt while I said I'd stop) most people here in my country when they finish studies they also go outside usually to UK to make postgraduate studies. It's a common phenomenon and then sometimes I wonder if everyone goes to follow this path because all of his other friends are following this path. The same would currently attribute to myself though even a bit lately in age. Ah fuck it! Ok, I STFU. Don't blame me. LOL!

It depends. Few actual professions require academic knowledge, really. Most programming work for example is closer to carpentry or construction work than actual computer science.

What I mean is.. I can see the value of being a PhD. The value is that you've done something. But you can have that value even without the paper =)

Thus it made me wonder what exactly do the spammers mean about the "benefits that go with it". Really does sound like free sausages..

in my experience a phd (but not from the internet) can only help you with your career, depending ofcourse on what sort of aspirations you have in life.

That doesn't mean that you cannot succeed, be happy / make lots of money without one. But it does open doors.

The key question is: how much do you really want to do it. You have to do it for the right reasons and be prepared to go through very difficult (but also rewarding) times.

the biggest reason i could see for doing a phd was you could sit around in university enjoying the cheap booze and parties for another 3 years.. :)
work-wise it seems like it really depends on you. some phds that get through in the field of computer science / graphics seem pretty basic.
oh, and getting to put "dr" before your name makes you sound important!

Especially if your last name is like Doom or Awesome or Vector or something!

Access to 18 year old girls while in your late 20ies/early thirties. I just do summer biology papers.

Sitting at work on overtime right now, doing my PhD stuff.. Looking forward to those sausages.

there's no way to predict what will happen until you actually get one.

a phd in australia gets you:
the opportunity for progression if you're good
a lifelong journey of ineptitude for others
and a low salary ceiling if you're getting paid at academic salary scales.

don't do it for the money.

regards,
someone with a phd

I don't know about you, but if I were still in the computer field and a person applied for a job with "phd" priot to that persons name, I would not be too keen to hire that person... to me a phd means "look, I know this shit" rahter than "look, I can show you this shit"... but maybe that's just me.

btw, as you know, I'm a tile layer ;-)

PhD is for wankers. I want a Nobel Prize! :-)

In germany the biggest benefit is that people call you a Doktor all the time ;)