Industry vs PhD
Background
Over the past 2 years, I have deliberated too long over my career plans after graduation, in particular, to work in industry or to pursue a PhD to work in research. I have finally decided to pursue a data scientist position with Indeed, instead of proceeding with my plans to apply to UCL and Edinburgh to research on reinforcement learning.
I list all factors I considered that may be unique to my personal situation, then later provide a more general framework for other students in tech to consider between industry and PhD. This list first serves as a personal track to later reflect on, and then to compile a list of considerations to help other students with their decision making.
My possibilities after university are:
- Industry - Data Scientist
- Indeed Singapore, Match Recommendation Platform
- (Applying to) PhD - AI Researcher
- University College London, Deciding, Acting and Reasoning with Knowledge (DARK) Lab
- University of Edinburgh, Autonomous Agents Research Group
Personal Factors of Consideration
Indeed: Pros
Salary
- Competitive tech pay
- Provides masters sponsorship
- Higher quality of life because of pay
- Indeed’s business is doing well, important as global recession is coming
- Help raise financial security for mother and sister, significantly reducing stress for my mother
Work Life Balance
- Excellent work life balance
- Free time to focus on other aspects of life (family, relationships, hobbies, goals)
- Great people culture and nice personalities
- Workplace is convenient to meet my sister and my girlfriend
- Less stress thanks to work-life balance
- Possible to work on side projects
Career progression
- Match Recommendation Platform team - metrics and achievements have immense technical and business impact
- Competitive, fair and supportive career progression and compensation
- One of very few big tech companies to hire fresh grads as data scientists
Industry relevance
- Already proven myself as a competent data scientist as a fresh grad
- Industry skills and experiences are useful in any company
- Learn engineering, business and company organization which Indeed has done well
- Leverage my strengths in leadership, product dev, data science and engineering that are valued in industry
- Possibility of publishing at RecSys conferences
Business impact
- Can attend industry events - PyCon
- Fly to US/Japan offices for work
- Significant flexibility to work on my ideas if I want to
Indeed: Cons
- Sometimes work may be less interesting (admin, dry engineering work)
- Work in Singapore is stifling and need to squeeze in the MRT
- Data science is no longer perceived to be as prestigious as AI research
PhD: Pros
Passion
- Fun work on my interest in reinforcement learning and games
- AI research is cool
- Research methodology teaches rigorous analysis and experimentation
Social recognition
- PhD or Dr title
- Getting the prestigious university brand
- Generally perceived as being not dumb
- Recognition of doing well in studies
- Can work with the smartest scientists to improve the world
Living abroad
- Work and live in the US/UK overseas
Industry research
- Conventional way of being an AI researcher
- Path into AI research in FAANG
PhD: Cons
Financial
- $3K to $5K stipend is low
- High cost of living in US/UK
- Opportunity cost of $200K over term of PhD (estimated cost of raising a child in Singapore till age 21)
Lifestyle
- Age 30 when I graduate PhD
- Postpone or difficult life plans (marriage, housing, long-distance relationship)
- Need to re-learn to live a new life with new friends in a new environment
- Being a foreigner in a foreign country subjects myself to potential discrimination
Risk
- No safety net if wrong or bad PhD advisor
- Risky as publication record may not be good enough to get a FAANG researcher role after PhD
- Bet on RL becoming industry-ready and impactful in 5 years may not come true
- Success in research is very largely a function of pure intellectual horsepower, while my strength is a diversity of competencies
Industry research
- Begin career progression only after graduating from PhD as a junior researcher
- Need to prove myself to be a capable researcher in industry
- PhD is largely powered by prestige - which university, which labs, which advisors and which people you know largely determines your research career trajectory
Questions for Others to Consider
Industry
Salary
- What salary is suffient for you to feel secure and comfortable?
- What salary is reflective of the competitiveness of your skills?
Work-life balance
- Are there other aspects of life that are equally if not more important to you?
- Is having free leisure time valuable to you?
Career progression
- What is your “end game” in the peak of your career?
- How significant is the financial opportunity cost to your personal situation?
Engineering skills
- How valuable are engineering skills for achieving your career goals?
- Are your natural strengths in engineering?
Business Impact
- How important is industry relevance to you in your professional career?
- Is impact a significant metric to you in a professional career?
PhD
Passion
- How important is it to you to work on what you love?
- Can you foresee yourself working in single research topic for the next 5 years?
Social recognition
- How important is prestige and status to your personal social well-being?
- How important is it to be able to collaborate with other brilliant scientists?
Living abroad
- How socially and financially comfortable are you about living abroad?
Research impact
- How important is making an impactful contribution to the progress of science to you?
- How confident are you to potentially make a significant intellectual contribution to science?
Industry research
- Must you work in an industry research lab after graduating from PhD?