29M. I'm currently doing a PhD in AI in another European country. My ultimate goal is to relocate to Denmark and secure a job there. I stayed in Denmark for a month attending a Summer School, and also taking some time off with my partner, and I absolutely fell in love with your country!
The PhD is going fine, but is on a niche subject (nothing related to generative AI, Computer Vision, or Deep Learning). I still have two years left, and unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that academia is not for me, and I would like to leave. I enjoy doing research, but I hate feeling trapped in an academic bubble of papers and conferences with no real-world ramifications (great respect for fellow researchers, but it's just not for me).
The consensus seems to be, "if you want to do a PhD for the money (my case), don't do it". But at the same time, I have seen people suggesting that the bar is rising, and that having a PhD can help for high-profile jobs.
What is not clear to me is how many doors I would close by quitting the PhD, and I also have no idea what the Data Science / AI / Machine Learning market looks like in Denmark. Realistically, it's now or never. I am afraid that if I change my mind in 2 or 3 years, I would be too old to start a PhD again. On the other hand, continuing is really stressful (I've had depressive episodes in the last year), and, financially, I'm barely breaking even. Moreover, the soon I start a "real job", the soon I could move (I could theoretically visiting a Danish university for some months, but realistically, my supervisors will want me to spend my final year in my home country).
(Unrelated, but the banner of this subreddit rocks! Slava Ukraini!)
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The original was posted on /r/denmark by /u/Al_Levin at 2024-02-04 05:14:09+00:00.
-Misla- at 2024-02-04 08:05:01+00:00 ID:
kouq5riI would say it’s not so much about the money, but more about what kind of job you want in the industry.
If the job you are looking for is more on the R&D side and less on the routine operations side (for the Danish reading - or for job postings, this would be terms like “udvikling” vs. “drift”), a phd could be a really strong assets in the big, attractive companies. If you want to do purely routine keeping-everything-running and not long term projects, then you don’t need the skill set of a phd.
That said, job postings often write both terms and a pretty vague on what the job exactly entails, but maybe take a look at job postings of the jobs you could be interested in. If the postings mention “phd or masters’s degree” that’s a pretty sure way to see that they do value a phd.
While not in the same field, I have some experience with this, from friends, and from being rejected myself. The “IT hire everyone who can just code a little bit” is definitely not true anymore, if it has ever been true. I have a master’s in physics and a failed phd in (geo)physics.
I have applied to data scientist jobs in various forms, and also for the ones that only require a master’s, I don’t get any answer other than a rejection long after. And yes, I am very clear about what I can code - and cannot. I have zero machine learning experience as it wasn’t applicable for my topic.
I have a lot of previous study colleagues on LinkedIn, and their previous study colleagues, and almost all of them who now work in the industry has a phd. But they also often work in a r&d-type role. It’s not like phds are given out left and right, but the number is growing. So if you are applying for this type of job, you are
That said, whether you should continue with a stressful phd… I continued with mine, for the full duration there was a salary and even after for half salary and a little more after for no salary. I still miss my research everyday, and I was without job for more than half a year mutiple times, because a master’s in physics that is not industry-tailored is not that hireable. It’s a really shitty situation, and I will probably never be able to get back into research, because that requires a phd, and no one is gonna hire a failed phd to do a phd. Researcher jobs that aren’t phd or post docs or doesn’t require a phd are very few in natural science in Denmark.