The problem in humanities is that the market is saturated, also, the majority of undergraduate classes are taught by graduate students (they're cheap!), further reducing the number of potential hiring positions.
So you have to actually be exceptional and have published something interesting to even have a good chance at making it as a professor.
You could do other things as well, write books or work for various foundations (teach high school!), but you can do those things without a Phd in medieval English literature.
You also are spending 8+ years not getting paid or putting yourself into debt, and that you still might end up working at Arby's (or what have you).
He left out that the pay for a starting professor sucks.
(Considering that you just spent 8 years of your life getting the degree).
Computer science is a bit of a different ballgame in that it is applicable (well, vaguely) to software development. So you might be able to get a job that is orthogonally relevant to whatever it was that you passionately studied in graduate school.
The sad truth, however, is that the majority of software development does not come anywhere close to requiring a Phd. And you still come out up to your eyeballs in debt or flat broke.
The good thing about it is that it looks pretty good on a resume. (Although weighing 8 years writing software against 8 years in grad school, I might go with the guy who has work experience... is kind of a toss up).
The google/ibm/microsoft research positions are few and far between, in any event.
The sad truth, however, is that the majority of software development does not come anywhere close to requiring a Phd.
The vast majority of current software development is guis for databases and can be done with relatively little training, not even requiring a BS in CS much less a PHD. But there is more advanced development where the more theoretical backing is at least useful.
(Although weighing 8 years writing software against 8 years in grad school, I might go with the guy who has work experience... is kind of a toss up).
I largely agree, but it depends on what kind of software the programmer was writing. Doing major kernel hacking for a Linux distro is highly impressive for instance, doing maintenance patches for yet another database front end is not.
Also remember that the two is not an either or proposition.
It requires a somewhat flexible day job and it may take longer, but you can work on a graduate degree while holding down a day job. I work a help desk part time for most of my undergrad degree and work as a DBA/Sr. Programmer while working on my masters right now for instance. On the flip side, you can go to class at day and contribute to open source or do contracting at night.
I think this would be a sad truth if I had just gotten a PhD and was hoping that it would provide me with a unique credential to write software. But as someone with a mere MS (not in CS in the first place), I'm pretty happy that I don't need a PhD.
Another nice thing about the world of software development is that you can actually get involved in many of the more (or most) interesting projects without any degree at all. There are some areas where you'd benefit greatly from a PhD, but you aren't at all relegated to "guis for databases" as a programmer with something less than a PhD.
Whatever you do, don't work too much on side jobs while writing your mémoire/thesis. I have seen many people get a part-time or full-time job when they were done with their project, alas not with their writing. It takes them years to finish the whole thing.. (I've seen 4 years for a master's)
It depends on where your priorities lie. If your goal is to finish your masters or PHD then I agree, I wouldn't work more than you absolutely have to on side jobs.
If you already have a career and are working on your masters on the side, then you need to focus on your job and do the masters as time permits. For instance, I expect my masters to take 7 semesters (3 1/2 calendar years) and it wouldn't bother me too much if it took 4 years. I have a job I like with a salary that pays the bills. I am working on my masters primarily for personal growth and hoping for some career advancement edges down the road.
I got my PhD without one dime of debt, and I think most of my classmates did as well. There is a lot of funding for grad students if you are flexible about what you want to work on. And if you absolutely MUST write your thesis on optimizing brainfuck compilers then you can still cover your tuition by working as a TA.
But this may just be the situation at my alma mater, a land grant university that attracts lots of research dollars but doesn't quite have the prestige to attract lots of talented students. I wonder if students at "name brand" schools don't end up with more debt because competition for funding is more intense.
So you have to actually be exceptional and have published something interesting to even have a good chance at making it as a professor.
You could do other things as well, write books or work for various foundations (teach high school!), but you can do those things without a Phd in medieval English literature.
You also are spending 8+ years not getting paid or putting yourself into debt, and that you still might end up working at Arby's (or what have you).
He left out that the pay for a starting professor sucks. (Considering that you just spent 8 years of your life getting the degree).
Computer science is a bit of a different ballgame in that it is applicable (well, vaguely) to software development. So you might be able to get a job that is orthogonally relevant to whatever it was that you passionately studied in graduate school.
The sad truth, however, is that the majority of software development does not come anywhere close to requiring a Phd. And you still come out up to your eyeballs in debt or flat broke. The good thing about it is that it looks pretty good on a resume. (Although weighing 8 years writing software against 8 years in grad school, I might go with the guy who has work experience... is kind of a toss up).
The google/ibm/microsoft research positions are few and far between, in any event.