Applied scientist career without PhD
How far can an Applied Scientist go without a PhD? Currently an L5 AS at Amazon but worried that my career might come to a grinding halt without a PhD degree in my pocket. Is it easy enough to switch to regular SWE roles at other companies like FB and G? Current yoe: 12 Yoe as AS: 2 (rest as Big Data Engineer) TC: 300k
If you are concerned about meeting the AS-3 bar, moving to SDE-2 is definitely possible. Easiest route to L6 is going to depend on your org and your manager though.
It’s not possessing a PhD, but rather the common traits among PhDs, which is important here. Focus on excellence, if you are a strong researcher, can publish papers at top venues and hold your own in a deep math discussion, all this while delivering results for business, you have no worries. You can go all the way to Sr. Principal
This. There are plenty of PhD dropouts in those roles.
Be like this guy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijai-mohan-9a73971
Not the best example but relevant
What did you decide
If you are both 1) doubting yourself because you lack some external credential and 2) wanting to switch to a regular SWE role, then I’d say you won’t get much farther than you already have. I know 6s and 7s in AS at FANG companies making 500k+ without a PhD. But they aren’t spending their time posting on Blind questioning themselves. They are busy reading new papers, re-applying new approaches to their domain, and helping people around them ship stuff that impacts customers that wouldn’t have been possible without them in the mix.
OP, this is not complete true. Some teams have a hard ceiling for folks without PhD.
Can confirm what Apple said. Pretty much everyone in AS above L6 has a PhD, OP’s concern is valid.