I am considering doing a PhD in CS, but I'm not sure about it yet. I want to find out more about the possibilities of continuing research outside of academia. Or at least would like that I can use my knowledge from my research in some useful way. If I do my PhD on algorithms I may become a leetcode expert, but that's pretty much it. So which areas of CS can probably benefit from a PhD, so I can maybe continue with research outside of academia?
Highly technical positions. Just... be the best. You have to have a ton of drive. I.e. google brain
Hm be the best doesn't seem so easy. Would you say Google Brain is more competetive that an university? Becoming a prof. somewhere in europe doesn't sound so bad either. The TC may be 10% of it, but I would get to do research on whatever I want for all my life. Besides ML, are there any other fields though? GB is kind of very focused.
Having a PhD is a gamble nowadays. If your field happens to be hot and if a paper you write happens to get a lot of attention (citations, media coverage, etc.) you may find yourself a celebrity. Otherwise, someone who has an equivalent job experience will be in a better position than you will be.
I should add, I'm doing this in europe, I would be paid about 65k$/yr and it would take only 3 years.
There are some very solid universities in Europe, such as KTH and 65k is very good for a research assistant position. When I checked last time, even assist prof positions paid less in Europe. What school is this?
Barista and making you harder to hire. That’s all a PhD is good for. Unless you have a passion for a niche field or a thesis advisor you’re in love with, don’t bother.
I should add I'm not from the US, so having a masters is the standard (97% of my uni students, 20% of CS students do a 3-year PhD). But if I moved to the US i guess I could do with a Bachelors.
Master’s is still what makes it a tiny bit easier. There is little to negative benefit for career prospects in doing a PhD in Europe as well unless you want to work in academia. (I have a CS and applied maths Master’s from a European University)
lol leetcode expert man, it depends on practice you have to solve thousands (2-10k) tasks to become “expert” and be able to be in top 10 people in Leetcode Contests. People spend years practicing competitive programming to reach “expert level” It is not like “oh now I know how to do BFS, I’ve got phd here, I am gonna try leetcode, I am expert now” 😂
Phd here. One thing to keep in mind is the relevance of the field you pursue once you finish your PhD. The topic can be very niche when you enter but can go irrelevant after 5 years. My 2 cents
So... what field did you get into and is it still relevant today / next 5 years?
Quantum computing, robotics, some inter discipline fields