PhD or Job? // Pros and Cons // Grad Life Choices // Life After Uni

#phd #lifeafteruni #graduatescheme
The age old question of PhD or job, most grads do face this question and so did I. Is it time to let go of student life and to embark onto the job market? Or nah? Either way the problem is, is that there's no right or wrong answer to this question, because it depends on so many factors. Wether it is your subject, the offers, or our future plans, there seems not to be a one size fits all answer.
This video was recorded in October (10-10-2022). Stay tuned for graduate scheme and Oxford content all the following weeks! Please don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe.
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Don't forget to check out these videos:
Check out my 10 things you should not miss out on while at Oxford:
• 10 Things You Should N...
Life After uni 1 Year Later:
• Life After Uni - 1 Yea...
Little bit about myself:
I'm 25 years old and I'm originally from Amsterdam, I currently live in London. At the University of Oxford, I read for the Mst in Modern Languages. I've graduated from the University of Amsterdam where I studied the BA in French Literature and Culture. Would I recommend the University of Amsterdam - No - Would I recommend the University of Oxford - Yes, 100%.
Music that I do not own:
Intro and outro music:
Palmtrees by The Brothers Records
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Background music:
Positive Fuse by French Fuse

[@abdulrahmanmohamed8800]

thank you it was really helpful.

[@Steffie228G]

Thank you! That’s great to hear!

[@MohamedMego01]

Good video! i am 28 years and have just finished my Masters and now struggling to decide on either doing my Phd abroad or just find job and do my phd in my country . But my country isn't that good in salary at allllll and leaving it is what everyone wishes to do!!!. so now i am between 2 choices! try going abroad and do my phd as the gateway and try settling on another country or just phd ant worth it and better to find career and try using it as gateway to work abroad.

[@Steffie228G]

Thank you! Sounds like a huge choice that you are going to have to make. Wishing you all the best for making that decision!!

[@organisedme]

Dont go back period!! I know what you are talking about

[@MohamedMego01]

@@organisedme sorry can you clarify more !

[@vansf3433]

You can create employment for yourself with the gained knowledge It's become an obsolete idea or even a malpractice, working for a company or someone else other than yourself

[@Steffie228G]

Working as a contractor or starting a company, are definitely to be considered when finishing uni. I just feel in my case, I was lacking the experience and any inspiration to be able to start my own company 😅 therefore, being employed by a company or continuing on the academic path seemed to be the two most fitting options. Doesn’t mean that being self-employed is not the right option for someone else - it just wasn’t for me at the time.

[@kkhalifah1019]

One of the key problems here where I live is that PhD students find it hard to find a job upon graduation when their full-time study leaves them with zero or little professional work experience in their field, unless they go after teaching positions or go into technical fields such as R&D. My solution was to develop a full-time career as a professional in my field while doing my graduate and postgraduate studies part-time in my field of work. I like the idea of being able to apply my postgraduate education at work to make me a better dept director, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered going beyond the undergraduate level in the first place. While that takes care of the tuition fees, the challenge is being able to split the time for both commitments. The biggest plus is that I feel that both graduate and postgraduate school are more enjoyable and make more sense when they have a meaningful, symbiotic relationship with your real-world industry experience. This notion that PhD holders should not work for someone else is as nonsensical as it is arrogant. It's an insult to all the professors in academia. A PhD and entrepreneurship are two different things altogether - one does not require the other.

[@Steffie228G]

Hi! I fully agree with you that it is ok to work and do a phd at the same time. In all fairness, if I would have opted for the phd route, I would have had to find a job which would be flexible enough to work around my phd. Likely would have been a part time something or a job at the university itself. This is also what I saw most of my college peers do to fund their (non) funded phds and, let’s not forget, their living expenses. However, in my case, the jobs I was looking at are graduate schemes. These are full time very structured and often very demanding jobs with loads of on the job learning and sometimes at multiple locations across the country or world even. I can see one maybe figuring out a way with their employer to make sure one can attend their mandatory phd 121s, tutorials, seminars, etc while under regular employment (so not on a grad scheme) with some of these companies while pursuing a full time or part time phd. However given the structured nature of grad schemes, it is impossible to do both at the same time, even a part time phd. Especially, since the universities I was looking at, at the time, did not offer an ‘outside of working hours’ option and most of them were not located in the same city (or country). Not to mention that some of the standard working hours at these companies stretch far beyond the standard 9 to 5. I’m happy to hear that it worked out for you but in my case this combination was impossible even with a part time phd. Just to illustrate: the combination of an Oxford dphil (phd) and a graduate scheme at one of the ‘The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers’ based in London, simultaneously, is in most cases, simply not feasible. Thus, I had to choose one or the other. It was either a grad scheme or a phd, which would have involved some part time job to (partially) fund it, but the main choice for me was either going the grad scheme route or going the phd route. This does not mean that I cannot revisit the part time phd (or full time) at a later stage in my career.

[@kkhalifah1019]

@@Steffie228G Hi Steffie. Sometimes you can negotiate an off-the-book arrangement with your employer. I discussed with my COO & CMO when I started postgrad school and, despite the company not having official provisions for employees who study part time, they were willing to let me take unrecorded time off when necessary. It was entirely up to me how I want to manage my work while doing what I needed to do for school. Later when my current company brought me over to head up one of their departments, I made it clear to the CEO that I'm a part-time postgrad student and asked for a ton of annual leave days to be provisioned in my employment contract to allow me to do the necessary field work. He was fine with it. Of course, the understanding in both cases is that I do not abuse these one-off privileges but at the senior management level that's a given. So in my case, I'm a full-time employee first and a part-time postgrad student second. The C-suites that I report to tend to be quite supportive of it and are willing to accommodate in whatever ways they can..

[@Steffie228G]

@@kkhalifah1019 again I’m happy that it worked out for you and I’ve witnessed similar situations to yours where it works. However, that does not mean that it works for everyone and in every situation. As I explained in my previous post, the type of employment I was seeking (graduate scheme) is generally not the type that is flexible in these ways.

[@deusvult1268]

Sadly in many places it is not possible to do it part-time. You get a full-time employment contract but get paid.

[@Idgaf-1998]

Hello. You work at McDonald's Matīsa iela right? I didn't know you spoke such good english. I'm Alexey, we both work at the same McDonald's. I work usually in the night shift. 😊

[@VitoriaLobo-mf7xk]

I will be 28 by the time I finish my masters and the PhD always seemed a reasonable path to me because I like the idea of being a university professor, but I’m worried about how it would impact my personal life and especially my ability to build a family and have kids on time. Is it possible (and manageable 😅) to have kids during your PhD, or it would be too messy to consider, or really hard?

[@Steffie228G]

Hi! I don’t have experience with having kids/being pregnant during a PhD. So all I can elaborate on are what I saw around me. At the graduate housing where I lived there we’re definitely families living in the one/two beds. There was a children’s play area in one of the common rooms. Furthermore, at my husbands MBA graduation there were lots of parents (both male and female) who ‘walked’ (this was in the USA) graduation either pregnant or with their newborns/one-year olds. To me this looks like there are lots of students who are able to manage starting a family while studying an advanced degree. Likely, it will make some things more difficult but on the other hand, surely, there are lots of undergrads who are happy to babysit for pay and who are likely experienced as they babysat back home. Either way to me it looks like lots of students are able to make it work. Not sure if this helped in any way, but this is all I know. Hopefully some others reading this can help you further on this topic.

[@joulibrown9174]

I have a different question. Did you work while completing your PhD? If yes, how did you manage a work, life n school balance? Were you able to qualify for grants n scholarships to cover your tuition? Thanks Jouli

[@Steffie228G]

Hi! I ended up choosing the job over the PhD as I struggled to find grants/scholarships. For most I either didn’t qualify for or they would only cover a very small portion of my tuition/costs. If I would have gone forward with the PhD, I very very likely would have had to find a flexible part time job at for example the uni or barista etc.

[@joulibrown9174]

@@Steffie228G Thank you for being transparent. When the time is right, I will work wknds only. I want mon-fri to be totally invested in school/studies/research. I don't have a concrete plan rt now and I am looking into scholarships and grants as well. I'm also not resistant to working a full-time job n a part-time job before hand. Save up the part-time job funds for my degree tuition, look for a job that will help fund my edu while keeping a look out for scholarships and grants as well. Right now, I'm just trying to devise a plan because I want to be successful n able to complete what I start. Once again, thank you for responding.

[@ronron2312]

most of the humanities PhD students I know that left academia after getting PhD had no problem getting a job and were given salaries well above entry level.

[@lucasoni1990]

So are you doing a phd or job? I'm doing modern languages...2nd year of BA englush and Spanish. Distance uni. Going well...definitely going for a masters. Not sure on a phd yet.

[@Steffie228G]

I went the job route. Honestly if you are sure on the master’s degree I wouldn’t worry too much yet about a phd. During the final year of you master’s degree (or if it is a one year master’s, during your master’s) it’s time to think about that hard. I’ve found that I’ve changed opinion on it for example. When I was in my second year I really wasn’t planning on doing a phd and that changed during my final year and my master’s and my gap year to something that I was actually considering. Also my research area that I was truly interested in only came to light during my 4th year (last year) and I focused on that during my master’s degree and I would have focused on that during my potential phd. For me a phd is still not fully off the table, but it is for the next couple of years.

[@MeTravel247]

With the current Job situation, doing a PhD and saying you have achieved a Doctorate Degree in a particular field is definitely worth it. 😅 What do you say?

[@Steffie228G]

I think it very much depends on the career that you're after. Certain jobs require a phd, for others it's a pro when a candidate has one, and for another group of jobs it's not necessarily seen as a benefit as a phd is not needed in the first place, or when entering a different field. - Moral of the story - do what's best for you and your career.

[@MeTravel247]

@@Steffie228G Thanks 💯

[@digbijoychoudhury7140]

The term " Dr" for Ph.D should be replaced by a suitable substitute. The prefix.....Dr. before a name of a scholar is misunderstood by laymen as physian.

[@jeffmoliere4092]

Easy fix: the persons name then whatever they earned: PhilD, PhD, MD, DO, DPT, DRN, etc.

[@kkhalifah1019]

Actually the word 'doctor' comes from the latin word 'docere' meaning 'to teach', which is what scholars are expected to be able to do one way or another after going through the highest level of education. So that's actually the original application of the word.

[@boredscientist5756]

A medical Doctor is NOT a real Doctor. They are the ones who should NOT have this title. They just have an honorary title, not a real Dr. Title

[@trp6062]

German?

[@Steffie228G]

Close! But I’m Dutch :)

[@trp6062]

@@Steffie228G oh i see but your neck is not long

[@Steffie228G]

@@trp6062 long necks? Is that a Dutch stereotype? 😂 I was only aware of: tall, clogs, windmills, and tulips. Well, I’m learning something new everyday.

[@trp6062]

@@Steffie228G you can easily distinguish dutchers by their light eyes, long legs, long necks and long oval face with a creepy demon possessed eyes (joke) 🤣🤣🤣