Back in School

So, after much consternation and navel-gazing I decided to go back to school and get another degree. No Blast, I decided against a doctorate. I do not have the literature background to skip along in those academic fields. There were no programs that truly grabbed my interest which would have worked out to pursue another degree at the Master's level. The bachelor's: ditto. Therefore, I regressed to the junior college for a computer information systems AAS. It was the least offensive of the options available. The upside is that I do not have to do the freshman nonsense. I can just take the program coursework at a leisurely three class load for the next three years. Nothing like cramming a two-year degree into three. All this while I wait for another college to pick me up as an adjunct in their Teaching English as a Second Language program. Anyway, that is the update.

Sounds like a good plan.
Sidenote: probably the dumbest thing I ever did was get my Ph.D.
-Blast

Is that because it can actually end up closing off career pathways?

Partially, but the main reason is my overall earning potential suffered. The extra five years I spent in school after the masters were five years without a paycheck or the wonderful effects compound interest has when started early. The difference in salary between an M.S. and a Ph.D. never made up for the loss.

One the plus side, I can actually use the line "Trust me, I'm a doctor."

-Blast

Surely there must be some sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with yourself for attaining a doctorate, isn't there? It seems to me not all rewards are monetary.

Early on, yes. But one soon realizes there's not a lot of respect for education and there's actually a pretty strong social stigma attached to having a Ph.D.

If I could do it over I would have been a pharmacist.

-Blast

Sorry to hear that. This stigma is absolutely not universal. In my world (both professional and private), a PhD is held in high reward. Or maybe that is just because I don't have one...

Any education and any efforts to improve your skills and knowledge is worthy of respect. Go for it, MoBob

As far as I can tell, a PhD is most useful if you want to teach in higher education or be some kind of academic administrator. Having worked in the higher ed industry for the first part of my career, I have been convinced that it's not for me.

In my wife's field, PhD's tend to earn the same, or LESS than someone with a MS - in her field, you are MUCH MUCH better off getting your MS, and spend the extra time getting an MBA

I would've become an investment banker until I could start up my own hedge fund or private equity fund. And then I'd eventually die and go straight to you-know-where.

I long had the dream of getting a PhD, too, but I stopped with a terminal Masters. To my disappointment, I just didn't see the benefits outweighing the risks/trade-offs. I agree that in many fields, a PhD doesn't mean as much as it used to. We're so profit-driven these days that a PhD just has a big price tag hanging around their neck in the eyes of employers compared to some fresh-faced kid that they can train on-the-job or some offshore outsourced worker.

And the value of basic research is way down, too. Nowadays, every endeavor has to have some sort of financial payoff, which basic research rarely does. I feel the same way about our appreciation of the arts.

I think it's so sad that the cream of the crop, say a graduating class from nearby CalTech, is going to get scooped up by Wall St. firms to help them essentially figure out ways to gamble with other people's money to generate more money, instead of actually advancing our knowledge, developing better things, etc. What a waste of our youth.

I have an engineering degree and specialise in semiconductor design. Pretty much as advanced as electronics gets. I would have earned way more as a banker and 30% of my fellow graduates went straight into the city.

If society continues to value moving money around more than it values creating better things then the cream will tend to head in that direction.

Happiness is what you make of it.

I started in the not-for-profit world, moved to marketing, got an MBA, became an investment banker, lost my job, got another one, and then quit and started my own company. While not a hedge fund, I do indeed manage money out of an office I set up in my home. I do a damn good job of it too. I also hope to not go straight to you-know-where, but I'm relying on my volunteer EMS work as insurance in that regard .

The thing is, in each of these jobs/careers, I was very happy. Until I wasn't, and then I moved on. The problem is, with each new degree attained, you have that much more invested, and likely that much more debt, and fewer earning years ahead of you. Before I started my own firm (which was less than three months ago, in the midst of this "great recession") I was sorely tempted to completely change my career path. But I realized that I could do the best for my family by continuing to do what I do well, but doing it in a way that maintains my quality of life.

That said, when I give advice to my sons, it will be the following: When you graduate high school, learn a trade. Become a plumber or an electrician. Once you've done that, and seen how the world works, go and get a liberal arts degree, maybe even part time while you continue to work. The degree will have more meaning. Then, go and be the smartest plumber in town, run the best plumbing business in town, have lots of other plumbers working for you, and spend lots of time with your family.