Every Master’s student in a research university would have had to face this question at some point during their stay. For some, it’s been a no-brainer. Not for me, it’s easily the most difficult decision I’ve ever faced in my life.
On one hand, there’s the opportunity to work for a corporation, draw a handsome salary and help millions of people today by writing great software. On the other hand, there’s the opportunity to spend the next 5 years of my life with just enough money to survive on ramen, working on a really hard problem no one knows the solution to and derive satisfaction from the fact that my work might help millions of people tomorrow.
Computer science is also one of those fields where getting a PhD doesn’t mean you have to become a professor. Not that I don’t enjoy teaching, as a matter of fact I love teaching, but it’s comforting to know that you can always go back to what you sacrificed. The fruits of research in computer science typically reach mass consumption much faster than other fields, and several silicon valley companies specifically target doctorates for recruiting. Not to mention, you could always dropout — aren’t a lot of great institutions founded that way? 
All of this tilts the scale a bit towards PhD, but this decision requires many more months of thinking! What are your thoughts on the matter? Have you had to make such a decision? What did you choose and why?
Am exactly in a similar situation. But most parts of my heart has already tilted towards a PhD, some parts still keep me in a dilemma. If I were 23-24 years old now, things would have been a bit different. But now, its a different scenario altogether.
Some of my friends from BE who have founded their startup are earning in lakhs per month with their turnover expecting to touch crores shortly. Some already have reached that landmark. When I rethink, I quit my job to do higher studies and get into “I will do what I want” mode for sometime. Now, just after Masters getting back to job, I would really hate myself if .. if .. if I ever get the feeling that “Damn, I should have done my PhD when I was 26″. Exactly the kind of feeling I have now for my Masters after 3 yrs of work experience. It is a lonely walk. Two roads diverge. Only time and circumstances will tell which road to take. Both can be the road less travelled
Sorry buddy. I have no answers here since I am in the same boat as yours. All the best.
Hi Anush, Here is my view on this.
Since you have got the thought of pursuing PhD, I think you should follow it up and leave the rest to your destiny.
It is indeed not an easy feat to accomplish, though I am sure you can do it. If so many others can do it, why not you.
Since the age factor is favourable to you at this point in time, why not give it a try? As you grow older, it is going to be increasingly difficult. And I am sure you are not in a hurry to earn money! Don’t ever think of doing a part-time PhD. It is exteremely difficult, especially if you want to earn the PhD from a good University.
A PhD is always handy, whether you are working in the industry or in research organisation or in an education sector.
If I know you well enough, I think you are not very theoretically inclined. Hence my advise would be for you to pick an applied research topic.
All the best.
I have a different view. When you do a PhD, it should not be on a project your prof believes in. That stuff should be for your Master’s Thesis. If you are doing PhD, its got to be your own conviction. So if you have a good job at a computer science organization, who strive to change lives today, and willingly take new research into their framework, you should do PhD in a related field. Join the corporation, start working on your ideas, and enroll at a neighboring university who are willing to support your ideas for your doctorate. Of course, that way you might take even longer for PhD, but it will be something real… The choice is yours, but the above is what I am seriously considering these days… (Only I dont have that opportunity at a organization yet, like you do) :p
Needless to say that all PhDs are always on a problem that the student deeply cares about — the amount of effort put into a doctorate is simply too much for a student to pull off if he wasn’t interested in the topic in the first place.
I also thought of another advantage on the side of PhD: A doctorate teaches you valuable life lessons that you wouldn’t normally learn in a job. Doctorates are some of the most patient, perseverant and determined people I’ve ever met with an attitude to life that’s hard to beat.
I’m still in my final year of BE, so my views stand a pretty good chance of being incorrect.
That being said, I think I’d like to finish my education like *I* want it to be, before getting into the industry. Creating something useful that millions of people will benefit from and care about is something you can do whenever you want to. A PhD stays with you your entire life. It tells people you know the subject like no one else in the world does. There *will* be a next Google. And I’m pretty sure something of that scale will come out from someone as deeply involved with the subject.
I still remember a part of that interview we’d taken of yours back in MNIT. You mentioned something about doing a Phd and then joining one of the IITs as a professor/teacher, and that you’d love to do so since you couldn’t join an IIT as a student.
Best of luck for your decision!
aHA! see i got here after tryin to pull a fancy pants trick – i thot lets work for a while and when we tire of the monotony, when we know the p.hd we want to do then lets go there…
NOw – i’m thinking p.hd or not? will live be hugely painful without one (in my field) or will it be a breeze after joining a UN-esque / branch etc etc… hmmmm – i am still thinking and somehow i am convinced unless i really want to jump head first into a p.hd i shouldnt try n do one…