[nikofeyn]

however, there are certain jobs that a ph.d. will basically catapult you into a senior position as soon as you are hired, and it will do so at the expense of people with just a bachelor's or master's degree. i have seen people titled "senior research scientist" and put into management roles despite having just graduated in the same year. in other cases, having a ph.d. will give you large amounts of responsibility (good for career growth) right off the bat, despite having much, much less experience than already hired colleagues with only master's degrees. why is that? well, some people, cultures, companies, labs, etc. still hold the ph.d. quite high in their mind and heart, despite what they may say. these are the places that think a ph.d. gives someone the ability to manage not only technical aspects (that somewhat makes sense) but also people, projects, system design, etc. (that often doesn't make sense).

so basically, in the end, there is no golden rule.

[leoedin]

Everywhere I've worked incoming grads with PhD's have ended up somewhere similar to the 2-year experience mark in seniority. Some have come in and quickly ended up with a lot of responsibilities, others have basically ended up as fresh grads. I think it's more due to personality than the skills a PhD give you though.

[doggydogs94]

In a job where original thinking is involved, the individual with a PhD has has already proved that they are capable of original research; after all, that is what a PhD is. The MS person still has to prove that they can do original research.