| I finished my PhD in Comp. Sci. three years ago, majored in data mining - was tough, but enjoyed every bit of it. Soon as I finished, I wanted a job that wasn't fully research-based (I was a little bit tired of experimenting, coding and writing paper cycle), and I stumbled upon my current job. We are a start-up doing a fraud detection. It was all quite fortunate, since towards the end of my PhD, I got caught up in all the startup hype. Having said that, I think one of the main reason why I enjoy my current work environment was not because of the initial reasons of why I joined (I actually had to get this job, because it was in a different city where my fiancee lived, so job was just a good excuse to move) but the things that I have been able to do at work. When I joined it was quite terrible - writing Java 1.2 based applet on the browser with old Swing components (shudder). But I decided to scrap the entire platform and do the entire re-design and re-development of the platform during my spare time. I was able to get the prototype ready, using the latest Web stack and I presented to my CEO, which he loved. And ever since then, I've slowly implemented my "hacker" way of development into my work place. I do think about going back and researching some time in the future - I also just finished a journal paper with my previous supervisor and realised I missed it. I also sometimes think I'm 'wasting' my research or skillset I've acquired. But, I try to read up on research papers here and there, compete in data mining competitions here and there, enter hackathons, try to work with different people. Anyway, sorry for extending this story, but all in all, I'm happy, not necessarily because of the decision I've made, but what actually happened AFTER I've made the decision. French designer Pierre Cardin used to toss a coin to make a really really big decision and when someone said "why do you leave that to a chance?" and he replied - "so long as I commit to my decision, I'll be ok". (I think that's roughly how the story goes). I'm not sure if I helped. :) |
You mention this "wasting" thought, which I have too. But it's good to know that despite this, you are still very happy with your choice. I always wonder whether this thought is real, or implanted by interaction with all the people in academia. For them, of course, academia is "better". At least I hope it is :)