| Random points to consider: If you love learning, and are interested in the topic, stay in school. You'll not be able to focus as heavily when working. I've tried many times since I've left academia, and I've resigned myself to "OK, these topics are too heavy to learn with a job, need to focus on some other topics". For many (most?), academia is the only place to pursue one's passion and feel satisfied. Twice in my career I've gotten a job that aligns with my passions. Both were the worst jobs I've ever had. There's a lot more to a job than the technical side. I've found sexy topics often attract jerks, and the teams tolerate brilliant assholes. They often underpay. And since the job is challenging, keeping your job is tough (i.e. you may have to be more brilliant just to keep the job vs one that pays 50% more). Management doesn't respect you because it's a niche area and there are plenty of other people graduating who want to do "cool" stuff. Also, this may not be universal, but if you do go the "passion job" route, find out if they do a good job mentoring juniors like you. Most of the ones I've seen that were filled with PhDs saw people below them (including those with an MS) as grunt labor. They'd hand off all the boring work to them, and ensure they alone got to do the fun stuff. They didn't care about mentoring/teaching the junior folks. My best jobs have been the technically boring ones (paid well, very collegial coworkers, bosses that respected you, etc). If you didn't like your time in Amazon, I would say "Don't bother" - unless you really, really want it on your resume and are a lot more focused on maximizing income than pursuing your passion. > Should I stop bitching and be grateful for a role most other students at my university would want? You should go for what you want, not what others want. (Having said all that, be warned that I could write a separate comment on why not to do a PhD :-) ). |
I'm still currently applying as this is my last semester to new grad roles to see if I can get anything better. I think what I decided on (not sure if I'll feel the same way in 3 yrs) is to take the job offer and if I can't pivot or get a job I enjoy, I'll apply for a masters. Tbh I feel I don't know what I like or don't like due to my limited interactions with industry and as you said the grass is not always greener on the other side.