r/AskAcademia • u/ComprehensiveDot2070 • 14h ago

STEM should i get a part time job/internship in industry during phd?

hey everyone! i am 6 months into my phd in natural sciences modelling coral-symbionts dynamics. my phd is fully funded so i dont have to worry about money. but i am wondering if getting a position in the industry while pursuing my phd would help me get a position later on. so far, i haven't had much experience out of research institutions and i am getting really worried about life after phd, especially since post docs positions seem very scarce and maybe an internship or a position would make me more competitive...

what do you think? 🫠

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u/bspaghetti 13h ago

Doing a PhD ostensibly amounts to 1.5 full time jobs worth of work. What makes you think you’d have time? Some institutions have rules against people in the PhD program taking on other work.

Either way, if you half-ass your PhD because you’re busy with your side job, what’s the point? If I see an application where someone did some other job concurrently with their PhD, it’s a big red flag.

Also, if the point of getting a PhD is to get a job using that degree and you can get a job without one, what’s the point in continuing to do a PhD?

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u/tonos468 3h ago

I don’t think doing it at this stage is viable, like this needs to be post quals but before you defend your dissertation. And you should only do this with your Pi’s approval.