Getting my master's degree...

[Lindz85]

I currently work for a well known insurance company and they pay for college classes as long as it's related to the business.

Well, I got my bachelor's degree in Business Management and I am wanting to get my master's degree and then hopefully my PhD. I'm not happy with my job right now and I'm not sure that I want to continue to work here for the rest of my life.

I'm thinking that if I did get my PhD that I could be a professor. Anybody have any experience in this and can they tell me what are the pros and cons of being a professor?

Even if the professor idea doesn't work out, I am wanting to continue my education to open up more opportunities, so that I can move onto a different type of career. Does anyone know of different types of jobs tha I can get with an education in Business?

My ultimate goal in life is to end up with a rental property business. But that takes a lot of money and I want to have a good financial job to fall back on while I am starting that business up. And also have my education completed by that time too.

[kinetickid]

Jan 15, 2011 14:42:27 GMT -5 Lindz85 said:

I'm thinking that if I did get my PhD that I could be a professor. Anybody have any experience in this and can they tell me what are the pros and cons of being a professor?

My husband is a professor and I have several professor friends and colleagues. Jobs are extremely scarce in academia. Unless you're absolutely phenomenal at what you do (i.e., you publish quality work in high-impact journals, get your PhD at a prestigious institution, and are doing cutting-edge research for which you receive generous grants), your chances at getting a tenure-track gig are slim to none.

My husband has had three papers published in very, very well regarded journals (and several other published in very good journals), is a PI on a million dollar NSF focused research grant, and post doc'ed at one of the best programs in the country for his field. Even with all that, he's been asked to FIVE job interviews around the entire country. If we are lucky, he'll get one job offer at a decent, not prestigious, university.

Schools turn out way too many PhDs to place in professor gigs. Schools are inundated with CVs from prospective professors (like, 400-600 applications for each job opening).

Seriously, I wouldn't even consider trying to get a prof gig. You can get better paid, less pressure jobs just about anywhere else.

ETA:

I know countless underemployed PhDs in a whole range of fields. Many resort to tutoring, adjunct teaching--one of the worst jobs you can get, if you ask me--or working in completely unrelated fields. You'd be surprised at just how hard it is to get into academia.

[kygirl]

Jan 15, 2011 14:42:27 GMT -5 Lindz85 said:

I'm thinking that if I did get my PhD that I could be a professor. Anybody have any experience in this and can they tell me what are the pros and cons of being a professor?

Although I do not have my PhD, I do have an MBA, and teach part-time at a University. Have you looked into doing this? Sometimes part-time positions lead to full-time opportunities. Also, please keep in mind, that although it depends on the University, most professors actually don't make that high of an income.

[kinetickid]

Jan 15, 2011 14:56:50 GMT -5 @kygirl said:

Also, please keep in mind, that although it depends on the University, most professors actually don't make that high of an income.

True. Even with my husband's experience, background, and education, the best he can hope for, starting out, is in the low $80K range. Considering all the 6-figure jobs he could have had by now with his skills, it's not much of a payday.

[Lindz85]

Hmmm. Thanks KK, I was hoping I would get a response from someone who knew stuff about that. I have a friend who is going to get his master's and then his PhD and ultimately he wants to be a professor. I wondered how hard it would be to get into the field.

I had also thought about working for the government or the FBI. I have an extremely clean record, never done drugs, the biggest thing I have on my record is a speeding ticket. I know that the FBI can be hard to get into as well, one of my best friend's aunt works as an FBI Agent and so I know a little bit about it. Another friend whose brother works for the FBI as well and I know they do a very, very, very thorough background check. But I have nothing to hide.

I'm at a crossroads in life and I'm not very happy with the insurance field and having a desk job 40-60 hours a week. I wouldn't mind being at a desk sometimes, but I hate having someone looking over my shoulders and monitoring everything that I do. I'm thinking hard about what else I can look into and what will I be happy doing.

[Lindz85]

$80k is a lot for me right now. Especially considering I am making $45k and my company just announced they are cutting our pay by $10k in July. I will be making $35k in 6 months. I'm trying to save money up to start my rental property business and where I live, the $35k just isn't going to cut it.

[lurkyloo]

KK is right. It depends a lot on the particular field, but competition for academic jobs is extremely cutthroat, and being a professor is not an easy job--it's something you do because you really love a particular subject and want to spend ALL of your time on it. (Literally, six days a week and 10-14 hours a day is typical, at least in science.) Even then, you still have way too much to do: writing grants, planning and teaching classes, grading, committees, advising students on their research. It varies somewhat based on what level you're teaching at (community college, four-year college, research university) but it's trickling down and expectations are rising at all levels. Tenure, too, is a tricky beast. You work very, very hard for five or six years, and then it's pretty much a crapshoot whether you get tenure or have to go start over at a new school.

In my experience, a PhD tends to restrict your options a lot. The PhD job market is oversaturated, and now you're overqualified for a lot of other jobs. So, it's not enough to just squeak through. You have to really stand out. Getting a PhD is something you should do because you're really committed to and passionate about a subject, not because you have nothing better to do. (My experience: I did my undergrad at a top 15 university, PhD at a top 5 and postdoc at another top 5. Most of my classmates had at most one or two job offers (would-be industry and academic folks both), some of them job-searched for a year or more.)

Sorry to be so negative, but these are honestly things I would have liked to know myself, back in the day.

[Lindz85]

Lurkyloo,

Don't be sorry, I wanted to hear everything about it. So I can decide for myself what would work out best. It's best to know the pros and the cons. Thanks!

[kristi28]

I largely agree with Lurky - although the individual I know who failed to get tenure could never find another academic job. Just too much competition.

I was a tenure track professor in for five years. I ended up having to quit as the only way to be successful in academia is to devote a phenomenal amount of time to it. I was a slacker in that I usually only worked ~60 hours per week. And I was expected to work like that all summer, even though I did not receive any pay for the summer months unless I could get a grant to pay that.

If for any reason you don't get tenure, or just burn out before you get to your tenure review (in my case, I had to quit due to sick family members - my DH is also faculty, and we couldn't get everything done and have us both working 60+ hours/week), your future prospects include research positions, working at low caliber institutions (think $30-40k for teaching 4 classes per semester), or government.

Unless you are really top of the class, I wouldn't recommend it as a way of life. You can pour your heart and soul into it, along with all of your waking hours, and still be completely unsuccessful. There are so many factors that influence success that are outside of your control. I always tell people who are talking about academia that you need at least 2 of the following 3: (1) smarter than everyone else, (2) harder working than everyone else, and (3) better connected than everyone else.

I work part time teaching now - one of those "adjunct teaching" positions that KK loves so much. Full time teaching faculty (not tenure/tenure track) in our department make about $50k with lots of experience. I hope some day to be able to get one of those jobs.

[SVT]

Jan 15, 2011 15:04:26 GMT -5 Lindz85 said:

Hmmm. Thanks KK, I was hoping I would get a response from someone who knew stuff about that. I have a friend who is going to get his master's and then his PhD and ultimately he wants to be a professor. I wondered how hard it would be to get into the field.

I had also thought about working for the government or the FBI. I have an extremely clean record, never done drugs, the biggest thing I have on my record is a speeding ticket. I know that the FBI can be hard to get into as well, one of my best friend's aunt works as an FBI Agent and so I know a little bit about it. Another friend whose brother works for the FBI as well and I know they do a very, very, very thorough background check. But I have nothing to hide.

I'm at a crossroads in life and I'm not very happy with the insurance field and having a desk job 40-60 hours a week. I wouldn't mind being at a desk sometimes, but I hate having someone looking over my shoulders and monitoring everything that I do. I'm thinking hard about what else I can look into and what will I be happy doing.

Yeah, it is tough to get in the FBI. You need a TS/SCI w/ fullspope polygraph clearance. Hlaf of the applicants that get an offer, don't end up working there due to not getting the clearance. The polygraph is the biggest obstacle. I had an offer from them and started the clearance process over the summer. I didn't pass the first poly (very common) but ended up getting an offer from the agency that I wanted to get into before getting the FBI offer. It's closer to home, more money, and with a better agency. I still needed a TS/SCI w/ fullscope polygraph and received it about 3 months later. I passed the polygraph the first time though (not usual) and will be starting in a few weeks

The clearance process is very thorough and intense, especially if getting a high level clearance like a Top Secret/SCI w/ polygraph.

[bimetalaupt]

Jan 15, 2011 20:47:37 GMT -5 lurkyloo said:

KK is right. It depends a lot on the particular field, but competition for academic jobs is extremely cutthroat, and being a professor is not an easy job--it's something you do because you really love a particular subject and want to spend ALL of your time on it. (Literally, six days a week and 10-14 hours a day is typical, at least in science.) Even then, you still have way too much to do: writing grants, planning and teaching classes, grading, committees, advising students on their research. It varies somewhat based on what level you're teaching at (community college, four-year college, research university) but it's trickling down and expectations are rising at all levels. Tenure, too, is a tricky beast. You work very, very hard for five or six years, and then it's pretty much a crapshoot whether you get tenure or have to go start over at a new school.

In my experience, a PhD tends to restrict your options a lot. The PhD job market is oversaturated, and now you're overqualified for a lot of other jobs. So, it's not enough to just squeak through. You have to really stand out. Getting a PhD is something you should do because you're really committed to and passionate about a subject, not because you have nothing better to do. (My experience: I did my undergrad at a top 15 university, PhD at a top 5 and postdoc at another top 5. Most of my classmates had at most one or two job offers (would-be industry and academic folks both), some of them job-searched for a year or more.)

Sorry to be so negative, but these are honestly things I would have liked to know myself, back in the day.

OP,
I am with you and other but thought I would put a new Spin on MBA as the Masters based on two classmates I had that were also Aerospace Engineers. Both moved up with great jobs into the next salary range jobs. If he is good with numbers then MBA in finance or MIT has a global operation MBA could be great.

As far as I was concern I had degrees in Medical Microbiology and Pharmacy so the MBA took me and my firm into the next step in the income bracket.. Also the networking with other in my class was great. It was the little things I picked up like know to network that made it great. I have received about 16-18% return on my investment. 75% of my current investment have nothing to do with Pharmacy or Health Care but direct finance.It has opened up a whole new field for me and my family(son).

Wish him the best,
Bi Metal Au Pt

[bimetalaupt]

Today at 8:47pm, lurkyloo wrote:
KK is right. It depends a lot on the particular field, but competition for academic jobs is extremely cutthroat, and being a professor is not an easy job--it's something you do because you really love a particular subject and want to spend ALL of your time on it. (Literally, six days a week and 10-14 hours a day is typical, at least in science.) Even then, you still have way too much to do: writing grants, planning and teaching classes, grading, committees, advising students on their research. It varies somewhat based on what level you're teaching at (community college, four-year college, research university) but it's trickling down and expectations are rising at all levels. Tenure, too, is a tricky beast. You work very, very hard for five or six years, and then it's pretty much a crapshoot whether you get tenure or have to go start over at a new school.

In my experience, a PhD tends to restrict your options a lot. The PhD job market is oversaturated, and now you're overqualified for a lot of other jobs. So, it's not enough to just squeak through. You have to really stand out. Getting a PhD is something you should do because you're really committed to and passionate about a subject, not because you have nothing better to do. (My experience: I did my undergrad at a top 15 university, PhD at a top 5 and postdoc at another top 5. Most of my classmates had at most one or two job offers (would-be industry and academic folks both), some of them job-searched for a year or more.)

Sorry to be so negative, but these are honestly things I would have liked to know myself, back in the day.


OP,
I am with you and other but thought I would put a new Spin on MBA as the Masters based on two classmates I had that were also Aerospace Engineers. Both moved up with great jobs into the next salary range jobs. If he is good with numbers then MBA in finance or MIT has a global operation MBA could be great.

As far as I was concern I had degrees in Medical Microbiology and Pharmacy so the MBA took me and my firm into the next step in the income bracket.. Also the networking with other in my class was great. It was the little things I picked up like know to network that made it great. I have received about 16-18% return on my investment. 75% of my current investment have nothing to do with Pharmacy or Health Care but direct finance.It has opened up a whole new field for me and my family(son).

Wish him the best,
Bi Metal Au Pt

Read more: notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=finance&thread=1669&page=1#ixzz1BAD8S7SO

[kinetickid]

Jan 15, 2011 21:33:36 GMT -5 @kristi28 said:

I was a tenure track professor in for five years. I ended up having to quit as the only way to be successful in academia is to devote a phenomenal amount of time to it. I was a slacker in that I usually only worked ~60 hours per week. And I was expected to work like that all summer, even though I did not receive any pay for the summer months unless I could get a grant to pay that.

If for any reason you don't get tenure, or just burn out before you get to your tenure review (in my case, I had to quit due to sick family members - my DH is also faculty, and we couldn't get everything done and have us both working 60+ hours/week), your future prospects include research positions, working at low caliber institutions (think $30-40k for teaching 4 classes per semester), or government.

Very, very true.

Hubby, fortunately, has grant money to cover summer months, but grants aren't handed out like Halloween candy. Writing a proposal--especially if you're writing one with a group of people--is very time consuming; meeting all the research objectives while you have the grant is very time-consuming, too. Throw in teaching, mentoring, publishing, reviewing papers, attending departmental meetings, flying all over the world to give talks, etc., and you just don't have a lot of spare time.

Oh, and the grants could be pulled at any time due to budget cuts, so even a 3 year research grant isn't really guaranteed for three years.

Even when classes aren't in session (e.g. during breaks or the summer), Hubby still goes into work everyday. In his case, he doesn't work 60 hours per week--though, that really is what it takes to be successful in academia--but he's a complete freak of nature and shouldn't be regarded as a role model for aspiring profs.

That said, I want my PhD, but I have zero expectation of being a professor. I'll be more than happy to work for the government or industry, or even return to accounting . Getting a PhD really is a personal goal of mine; I'm going it because I love it.

[kinetickid]

Jan 15, 2011 21:42:56 GMT -5 SVT said:

Jan 15, 2011 15:04:26 GMT -5 Lindz85 said:

Hmmm. Thanks KK, I was hoping I would get a response from someone who knew stuff about that. I have a friend who is going to get his master's and then his PhD and ultimately he wants to be a professor. I wondered how hard it would be to get into the field.

I had also thought about working for the government or the FBI. I have an extremely clean record, never done drugs, the biggest thing I have on my record is a speeding ticket. I know that the FBI can be hard to get into as well, one of my best friend's aunt works as an FBI Agent and so I know a little bit about it. Another friend whose brother works for the FBI as well and I know they do a very, very, very thorough background check. But I have nothing to hide.

I'm at a crossroads in life and I'm not very happy with the insurance field and having a desk job 40-60 hours a week. I wouldn't mind being at a desk sometimes, but I hate having someone looking over my shoulders and monitoring everything that I do. I'm thinking hard about what else I can look into and what will I be happy doing.

Yeah, it is tough to get in the FBI. You need a TS/SCI w/ fullspope polygraph clearance. Hlaf of the applicants that get an offer, don't end up working there due to not getting the clearance. The polygraph is the biggest obstacle. I had an offer from them and started the clearance process over the summer. I didn't pass the first poly (very common) but ended up getting an offer from the agency that I wanted to get into before getting the FBI offer. It's closer to home, more money, and with a better agency. I still needed a TS/SCI w/ fullscope polygraph and received it about 3 months later. I passed the polygraph the first time though (not usual) and will be starting in a few weeks

The clearance process is very thorough and intense, especially if getting a high level clearance like a Top Secret/SCI w/ polygraph.

How do you "fail" or "pass" a polygraph? That is, do they just want you to be completely honest, or do they really want to know how "clean" you are/have been?

I mean, I've smoked pot before--though it's been a gazillion years. I would own up to it. I mean, does the government really care that I toked up with an ex-boyfriend when I was a senior in college???

[Lindz85]

KK,
I can't remember the specifics, but you cannot have done any drugs in your life. Except for marijuana, none in the last 3 years (I think?) and no more than something like 5 times in your lifetime. So, I guess the answer is no, if you did it once or twice with your boyfriend in college.

[SVT]

Jan 15, 2011 23:21:48 GMT -5 Lindz85 said:

KK,
I can't remember the specifics, but you cannot have done any drugs in your life. Except for marijuana, none in the last 3 years (I think?) and no more than something like 5 times in your lifetime. So, I guess the answer is no, if you did it once or twice with your boyfriend in college.

For the FBI, you can not have done MJ for the last 3 years, or any other drugs in the last 10. And you're also DQ'ed if you've ever sold drugs. Most of the other agencies that require a TS/SCI w/poly clearance (there are only a few for the most part) have the same general guidelines, with few exceptions. For instance, if you want to work for the DEA, you have to have a perfectly clean drug record. If you want to work for the IRS, you have to have a perfectly clean tax history.

[SVT]

Jan 15, 2011 22:58:45 GMT -5 @kinetickid said:

Jan 15, 2011 21:42:56 GMT -5 SVT said:

Yeah, it is tough to get in the FBI. You need a TS/SCI w/ fullspope polygraph clearance. Hlaf of the applicants that get an offer, don't end up working there due to not getting the clearance. The polygraph is the biggest obstacle. I had an offer from them and started the clearance process over the summer. I didn't pass the first poly (very common) but ended up getting an offer from the agency that I wanted to get into before getting the FBI offer. It's closer to home, more money, and with a better agency. I still needed a TS/SCI w/ fullscope polygraph and received it about 3 months later. I passed the polygraph the first time though (not usual) and will be starting in a few weeks

The clearance process is very thorough and intense, especially if getting a high level clearance like a Top Secret/SCI w/ polygraph.

How do you "fail" or "pass" a polygraph? That is, do they just want you to be completely honest, or do they really want to know how "clean" you are/have been?

I mean, I've smoked pot before--though it's been a gazillion years. I would own up to it. I mean, does the government really care that I toked up with an ex-boyfriend when I was a senior in college???

Basically, to pass, you can't exhibit any physiological responses, even though just because you do, doesn't mean you're lying. There's definitely some controversy with polygraphs. There are many people who fail polygraphs and are honest and there are many who pass who are lying.

It's a tool used for interrogation. The examiners do a number of things to make you nervous and to try to get you to produce a reaction. They want to feel you out and make sure you're not hiding anything. It's not the most fun way to spend 4 hours...

There are plenty of "horror" stories with Government employment polygraphs lol