Is Ph.D. right for you?

Should I enroll in a Ph.D. program? Is it hard to graduate? Is it very long? Can I graduate in 3 years? Will I get a decent job after graduating with a Ph.D.? Should I try for positions abroad or stay in India? Over time a lot of people, especially juniors in my circle asked me these questions and I usually have no helpful answers for them. So here's my attempt to sum my thoughts on a couple of issues and I will try to cover more topics in detail in upcoming posts.

Ph.D. is not a conventional professional degree. It offers you a lot but at the same time asks a lot of investment from you. First and foremost, it's a research degree. Comparing it with any other kind of professional degree or courses such as M.B.A., LL.B., C.A., M.D., and so on will be a mischaracterization. Although many of the skills you gain during a Ph.D. are straight away transferable to the industry, the nature of Ph.D. program is to develop skills to solve a very specific issue with extremely high precision. The whole point of getting a Ph.D. is to be able to access hidden knowledge by looking beyond the obvious. There's a method involved that is based on reason. Generally speaking, you will start with an area of work that may or may not have been broadly explored in the past. Then you will try to solve a problem that doesn't have a solution or needs optimization. This is where the fun begins. You will have to be resourceful to come up with new ideas. Now unless you're a genius of extremely high caliber or very lucky, it will take time and patience to be able to get some results of significance. I myself was furious pretty much all the time with not getting a single result of any worth. But slowly you'll learn to be patient and tactical. Stress is part and parcel of this career choice. You'll develop your own ways of attacking the problem. Eventually, you'll be able to crack the hard shell and peep inside. And this is what a Ph.D. is all about. Time is important but not the primary aspect of this path. Objective analysis will be your food and fodder. Take your time in creating value. It's not a race but a little competition never does any harm. The following words by Richard Feynman may offer some wisdom:

“Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough.”

Stay curious and get to it, but above all, have fun!