Assalamualaikum.
Dear all, hope u guys are doing fine in the best of health and imaan :)
A worth reading article ^_^
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Source: GTI Media, a leading graduate careers media and research business
Doing a PhD is a strenuous undertaking; not something to be entered lightly.
The questions you should be asking yourself before commiting to a PhD programme are:
1.What sort of career do I want?
2.Do I have the elements to succeed?
3. Is this the best use of my time?
Going down the PhD path would take a lot of commitment, so not only should the interest be there but one should be prepared to put in the effort, be disciplined and be ready to make sacrifices like spending endless hours studying and researching.
Career Trajectory
The purpose of doing a PhD is to master a particular field to the extent that you are not only able to teach it to others, but also advance and extend the sum total of the knowledge in that field.
Commonly, PhD holders enter the world of academia. Being on the tenure track means that one has to teach, conduct research and publish regularly to be considered for tenured proffesorship. Do bear in mind that the academic world is cutthroat, saturated and fraught with uncertainty-and do not expect to be lucratively compensated.
Alternatively, a PhD holder could utilise his or her expertise by conducting research for corporations in the industrial marketplace, especially where the sciences are concerned. The obvious plus point are job stability, benefits and a generally decent salary.
One could also become an entrepreneur, using the knowledge and skills acquired during the PhD programme. For example, Google was started by two PhD students at Stanford, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, while they were working on the Stanford Digital Library Project. They are currently each worth an estimated US$16.7bil(at the time of this article written)-although bear in mind that neither ever actually completed their PhD.
Also, publishing, defence, consulting, management and finance jobs would provide a broader scope for a PhD holder to utilise his/her abilities.PhD holders can call upon hard skills uch as proficiency in independent research, data collection and data analysis techniques, and skills like critical thinking and reasoning-all trasnferable to a myriad of occupations.
Elements to Succeed
You should evaluate whether you are suited for the PhD by determining your strengths, weaknesses and motivations.
The PhD is essentially a labour of love. You must be passionate about the field you will be delving into for the next few years of your life. Without real passion for your subject, it will be hard for you to keep going when deadlines loom and experiments fail.
You should also have sufficient academic and intellectual capability-intelligence, creativity, adaptability-that is necessary to keep pace with your peers and supervisors.
You should also have the confidence, work ethic, discipline, focus, competitiveness and maturity to devote yourself fully to the pursuit and expansion of knowledge. The environment of the PhD is unlike that at undergraduate or Master's level. There is little structure, supervision or assistance, and you fully shoulder the responsibility of setting your own goals.
Calculate the Opportunity Cost
The final question you should be asking yourself is whether it would be worth your while to embark on three to five years of further study . And what is your career position in life, career-wise, and how would a PhD improve your future position?
Are you financially able to support yourself for three to five years without needing a full-time job? And is the target job market receptive towards PhDs?
You need to do research by talking to universities, current students, alumni and industry employers. You should also have a firm idea of your research topic and the direction you wish to take.
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Lastly, dont forget to renew our intention in every undertakings.
Lets hope to be the torchbearers for the Ummah, enlighten the future through the spirit of Islam.
May Allah help us in our journey.
Ameen.
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