/sci/ - Science & Math

Sneed

>PhD asks for excellent language skills in English and one or more other languages
>am an English-only peasant
Should I apply anyway?

>>15272568
What stem degree should I do? I'm 22 and have no degree but I have to apply for something this year, I was looking into engineering degrees since they appear to have the most stable career paths but I think I may be too dim for such a course. My main interest would be genetics but I don't see any money in that and most people I've asked about it in such a field or related one say it pays very poorly and they regret it. I've been thinking about this for a year since my existential crisis and still have no idea of what to do with my life in this regard. I have to do something and if I'm going back into education I want it to be worth it and not a waste of time. This has caused me great turmoil as I've been in a rut for the past few uears and want to get my act together.

>>15272843
Genomics is like genetics but you can work from home. How shitty a paycheck are you prepared to accept for that luxury?

25 yrs old, biology bachelor. Been working as a biomedical tech for 3 yrs, want to move into health informatics. Acquired two certificates for Epic, but fuck it's tough to get my foot into the door.

Any recommendations for other certificates/positions to pursue? I just want to earn enough to be comfy & remote.

>>15272843
you don't need to be a genius to get an engineering degree, you could do it if you applied yourself

as long as you get like a 3.0 GPA and get some internships it's basically a guaranteed middle class life ticket, my first job out of school paid 80k in an MCOL area which was already really comfortable

>>15272843
>My main interest would be genetics but I don't see any money in that
CRISPR has brought in a new era. It is high risk but could pay off.

>>15272568
Ive been working as a hospital lab assistant for a couple years now while going to school. The entire experience has soured me on med school and healthcare jobs in general. I started applying to engineering programs last week. Everyone from the techs to nurses and doctors are assholes and you see a level of incompetence and apathy that will make you look at hospitals as death factories. MLS degrees are definitely more useful than plain Biology degrees but the pay is kinda ass unless you travel.

>>15272797
Fuck it, go for it. The research and working language will be English anyway. The only place they could force another language is teaching

>>15272843
Don't do stem because you want to do stem. Pick a subject because you are interested in that subject.
>money
Don't do a degree because you want money, it's not worth it. Pay isn't that bad once you get past postdocs or you go into industry. Lot of industry options for genetics too.
>too dim
Doesn't exist, just ask questions and study harder. Nothing in stem is that difficult once you've been trained to do it and that's part of what a degree is for.

Employers in the Detroit metro area (Troy, Pontiac, etc) hiring math majors?

>>15273611
>Doesn't exist, just ask questions and study harder. Nothing in stem is that difficult once you've been trained to do it and that's part of what a degree is for.
God I wish

t. Sub 110 IQ retard

>>15272797
If it's the benelux region then they might actually hold you to that requirement, but either way just go for it and apply it won't be a factor if you're a good candidate otherwise

>>15272843
Since you don't know what you want to do (yet) I'd recommend picking a pretty broad field. Applied mathematics can get you into almost any field you like, with the caveat that you have to put up with more math courses. Industrial engineering (engineering management) is also a good pick, since it's a mix of STEM and non-STEM you can go for a less technical career if you figure out that you don't actually enjoy it.

So I'd pick applied mathematics if you're dead-set on a career in STEM, otherwise industrial engineering if you want to keep as many options open as possible

>>15273636
yes

>>15273823
hey, im interested in numerous things. im pretty smart >130 iq

im split between physics or electrical eng

for physics im more interested but electricam eng im thinking of weapons development etc
IDK what to do

Most retards who fall for the "weapons development" meme go for aerospace.

>>15273881
Depends on what you want to work on. IQ doesn't factor much into it, but what little you've written isn't much to go off of, since both fields are very broad.

Look up the physics and EE programs' respective curriculums at the colleges you're applying to. See what different tracks/specializations there are.

>>15272843
You do realize you won't get a job in genetics without at least a masters right? Plus jobs in most non CS related stem fields are pretty scarce or low paying.

You should also drop the le stem meme if you don't know what you truly want. Just do IT/comptia since anyone with an iq of 90 can do that shit plus the jobs are comfy af and I don't mean this to look down on you.

Don't do stem just because it seems "prestigious" or you want to impress mommy. Money doesn't seem to matter much either once you're mature enough

>>15274355
EE programs have specializations in automation, cybernetics, and sensor systems. There is also subsea specializations.

Physics specializations are more varied depending on masters thesis or phd program accepted.
I see positions in fluid dynamics, meteorlogy or climate physics, quantum computing, cosmology/general relativity, particle physics

>>15272843
Do maths, statistics or computer sciences with a specialization in things like big data, machine learning, cyber security... I am 22 too and I am finishing a double degree in law and business management, it has been mostly useless but I couldn't see all this when I was 18. Most people will get replaced by robots and AI and will barely subsist on goverment gibs, the rest will be people that have studied maths or computer sciences and business owners.

>>15274377
Well there you go. Pick the specialization that you think sounds the most interesting and/or fun (and where there's some job market)

>>15273823
It's a university in The Netherlands, but I'm pretty sure they have a few degrees in English, so maybe I'll be fine.
My Master's supervisor did her PhD there and speaks Greek, but I can't imagine she taught in it.

Recently finished my master in biology and want to pursue a phd, im struggling however for what to go for. Theres an open position at my former uni where i know a few ppl and i probably have good chances of getting it, however im afraid to box myself in on plant research. I can get into every research topic so motivation over the 3-4 years isnt the problem but id like to know how important the research topic of your phd is for your further career (preferrably in the industry but academia not excluded).

I don't have yet a precise idea on how I want to do my doctorate. I am interested in statistics and ML, but am hesitating between studying them on a more theoretical approach, or doing an ML doctorate applied to a given subject I love outside math (climatology, audiovisual production, art, astronomy). The thing is I'm afraid not to make the right choice careerwise if I go for something too theoretical or something too applied in a subject not that much accessible for most jobs in the private sector. Is a middle ground solution possible where I can do an applied doctorate on one given subject but then regularly change my study subjects throughout my career, or do a theoretical doctorate that would still give me the chance to go to the private sector if I get tired of academia and not applying my ML knowledge concretely?

>>15272568
Starting my bachelor's to go into med school, I wanted to play life on hard mode and do a BS in ME but the only two colleges nearby don't offer ME or EE. My other option would be a BS in physics or a BS in nursing. Are there any good majors that will be as mentally stimulating and satisfying as engineering?

>>15275089
Perfect woman in vid. Cept those shorts need to be a bit shorter.

>>15275089
if you want to go into med school why not something topical like bio?

>>15272568
28, Bachelors in bio, making 82k Canadian in manufacturing but absolutely loathe my job. Seriously considering a career pivot into something different. So 2 questions:

1. Who here really enjoys their field and has decent job security? I'm so burnt out I feel like it is impossible to enjoy paid work, and I could use a reality check.
2. Any recommendations for certificates/diplomas/masters that might be a good pivot? Just trying to brainstorm. I find human health and mechatronics/electrical stuff interesting. I can do well socially, but generally prefer non-customer/citizen facing-roles (ex. would rather be working on a computer or machine all day than working with patients).

>>15275089
>satisfying as engineering
lol

You're either going to be satisfied with engineering and not go to med school or make yourself miserable for 4 years while you question your life choices.

Why not BME. Practically how does ME help you in med school and not just make every admissions person assume you don't have a comparable background (they just won't, sorry)

>>15275061
You can try to do an industry sponsored PhD, then it's the best of both worlds, at least half of your research will be more applied to whatever it is they're doing and the other half you can pursue more freely. A lot of times what companies will do is instead of starting a new R&D division they'll get some PhD students to do it for them to test the waters. Sounds like it could suit you.

>>15275134
90% of the reason I enjoy my work is because I only work 20-30 hours a week. Comfy R&D job, "hybrid" (i.e. as remote as I want it to be) so I spend about 15 hours a week at the office. Even though I love the field I think it would take it's toll if I had to work 40+ hours a week + commute every day.

>>15275177
That's a good situation anon, mind if I ask what you do for work? Yeah that's a problem I'm encountering now. Where I live, my commute is about 1hr 15 mins per day (both ways), but if I wanted to take less stressful jobs I'd have to commute at least 2 hours a day to the nearest big metro area. That's why I'm even considering respecializing...so I'm not totally bound to the big metro areas.

>>15275197
Working at big corporations means working in a big metro area. The positive though is that the company is so big you can often slide by with doing very little.
Working at a smaller company in a more rural area is nice. You will mog 95% of people in town with your society and can actually afford land. However, the company is small enough that you will constantly be expected to perform and people are actually counting on you to be productive, and there's no where to hide. So it's a different type of stress.

>>15275197
I'm a "data scientist" at a scaleup, but my day-to-day work is hardly any ML so it's a bit of a misnomer imo. I mostly work with optimization algos and heuristics, but most of those are already pretty optimized so it's usually just looking at whatever edge case management cares about at the moment and doing some statistical evaluations on it.

Working at scaleups is comfy, usually very liberal with how much remote/hybrid work they let you do, but then again you have less job security as the company might cease to exist in a few years. However once you get into one scaleup it's really easy to jump to another one, they REALLY like hiring people with experience from similar companies (even if the tech stack is wildly different).

I have the same problem with the commute, I can't afford to live centrally, so my current arrangement is 1h45min commute in each direction but I only go 2-3 days a week and then I can live much more comfortably outside the city itself. Ofc I have a lower salary because of this, but all in all I make more by not having to spend over half my salary in rent.

>>15275228
Yeah its a trade off. If I were to move to the big metro, any salary increase would be offset but increased CoL. I might find a more enjoyable work environment though. 12+ hours of communing a week would be hard for me to stomach ATM, also 7k+ a year on just gas. Out of the two opposites, I think I'd prefer the latter, assuming the local company doesn't work me to the bone.
>>15275360
I actually sit next to a guy who sounds like he's in a similar situation. He straight up told me he only works like 2-3 hours on a given day, and he's working on his masters in ML/Data Sci right now. That commute situation sounds like a happy medium, I'm in a similar spot where even if I make 10-12k more, it all gets offset by gas and tax.

>>15275104
Because I've spent the first 30 years of my life building things, designing things, working on all things mechanical/electrical...etc since I was a literal child. I just figure it as something I'm passionate about, already have a solid understanding of and besides the calculus hazing shouldn't be terribly hard to do. It's like a personal goal, something that I can look back upon in the future to show myself I've accomplished something in life.

How will gpt-4 or its further iterations affect stem?

>>15275144
My mind won't be set on doing it until I'm signed up for it, but it's straying towards that path. I have no delusions on the difficulty, I'm just trying to do something different but still passionate about.

In all honesty I did think about BME before but from everything I've heard you might as well just go ME with the extra bio and ochem classes. I really want to get into making DNA specific body parts/organic body component manufacturing but I feel I'm not smart enough for that level of science.

I'm choosing med school because I have a Natura talent for biology and I like helping people feel better, plus it'll pay for a solid lifestyle.

>>15274782
research topic is important for industry on the basis that certain experimental techniques/protocols are highly desired by industry.

the most important thing for a career in academia is how good your advisor is

Is the US really that bad?
Finishing a euro physics PhD, applying for postdocs and my best options are between a euro university and a national lab in the states.
Both have great supervisors, pay well and do research I'm interested in but everything I hear about American academia is nightmare-fuel and if I stay in Europe I don't have to fuck around with a visa.

>>15275722
It will eat away at the low end job market, but for the higher end it will be used to prepare cases and provide boilerplate work. So illustration work and stock photo vendors will be in trouble, while genuine artists will not have a problem. Those will be the first to feel it, and they fear it already. Early on people expected drivers would be the first to lose their jobs but that didn't go as expected.

In my work, when I get a new client, there is a lot of tedious routine work to be done. An Ai could probably do it, or at least prepare it. This means there are many opportunities for startups to automate tedious stuff.

>>15274782
For industry and academia the topic of your PhD has a role. If you get a post-phd job in that same area then you need much less time to train up and start producing useful output. What is much more important is the skills you gain on that PhD, familiarity with certain machines or techniques.
>>15275872
This anon is right too, a good advisor really makes the difference.

I've got 3 offers from great companies or +- equal terms and I can't pick one
what do?

>recruiter calls me about a job that sounds perfect for me, effectively a direct next step from my current position
>"now one thing they say is essential is do you have experience with <technique only maybe 3-5 manufacturers in the entire country would use>"
>n-no
>"oh ok, well I'll let you know next time something comes up"
>this is the 3rd time this has happened
I hate Australia so much

>>15275872
>>15276218
thanks for the insights! so considering the position i was talking about would probably consist of making western blots and confocal microscopy for a few years its best to avoid it. when you talk about a good advisor are you talking about one that is involved in your project and determined to teach you or one that has a good reputation and a larger research group, who probably doesnt have a lot of time to take care of you?

>>15276486
Yes I would avoid that position if you get something better. If not you could use it as a stepping stone because it will still give you more research experience.

You want an advisor that has a good reputation and is also involved in your project which will indirectly lead them to benefit your career (you will get more networking opportunities, more resources, project is likely to be high impact etc.) It's easy to get into the lab of a big name advisor, but harder to predict how much they support you. You can talk to members of their group to try and figure out which projects the advisor is more excited about, or you can try to figure out if any of their bigger grants will be supporting your potential project.

>>15276486
A good advisor is the former, one who is determined to help you in your research and make sure you succeed.

Hey guys, undegrad majoring in physics here. Although I like physics, I've come to realize that I'm more interested in cs/programming/*nix and cryptography and that whole shebang. Once I get my degree I will want to pivot to something cs-related. Do you guys have any advice for what I should do now? I've still got three years till I get my degree.

I'm interested in too many things, and I've got to learn too many things but I've got no time :( Thinking of following https://teachyourselfcs.com/ and using Serious Cryptography to learn cryptography, while getting familiar with the Python stdlib by doing random challenges/projects from a /g/ image. And all of this has to happen parallel to coursework :/

>>15277005
yo, cs and cryptigraihy is boring as shit. the most excited i know in that field is ROP to exploit binaries (literal leet haxor shit)
other than that physics trumps everything

I'm acing all of my exams but I brain dump everything I've learned afterwards. If I were given the same exam I took weeks ago, I probably wouldn't get the grade I did the first time around. Is this bad?

>>15272568
23 yrs old Industrial Engineer here, been thinking about doing a masters/specialization in Big Data or Data Science, I'm also interested in statistics and physics, which also makes me want to go for a physics degree. So I'm not 100% sure which route should I take.

>>15277221
Nah, its fine your just supposed to be good enough to be able to pick it back up quickly. No one expects you to remember all of it, but it should be like riding a bike when you revisit the material.

any last minute tips before an coding interview? I have one tommorow at noon

>>15276211
American with PhD from Germany here.
Post-docs at national labs will generally be better paid than post-docs in a uni. group. You'll be able to negotiate better salary as well.
If your intention is to go into industry or to obtain a full-time position at a larger research facility, post-docs at national labs will be generally considered more valuable than a post-doc from a university group because the working environment and scope of the tasks is much bigger. You will be exposed to a larger array of roles (from funding/project management with lab leadership to coordinating the tasks of technicians) and will generally be working on more impressive or well-known projects.
If I'm hiring for a company or some other larger organization, I want the postdoc who already has experience with multiyear projects and worked in a larger organization with many professional levels and significant resources. I don't want the dork who moved to another small university group and continued doing paper-per-year research while "managing" a couple of PhD students. University group post-docs often look like extended PhDs, and many of the university group post-docs I've worked with simply didn't want to leave that environment.
A post-doc in a university group should either a political move (i.e. there is a good chance you will be considered for a tenure-track position at that uni. after a couple years or the prestige of this one group could get you a tenure-track somewhere else) or something that you desperately want to do because the topic is really that interesting to you (you're a stupid autist if that's the case and I can't help you).
Since I got my PhD in Germany, I get the anxiety and annoyance of the visa stuff. You should ask how that will be handled. If it's a one-time process that allows you to work worry-free for multiple years, that's not so bad. In my case, I had to reapply for a visa every 6-12 months for 5 years and I would never do that shit again.

>>15277245
Industrial engineering major with a data science master here, almost finished with my masters.

IE + DS is such a good combo, I get interviews so easily (also don't bother specializing in BD just take a course or two in it, that's what I did).

Super easy to pivot into more management consulting or more data science, I had a spontaneous interview today for a data science + product analyst role, do it faggot.

years later still can't believe i kneecapped myself by doing MechE

>>15277454
what's wrong with mech E?

>>15272843
always, always, always, do the engineering undergrad.

if you like physics or math or biology or chemistry or whatever the fuck else, thats cool but guess what? you need a masters+ to do anything relevant in that field and make more than an actual engineer. do one of the holy trinity of engineering (mechanical, electrical, civil) and take some choice electives to set yourself up for a masters in what you really want to do. if it turns out you are a turbo shitter and can't hack it in academia then at least you have a reliable degree to go turn a buck and support yourself. if you can hack it, then you are only MAYBE a semester or two away from being able to bounce into your masters of choice.

just bricked my Meta interview
do I kill myself?

>>15277005
Any interest in quantum cryptography? If you want to stick with the physics route that's a growing field.
Other than that does your course have any computing modules? Mine had numerical simulation and computational fluid dynamics as optionals and couple of friends went from those into computing and programming.

>>15277221
Nah it's fine, learning it again will be easier the second time and anything you really need you'll use over and over again and learn that way

>>15278678
Lmao imagine applying to meta

>>15278967
i need the visa to get out of my shithole and FAANG is always really keen on giving them

>be grad student
>working on power grid project in a real substation
>nothing goes wrong for 3 months
>fat pajeet helps out for 30 seconds one day
>hit a switch and causes a mini blackout
welp, guess I'm not getting recommendations from these people

Engineering sucks man.
All the jobs want hyper-specific skills and knowledge that are directly pertinent to their little project, but then you get hired and they don't want to pay you as a specialist, they want to pay you like a generalist.

>>15279607
don't worry, research is only worse

I went into field service after college and now I realize I fucked myself. It's virtually impossible to get out of. My resume goes directly into the trash unless it's for another field service job. Many of my colleagues don't even have a bachelor's degree. I'm considered a glorified technician. I went through 4 years of college just to be basically a blue collar wagie doing shift work in a factory. I honestly did not understand what I was signing up for and now I'm trapped.

>>15273647
>study harder
Just do it

>>15279607
Yup, it's the reason why companies are bitching and moaning about it being hard to acquire talent while at the same time people are struggling to get hired even with degrees.
They rather hold out for the perfect candidate than take a risk or take someone who's just "good enough" for the job. The only exception to this is when the company (usually scammy startups) do a hiring spree just to pump up the employee numbers.

>>15275739
You seem quite delusional but chase your dreams I guess.

>>15277221
Review the content you have previously covered. The more you revisit it the more you will retain.

>>15278993
It's maang now

>>15279852
It's like unless you are a proven quantity with a PhD and 15 years experience in their exact specific project arena, then they just assume you are an untrainable idiot.

>>15280079
And even with the PhD and 15 years of experience they'll still pay you like an untrained idiot. Looking at job postings is suicidefuel, it's literally PhD + 5 years experience for an entry level position do these people know what entry level even means anymore

What are good PhD degrees for someone who wants to work in a high level gov lab?

Good English med school programs that don't require the mcat? I looked at Japan and they seemed cool, some places in Europe too.

So is the STEM job market just dogshit now?
It's like everyone is asking for PhD level education just to come in at a barely middle-class salary level.

>Why yes, blessed job creator employer, I did 10 years of university and took on $100k of debt just to make $90k per year in San Diego.

>>15276465
>"now one thing they say is essential is do you have experience with <technique only maybe 3-5 manufacturers in the entire country would use>"
>>15279607
>All the jobs want hyper-specific skills and knowledge that are directly pertinent to their little project
>>15279852
>Yup, it's the reason why companies are bitching and moaning about it being hard to acquire talent while at the same time people are struggling to get hired even with degrees.
>They rather hold out for the perfect candidate than take a risk or take someone who's just "good enough" for the job
>>15280079
>It's like unless you are a proven quantity with a PhD and 15 years experience in their exact specific project arena, then they just assume you are an untrainable idiot.

I know this is as anecdotal as it gets, but I'm relieved I'm not the only one going through this.
Just what is going on here, something is seriously wrong - we can't all be this bad as candidates

>>15280247
Missed these

>>15280116
>Looking at job postings is suicidefuel, it's literally PhD + 5 years experience for an entry level position do these people know what entry level even means anymore
>>15280207
>It's like everyone is asking for PhD level education just to come in at a barely middle-class salary level.
>>15280208
>>Why yes, blessed job creator employer, I did 10 years of university and took on $100k of debt just to make $90k per year in San Diego.

Are we all sameposting? Or is this my selection + reverse survivorship bias?

>>15280252
Is there an option to be an independent evil scientist and sell secrets to governments? Asking for a friend.

>>15280247
I've been on the other end where we desperately needed a new hire but the requirements the manager put out meant that after months we still had only 2 interviews, 1 of the 2 we got word from someone who used to work with him that he sucks and the remaining 1 guy decided to move to another country to get paid more for less tax. In the end they just closed the role and we kept being overworked and underpaid. Why do you think I'm so desperately looking for a new job now?
Again, fuck Australia. Do not try to be a scientist in this country.

Dude if I did a PhD in a hard science I expect to be upper middle class. Not living out of my fucking car in California. It's like they want highly educated peasants. What is the point of this? Last I heard the money supply is through the roof, how can wages be this shit?

Don't know if the same applies to other fields, but at least in AI the problem why PhD pay is so shit is that there's too many people that want to be a researcher and it's completely oversaturated
Everyone wants a title before their name and "scientist" in their bio, but you only need a couple of people with ideas and 50 times more people that will implement them
You can just look at e.g. microsoft job postings, requirements for research interns are PhD, few years of research experience, publications in top conferences, knowledge about some specific domain etc.
ML engineer requirements? bachelor and 2-3 years of experience
and out of the two, the latter has higher pay

>>15277303
dont do it. do anything else but being a code monkey

Which STEM field(s) should I pursue if I don't want to be replaced by AI/automation?

>>15272568
Biology BS jobless as of this moment although recent grad.

I'm American, turning 20 soon and going to finish my BS in biochemistry this summer. I hate my major and have been getting Cs in all my upper divs because of it. I have no idea what I want to do. Around 1.5 years ago I realized I much prefer engineering to my shit major but my uni has an insular and selective engineering school that doesn't allow juniors-up to transfer into it. Here are paths I've looked at:

-premed: no longer viable really since my GPA is well under 3.5, downward trend for a while and probably gonna keep going down also I think I would hate medicine

-industry big pharma or biotech: My original plan before I realised I'm not gonna deal with getting a PhD. I'd also have to get a masters because I could only see myself in non-menial scientist jobs, and I dislike what I'm studying right now already. I also don't really love wet lab work and would probably hate myself if I had to do it my whole life.

-get an engineering degree: I'm quite sure I would enjoy engineering. All my hobbies and interests relate to engineering. I did well in my physics classes, at least. However, idk wtf I would even do. I don't think masters programs would take me being a Biochemistry BS. Like, I could take sophomore-tier engineering classes at a low-tier state school first? Has anyone tried something like this?

-Become a pilot: I've looked at piloting as a career for a while. I don't know how I'm going to pay for my CPL, though.

Any tips for a retard who blew his chances?

>>15280727
industrial automation. you'll be the ones telling the robots what to do

>>15280788
have no idea desu I had the same realizations/experiences/epiphanies you did during my biology bs. Sciences just literally have no jobs especially at the bachelors level. Masters are basically glorified bootcamps 3-6 months of content or 1 year not the same as a bachelors and not respected or hard as phd(also extra money for masters like 20-30k maybe more). Same was interested more in math/cs/physics stuff boat sailed though. Agree with you on also hating lab work as well. Anyways you'll just have to find a job and try to break into industries with experience. 40-60% of college grads don't do jobs for the degrees they majored in. As for what job you should find and what industry no fuckin clue it will be 9 to 5 though rest of your life.

>>15277802
low salaries, excelmonkey work, boring job locations, limited opportunity for remote/hybrid

>>15280929
>>15277454
what would you have done instead?

How do I get a job working for a sub-80 iq greasy daygo businessman?

>>15280283
If you want to chance a very long sting in federal penitentiary, please go for it.
The secrets you will be selling will belong to someone, who will not be happy about what you're doing, and rightfully so.

We may dislike the leviathanic nature of modern government, and we are also within our rights, but doing what you suggested will not make you better than them, or give you the life you wish you had.

>>15280339
>the requirements the manager put out meant that after months we still had only 2 interviews
>In the end they just closed the role and we kept being overworked and underpaid

I can relate, I keep being swerved by companies looking for people with profiles very similar to mine, and the openings stay up for months...

>Why do you think I'm so desperately looking for a new job now? Again, fuck Australia. Do not try to be a scientist in this country.

Good luck, friend - I've been seeing many of your compatriots try their luck abroad, hope it gets better.

>>15280874
Engineering is getting to the same point where all the jobs at the bachelor's level is just glorified technician work and they want at least a master's before they will let you have a real job.

From what little I've observed here psychology gets shat on in terms of positive employment outcomes, risk/effort vs reward and is generally seen to be a career in which one suffers.
Why so?

I'm a 2nd year psychology student in Australia, and yes the vast majority of the classes are filled with utter fucking idiots which doesn't bode well for the subject and is a good indicator of the idea that smarter people pick better courses. But through networking with some of the more switched on psych students, and people working in careers such as organizational and clinical psychology, it's not a career that's difficult to be hired in and has very fair pay.
As a sucker who wants to improve the world, I feel as though solving people's mental health problems such as depression and anxiety that make people almost totally useless is a beneficial sacrifice for the good of society, and you get paid a decent amount to do so.
What are others thoughts on psychology as a degree? Is it worthwhile to study?

>>15276465 >>15280339 >>15281185 >>15281862
We had a question earlier if Australia is the country where scientific careers go to die. Can we now answer this in the affermative?

>>15272568
What engineering disciplines are in high demand, at least in USA/CAN? I keep hearing that there is a substantial need for civil, and geotech. Never know what to trust online though...

>>15281862
>What are others thoughts on psychology as a degree? Is it worthwhile to study?
I went to uni in Australia 10 years ago and back then people used to say psychology degrees are a pathway to being a taxi driver.
I doubt it's changed much.

i liked my linear algebra course and enjoy programming in c++. what are some jobs where i will be programming and using linear algebra?

>>15282079
US americans need our wages suppressed so we're always in need of engineers in all the fields.

>>15272568
>graduate in STEM
>go through process of applying to all jobs that don't sound like complete dogshit.
>can't even get a measly call back.
>even entry level positions are asking for 1-2 years of experience.
>basically been underemployed for a year now.
Fuck. So isn't there any further accreditation I can get besides my sole B.S.? Another feather in my cap so to speak? Some sort of certification, or technical/skill oriented training program that wouldn't break my bank like you'd find in the trades, or a programming boot camp?

I guess furthering my education and going for a masters would be an option to, but I don't want to incur any more debt at this point when I'm still fucking broke.

My biggest hurdle now seems to be getting more hands on practical experience but I can't even get hired to get the fucking experience. My meme degree is cellular and molecular bio btw.

>>15272568
Why is grad school so painful bros? The stress from deadlines is killing me and I'm not able to put forward my best work.
I also cry.myself to sleep at least once every two weeks.

>>15272568
I've been selected for a Zoom interview with my #1 master's program.
How do I make a good impression?

>>15283061
I was going to start my master's program and January but I saw the price of tuition and shit my pants and chickened out and dropped all the courses.
Now I wish I had just stayed enrolled I could be 1/4th done with a fucking masters in a few months. Fuck.
I NEED to escape the US but a BSEE isn't even considered a real degree anymore, especially not in Europe.

>>15282854
Here in Canada, community colleges offer post-graduate certificates for university degree holders who are looking for practical skills and to expand on what they learned at uni. I'm sure they have equivalent programs in the U.S.

>>15283979
>NEED to escape the US
Are you a moron, i.e., a bernie-voter or democrat? Why on earth do you find Europe to be superior to the US? You do realize that the standard of living for professionals here is 1/2 to 3/4 of that in the US, and we do not have a culture of liberty.

If you enjoy riding the bugpod (bus), getting taxed out the ass to feed an endless and inefficient bureaucracy ("muh free healthcare" and other equally idiotic shit), getting fined for speaking your mind (free speech is not a concept euroshits understand, not even the french) or needing 1000 licenses to buy a firearm (carrying it in public is banned for the plebs), you should move here.

If you want to reap the fruits of your labor and live in the least dystopian and least nanny-state society on this planet, stay in the US.

>>15284131
You sound like a Euro who doesn't realize how good he has it. Come with me to the consulate and we will trade citizenships.

>>15284145
You should go back to india, china, mexico or whatever other third world country you came from. I refuse to believe that a well-adjusted, supposedly educated American with European ethnicity would unironically trade liberty, endless possibility and wealth for a failed attempt at socialism and successful quasi-feudalism.

>>15284174
>other third world country you came from
That would be the US.
>well-adjusted
To be fair, I never claimed this
>supposedly educated
Well I have a bachelor's of science from an American university, so it is debatable whether or not I could be considered educated.
>liberty
A meme. We have no meaningful liberty.
>endless possibility
kek
>wealth
kek

>>15283979
>>15284145
>>15284184
If you got a degree at an American university and still can't find a job then it's your own fucking fault, not "the system".

American companies overpay and overhire ANYONE with a half-relevant degree, my American colleagues earn twice as much as I do with just a bachelors while I have a masters. If I was American I'd be getting 3x the salary I currently have, but instead I have better healthcare, fewer niggers, spics and pajeets, and take the bus instead of driving to work.

They both have their pros and cons there's no need to "escape" anything, you're not from india or nigeria. If you're not able to get a comparable lifestyle in the US to Europe then it's because you're retarded.

>>15283061
It's not.
You're just getting filtered.

>>15283979
you legit are in by far the best place in the world to be an engineer and you are complaining. if you were any other degree you would have at least some grounds to complain

>>15280854
industrial automation is just PIDs & ladder logic tho. a high schooler could easily do 99% of control engineering, it's almost entirely technician work. the only positive thing about industrial automation is that you'll be one of the last people to be out of jobs before the AIs fully take over.

>>15272568
Currently an EE major but am obsessed with TMS/ using electromagnetism to stimulate the brain in general. Am I in the right major? I've been trying to read papers on the subject but there's a lot of medical jargon.

Anyone working for the electric utility company here? What's it like? seems like comfy and very slow office work.

>>15284643
I always get interviews with them but never hired.
One utility in particular has interviewed me for like 5 different roles and still never hired.

Oh also the reason for credential creep and the reason you fags have such a hard time getting good jobs is because boomers don't know how to develop and allocate human capital so they just ramp up the job requirements as an absurd wish list in the hopes that they can hire a magic unicorn who will just waltz in and solve everything.

How much am I gimping myself by applying for a phd with a chinese/vietnamese academic?

Seems like all the top academics in my field in Australia are either Chinese or Vietnamese, and a large portion of their students/collaborators are also Chinese/Vietnamese so I feel like I'm gonna have to study chinese or some shit to compensate.

>>15284267
R-rude!

>>15284950
Chingchongs are incredibly nepotistic, the ones that do take other phd students use them as slave labor, you're NOT going to have a good time.

Vietnamese MIGHT be better, but I wouldn't count on it.

>>15284950
>How much am I gimping myself by applying for a phd with a chinese/vietnamese academic?
There are two distinct groups of Chinese scientists. First the old generation where they succeeded on their merits with no connections to CCP or at times had even problems with CCP. I know several in this group.
Then the Chinese oligarchy realised that overseas experience was the ticket to success, and thanks to CCP memberships and deep connections, got their children in big positions, in spite of massive incompetence. Sadly this groups is becoming dominant, and their handiwork now also dominate Retraction Watch. Avoid them at all cost, they could damage your career bewfore it gets started, even if you get a PhD in the end.

>Seems like all the top academics in my field in Australia
There is an increasing agreement in this general that Australia is where science careers go to die. Places like CSIRO, that should have been prime objectives for a career, are now swamps of skullduggery and consipracies that exceed what even pulp authors could have cooked up.

have you considered going abroad?

>>15285522
I think all of you aussies are in bio and chem fields though, might have more to do with that, since the aussies I know in computer science and geo are doing great

>>15282415
DSP, communications, controls, graphics, ML on embedded devices

>>15284623
I’m an EE with the same interest (neural engineering). Make sure you study up on signals & systems.

Will my not taking of computer science courses in high school affect chances of being accepted to high end cs undergrad programs?

>>15285611
>computer science and geo are doing great
Here is one horror story:
https://microkerneldude.org/2022/02/17/a-story-of-betrayal-csiros-war-on-ts/

>>15284145
I'm an American working with a multinational design company. We are discouraged from talking about our salaries with our Euro counterparts because of how much more we are compensated than them.

where can you go from being a medical technologist in a clinical lab? High stress, low pay, only thing that matters is cases in cases out. No one gives a shit. I clearly fucked up seeing as the lowest of the low code monkeys make more than me.

I'm in like a limbo, where I applied to like 20 positions and now I'm currently right in the middle of recruitment for 3 of them, which can still take like 2-3 weeks before I get an offer (or don't get one at all)
should I keep applying to posting in case none of what I'm currently applying for works out?

>>15272568
take the geopill: any petro eng or geology physics makes BANKK>>> these people earn more than the top politicians in my country

the demand for them so high while the graduates are so low.
the push behind green energy strengthens this even more
oldies are also about to go on pension in this field
>anon, take the stem geopill

>>15280116
>>15280207

Saw an add for an industry job today. PhD plus 3 years experience with 12 specific nano fabrication techniques. The average PhD and postdoc who does nanofabrication will be familiar with maybe 4 of the 12. Real kick in the teeth is this job wants to pay you a technician salary 19k pounds a year when a postdoc will pay you 32k.

The only physics industry which isn't fucked salaries is quantum computing startups.

>>15280788
It's a good time to become a pilot, a lot of companies in Europe are offering fully funded training schemes (at the cost of a small salary sacrifice for ~5 years after finishing). I don't know about the US but I would hope they are offering the same, struggling to hire at the moment.
Was going to go that route myself until I found out my eyes are too fucked to pass a class-1 medical

>>15283927
Do you have to give a presentation, any details for the interview or just that you have an interview?
My advice is to come across as motivated and passionate about the subject, willing to learn. Maybe look up your interviews beforehand, find out what they research. Ask about the masters project and your role in it.

>>15287736
While this is true.
The jobs for this are only one to four per company. Means that if you want the big bux you really have to do well.
Geos or geophysics in this area really are the top of their fields.

>>15287824
>Physics in UK
lolno. I'm an american with a PhD in laser physics from Germany. I was looking at jobs in the UK. A national lab is offering a full time laser scientist position with two salary ranges available based on experience level. The more experienced salary range topped out at less than I was making as a PhD student in Germany (55k Euros). I'm currently getting offers around 150k USD for jobs in the US

Has it always been this bad or did you guys recently fuck yourselves? With this level of pay your country will be hemorrhaging domestic scientists and getting nobody but the most shit from overseas.

What is considered 'advanced python knowledge'? I'm just not sure what to write in my resumé.

>>15287711
>should I keep applying to posting in case none of what I'm currently applying for works out?
Yes, continue up to you get a firm offer. Most of the West is about to plunge into stagflation, job offers will be withhdrawn, entire companies will implode, so you cannot be sure until you get a desk and your first paycheck.

>>15287824
>Real kick in the teeth is this job wants to pay you a technician salary 19k pounds a year when a postdoc will pay you 32k.
Remember that in the UK, management hold technologists in contempt. UK is very good for getting a degree, but forget about getting a decent job there. From the FAQ:
>Computer Science and Economics pay fairly well, but EEE and Physics salaries are plain bad and you should just go to another country.

I would instead suggest "applying" there, pointing out that the 19K salary was mistakenly written as annual rather than monthly salary, and that that is the very minimum you are willing to concider. Then enjoy their meltdown.

>>15288077

Don't use vague bullshit words like "Advanced" to describe your experience in your resume. Describe your previous work and skills clearly and let an interviewer decide if it is advanced. It's very likely that they themselves don't have a clear definition of advanced, especially if they aren't listing specific programming techniques or areas of expertise.
If it gets to an interview, describe your experience and capability clearly. Ask them what they expect from a candidate.
if that's the most important skill of the position, then "advanced" is whichever candidate seems the best.

Or if you have no other options, lie. But be prepared to fake it or be exposed.

>>15288363
This, you write python as a skill, and then in previous job descriptions you write that you used python in that job. If you were codemonkeying for 4 years using python then they'll see that you have 4 years of professional python experience.

>>15287839
It is supposed to be a standard interview.
>My advice is to come across as motivated and passionate about the subject
I had arranged a meeting with two faculty members, and they said my motivations and passions were akin to their own. We got along well, and they told me I would be a good fit. I am going to ask them for advice, if this isn't cheating.
>Maybe look up your interviews beforehand, find out what they research
Good idea.

Just wanted to drop in say that I have massive respect for y'all for doing PhDs. I don't have the technical capability nor the mental strength to even make an attempt at it.

>third worlder
>no name uni
>doing masters in math
>doing pretty good according to my mentors, but imo it's a small pond type of thing
give it to me straight, do I have any shot at ending up in a nice phd program at a euro university that will allow me to secure a decent position in the first world after only a finite number of postdocs? Will I be entirely doomed if I do my phd here as well? (I ask, because I'm close to my family and I get along well with the people I work with) Any general career advice?

>>15288599
>>no name uni
Doesn't matter as long as it's not in the third world

>>15288586
Take it from me: I'm an American with three degrees (BSc, MSc, Phd) from three different universities in three different countries. I'm in my early 30s and I've worked with some of the most well-known experts in my field. I've written papers and patents and presented at international conferences. All I want now is to be comfortable and near the people I care about. I don't care about my work. Someone else can waste their lives grinding out the same shit and that's fine.

If I could redo everything, I would choose a career that allowed me to spend more time with my family and friends. Something more "basic" that allowed me to be employed nearer to my hometown where I feel comfortable. I would get off after a bachelor's or at most a master's. I would start a job that doesn't absorb my life where I'm not expected to work long nights because of "passion." I would be good at that job because I'm smart, but I wouldn't have to work so hard. Instead of pursuing more challenging work, I would focus on maintaining and improving my social life. I'd buy a house in my mid twenties. I'd have a local network of friends, and if one of them moved away for work or something I'd be there for them when they come back to visit. I'd be a longtime regular at a gym where everyone knows me. I would have romantic relationships instead of convincing myself that I shouldn't get involved because I won't be around very long. I'd buy a boat and always wish I was spending more time on it.

I'd focus solely on my contentment and happiness. Everyone dies and it doesn't matter if you're remembered through a few papers or a wikipedia page or whatever the fuck. All that autistic bullshit about being like Sisyphus or earning immortality is horseshit. Hedonism is the highest form of individualism.

I have a Masters in math and I have an opportunity to continue on to a Ph.D. Supposing I don't want to continue in academia what is the best lateral move I can make with this degree to get some kind of decent job? (In other words what skills should I learn/jobs should I look for?)

If I have to I'd go back and get another masters or Bachelors but I really don't want to do that.

>found hope again
i just never learn my lesson, do i

>>15288728
learn to code
seriously, that's what I did
t. maths+stats BA

>>15272568
Any suggestions what I should do
> Math degree Bsc in 2022 (79%avg) UBC
> Good at python sql etc...

Had a job across the country but they fired me in three week. I don't know if I can get into a masters and Im almost at the point of giving up because Im back to landscaping for work

I'm an Industrial Engineering undergrad in Germany. Do I go to grad school or do I just go straight into technical sales? I wouldn't hate the latter option but I've been getting interested in control engineering after taking the intro class.

>>15288698
>I would choose a career that allowed me to spend more time with my family and friends.
Well, that is kind of the ugly secret around here, a lot opf people doing a PhD, and more so people doing a postdoc, never got married. Dire poverty on two year contracts and a need to move regularly is, apparently, not considered attractive.

>submit a complete 1st draft of my masters thesis to my professor
>Ask him if I can schedule a defense date with my committee, generally students here do that well in advance of completing their thesis
>Prof:ehhhh I have a lot on my plate, I have to read it first before I can think about that
>He doesn't like it if we talk to other professors without permission
I have jobs asking me when I'll be finished up, what the hell do I do in this situation? He's acting like I'll sit around twiddling my thumbs for the entirety of summer and defend in the fall instead of starting work. Do I involve my other committee members?

Can't stop thinking about job hopping for better pay. Think I might become a code monkey now so I can earn big bux doing le l33tcode instead of designing digital circuits.

>>15288898
Technical sales now, or masters and then consulting and/or data analytics. Another possibility is more codemonkey data science stuff if you enjoy your programming classes.

>>15288992
Yeah they can be dicks like that. Luckily most recruiters and hiring managers have also been to college and dealt with dickhead profs and uni admins.

You tell them your "expected graduation date" and if they press for more specific details you say "early June, but it depends on the university administration, they're so bureaucratic you know how it is haha" it works every time. Just complain about your prof and blame him (which isn't even a lie in your case).

Meanwhile just work on your thesis. Worst case scenario you have to do more work later changing things to suit the prof.

>>15289053
>Another possibility is more codemonkey data science stuff if you enjoy your programming classes.
it's whatever, I wouldn't really want to go ball out on that.

I forgot to mention I will be 26 when I graduate, that makes tech sales that much more attractive to me.

I have my first ever interview on thursday for a super cool but very challenging job related to image processing. Wish me luck, friends, I'll tell you how it went. I'm so nervous ._.

>>15289197
Good luck, anon.

>>15288698
The grass is greener on the other side, I guess. You're more "basic" job would actually leave you paycheck-to-paycheck.

>>15282854
Are you American?
https://www.asbmb.org/career-resources/summer-research-programs
Yeah, biology is a massive meme. I left that field early on, only to go to another meme field (chemistry). I'm about to graduate so looks like I'm going to be in a similar position as you.

>>15288843
me every time i got an interview last year. it'll get better, wagmi

What are the best GRE study/prep resources if I want to get a perfect score?

t. industryfag who wants to go back to grad school

>>15289630
thanks fren, wagmi.
im pretty certain im getting denied from all seven grad schools i applied to. i was pretty depressed. i was just starting to get over it, and my boss told me hes trying to convince his boss to fund my phd at the local uni, which was my top choice. so here we go again. honk honk. ill be back soon to let you know it didnt work out.

>>15287876
>physics in the UK
It was always bad but leaving Europe (and horizon funding) and the Tories trying to stop foreign academics getting in has it only made it worse. There's a reason that I'm not applying for jobs in the UK and nobody I have worked with is either. The brain drain is real

>>15290096
>foreign academics getting in
That was always a problem, long before BREXIT. At immigration, people were treated as internationally wanted mass murderes.

Should I do a PhD, anons?
>neet for five years after HS
>started Bsc at 23 yo
>finishing Msc at 29 yo

I want to do a PhD because it's the only uni degree that gives skills that are difficult to self-learn; 5 years under an advisor who's at the top of their field, learn to do original research and properly understand other people's research.
Five years of focused work on something that I find interesting is extremely appealing.

On the other hand, I'm 29. I'll be ~34 when I finish it. I'll be going into the industry as a 35 yo with no work experience (except for some internships).
I could make considerably more money than my stipend, and save up some money. I owe ~10k to my parents and have no student debt, cause Germany. My parents are cool and have offered to write my debt off multiple times (basically every time we meet), but I insisted on paying it back someday.

I'm finishing my Msc soon so I can't push this decision. I have good grades and recommendations. My Msc advisor said that I'd be able to get into a good program if I wanted to go that way.

I'm sure some of you were in my position, knew someone in my position, or add something. Help an anon out, frens.

>>15290221
Congrats on escaping neetdom fren!
Do you care about working another 5-ish years on subsistence stipend, no pension and with poor conditions?
>Germany
Ignore the above, German PhD programme actually pay well.
What's your goal, academia or industry or a personal challenge to complete a PhD
What's your (vague) field because that matters.

I don't think there's a big problem with doing a PhD so late other than the pay. You'll gain experience on the PhD so it's not like you'll finish with no work experience and you can climb up the ranks afterwards with some effort to be active and take leadership roles.

>>15290221
I'd say it depends on the field and also if you plan getting married anytime soon.

If it's an engineering field, particularly computer science and adjacent fields, then it's a lot easier to go from PhD to industry. While if you're doing a PhD in organizational psychology or something then lol and lmao.

So assuming that you're not doing a PhD in something stupid or too niche, then I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea financially. (You can even supplement the PhD with internships / co-ops during the summer if you're concerned about the work experience stuff)

The only stinker is that it sucks if you are under pressure to get a house, car, dog, kids, etc. Then all of a sudden the financial downsides of doing a PhD vs getting a job start to add up.

>>15290221
>I'll be going into the industry as a 35 yo
Will you? Choose your field wisely

>>15290221
same here except i'm still 23 and in my first year! glad to know it can be done, the hardest part it seems was admitting i was wrong and commiting to the lifestyle change, now that the ball is rolling i feel great.

>>15290251
>>15290425
>What's your (vague) field because that matters
Machine learning. My Bsc and Msc are in informatics (CS).
>What's your goal, academia or industry or a personal challenge to complete a PhD
Industry. I want to make money and save so I can support my parents when they retire and have a family. If I do a Phd, I can spend time researching a subject I like, and get a job in the field. If I go to the industry without a PhD, I'll have to do something like SWE because ml is a niche field, and job advancements are limited without a PhD.

> plan getting married anytime soon
I think I can hold off for another 3 or 4 years.

> even supplement the PhD with internships / co-ops during the summer if you're concerned about the work experience stuff
>You'll gain experience on the PhD so it's not like you'll finish with no work experience and you can climb up the ranks afterward
Thanks for sharing this, frens. I don't know many people who've been in the industry for long. WE was my biggest concern. Will talk about this with my counselor when we meet.

>>15290510
Best of luck, anon! Keep that energy.

Choose wisely. Live well.

I have a BA in electrical engineering. Been working on my first job for almost 10 months now. It's mostly CAD work, but I have gotten jaded by it pretty quickly. A part of me want to quit my job and find some other work to do. The only problem is that I have no real direction in my life. I have thought about going back to engineering school so I can better find my niche. My gpa is complete shit so I don't even know if I could get admitted. I don't know how long it would take me to find another job because no one really takes newbies seriously. Even if I did get another job, I don't want to end up in another situation where I'm in a field of work that I don't want to be a part of.

>>15290221
PhD is trash for your career vs experience if you want to work in the private sector

>>15290653
have to agree with this, if industry is your goal, masters is generally better, unless you have specific positions in mind that require the phd that are in demand

>>15290589
well are you doing now for work EEanon and what do you see yourself doing in the future? Assuming you want some advice from a 32 year old EE maybe I can try to steer you into a better direction. I was jaded with my first job and my entire career out of school but I came to enjoy the field of work I'm in after leaving for another job.

Holy Christ, is this thread depressive.

You were all warned, 8 FUCKING YEARS AGO.

>>/sci/thread/7000584

>spend 5 years in university
>only get 2 years worth of courses done
STEM degrees should have IQ tests before admitting students. I as a complete brainlet went into EE and got fucked hard for it. I wasted 5 years of my life and disappointed my parents for nothing. Now I'm miserable and 11k in debt, no skills, no work experience

Universities should have IQ tests before admission, fucking hell.

>>15290714
Didn't even notice the posts above it. Be happy you're not me, I won't even life till 70 because my shit genetics

>>15290714
The IQ test is the first semester. If you fail a single course, you're not cut out for it.

>>15290723
I wish someone had told me that instead of letting me bang my head into a brick wall.

>>15290713
But many anons didn't even know that 4chan existed 8 years ago. Not even in graduate school

>>15290730
nobody wanted you here to begin with, newfag. you only drag down the quality of content here while contributing nothing. you were never invited in, we don't want you here. goodbye

>>15290713
>>15290730
i was a kid so i only browsed /a/ and /b/ back then
didn't start looking at the good boards until well after high school

Ahhhhh I really really messed my life up. Not that it's my fault, the system allocated me into a position which required more intellect than I could offer

Nonetheless I can't stop blaming myself. I fucked up, I should've walked away but sunk cost fallacy got me

>>15290713
I'm seeing so many women (even very mediocre ones) getting sucked into professorships. It's not even funny. There are some men getting professorships too who are actually meritorious and probably carrying their whole departments along with the 80 year old bigwig assholes who refuse to retire.

>27 and only in my first year of a chemistry bsc
It's a good thing I've written off marriage and a social life forever

I feel so fucking dumb when talking to some people in academia or on conferences

>>15291056
This is why I don't talk to people in my university

2 out of 7 rejections in. good thing im numb at this point or that would upset me.

Holy shit stop spamming the thread faggot, you got filtered, you clearly don't belong on /sci/, kill yourself and/or fuck off

>>15291138
Don't be such a jerk, kid.

if you want to be a defeatist retard then go to >>>/r9k/ with all the other incels instead, you're not contributing to the thread, kys

>>15291238
>Defeatist retard
>Incel
God I wish I didn't have to be an incel, defeatist or retard but one follows another

>>15291238
sorry the thread isnt living up to the high standards that the schizo, vax, and nigger iq threads have set, but you really shouldnt tell someone to kill themselves when theyre clearly going through a lot and are emotionally distressed. also, science is for incels.

>>15291298
The quality of other threads is irrelevant, it's no excuse to shit up this one, and emotional distress isn't an excuse either. Killing themselves would be a lot more productive than whining on a mongolian basket-weaving forum.
>science is for incels
Retarded, and even if it wasn't, it still wouldn't legitimize off-topic posts

>>15290725
Brother, your pride got the best of you. The writing is on the wall the first semester going into any engineering degree. It's staring you right in the face the whole time you're there. You just decided to look away. It do be like that, can't blame anybody else other than yourself.

>>15290723
im finishing up my EE degree right now, saved all my gen eds for the end. failed political science last semester. lmao.

>>15291334
youre not helping
>>15290714
>11k in debt
on the bright side, thats a totally manageable amount of debt. thats not even a car. it aint over for you yet, brother.

>>15290750
>didn't start looking at the good boards until well after high school
Searching for honest stuff as in the FAQ is made harder by Google censoring Neocities.

>>15291238
>defeatist
This general and the FAQ are full of constructive suggestions and warn against the traps. I think the FAQ is missing a couple of points such as going the postdoc route is likely to kill your chance of finding a sane wife, and that the postdoc route is also likely to kill your retirement plans, jurisdiction depending.
All of my postdoc contraxts were so short that I was allowed to pay into retirement savings but the small letters explain I will never get paid since I worked for less than 3 years. Oh, and the contracts were usually 2 years max.

>>15291374
The FAQ also misses the whole asian industry. Or how things really are in countries like Korea,Japan,SEA, etc. which may or may not be relevant

>>15291356
>failed political science last semester.
how do you fail classes meant to boost your gpa?

>>15291442
easy, dont do any of the homework. every time i went to do the homework, i would think “this is retarded” and i would watch movies and read math textbooks and masturbate instead. happens to the best of us.

>>15291374
Yes I agree that the FAQ and the thread are good, the quality of the general is almost suspiciously good even. I was not referring to /scg/ or the FAQ, but to the dude samefagging

>>15291412
Also some of the subjects aren't completely fleshed out, I'm guessing that they'll be filled over time though once some anons from there come with feedback

>>15291449
absolute lad

>>15291352
I don't think it's pride, it's just hard to give up and there are plenty of things to rationalize it with. Maybe I didn't study enough? etc

>>15291623
Oh and plenty of people say the first year is hardest so there's that too. In reality it doesn't get any easier

Is a Bachelors/Masters in Microbiology worth it?

>>15290661
Don't do a masters before starting industry either - most companies pay for it and you might actually do an MS in something worthwhile instead of whatever meme shit somebody without ever holding a real job would take

>>15289381
yeah I'm a burger. Is there any field that's not a meme?
>liberal arts
meme
>bio
meme
>chem
meme
>tech/computer science
meme.

at least that's what everyone on /sci/ says. Also, thanks for the link.

>>15292179
you can find anyone that says anything is a meme. any field can be profitable with enough hard work. that being said, its pretty hard to fuck up with a tech based degree.
im not even a little familiar with the bio grad job market, but learning to program is always a good idea. you can get certs, or make a github with personal projects (feel free to just fork shit, change a couple things, and put your name on it, theyre not gonna check).

>>15291374
>also likely to kill your retirement plans

Bro. None of us are retiring. At least the guys that are worth a fuck in their field. You just shift to part time consulting where you maybe sit in on a meeting a few times a week and you do maaaaaybe 5 or 6 hours of actual work. They’ll pay you such a stupid amount of money for this pittance or work that retiring just doesn’t pencil out unless you are really just fed the fuck up.

Graduated as a chem bachelor with gpa of 3.4 6 months ago and been wasting my life since. Been trying to look for either a chem related job (not many locally) or go for masters (I'm not sure if I can get letters of recommendations). Work experience is just a 2 month lab internship at another local uni. I don't have a lot of savings, should I try to apply for overseas stuff? From Asia (Hong Kong) in case that matters.

>>15292422
>From Asia (Hong Kong) in case that matters.
You're from HK? Can you elaborate how exactly is the job market (including academia) there? How was your experience doing the degree? Hard or easy, etc.

>spend half a decade of my life and tens of thousands of dollars of debt getting an engineering degree with a high gpa
>spend a whole fucking year looking for a job
>finally get a job offer after 50 interviews
>requires security clearance...
>security clearance
>now have been waiting three months with no word from anybody, the hiring manager cant even tell me anything
>6+ years of my waking life and a nearly insurmountable burden of debt to get one of the "useful" degrees only to end up in purgatory
WAGMI

Anyone have recommendations on what to study for bsc: pure math or mathematical statistics? I liked school math which I feel like is most similiar to pure math, because it's more theoretical, but I feel like a pure math bsc is kinda useless and not applicable jobs-wise, unless you go into academia.

>>15291412
>The FAQ also misses the whole asian industry. Or how things really are in countries like Korea,Japan,SEA, etc. which may or may not be relevant
Go on, I can add this to the FAQ. We have some limited information on Japan but much there too is missing.

t. Editor.

>>15292535
That sucks.
I've burned two job offers that would have gotten me a security clearance. The first was with the FAA working with 40 year old tech so I wasn't very interested.
The second was last week, I played hardball with the salary negotiations and thought they were jerking me around so I declined.
Kind of wish I had taken it now though since I think I'm about to get fired from my current job lmao

>>15291529
>Yes I agree that the FAQ and the thread are good, the quality of the general is almost suspiciously good even.
The boards are a bit weird like this, a lot of noise but still some signal that makes it worth returning to this place. And /scg/ os probably the comfiest general.
Slashdot used to be good and filled with knowledgeable people in the comments field, until stupidity moved in.

>>15292250
>You just shift to part time consulting
What type of consulting is this?

>>15292422
Outside of USA this question could be tough, but generally when opportunities aren't near you you explore stuff outside. Have you considered moving to where the jobs are? I'm just gonna guess you're pretty young so you could probably move for some years then come back with experience to the local jobs.

>>15292535
I don't understand, the requirement for security clearance is listed on the job postings. This is literally done so you know what you're getting yourself into and yes security clearance can take up to a year+. Mine was really fast though, took about 5 months during covid. Not sure which contractor you were hired for but as an applicant its your duty to ask during interviews if theres work for you to do while your clearance is granted. Some contractors have everything behind red tape so you'll be doing nothing or might not even be on-boarded until you have your clearance. I made sure to ask this during interviews and got a lot of uncleared work to keep me busy before getting a clearance. It seems you didn't do your due diligence when applying.

>>15292692
Mistake perhaps as a contractor job is a good hold over during financial crisis because contracts for da gubmint hold over for the whole amount of time their set for. The thing with negotiating with contractors is that it depends on the contractor and how much they need you. Usually negotiating with a contractor can be tough because they try to follow the gubmint pay scales(obviously pay a bit higher because you don't get all the good benfits that government jobs gives you) so they can be strict about negotiating. But trust me, if they want you they will push you the higher tier of the pay bands or even on the next level to get you to join. Some don't do this, but others are willing to pay a bit more to get talent in. Perhaps you did goof up, but who knows really. It's not that hard to get into a contractor.

Should i start medicine at 26 years old? I have a master in physics but i'm depressed about jobs. I m an europoor so medicine 6 years but at least uni is free.

>>15293605
yes

>>15284623
>Currently an EE major but am obsessed with TMS/ using electromagnetism to stimulate the brain in general.

TMS machines are practically Tesla era technology with a fancy computer interface to store patient settings and shit. Big bank of caps dumping variable frequency pulsed currents into coils.

The medical jargon is bullshit, they are inducing currents all fucking over the cortex and then seeing what happens. Any EE could handle the electronics in the things. I sure as shit would not experiment on myself though, given some troubling reports of long term damage.

>>15288698
>If I could redo everything, I would choose a career that allowed me to spend more time with my family and friends
I have a CS BS with honors and it's absolutely worthless as I live in a remote rural area I'm loathe to leave where there are basically zero CS jobs. All the CS people bragging about how rich they are omit the fact they have to live in a miserable US city, away from family and friends.

So I survive off my autism bennies in total poverty, because what else is there to do? Even going to grad school for something to do seems like bullshit when you can just read it all on libgen, and again the degree would be worthless as I'm not will to live in a dogshit city utterly alone without my support network.

Why does anyone bother to post anything potentially helpful to others here? Everyone here is a competitor. The economy is a zero-sum game. Jobs are a game of musical chairs along with their own hierarchies (salary ranges and workplace flexibility). I'm just posting because I'm bored right now.

>>15293795
huh? maybe because we are all spread out. You're so young, yet so cynical. That doesn't bode well for your future

>have masters degree in process mechanical engineering
how do i adapt to ai change, chat gpt seems to have no clue about mechanical engineering and software

>>15293795
That's a very shortsighted way to look at things, usually I only see this on /biz/. Yes, life in general is a zero-sum game, but there is benefit in cooperation within small groups to fuck over other people more effectively. It's the entire reason nations and tribes exist. Nobody in this thread is going to steal your job in particular, I doubt there's many dudes reading these threads anyway.

>>15272568
>Be me
>B. Sc. Math student in Germany
>Self studied CS and am good at it
>Minoring in physics

So what would you anons suggest, I want to take either
>solid state physics
or
>Nuclear physics
next semester. The latter I'm more interested in, but I'd heard it doesn't offer me much. I've already taken: Thermo, Mechanics, Optics. Though my grades for physics are subpar, nuclear would be better for that and I like it more. Should I just go with my gut feeling and go nuclear?

>>15293970
I don't know about nuclear physics, but not all fields in solid state physics are created equal. Avoid thin films and surfaces unless you specifically want to work at Zeiss, the job market in Germany is practially nonexistent outside of that: you'd have to be ok with living in bumfuck nowhere and working in R&D sweatshops. From what I've seen, most job openings related to physics are in optics, which is where I'm (hopefully) going.
Still, it's just a Bsc, so it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

>>15293970
>>15293994
Oh, I should read more carefully. You're just asking about what course to take? In that case: who cares, lol. Do what seems fun, you don't learn anything in courses anyway.

>>15293994
>>15294007
That's alright anon, it was an interesting answer either way. I'll go for nuclear then, not to fuck up my grades even more. It took a hit because of physics and I don't want it to be a detriment.

Thanks anon.

>>15293542
They asked me what my salary requirements were.
I gave them a $10K range I thought was reasonable and told them I was flexible.
They came back and told me uhhh akshually our range is $10K lower.
I told them ok it was fine.
Then they came back the next day and told me uhhh akshually the REAL range is $5k even lower than that.
At this point I started to feel taken advantage off and that something was going on behind the scenes, like they were seeing how low they could drive the compensation down and how much shit I'd eat.
I told them that I had never heard of a salary range only having $5k worth of negotiating room, ever.
I also told them I knew that this same exact job with them had a $60k negotiating range in California (because it's required to be posted on that job ad)
Basically I told them I thought they were fucking with me and to fuck off.
Now I'm about to lose my job though so I guess I should have just scrapped along the floor and took whatever they gave me.

>>15293795
>Everyone here is a competitor.
No. I did my PhD, did the postdoc rounds, got a good job in industry. There is no competition here.

>>15293795
I want to see my fellow anon eat and I'll teach them how to fish if I can. Even if they take some of my fish, I'll be fine and find ways.

>>15294279
How do I eat, senpai sama san

>>15292539
Just take a tonne programming and ML courses, a mathematician who can code is an instant hire - better yet also do comp sci as joint

>>15294349
>t. had 5 simultaneous software job offers from 15 applications

>>15294349
>>15294351
Mathematical statistics is fine too, but it doesn't actually matter because nobody uses anything particularly advanced in private sector tech anyway, it is more your ability to solve difficult problems with simple tools

>>15294349
Not that anon, but my question is kinda related so I'll ask you. I am a Math student who is already inserted into ML academia (have some publications). I really like this stuff, but I also really like pure math. Is it possible that when I have my PhD and get an academic job, I can research both ML and some pure math? I really like both but pure math research as an undergrad is pretty much impossible. I really don't want to choose one or the other.

I am an electrical engineer who can't get hired. I already have a job but I'm getting fired soon. I always always told as "soon as you get your first job you can easily get other ones"
I've been applying for 2 months and just *crickets*
The fucking military called today about me enlisting and I might have to join even though we're about to go to WW3 because I have absolutely nothing else.

>>15294404
Dunno I left after undergrad to work in management consulting as a data scientist kek

>>15294409
what field are you in?
how many years of experience do you have?
can you interview well?
why are you getting fired?

>>15292214
is there a way to synthesize my interest in tech and my bio degree? I fooled around a lot with Rstudio in my Biostats in undergrad and found it oddly satisfying, a little challenging at times, but satisfying.

Finally got the job. It's a fairly prestigious one in my field, I couldn't have imagined I'd end up with this job coming out of college. Yet, I feel uneasy still. The problem is I was so close to going back to school to study something else because of the lack of options (imo). Outside of this job, I can't picture doing other work. Thus, if I lose this job I think I'll desire a change again.

Friends and family are very happy for me but I sense a coming doom down the line still. After reading this thread though I do feel lucky to have a job.

>>15285903
idk about "high end", but the program at my school accepts based on GPA and math grades

>>15294409
in the US, a college degree qualifies you for officer training, take that as you will

>>15288632
..it is. Am I still allowed to have a dream?

>>15294656
I'm in the semiconductor industry. I have 1 year of experience. I'm getting fired because I have a medically documented issue that prevents me from performing my current role and the company was unable to accommodate my request.
>>15294887
I've looked into those, they are extremely competitive and you basically have to be Captain America to be selected for it.

>>15293795
>The economy is a zero-sum game.
you are a retard. you have to be a complete bugman with zero conscious experience to say something this wrong

>>15293542
>the requirement for security clearance is listed on the job postings
>It seems you didn't do your due diligence when applying.
What the fuck are you talking about retard? What else was I supposed to do? Not accept the job offer?

>>15295273
Yet you cannot refute it.

>>15295158
> they are extremely competitive

What? The joke we had in the Navy was “what do you a guy who barely makes it through med school? LT

>>15295158
How about intelligence agencies? They are so big that they are always recruiting, and analysts have to be good at thinking, not look like compulsive stereoid abusers.

>>15295158
well that stinks I hope you are getting a severance or something. just keep applying - 1 year of experience isn't a lot but it's something..

I don't have that much experience yet (~2 years), but I did a lot of random stuff (related to the job/field), different courses, jobs etc. which takes a fuck ton of space on my resume
Should I just spill it out onto 2 pages or instead of listing like 6 different courses just say something generic and short like "Courses in X, Y and Z"

>>15292520
Yep, local so I don't have much insight for people outside of HK.
>job market (including academia)
I think local chem graduates basically goes to one of the following:
lab techs: testing labs are basically looking for highschool graduates to be lab techs, so the pay isn't great compared to the work hours and the degree doesn't really help as much as work experience
industry researchers: the job listings I have seen often require masters/PhD with years of relevant work experience, so I don't think a chem bachelor is competitive enough
teaching: mostly small cram/tutorial schools, you need an education degree to be a teacher
non-STEM jobs: not much to discuss, it's either big money jobs because of very good GPA, or average jobs where the employers just need a bachelor degree
academia: I don't think it's very popular among local students, despite tuition wavers from the government. My observation is that the ratio of local students drop dramatically from bachelor to post-graduates. Post-graduates are mostly mainland Chinese and some HK and international students. I do have a few friends that went for masters in the same university
>experience doing the degree
I finished my chem degree in 3 years compared to the normal 4 years because I had credit transfers, I would say it's not too hard. There was almost 2 years of online lessons (even some labs) due to corona, so I missed quite a lot of wet lab experience. The chem department has official internship opportunities, but there's only about ~20 vacancies for ~100 people, you may have to find STEM internships by yourself. Just note that you need some non-major courses to graduate, and you may have to take chinese/cantonese language courses as a non-local/non-chinese student.

>>15293528
I'm 23 and interested in moving out, but I have no travel experience and don't know where to search for good overseas opportunities.

>>15295805
How much money do you have anon? Like how much can you spend over a year or so?

>>15295791
make the font smaller

>>15295851
around 20k usd, is that enough or should I try to find some part time work to save money?

What should I do once I finish my bioinformatics master? My options are going for a doctorate in something like data science or biomedical engineering, go for a data science/biostatician entry job or a regular code monkey programming job (full stack shit since that's what I've been doing with my thesis work). Not sure what will make me more valuable in the long run or resistant to AI shit.

Finally got a decent SWE offer after 10+ months of job hunting and about a hundred applications.
We're all gonna make it

>>15295332
similar to an anecdote my private music teacher once told me:
>you know what they call the guy that graduates at the bottom of his class in med school?
>doctor.

>>15295930
Easily, at least in Europe. The biggest hurdle will be getting the permit and the job in order to work here legally. Different countries have different processes.

I'm not sure if I should say this because I might be biased but Spain is a shithole.

>>15295954
Did you have a degree in CS? also good job :)

>>15295915
it's already at size 10

>>15296097
mines at 9

>>15296100
no wonder you get rejected

>>15296102
>t.

>>15295948
Dont fall for the BME meme there are no jobs that pay more than a retail worker kek

>>15296084
Yes and thank you

What is /scg/'s policy on workplace romance?

Job posting has "Please provide an example or evidence of your exceptional ability."
What the fuck does that mean?

>every AI research position requires publications
>every PhD programme requires publications
>every AI Residency requires publications
So am I just eternally fucked, if my shitty university didn't provide any opportunities to work on research papers during my masters?

>>15296167
don't shit where you eat

>>15296217
Not every master's program leads to publications

We're supposed to publish stuff while doing masters? To which fields does this apply? Surely not engineering?

>>15296192
lol - is it Tesla?
Awards, school prestige, exam percentiles, citations, IQ, bitches

>>15295948
Data science will be dead soon, they're all bowing to AI stuff. You're going to be a "Prompt engineer".

>>15296273
I hope you're not wishing for a job in AI if you don't have papers in top conferences before you graduate, because that's what the requirements for interns look nowadays

>>15296279
OpenAI

>>15296297
I'm not. I did it as a minor and realized I would get clowned on if I focused on it.

>>15294355
>because nobody uses anything particularly advanced in private sector tech anyway
This comes as a shock to many people witha PhD who enters industry. Expectation is way up there, reality is in the basement.

I did some quality assurance work and saw an opportunity to do proper analysis the way I was expected to do in research, with graphic analysis and the full works. This allowed me to quickly home in on the underlying issues, do a root cause analysis and bring everything up in daylight. My colleagues throught I was speaking Greek. With this approach I had far more findings per months than the others. Management got real worried, and the bearer of bad news is never really that welcome. Then I was lent out to another department, and my findings increased further. It was like lancing huge boils with axe. Management was now really worried, even though this in reality meant hidden big issues were brought up before they could derail the projects.
So at the next downsizing, I was fired. There are simply times when industry prefers the caveman approach, which is most of the time.

>>15296297
not that anon, but that only really applies in AI research, and mostly in the US.
I'm working with AI (reinforcement learning mostly) with just a masters and 0 publications, a lot of industries don't care about the development of AI if it can't be applied to whatever it is they're doing. The mistake is to ONLY learn AI memery, you need to have some domain knowledge that you can apply it on.

>>15294355
It's a clown fiesta, most companies are impressed with linear regression. You should see some of the shit finance bros make in their spreadsheets and dashboards, it's depressing.

>>15296383
>and mostly in the US.
literally the only place where AI matters, EU is years behind

>>15295955
Right, it’s along those lines but the point was that these guys were so bad they couldn’t get residency anywhere and the Navy was the only place that’d take them.

Is Medicine STEM?

>>15296544
STEM and medicine are the two cousins who made out one time over the summer and now the relationship is all awkward.

>>15296217
>he didn't publish as an undergrad
it's ogre

>>15296383
Well, to be fair, a lot of time simple linear models (by that I mean simple ARIMA or even just AR) are the best when you have just univariate time series data (which is what a lot of finance has). It's only when you start to build more complex models in that space (tracking like multiple assets changing in time at once) that you need to start thinking more complex.

>>15296317
I refuse to apply to anything with a big name attached to it or that is considered 'hot'. All the jobs have way too many applications so they can be justified in pulling some bullshit in their application process (like that or anything with leetcode). I've already made it a norm to turn down any job that does 'video interviews' or 'timed exams'. Just get the fuck out with that.

The real jobs are found in networking events at those companies anyway. I guarantee you all the top wagies at OpenAI didn't really apply, they were just pulled in from conferences and networks.

I feel like shit all the time and it's probably got more than a little to do with the fact that I'm being compared to everyone else all the time. Half these people seem to spend every waking moment grinding shit like bugmen and the other half give me shit for not being a networking sociopath that sees every human interaction as a leverage opportunity. I can't really escape it though because I'm in a shitty postdoc that will implode soon and I need a job to live. Worked like a dog for a decade to get here and have little to show for it. The only thing that's clear is that it is not enough nor will it ever be. I hope a nuclear armageddon resets everything or whatever.

>>15272568
Is mechatronics engineering a meme? I was originally interested in mechanical engineering, but I've heard rumours that it's a highly competitive field where you'll eventually lose job offers to electrical/electric engineers.

>>15296750
>Is mechatronics engineering a meme?
yes

>I was originally interested in mechanical engineering, but I've heard rumours that it's a highly competitive field

lol no. bruh, lemme give you 4 letters.

HVAC
V
A
C

HVAC/Plumbing is boring as shit, completely unglamorous, but everybody needs mech E's for that. the only place it gets actually competitive is when you try to do "cool" stuff like designing robots or rockets or anything else that sounds sexy and neat. honestly, thats half the problem with the engineering prospects in this thread, they want to be Tony Stark and feel above designing screws or toilets or some other banal (but necessary) thing.

>>15296606
I'm an American who had to go do some international training thing with my company.
There were a bunch of Euros there. All of us were at the bachelor's level.
But apparently in Europe they publish research at the bachelor's level to get their degree.
They asked me what my research was and I told them we didn't do any.
They looked at me in shock and were asking how we graduate and I told them we do a senior project.
They were like "project?" in total disbelief.
I never felt like a bigger brainlet in my entire life.

>>15296606
I'm an American who had to go do some international training thing with my company.
There were a bunch of Euros there. All of us were at the bachelor's level.
But apparently in Europe they publish research at the bachelor's level to get their degree.
They asked me what my research was and I told them we didn't do any.
They looked at me in shock and were asking how we graduate and I told them we do a senior project.
They were like "project? project?" and looking at each other in total disbelief.
I never felt like a bigger brainlet in my entire life.

>>15296699
I don't have anything worthwhile to say to you to overcome your problems since I'm only a dumbass undergrad about to graduate. But I have felt really lacking as compared to my peers over the years and can relate to how you feel.
I sincerely hope things get better for you:)

>>15297326
This is not true in all of Europe. You must have interacted with special cases. We also just do a bachelor's thesis and that's it. The thesis is usually just a small part of your assigned phd student's work that he delegates to you. In some cases, the bachelor's or master's thesis is later made into a whole paper after adding one or two experiments, as was the case for me, but that's not something the student has control over.

>>15297326
I did bachelors and I'm finishing masters in one of the best unis in europe and I have no paper under my belt
we just do a shitton of projects with no one caring about papers
it being a "university of technology" fucked me over because that's the main reason
my advisor says we "might do a paper out of the masters thesis if you really want" but is pretty vocal about the fact that he really can't be fucked to do anything with it

>spend 5 weeks applying to Meta
>get accepted
>wait for the offer a week
>instead of the offer I get an email saying the position has been cancelled due to "Year of efficiency"
hype

>>15297517
chud

>>15296383
Kek, I remember our professor dedicating a course on how to use ML tricks to make piechart look impressive

>random CTOs/CEOs view my LinkedIn profile
why do they do this bros

>>15297658
mouse slip

>>15297658
To make themselves feel better

>>15297666
>>15297676
kek, made my day better

>>15289805
pls respond

>>15296145
I would be going into the health informatics part not straight up BME
>>15296291
Heh that's pretty much what I'm expecting but since you still need to know math and what to ask the AI I guess there's still a use for people like me.

>>15278924
I know nothing about quantum mechanics or any actual cryptography beyond a wikipedia-level understanding of how some crypto algos work. I have shankar's qm book with me but I won't crack it open till next year.
>Other than that does your course have any computing modules
we've got a few basic cs courses (DSA I and II, uses C as the programming language) and an ML course offered by the math department. Aside from that we've got a computational physics course (not sure what language will be used, but it's a compilation of a lot of random things). We've also got a "quantum information processing" course which seems to be about quantum computing and quantum cryptography.

>>15297315
>honestly, thats half the problem with the engineering prospects in this thread, they want to be Tony Stark and feel above designing screws or toilets or some other banal (but necessary) thing.
a lot of people aren't going to be happy doing HVAC or MEP or manufacturing work anon, even if those are the easiest jobs to get with a mech e degree

agree with you that the cool jobs are impossibly competitive

I love my manufacturing job, I love big fuckin machines and seeing my projects come to life.

>chem e
>Good job and great pay but a LOT of travel and even when im home my commute is shit
>only directly applicable skills are for a similar job with similar travel or working at a refinery but those are on the other side of town
Bros what do? Sometimes wish my dumbass studied tech or anything with some work from home flexibility. Considering an entire field change if I have too, which would suck due to the pay cut but fuck travel and fuck long commutes.

>>15296167
Academia doesn't really give you a lot of time for dating and/or having healthy relationships.
Still don't shit where you eat. Find someone in a different field at least

>>15296544
I've seen the shit-tier excuses for research and thesis that junior doctors have to do to earn the Dr title and I don't want that anywhere near stem.
Medicine students never learn to think, just regurgitate leaned answers and it's a shame. Real medical research is done by pharma and bio people instead

>>15296699
I can't escape feeling like an imposter. Even as a postdoc with a few publications in top journals. Still waiting for the academics to work out that I'm actually shit at my job, just get lucky every time.
Only comfort is that everyone else seems to be faking it too

>>15298008
>computational physics
Lmao it's probably going to be python or fortran.
Quantum information processing is usually about how to transmit cubit information and build algorithms to correct bit-flip errors or solve particular calculations. Very much on the theory side there though, calculating with matrices. You sadly won't learn anything about how to write a quantum-capable language or machine code
The other courses you have listed sound fine, between those you've got plenty to start with and support your own study.

>>15298362
You wanna be happy or you want to be employed?

>>15298362
The real redpill is that there aren't any cool jobs. I could be an astronaut and I'd still think it's boring and pointless. Might as well have a comfy job with job security.

>>15298590
>>15296167
is romance really comparable with shitting? Not that it really affects me, but I'm curious now, how do academics (and other busy people) find love?

>>15298741
Academics don't. Other busy people earn stacks that are fat enough to look past them never being there for their family.

>>15276798
>>15276804
thanks for the help guys!! i found and got accepted to a phd position in immunology at my old uni with a prof that is supportive and the opportunity to learn more skills! :)

>>15296544
It should be but as >>15296548 points out, there is a gap. Essentially it depends on your moral compass and willingness to be thorough.

To be fair, the superficial approach to work is a problem in many fields, not just in medicine, but it is in medicine it kills the most people.

>>15296699
>Half these people seem to spend every waking moment grinding shit like bugmen
Notice that little word "seem" - it doesn't mean they really do that.

>>15297501
This sure raises red flags like a matador. What kind of academics don't care about publications? Moreover, who would go for it when the student clearly wants to? This is to them a free publication from cheap labour.

>>15298948
it's all a fucking scam, my advisor can't be arsed to do anything about my thesis because it's out of his zone of comfort since he only knows 20 years old technology
on the other hand a friend of mine with another advisor was forced to make a shitty unfinished publication and put some people he didn't even know as coauthors while the advisor did the same for the other people to have them all get cross-referenced, spiking his own citations artificially since he was also as a co-author on each of them
doctorates here take grants with their advisors for projects they never even begin to do just to get gov cash
i fucking hate academia

>apply to job
>rejection mail 5 hours later
y-yeah haha i didn't want it anyway

>>15299021
Earlier this week I got a rejection email literally 50 minutes after I applied.

>>15299021
Applying for jobs is an occult mystery to me. I applied to a shitty small company that I'm super overqualified for and they ghosted me, while the job that I have no relevant skills for offered to pay for my travel expenses across the country to visit them. I don't get it.

Any topics I should read up on when it comes to image processing? I don't have the slightest experience in the area and I'm an experimental physicist so I suck at math.

>>15298984
This sounds really dire. People should be warned against such institutions.

On a more general view, howmuch longer can the rot progress? Academia and research are rotten to the core and the funding is corrupt to the top. Publications are not trustworthy and Retraction Watch is running at full steam on life sciences alone. And who knows how bad it is in other fields? Stagnation is a topic I see come up with increasing frequency, and I think this rot is close to the core of the problems.
https://wiki.installgentoo.com/wiki/Stagnation

>>15298713
>>15298720
idk my job is a lot cooler than HVAC, i'm glad i held out to get it instead of just taking the first thing i was offered

>>15299045
>I applied to a shitty small company that I'm super overqualified for and they ghosted me
they'll ghost you for being overqualified just as quickly as they'll ghost you for being underqualified, nobody wants to hire a flight risk

people at my previous company deliberately did not hire people with big name companies on their resume or GPAs above 3.5 for certain roles, because they knew those people would be fucking gone at the first chance

>>15298404
sounds like you already know that you need to do something else due to hating long commutes.

>>15298807
Congrats! I hope it goes great for you.

Sorry but this might be a lengthy one, and for context I'm sitting in AI
Perhaps this might more more of a life advice or philosophical question rather than career one, but do you guys think there's a point in larping as a """scientist""" while you're just an average Joe in the end?
I'm not some child prodigy or a genius, if anything I'd say I'm way more retarded than most people around me. I need more time to learn, grasp some concepts or come up with shit, but I just can put way more hours into work than most other people are willing to.
Seems like this built some false aura of being smart around me because of this, people expect me to do PhD, did get some offers etc., but I can't see myself amounting to much this way.
I didn't really enjoy my time doing masters either and I'm not sure if another 4 years at university is something I want to commit to.
I think just getting into the industry, working on some projects for few years and preferably reallocating a bit to different countries would make me happier and doing more rather than just doing research, but most people I looked up to are telling me I'd waste my potential.
I just don't really have an idea what to do

>>15300254
Most scientists are average joes, sure they're likely to be above average IQ, but it's not some sort of arcane wizardry.

A lot of scientists are very intelligent, but their efforts are wasted on researching within some bullshit irrelevant field. A midwit working on something valuable and important creates more value for society than a genius working on something meaningless. Intelligence without results is worth as much as being retarded without results.

I know several PhD students who, while undoubtedly intelligent, produce sloppy and uninteresting research because they're not thorough, meticulous, or creative enough.
There's plenty of room for a scientist who's less intelligent but has good work ethic and produces good quality research.

As for what you should do, I can't figure that out for you. But why not both? The two don't have to be mutually exclusive.

You can do an industrial PhD where the company sponsors your PhD and you split your time between the university and the company. Or you could do a PhD at 80% fulltime (this is not that uncommon in europe) and spend the rest of the time working in industry. You can do a PhD and do co-ops with companies, especially since AI is a hot topic a lot of companies want to at least appear as if they're incorporating cutting-edge AI research into their business, even if the results are paltry that doesn't matter to them because it's about the optics.

>>15299057
the holy FFT should help you. nah but seriously that depends largely on the context in which you want to use image processing. something like text parsing is complete different to object tracking

>>15300280
>efforts are wasted on researching within some bullshit irrelevant field
Yeah, that's what I' mostly worried about with PhD, everyone I know at my university does something completely irrelevant. Both the doctorates and professors are shitting out papers that no one cares about. Feels like they're doing just for the sake of doing it. I think I'd be suicidal if I ended up like that
I'd much rather be working on something, even as a cog in the machine, that got some end user or a goal that benefits people.
I was 10x more motivated and happy working on some camera trapping projects for free with no credentials, than I ever am when doing something on my master's thesis or university projects.
The industrial PhD might be a good idea, heard about it, but never looked too much into it, I'll check that out, thanks.

>>15300347
>>15300254

This is not a kind thing to say but I mean well. Grow a pair. What I hear is you saying that you did not like university and don't want to spend another four years doing a PhD. Perfectly reasonable. You think academia is about doing research for the sake of appearing to have done research, which I largely agree with, and it is demotivating. You feel like working on something closer to real-life applications would be more motivating to you, and you've got some experience to back this up. Nothing wrong with that at all. Based on all these things (and NOT on your inadequacy, perceived or otherwise) I'd say that a PhD is not sensible for you, which is the conclusion you also came to. In general PhDs are not a good career move, and the equivalent amount of work experience opens far more doors and is far better compensated. The only possible reasons to do one are if you yourself really want to, or if you happen to be hell-bent on one of the few careers which require one (which are usually not glamorous). Further, if you're not motivated to do a PhD it's likely to be a very unpleasant experience in addition to being unrewarding in general.

From all this, you then somehow decide that you should do a PhD anyway! Seemingly because you feel somehow inadequate. All because of "expectations" of some people who aren't you and who aren't the ones who would have to slave away on minimum wage doing useless shit for no reward. Because some bystanders feel you're wasting your potential by doing what you like to do and what is well-rewarded instead of doing something you don't want to do and that gives nothing in return. It's your life and you shouldn't make these choices based on what other people think. Your self-deprecation is a matter of its own which I won't dignify with a response.

>>15300503
Yeah, this makes sense when you put it like that, thank you