Are employers looking for a PhD degree?

Question

Career in IT

I completed my postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics of Moscow State University, but have not yet defended my PhD thesis. I'm in a dilemma - finish my dissertation or give up and go looking for a job? Given that I am NOT going to do science and I will look for work primarily as a C ++ developer, while my dissertation is related to Computer Vision and Image Processing. Well, that is, it is possible that it will be work with images in C ++, but only applied, not scientific.
A question for employers and recruiters: how much attention is paid to having a Ph.D. degree? Does this give some kind of plus or is it like with grades in a diploma?

Answer 1

I think that this clearly does not play a decisive role, nevertheless, since it remains only to defend my Ph.D.

Answer 2

Personally, I don't care what degrees, certificates, diplomas, etc., potential employees have when hiring. First of all, I look at the experience of real work, portfolio and real knowledge during the conversation.

Answer 3

They may ask why you studied if you are not going to do science.
The correct answer is to say that it satisfied your thirst for knowledge, but did not interfere with work (is that true?).

Answer 4

And why did you study in it if you are not going to defend yourself? By the way, I am also a former graduate student, graduate school ended 2 months ago, now I am finishing my work and I am going to defend my defense in September, otherwise 3 years will be down the drain. You will probably be asked the same questions in an interview.

Answer 5

I don’t have any diploma at all, they look purely at experience (even foreign recruiters).

Answer 6

There was a recent post on the topic that caused a lot of discussion.

Answer 7

I would watch, because the presence of a candidate indicates that either a person is a rare or very stubborn beetle. There are more personal qualities, and not even knowledge displays.

Answer 8

Abroad, this will be a significant plus.

Answer 9

I'm not very in the subject, but how does writing a dissertation interfere with work? Let not even fulltime.

Answer 10

Studying in graduate school without defending a dissertation is like working on a project without the desire to get the final result. For an employer, this can be a sign. For example, the fact that you are not focused on completing the project. In other words, undertook to do something (no matter what), bring this matter to the end! Be a winner!
Another thing is that protection is a chore, it takes time (a lot) and money (a little). And at the main job (if any), you will have to go on vacation for at least a month, or even 3. Possibly unpaid. Possibly losing a job. Combining protection and work is very difficult. Personally, I do not recommend. And if you also need to provide for (wife|child|cat)+, this may not be acceptable. Moreover, if the wife can still understand, forgive and be patient, then the cat is not. :)
By the way, I myself am like that - I didn’t defend my dissertation at one time, and now I’m unlikely to do it. This does not interfere with my work, since I already have a lot of exp at work.

Answer 11

If you plan to work in the states, then I advise you to get this degree. The employer is not interested in it, but USCIS will look at this diploma, understand that you are very smart and quickly give you a green card.

Answer 12

I'd already do it.
After that, I would look for options on the topic of training / work somewhere in countries outside the CIS bloc

Answer 13

Don't you want to get a complete excuse from the army? Candidates are not invited. It looks like you're in danger for a while.

Answer 14

I would finish my dissertation.
It is very unlikely that this will give anything in terms of material benefits in the short term, but as a reserve for the future it is very significant.
By the way, to get a more accurate answer to your question, you can simply write to representatives of companies involved in Computer Vision. Habré has some of them.

Answer 15

The most important thing is not to obey someone else's choice, make the choice yourself.
What can I say about diplomas, candidate's degrees, etc. These documents do not say anything, especially at present, especially in Russia. How many candidates had to be reviewed, applicants who did not have diplomas showed more adequate results. And if a graduate student comes and cannot answer basic questions about the language, and a non-graduate student comes who also cannot answer, I will give preference to the applicant without a diploma, because there is a chance that he can still be taught, but the diploma in this If this is an indicator that the applicant simply did not study, he is not interested. On the other hand, if the answers to the questions satisfy me, then I will choose a graduate student. But still the very first and main factor is personal qualities. If I see that the applicant does not fit into the team, I will not take him, no matter what knowledge he has.

Answer 16

Employers look at a lot. Each is specific. But this is far from the first and most important thing. For example, a person with a degree can be rated worse than without education, but with a bunch of accepted pull requests in a serious project on github.