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Old 16-03-2011, 11:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
Hmmm, I guess you do have a good perspective here.

A PhD does limit the range of jobs and the number of companies that would even look at your CV. There is the possibility of being caught in a situation whereby you're too specialized in your own field and too pricy for the industry. That is why the majority would eventually turn to academia so as to at least earn a living, and also more freedom in research.

But I have seen PhD holders in the public and civil service. Quite a number of Dy Directors and Directors have "Dr" in front of their names I think.
I wonder if their specialized skills are actually needed in the govt sector.
Plus, I also wonder if they did their PhD and then joined Govt sector, OR, they joined Govt sector with a Bachelor or Masters and then furthered studies to PhD while still employed by the public/civil service.

Anyone can shed some light in this? Thanks a lot..
There are two types of civil servants with PhDs. Those who got their PhD before joining the service and those who got theirs after (usually academic or research positions). Either way they're checkmating themselves, it's just a question of before or after.

The reason, for want of a better description, is what you have written: "A PhD does limit the range of jobs and the number of companies that would even look at your CV".

Even academia is not an easy option, especially for our local universities. The number of PhD holders hoping to land an academic position every year far exceeds the number of tenure positions available at NUS, NTU and SMU combined. In fact recently NTU has followed in the footsteps of NUS in spring cleaning its academic positions.
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