Seven Questions To Get That Degree.
In these times of a slow economy, To PHD Or Not To PHD?
What does PHD really mean? This is what I found through life…seriously.
- When growing up, every teacher and your grandparents told you what PHD meant: “Please Have Degree”.
- After you have got that coveted piece of paper, you flashed it everywhere and then you really found out what people thought PHD meant: “Please Hide Degree”.
Are You One Of The Masses Contemplating A Degree?
So, the economy is hiccupping significantly. It’s time to take that time to get your PHD.
But one word of caution: look closely at your values before you launch yourself into that new very significant endeavour – Consider your family and values.
How this will impact your career really depends on the situation you are in. Let’s suppose you have been working as a MacDonald’s franchisee and decide to re-qualify yourself, while maintaining your business: it will probably mean little.
And if you are working in a teaching environment and that up grade of qualification is vital, then, by all means go all out for it!
As for myself, I would find a short list of ten or so reasons to help make my decision like:
* Will my family support me emotionally – I will need to spend much time on this – are they emotionally equipped to be independent of me?
* Do I have enough finances – can I support myself and pay for the education and perhaps my family and living needs if necessary?
* Am I prepared to do what it takes to succeed – come hell or high water I will do what it takes to get that qualification?
* Do I really need it for my career plans – is this important or necessary for my promotion or my business endeavours?
* Am I getting it for pride – am I doing this to fulfil a dream or as a thing of pride – it is a matter of priority here and you will need to have enough motivational reasons from yourself and the people around you to see it through.
* Will it pay off – many people get a higher degree without planning strategically resulting in significantly wasted time, effort, finances and even family lives.
* Is there a market for my big step – often the paper chase hunter winds up with a less than marketable piece of paper, frustratingly wasting many years of lost income, costs, and often their sanities.
Now, bear in mind that the higher up you go in the degree of achievement, the higher the potential payoff, but this comes at a very high cost as already described. And then the chances of it all working out right also diminishes too – remember the PhD driving the New York cab for a living?
Let me add one last caution – treat this endeavour like you would any other business.
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