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I am currently doing my Masters thesis in Germany and am a non-EU student. I will be finishing soon and then will get an 18 month job search visa, using which I can stay in Germany and look for jobs. My major is space science and it has been a long term dream to do a PhD as I am more inclined towards research. During the last two years of my master's program, I have been working as a student/research assistant at various university and research institutes, hence I have a work experience of 2+ years, including my bachelors internship at a space institute.

However, I am confused if I should directly take up a Phd after my master's degree (since it has been on my mind forever and see no point in waiting if eventually I am going to pursue it) or should look for some jobs to have a full time working experience ?

I could spend the entire year of 2022 searching for jobs in my fields of interest but there is a high chance that I might not find one due to corona uncertainties, hiring freezes in many institutes and companies, companies not willing to hire people on work visa and so on. Therefore I might end up wasting time where instead I could have started with a PhD.

I would really appreciate all help to gain better clarity.

There is a similar question here but in my case I do have some work experience that amounts to 2+ years. Hence, would that be sufficient to pursue a PhD ? As most of the answers in the other question suggested working after MSc. to gain some practical knowledge and basically how everything functions in a real-world project.

Daveguy
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lqope54
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  • That helped. But in my case, I have some experience with the industry and university-related projects through my bachelor internships and part-time work during master's. So I was wondering if that would be enough to pursue a Phd ? Also like in the link you provided, I share the same concern of becoming too comfortable with the job and getting rusty with my educational concept while completely neglecting upskilling at the job. – lqope54 Aug 20 '21 at 12:45

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Searching for a job, gaining some experience, and searching for a PhD position might be difficult. There is a clear answer here if you want to do research, then do your PhD now (if you have an offer). Even after PhD, you can get a better position in the industry.

But, working as a HIWI for 2 years and doing a PhD both are different things. Have you been involved in the paper? As a HIWI, you have to work on a specific parts of the paper like literature paper, coding but as a PhD student, you have to done it my own.

There is a thumb; grab the position which you have now until if you want to take a risk.

Daveguy
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Alex Kujur
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  • So I don't have a direct offer on any position as of now but I know a few places that offered me different positions last year (like full time research jobs or a Phd) but could not take it then as I still had to finish my master's degree. As a HiWi I was involved in different areas but that was not specifically with an aim to publish a research paper. Also I have not published anything yet. Also your last statement is not clear for me. – lqope54 Aug 20 '21 at 11:09
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    If you want to do research, do a doctorate. Don't delay. I think the advice about having job experience is mostly wrong, except for very applied fields. – Buffy Aug 20 '21 at 15:00
  • @Iqope54 I would suggest you apply for PhD now and try to publish your master thesis at some conference/workshop. It will you to grab the position. – Alex Kujur Aug 20 '21 at 16:57